Birmingham A100 Medicine 2019 entry

Scroll to see replies

Hi everyone, I'm about to start my second year studying medicine at Birmingham. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to help out! :smile:

Do you think I have a chance of an interview with 11A*s and 665 Band 2 UKCAT? My school is also on the contextual list although I doubt this will make much of a difference.

Reply 21

erinls2

Original post by Samanthaplague

Do you think I have a chance of an interview with 11A*s and 665 Band 2 UKCAT? My school is also on the contextual list although I doubt this will make much of a difference.

Yeah I would have thought so! The wrighting on GCSEs is much higher than UKCAT (70% compared to 30%) so I reckon you'd have a good shot, and your UKCAT is decent as well :smile:

the contextual thing will be used when making an offer mostly i.e. you'll get a lower offer than standard, although it may be used with GCSEs as I'm guessing you've done pretty well for your school?

Reply 22

GANFYD

Original post by erinls2

Yeah I would have thought so! The wrighting on GCSEs is much higher than UKCAT (70% compared to 30%) so I reckon you'd have a good shot, and your UKCAT is decent as well :smile:

the contextual thing will be used when making an offer mostly i.e. you'll get a lower offer than standard, although it may be used with GCSEs as I'm guessing you've done pretty well for your school?

Birmingham have changed their weightings for assessment this year to 60% GCSEs 40% UKCAT, so it is now unlikely people will get an interview just based on GCSE results as in previous years, but need a strong UKCAT too

Reply 23

erinls2

Original post by GANFYD

Ah ok my bad, that's how it was for me. Either way more emphasis on GCSEs, you should be fine :smile:

Reply 24

GANFYD

Original post by erinls2

Ah ok my bad, that's how it was for me. Either way more emphasis on GCSEs, you should be fine :smile:

There is less emphasis on GCSEs this year, more on UKCAT

Reply 25

erinls2

Original post by GANFYD

There is less emphasis on GCSEs this year, more on UKCAT

Yeah I meant in total there is more emphasis on GCSEs than UKCAT still :smile:

Reply 26

GANFYD

Original post by Laboromniavincit

What constitutes this score I mean breakup
.. sorry for butting in

Birmingham A*AA

Birmingham apply a weighting of 40/60 against UKCAT and GCSE performance this year, a slight change from last year which was 30/70. A strong performance in one aspect can compensate for a weaker performance in the other. Birmingham gives you access to a calculator to see if your UKCAT and GCSE scores are likely to achieve an invitation to interview. That can be found here:

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/personal-page/faq.aspx

Scoring here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/med/medicine.aspx#CourseDetailsTab

Make sure that you access the correct calculator because last year’s out of date one is also still accessible on the internet.

Birmingham's calculator seems to suggest that a score of 7.8 offers a good chance of an interview. This seems much more realistic than the guidance issued last year which indicated a score of 7.0 may be enough, when the actual cut off was marginally above 8.0.

Reply 27

unsomberal

Original post by meddad

The lowest offers WITHOUT contextual points in the past two years have been marginally above 8.0 (from memory 8.056 and 8.125). On that basis your score of 9.0 looks very safe. The scoring process has changed slightly this year from 70/30 gcse/ukcat to 60/40. My gut instinct is that would bring the cut off down slightly rather than up, but that very much depends whether the profile of applicants changes since last year.

Thank you so much!

Do you know why some applicants with high scores have not been offered interviews? Is the personal statement read at this stage?

Reply 28

meddad

Original post by unsomberal

Thank you so much!

Do you know why some applicants with high scores have not been offered interviews? Is the personal statement read at this stage?

Not as far as I know - there's certainly no hint in their selection processes which says that it's looked at. I would be surprised if that was the case.

Where are you getting your information from? Are these definitely school leaver scores? Do we know that these people satisfied the minimum academic criteria eg: minimum B grade in the 5 core GCSES they score on, they haven't taken resits etc? Have they calculated their scores correctly?

Not saying any of those apply, but if it's just one or two references on TSR, then it could be for a number of reasons.

Reply 29

EmyrMontenegro

Original post by Samanthaplague

Do you think I have a chance of an interview with 11A*s and 665 Band 2 UKCAT? My school is also on the contextual list although I doubt this will make much of a difference.

Check out your score on the Birmingham point system. 7+ is good, but ofc the higher the better. Your score may differ tho becasue the website uses the 2017/8 deciles

Reply 30

MontyMedic

Hello,

I’m thinking of applying to Birmingham, will be going to the open day this weekend to have a look at the city etc
My stats are:
GCSEs: 10A*s, 1 A (German)
A-Level predictions: A*, A*, A
EPQ: no grade as yet
UKCAT: 675 band 2
Work experience: 3 days in hospital, local charity volunteering with disabled children, NHS Foundation Trust volunteering with the elderly. Family business - various tasks, flu jab clinic, stable yard management
Extra curricular: Biology year prize, 1st in school essay competition, Cambridge masterclass, cricket, horse riding, school choir

Reply 31

erinls2

Original post by MontyMedic

Hi, glad you're coming to look at Bham! :smile:

If you want to talk to a current student at the open day I'm back in Bham and living near to campus - hope you enjoy the open day!

Reply 32

priyanka_84

Original post by erinls2

Hi, glad you're coming to look at Bham! :smile:

If you want to talk to a current student at the open day I'm back in Bham and living near to campus - hope you enjoy the open day!

Hi,
Do Birmingham read personal statements? Also, where else did you apply? And do you have any tips for the interview process and personal statement writing?

Any advice would help :smile:

Reply 33

Bobbyfloater

Original post by priyanka_84

Hi,
Do Birmingham read personal statements? Also, where else did you apply? And do you have any tips for the interview process and personal statement writing?

Any advice would help :smile:

They only check for relevent work experience and possibly evidence of other extra cuuriculars.
But mainly you need to score well above 8 in their calculator.