How lenient are Cardiff University in entry requirements?

Just wondering if it's worth me even attempting to apply. At the start of the year, I was super interested in their biomedical science course, especially with the placement year (AAB requirements). I've been wanting to try for the STP and thought getting into a better university would probably give me better chances, but in general I like the look of the course and the postgraduate options there after.

The thing is, this year has been awful for me. I have special consideration, and I think my reasons are very much valid, but since it's a Russell group, I'm not sure they'll care much about that. My target grades were all As, but now I'm not sure they'll even reach Bs. I was insanely ill during the unit 1 exams. I'm definitely resitting next year, but with applications not too far away, I'm feeling quite insecure.

My GCSEs were great, most of them being A*s, but I'm not sure they really care about them. Besides that, the only things I think might help me out is the fact that I think I'll do decently in biology, and I have been taking part in a lot of super-curricular stuff. I got a 2:1 in the Seren Award, am taking part in Sutton Trust, in general have been doing a lot of further reading and stuff, so I was wondering if I really went hard with a personal statement, would that improve my chances?

Due to my personal circumstances, especially within the past year, I really, really want to do something in the medical science field. My Mum very recently passed away, and seeing the incapability of the hospital to figure out what was wrong impacted me quite a bit. I really want to do something in this area. I know I can do healthcare sciences in Cardiff Met, and get into the NHS as a biomedical scientist, but I really want to eventually do the STP, and I'm not sure I have a chance anymore.

I'm quite worried on not getting a place anywhere at all though. I have no idea how I've done. I missed one exam completely due to being ill (annoyingly a subject I was quite confident in), and I'm not even sure how that grade will be estimated. My grade could be pulled down quite a bit.

Reply 1

luna676

12

Sorry to hear you've been through a hard time, hope next year is better,
If you did want to resit, then some unis will accept resits but it is best to check if Cardiff will accept you for biomedical sciences, you can check their website or contact them,
I don't know what ur grades are but if you were predicted ABB and wanted to apply to an AAB course id say you should give it a shot because I've heard of people getting offers to courses that are one or sometimes 2 grades higher than their predicted, but nothing under BBC because the biomedical sciences course at Cardiff is also a GEM route for medicine and can be quite competitive as there are not many courses you can do and be eligible for GEM at Cardiff. however, it's best to find out how the uni would deal with special consideration of applicants by calling or emailing or checking their website for more info.
id say talk to someone (maybe a career advisor at school or someone who knows a lot about ucas/uni) and weigh up the pros and cons of each optional next step,
Don't forget there is always clearing, if I were you I would look into all possible options so you can plan around whatever happens,
You don't have to listen to anything I say of course and please don't think I am pushing you into a decision but to have mostly A*s at GCSE sounds like you are very intelligent and are capable of doing better, it seems you have good motivation to do STP so I don't think these poor grades reflect your potential and you might have better opportunities if you resat, however doing a-levels again is very stressful and so I would understand if you wanted to move onto the next thing,
All the best!

- I also study at Cardiff uni so feel free to ask me anything

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

OP

Original post by luna676

Sorry to hear you've been through a hard time, hope next year is better,
If you did want to resit, then some unis will accept resits but it is best to check if Cardiff will accept you for biomedical sciences, you can check their website or contact them,
I don't know what ur grades are but if you were predicted ABB and wanted to apply to an AAB course id say you should give it a shot because I've heard of people getting offers to courses that are one or sometimes 2 grades higher than their predicted, but nothing under BBC because the biomedical sciences course at Cardiff is also a GEM route for medicine and can be quite competitive as there are not many courses you can do and be eligible for GEM at Cardiff. however, it's best to find out how the uni would deal with special consideration of applicants by calling or emailing or checking their website for more info.
id say talk to someone (maybe a career advisor at school or someone who knows a lot about ucas/uni) and weigh up the pros and cons of each optional next step,
Don't forget there is always clearing, if I were you I would look into all possible options so you can plan around whatever happens,
You don't have to listen to anything I say of course and please don't think I am pushing you into a decision but to have mostly A*s at GCSE sounds like you are very intelligent and are capable of doing better, it seems you have good motivation to do STP so I don't think these poor grades reflect your potential and you might have better opportunities if you resat, however doing a-levels again is very stressful and so I would understand if you wanted to move onto the next thing,
All the best!

