How do GCSE's affect Medicine course applications

I'm in my first year of A levels and i am currently doing Chemistry, Biology and maths and have recently been told that there is no point in me applying for medicine (which i really want to do) as i have a C in chemistry at GCSE level from a high tanking member of staff. I was quite upset after hearing this news but after some research some uni's state if the A level entry requirement is there they don't look at GCSE results other than English Language

I'm in my first year of A levels and i am currently doing Chemistry, Biology and maths and have recently been told that there is no point in me applying for medicine (which i really want to do) as i have a C in chemistry at GCSE level from a high tanking member of staff. I was quite upset after hearing this news but after some research some uni's state if the A level entry requirement is there they don't look at GCSE results other than English Language

I don't see why they've let you take A-level chemistry when you've got a C at GCSE. People with A*s at GCSE struggle and the vast majority of sixth forms and colleges ask for at least a B in chemistry as the bare minimum to study it at A-level. Chemistry is an incredibly hard A-level and nothing like the GCSE which is incredibly over-simplified. I really don't think you know what you've let yourself in for. .

So basically GCSE's determine whether you can do certain A-levels or not, e.g. to do physics at A-level, most commonly schools ask for a 6/7 in Maths, 4/5 in English and a B/A in Physics itself, The Results you achieve at A-level determine what courses you can then do at University etc... its like a chain.
GCSE allows you to do A-level and that allows you to do the University courses you want.

yeah this is what i thought but apparently not as universities look at gcse results as well or at least so ive been told by the high ranking member of staff

what you learn at the start of the year in a level chemistry is relatively easy. Also, i have gotten into medicine with poor GCSEs which were 2As and 8Bs so it is possible. however, i had to take a gap year and get work experience. although this sounds harsh I would tell you not to do a level chemistry with poor GCSEs you have to absolutely smash a level so you have to get above the bare minimum which is 3 As for most universities for medicine. if you couldn't handle chemistry at GCSE what hope do you have at a level? come may time you will be really seeing how difficult the subject is.
in summary to your original question, it is possible to do medicine with bad GCSEs but it's going to be hard and you have to think about how competitive medicine is, you will be competing against other applicants that have gotten all As and A*s at gcse and similar grades at A-level. Also, its not just about the grade work experience and interview matters as well.
answer this question why do you want to study medicine?

Ive always been interested in the subject and wanted a job that would push me and never make me feel relaxed, plus i'm a peoples person and one of the jobs that fitted that description is being a general practitioner.

Another thing is i always excelled in chemistry our exam board was OCR we learnt them as C1234567. C123456 i was always fine with as it was taught well and easy to understand for me but c7 was taught horribly and more than half the class got a grade under a C specifically for that test. Personally i got a E but c123 i got an A c456 a A and coursework an A so my final grade was brung down due to the E unfortunately

Even if it was taught horribly you could've got a tutor or done it yourself. i was probably in one of the worst high schools in the uk in my opinion the year i took my gcses there was a 15% pass rate of 5 gcses or higher out of 200 students and even though i was top set i didn't have a science or maths teacher because of no one wanting to teach at my school so i had to teach myself. 90% of my class that were able students failed because they relied solely on teachers. Even if you did have bad teaching you still could've taught yourself. Sadly most universities don't care about if you didn't have good teaching they only see grades then judge you on your interview if you get the grades. you have been very lucky to get to study chemistry, maths and biology in the colleges in my area if you don't get an A in maths and science you don't get to study that. That being said for now just revise, do practice papers and learn the mark schemes. gcses is the past you can't do anything to change it. if you manage to get the grades i would say 2 A*s and an A would get you into medicine with a good interview even with poor gcses just look forwards not backwards it will be hard but not impossible

Thanks man I see this as motivation in my maths I got a 7 which is a A and in biology I got an A but I will make sure I smash these A levels so far I'm reading and doing work that we are yet to be taught and doing practise questions but we'll see what's in store for me. Another thing is I'm waiting for my local health centre to get back to me as I plan to do my work experience over there, reckon this will look good

When the time comes to apply, you need to be very strategic on where you apply. There are definitely several unis which don't care about GCSEs as long as its 5 A*-C or something along those lines. The good thing about applying to medicine is that there are so many steps. So if you've fallen short on GCSEs, you can make this up with work experience/voluntary work, AS grades and UKCAT/BMAT.

As long as you're careful on where you apply and you've performed in the other areas, I don't see a reason why you can't go for medicine.

Thanks for the advice man highly appreciate you got nay recommendations about work experience, im thinking of going to my local nhs health centre and how much time should i volunteer personally i have been thinking 3 months minimum so i can stand out as my teachers have said 4-8 weeks is usually the average

email every university you want to go and ask them if they allow students with poor gcses if you get the right a level grades before applying

There is no need to email them. Universities publish their GCSE requirements on their websites, along wih their A level and entry test requirements and usually how they will assess your application (as the entry requirements are usually the bare minimum and often not enough to gain you an interview). Different med schools use different criteria to select for interview: some will not care one bit what your GCSEs are, as long as they meet minimum requirements, others will want a string of A*s, some will be happy with AAA at A level, others need A*A*A* predicted for interview, some want UKCAT scores arounf 700, others do not really consider it. So it is really not much good deciding where you WANT to go until you have all your stats, as you need to apply to your strengths to maximise your chance of an interview.
OP, your C at GCSE Chemistry by itself will not stop you getting a place at medical school if you balance it out with good A levels and a good UKCAT or BMAT score.

that is true but i wasn't sure with there guidelines so i emailed them and it doesn't hurt to ask.

Thanks for the advice man highly appreciate you got nay recommendations about work experience, im thinking of going to my local nhs health centre and how much time should i volunteer personally i have been thinking 3 months minimum so i can stand out as my teachers have said 4-8 weeks is usually the average