Gcses, a levels, uni

- I'm not too sure about the specific dates but June/July would be a good estimate for your calculated grades and September-November would be my best estimate for taking the exams

-For Medicine, especially for Cambridge, you want to get the highest grades you can so you can make your application competitive as you can for such a competitive course and uni. Defo resit and you can focus on getting the best a levels as you can in yr 12 and yr 13.

-You should go over GCSE content and strengthen it as much as you can for resitting and I really recommend it even if I didn't suggest resitting because it will come in handy for preparing for your A-levels and you will have the best start you can with this.

-Yes you should plan your EPQ and your topic so it's much easier for you but record anything you did for it. However, I suggest you research the whole EPQ process and what you need to do before you start. Do you know what examboard both sixth forms are doing it on?

Thank you so so much that was so helpful!
-So If resits were to be taken place in September-november would we have attended our Sixth form in that time? If we do then wouldnt it be better to just have my full attention on my first year of a level rather than Missing about 2 months just to resit my subjects when i could be getting familiar with a level and all the hard content.
My second option of uni i would like to go to If i didnt get into Cambridge would be University Of Birmingham and im not sure If they highly focus on Gcses because i did have a look at their entry requirement and it was just the usual maths, science and English to be at a grade 6 or higher But other people in different threads have Said that uni of birmingham use 5 core subjects (English Lit, English Lan, Maths and 2 sciences) + 2 other subjects to work out a score so it doesnt make any sense.
- and as You Said, i need to make my application competitive so i should resit however they have No requirements at all for gcses. To make my application stand out from the rest Im going to be doing a lot of volunteering work etc.
- yh ofcourse! I have been looking at the process and everything that needs to be done for it. Both sixth forms exam boards for it are AQA.
Thank you so much for you’re help!!

- hopefully the tests will be taken as soon as you can when school reopens. If you already have a place at sixth form, you can focus on AS content when you enter first year; you don’t need to miss 2 months to focus on your resits since you’ve already focused on GCSE content from your times in yr 10 + yr 11 + quarantine. Normally for any uni, you need 5 in 4-9; for more selective unis like Birmingham probably look at your GCSEs (maybe not so much but maybe because you are applying to medicine) so it’s ideal to have the highest grades you can. Yes they do that and maybe look at this to help you understand it better: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/medical-school/applying-to-medicine/selection-for-interview.aspx
- But medicine is a competitive course and academic will obviously important in their admissions process and you really want the best chance you want for any uni. Let’s take Birmingham for example:
”Applications will receive an overall score, which is the sum of weighted scores for each of the academic and UCAT components.
The weightings will be: 60% academic and 40% UCAT
The academic score is calculated from GCSE results, not predicted or achieved A level grades. The UCAT score component is based on the total score from the four subtests
We will not score your personal statement, but you must offer evidence of commitment to medicine
Although your volunteering work will be important, I view that significant in the interview process but you still need to get the interview in the first place, if you understand what I’m saying.
- That’s good. I recommend this course to anyone starting an epq: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/epq-success (however this may be revision of what you already know)