- I also study at Cardiff uni so feel free to ask me anything

Thank you so much :frown:

I'm Welsh and mainly looking at Welsh universities because of better student finance, and options feel kind of limited, especially because I wanted to aim for a city because my anxiety seems to cope better where I can blend in. It feels a bit like the end of the world at the moment.

I already have an A in AS biology, also a B in geography and a C in chemistry, from last year. I had to move colleges though, and those courses weren't available so ended up picking up psychology and english.

I missed unit 1 of psychology because I could not keep anything down and the college advised it would be best I didn't come in, and whilst I have a sick note, I'm not sure how the grade will be estimated. I believe I did okay on unit 2, though. For english, I had already found it to be quite difficult for me because I'm more into the objectivity of science subjects, so I worked super hard on improving and things were finally looking up, but it's a bit difficult to channel all of that to write top-band and creative essays when being so ill and it being so unnatural. I really did catch a superbug. I think I performed a lot better on the unit 2 paper again, after a whole round of antibiotics, but my unit 1 grade I believe will probably be poor. At best, my UMS will be around half (full marks of one unit), which is a C.

I was wondering if it was possible for me to pick up chemistry again, maybe resit my previous grade, because the course should be available next year apparently, but I'm not sure if WJEC allows that. I had another very sudden (screw pancreatic cancer) death, my grandfather, right in the middle of exam season then, and chemistry ended up bearing the brunt of it, with me putting the little time I had inbetween spending his last moments with him to focus on my best subjects, biology and geography. I would pick up geography again if I could too, but my college doesn't seem to offer the course full-stop. I've thought about private entry, and have been thinking maybe I could do it at another school (my college does that for some subjects?) but again not sure if it's even possible. I definitely don't want to drop psychology. I'm not sure what my grade will be this year, but my target was an A, and I'm more natural at it than english. I believe if I had managed to do unit 1, I would've gotten at least a B. If it estimates from my Christmas mocks, which happened right after my Mum's passing, I'm not confident in it at all. Maybe also a C. I think there's another way of estimation using standard deviation comparing one unit of results to the general trend of everyone else, which offers more hope, but either way, I think I'm definitely resitting it.

I'm just super frustrated. Everything seems to have attacked me at once within these past two years. I don't really have much family, so really want to feel secure, with good job prospects, in something I'm passionate in. I do think, if there's something positive that has came out of all this, that my resilience is a lot stronger. I don't think things can get much worse than a parent passing away. I want to slap the 2022 exam season me, because whilst it was an immediate family member, it was nothing compared to my Mum. Now I'm in a bit of a mess, with two years of odd grades, and I'm just not very sure how to fix it. Biology has really been my saving grace, though.

I know Cardiff Met offers an IBMS-accredited biomedical science and HCPC-accredited healthcare science courses, which could both (?) help me get into the NHS as a biomedical scientist, so I'm definitely applying for either of them, but just really frustrated because I really, really wanted to try for the STP, and I'm not sure I have a chance coming from Cardiff Met. I've heard that due to it being so competitive, they prefer renowned universities, usually with postgraduate study. I'm not too sure on how postgraduate study is in the Met. Things aren't really looking too promising :frown:

Reply 3

Anonymous #2

Quite lenient i would say in terms of getting an offer, i achieved DDEE in year 12 and was predicted BBBD during the Ucas deadline month and yet somehow i got offered into the university at AAB, although i achieved the requirements i have been told by quite a few friends that they were accepted with grade requirements as low as 2 grades, but then again it depends on thr popularity of the course so it can vary, but in all fairness i would say they are lenient with candidates especially those who live in the city

How lenient are Cardiff University in entry requirements?

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