Medical School Emphasis on Personal Statement not GCSEs

Hi.
Just looking for some advice.
My GCSE grades aren't great, 4 a*, 3A, 2B, 2C's
Predicted grades are A* (CHEM) AA (BIO AND MATHS)
Ive done an awful lot of work experience, one week at kidney department, one week at a pharmacy, one week at a care home, one week at a GP, one week at neurosurgery, one week at oncology and one week at orthopaedic. and I volunteered for 7 months.
Is there any universities, from experience, that focus on personal statements as I have learnt a lot from these experiences and have a lot to talk about and not on GCSE Grades. Any unis that's don't really look at ukcat as well???? ( Haven't done it yet)
Im thinking Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool and st Georges ... are they ok ( don't be afraid to tell me if you won't recommend them)

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 1

Mcgreggorrrrrrrr

Unis which take the Personal statement as part of the application process are :

Bristol (50%)

Liverpool ( shortlists candidates for interview based on personal statement)

Keele ( shortlist’s candidates for interview based on the roles and responsibilities form which is their version of personal statement that you write out)

Nottingham ( after shortlisting applicants based on gcse and ukcat results, the personal statement is reviewed and given a score. You need to pass a certain score to get an interview)

That’s it to be honest, all other unis don’t score it and just a few skim through it to see if you clearly say you want to do medicine. At interview stage quite a few use it but not all.

For your GCSEs I’d say do your best on ukcat, then apply to ukcat heavy unis such as Manchester, Sheffield, St. George’s, Newcastle, Glasgow, Kings, etc. If you get a score below 650, apply to Bristol, Liverpool, keele and one other uni that you feel you could get an interview at.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask.