Medicine at University of Birmingham or Aston University

For medicine, more than any other subject, there really is no concept of "good" vs "bad" medical schools. The requirements medical schools need to meet to achieve accreditation from the GMC are so high that all medical schools will be "good", at worst. Also no matter which medical school you do your medical degree at, you'll get a foundation post somewhere at the end providing you don't fail. My impression is, however, that generally fail out rates for medicine are extremely low.

The main barrier to entry for medicine is admissions to the degree in the first place; medical schools in the UK don't follow the model that some European medical schools do where they accept most people but know only a handful will pass the degree in the end. In the UK medical schools take the people they think are most likely to get through medical school and ultimately enter the profession - and given how much it costs the NHS to educate a medical student, it wouldn't make sense financially for them to take people they know aren't going to make it. Medicine is not a course that makes money for the NHS or the university, at least in the short to medium term - the NHS gets it's moneys worth over the long term from the person completing the course and serving their career out in the NHS.

@ecolier might be able to advise a bit more.

Uob is a Russel group and has a higher status but I don't think that matters for medicine. Aston has just started medicine though so idk how good the teaching will be.
However, Aston gives all medicine students an ipad when they start.

Thank you so much for your reply!
I was really worried about being forced to drop out but this has put my mind at ease and I’m sure more students will see this and feel the same.

I know all medical schools are ‘good’ and I do like both of the universities for different reasons but I never thought I would have more than one offer so I didn’t anticipate how I would decide.

I have offers for both UoB and Aston and I am just wondering if anyone has any pros or cons for each university (for medicine specifically and the university as a whole ie the atmosphere) that I may have not thought of.

Will the course be harder in one university compared to the other? Will there be a decreased chance of being asked to leave the course if you don’t make a grade in one university compared to the other?

I have heard lots of horror stories of being asked to leave the course if you fail even one exam.

For reference, these are the pros and cons I have already listed: (I wouldn’t mind more info though)

Location
Competition of finding accommodation
Friendliness and ‘approachness’ Of staff
Price of accommodation
UoB is more ‘established’

I have the exact same problem too! I like UoB but i couldn’t really see myself there. But aston is so friendly and dedicated it felt like they were so much more enthusiastic. Let me know if you want to talk about it!

Update- I firmed aston last week

Update- I firmed aston last week