EPQ for medicine

Never just listen to what your school says; do your own research. There are so many students whose prospects of entering a medical degree were ruined from the getgo because of teachers talking about admissions criteria they, in reality, know very little about. You 100% do not need to take EPQ to study medicine; it will be very unlikely (less than 5% chance) that it will influence any offers you would get from medical schools. All medical schools have set criteria to fulfill: for example, UCAT-heavy universities set cut-offs (e.g usually only top 30% get an interview at KCL and Manchester), GCSE-heavy universities require several A*/ 8s and 9s (this applies to KCL, as well as Cardiff), and most universities require a mixture of different emphasies which you need to find out about, and then tailor your application to, once you know.

The vast majority of medical schools nowadays want students to have good GCSE passes in a range of subjects, high A-Level predictions in 3 subjects; two science and one other subject (at least AAA or A*AA) and a good entrance score examination, alongside a decent personal statement. EPQ is just an addition to that, which can be evidence of your academic ability since it is a stand-alone qualification. As long as you can meet the minimum entry requirements, that is all that matters. For elite universities like Oxbridge, 4 A-Levels can make you stand out because it is not uncommon for students to take 4 A-levels for that reason. But is it not necessary; A*A*A* is better than A*ABB and the former would meet the minimum requirements of all medical schools in the U.K., whereas the latter does not, since many medical schools do not equate A*AB with AAA.

Don't think they'll care about EPQ. Why are you doing further maths if you know you want to do medicine? not much point

my school is telling me its beneficial to take an epq and unis like that. but most people I have talked to who have done an epq say different. I'm taking furthermaths because I really like maths and believe it or not it's kind of a break for me from bio and chem

fair enough. I would say the EPQ is more important than a 4th A level if you want to do medicine. If you are 100% sure you want to medicine I would really say don't bother with FM as it's way more important you get AAA or above rather than spreading yourself too thin. Further maths is good though if you might go into something else like maths or economics.

Further maths actually correlates with good UCAT and BMAT scores more than any other subject - 6% higher score in UCAT and 13% in BMAT. Impossible to say that's causative though.

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6035254

I also really enjoyed my f.maths class. It definitely makes it easy to get a good mark in 'normal' maths too.

Further maths actually correlates with good UCAT and BMAT scores more than any other subject - 6% higher score in UCAT and 13% in BMAT. Impossible to say that's causative though.

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6035254

I also really enjoyed my f.maths class. It definitely makes it easy to get a good mark in 'normal' maths too.

I understand that, but my gut is telling en to stick to further maths. and i think I'm not gonna do an epq. perhaps I'm subconsciously trying to keep my options open?? but if it all gets a bit to much I will definitely drop furthermaths

thanks, that's great to know since I'm quite nervous about the UK at and bmat..
did you do either? and when did you start revising?

I understand that, but my gut is telling en to stick to further maths. and i think I'm not gonna do an epq. perhaps I'm subconsciously trying to keep my options open?? but if it all gets a bit to much I will definitely drop furthermaths

ok that's cool then. No problem in trying further maths for a few months, that's what I did. In the end I'm glad I dropped it though because my A*A*A would probably have ended up as like AABB or something

I did both. I Probably did about 2 weeks UKCAT prep and basically did nothing for the BMAT. They're such important tests though that I'd advise not following my example. The UCAT in particular has some weird parts to it that definitely benefits from preparation.

A wise choice. Further maths will help you with maths anyway but bear in mind that there are exceptional students who struggle to take both because of the difficulty and workload. Do not overload yourself unnecessarily, and do not be afraid to ask for help, at your school or on here!

I am not sure if I can handle it I am doing maths further math bio and chem and thoses are pretty heavy a levels. and I dont want the epq to effect my grades in those. did you find a epq took time away from your alevel studies?

I wouldn’t say it took time away from my a-levels but I can definitely say that I had to make time for it. I personally wouldn’t if I had 4 alevels that are very hard (if not the hardest). I would say just focus on getting the grades.