Should I resist GCSEs

So this is my second time applying for medicine, my GCSEs are 7777776666 and my Alevels in Bio Maths and Psych are AAA and i’m awaiting for chemistry this year. Last year my BMAT and UCAT scores were good but my GCSEs brought me down so badly as they’re not 9s or 8s. Should I retake them as it’s bringing down my entire application? (Also I’d like to mention I didn’t even sit them as I was the 2020 cohort so personally I know i could’ve done much better 🥸)

So this is my second time applying for medicine, my GCSEs are 7777776666 and my Alevels in Bio Maths and Psych are AAA and i’m awaiting for chemistry this year. Last year my BMAT and UCAT scores were good but my GCSEs brought me down so badly as they’re not 9s or 8s. Should I retake them as it’s bringing down my entire application? (Also I’d like to mention I didn’t even sit them as I was the 2020 cohort so personally I know i could’ve done much better 🥸)

*personally* i would say, don’t bother retaking. apply strategically. i definitely could be wrong but i know most schools dislike/refuse retakes for a levels so i assume they feel the same about gcses. may i ask where you applied in previous cycles?

that’s what i was thinking they don’t really like retakes. Last year I applied to BSMS, ARU (got interviews) and Leeds and UEA.

With Leeds I didn’t know they look at BMAT and GCSEs equally so too

it’s great that you got two interviews! i’m surprised you didn’t get uea also tbh. just apply more strategically, get good at interviews and get your offer remember it only takes one!

Thank you! I have more time to look around this year, however med schools keep really quiet about how much they look at GCSEs which is just an insanely important aspect of the application process 😭 it takes all of the London Unis out of my options.

If you have good UCAT and BMAT scores, then it suggests a lack of a strategic application, as your GCSEs will meet requirements for lots of med schools that rank purely on UCAT/BMAT eg BSMS, Lancaster, UEA, ARU, SGUL, Plymouth, Bristol, Newcastle, Liverpool, Southampton, Sheffield. Many med schools simply ask for minimum GCSE requirements, and do not look at them beyond that

If you were lacking chemistry in your AAA, with a good admissions test and assuming bio + another science A level, you still could have been interviewed at ARU, Newcastle, Plymouth, Sheffield, Sunderland, UEA, Lancaster, and Southampton.

Thank you! I have more time to look around this year, however med schools keep really quiet about how much they look at GCSEs which is just an insanely important aspect of the application process 😭 it takes all of the London Unis out of my options.

Yout GCSEs only take Kings out fo the equation for the London unis, but your current A level grades are an issue for all except SGUL, unless you have WP flags.
As I say, many med schools do not use GCSEs in shortlisting beyond minimum requirements - Imperial need a 6 in Eng Lang, UCL a 6 in Eng and maths, Barts 3 x 7s and 3 x 6s and SGUL 5 x 6s, just using your London med schools as examples. Oxbridge and Newcastle have no GCSE requirements at all and many others do not score them

sorry for repeating the same point but this has really gotten me down for the past year, but do you know if there’s a website that shows which unis don’t care about GCSEs (besides getting the minimum grades).

sorry for repeating the same point but this has really gotten me down for the past year, but do you know if there’s a website that shows which unis don’t care about GCSEs (besides getting the minimum grades).

I am not sure you need a website because GANFYD the med school admissions GOAT has told you !

I would still double check the admissions policies of the med schools when they come out. Not because I dont trust GANFYD implictly, but because they can be sneaky so and sos. One changed their process a day or two before cut off last year and loads had already applied on the basis of the old rules :-(.

Personal research across the ones suggested is needed. Always double check for yourself. You dont know how upto date the general websites are that clqim to collate thr information together. I came across a couple where thr information that they provided was just plain wrong. And there is no way to know.

I trust GANFYDs knowledge on it, but if it were my application I would want to be sure for myself and check each one. There is a good list to start with. I presume you have a spreadsheet going ?

I am not sure you need a website because GANFYD the med school admissions GOAT has told you !

I would still double check the admissions policies of the med schools when they come out. Not because I dont trust GANFYD implictly, but because they can be sneaky so and sos. One changed their process a day or two before cut off last year and loads had already applied on the basis of the old rules :-(.

Personal research across the ones suggested is needed. Always double check for yourself. You dont know how upto date the general websites are that clqim to collate thr information together. I came across a couple where thr information that they provided was just plain wrong. And there is no way to know.

I trust GANFYDs knowledge on it, but if it were my application I would want to be sure for myself and check each one. There is a good list to start with. I presume you have a spreadsheet going ?

Have a look at the first post here
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7312527

So this is my second time applying for medicine, my GCSEs are 7777776666 and my Alevels in Bio Maths and Psych are AAA and i’m awaiting for chemistry this year. Last year my BMAT and UCAT scores were good but my GCSEs brought me down so badly as they’re not 9s or 8s. Should I retake them as it’s bringing down my entire application? (Also I’d like to mention I didn’t even sit them as I was the 2020 cohort so personally I know i could’ve done much better 🥸)