Access to Medicine success?

I would like to study an Access to Medicine for September 2023/24 entry. After emailing the individual universities about their entry requirements, I have received a positive response from them saying they would consider me as long as I achieve all distinctions in all level 3 graded units. Plus meeting the GCSE requirements, UCAT, work experience and personal statement. Do I have a realistic chance of receiving an interview or offer?

I have worked in a care home before for the elderly, volunteer in a hospital ward and worked in a pharmacy and volunteered at a charity shop for about a year.

Additionally, do they accept distance learning Access to Medicine courses. I believe Leicester does but I've heard they are quite GCSE heavy and don't accept A level/GCSE resits. I understand that I have to apply strategically due to the competitive nature of the course, however I also suffer from mental health issues and I am the first in my family to go uni so would I be eligible for a contextual offer.

I've narrowed it down to these unis who favour Access students;
Bristol
Keele
Exeter
Newcastle
St Georges
Manchester
Hull York

Sorry for the lengthy post but I would appreciate any help or advice from people who have been in a similar situation and encourage you to share your experiences. Thank you in advance.

I say definitely apply! I'm the Access Leicester: Medicine course and it's a fantastic opportunity that has tons of great benefits. I didn't need to give details of any previous work experience for my application and only had 1 widening participation criteria but it was enough to get me in, and there's no harm in applying. Being the first in your family to go to uni is one of the WP criteria, so definitely give it a go.

I'm not entirely sure whether you're asking about applying to the Access course and whether that'll give you an interview/offer because that depends (at least in Leicester) on if you finish the requirements for the course, and you'd only be accepted to the course if the rest of your requirements (GCSE results etc) match up.

I hope this helps, I'm okay to answer any other questions! Wishing you the best of luck <3

-August

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Thank you for your response. If you don't mind me asking, did you do your access course through distance learning or at a FE College. I've got a high UCAT score and got band 1 in the Situation Judgement. Will this work in my favour give me an advantage?. Also, do they accept distance learning Access to medicine courses or am I just wasting my time? Where else have you applied?

(Sorry for the late reply, I had a crazy night and a biology exam in the morning)

Can I just clarify, are you starting university 2023/2024? Because if you are, I believe its too late to apply to an Access course, at least any that are similar in structure to Leicester's. You need to be within an hour of Leicester to be eligible and I think there are some online parts that will enable you to meet the requirements but it is encouraged to come on site. I only applied for Leicester, because I plan on going to uni here.

My programme is 18 months long, and I'm in Year 12 right now, so it'll finish before I start uni, and will do the UCAT after it. Forgive me if I'm reading your post wrong but if this is the sort of thing you're looking at and you're starting uni this year, I don't think there's any point doing it.

Has anyone received an interview or offer for Medicine after completing an Access course? Any help would be very much appreciated.

I am on an access to medicine course and have received three interviews (Plymouth, Bristol, BSMS). What would you like to know?

Thank you for replying. Are there any medical schools that encourage mature students to apply with Access courses? Also, what are your stats?

Thank you for replying. Are there any medical schools that encourage mature students to apply with Access courses? Also, what are your stats?

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Do you have any further questions?

Hi, I'm a mature student (28) and I just got accepted on the Access to Medicine course at The Manchester College.

If anyone has any experience with this course and applying for Medicine at university I would love to hear your experience.

I've been doing a bit of digging to see which medical schools will accept the Access to HE Diploma from the Manchester College. I'm still waiting for some confirmation back from some emails and will update as and when I get feedback.

I'm also resitting my GCSE Maths and English at a local college alongside my access course. Take as a general guide that 45 credits at distinction are required, that way you won't go wrong!

I have worked in a care home before for the elderly, volunteer in a hospital ward and charity shop for about a year and worked in a pharmacy.

I understand that I have to apply strategically due to the competitive nature of the course, however I am the first in my family to go university so would I come under widening participation? Bristol offers a guaranteed interview/offer to Access to HE students on the condition that they are on track to meet all the entry requirements.

UCAT Medical Schools

University of Manchester - A106 - 5 years
Accepted

University of Bristol - 5 years - A100
Accepted, 30 credits at distinction including 9 Chem 9 Bio/Physics and 15 at Merit

Keele - 5 years - A100
Accepted

Exeter - 5 years- A100
Accepted

St Georges - 5 years - A100
Accepted

Newcastle University - 5 years - A100
Accepted, 45 credits at distinction

BSMS - 5 years - A100
Accepted

Hull York Medical School
Leicester added to the list

Sorry for the lengthy post but I would appreciate any help or advice from people who have been in a similar situation. Thank you in advance.

Interested if anyone else is doing an Access course and where? I've done my personal statement and currently volunteer in a hospital having also worked in a pharmacy and care home for the elderly. I'm going to arrange more work experience in the coming months. Probably will resit my GCSE'S in Maths and English (required at grade B) before I enrol on the access course. I have been revising for UCAT and scored 800 band 1 on Medic Portal. I also have a back up plan in case I don't get in.

Thank you for replying. Are there any medical schools that encourage mature students to apply with Access courses? Also, what are your stats?

Bristol really like access students and do a lot to encourage them. I am doing an access course in science currently but will be going into veterinary medicine. I received an offer from Bristol in just 3 days (they don’t require an interview for veterinary) whereas I know people still waiting 3+months later

Bristol ran a guaranteed interview scheme for access course student applying to med.

I’ve heard about this. They do something similar for vet med where they ‘guarantee’ you an offer if you do access but there’s loads of conditions like must have ‘satisfactory’ reference/SAQ, be on target to meet requirements so it’s not really a guarantee more like a kind of contextual criteria as access offers are always at contextual level for Bristol