Resitting A-Levels

To anyone who’s missed out, here are some possible things you can look at doing:

If you’ve missed out on grades you could resit or look at a different course. If you still don’t meet the requirements for those see if they offer a foundation or gateway year etc. and maybe apply to that. After the first degree you can look at Graduate Medicine but remember this is even more competitive than undergraduate and your UCAT score is even more important for that. So if you do want to become a Doctor the recommendation would be to take a gap year and reapply for Medicine instead of doing BioMed etc. Or you might decide Medicine isn’t for you entirely and switch to something completely different.

If you don’t fancy doing A levels again have a look at separate equivalent qualifications such as Access to HE diploma which is a one year course at a further education college and although works on a Distinction/Pass/Merit system, still serves as an A level equivalent - need to be at least 19 to start but lots of Unis accepts these (including Oxford). I know of people who don’t have any A levels but have got on to undergraduate Medicine via this qualification.

If you’ve got the grades but the aptitude test has let you down then you can work on doing the tests again and raising scores (remember BMAT going into its last year now).

If you don’t want to do any aptitude tests and/or also not sure if you want to go Uni (maybe due to financial burden) you can look at the Medicine Doctor Degree Apprenticeship starting in September 2024 - it’s a 5 year apprenticeship and you are actually paid to train as a Doctor! There are no tuition fees whatsoever and you still come out with an MBBS degree. They’ve delayed it for two years now but after the recent NHS reform plan set out by the Prime Minister I think they are most likely going to start in September 2024 and not delay another year. They’re at stage 4 now and need to be at stage 6 I think before they can deliver.

EDIT: Some people are unsure about the apprenticeship so I have posted all the relevant links below:

https://www.instituteforapprenticesh...or-degree-v1-0

https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/tale...apprenticeship

https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/202...-need-to-know/

https://haso.skillsforhealth.org.uk/Doctor+Degree&lvl=all&sec=all#overview-22949-label

^Have a look at the last one it tells you what stage the apprenticeship is at before it can be delivered and also has a resource pack and FAQ which you should read.

Also when it does come time to apply in around Summer 2024 - you have to apply either by the Find an Apprenticeship website or the NHS jobs website. Links for these are below:

https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate

Hope this helps and shows that it definitely isn’t impossible to get onto Med!

I was planning on taking a gap year, regardless of how results day went because I only had 1 interview in the last application process and was rejected post-interview. Results didn't exactly go as planned and although I was predicted A*A*A, I only got ABC. So, now I'm planning to resit Biology and Chemistry next summer and also redo the UCAT in September. If I were to reapply and try get a good UCAT, would KCL be a good option or will the fact that I'm resitting put me at a greater disadvantage than they let on? I don't want to waste any of the limited spots I have to apply and only want to put places where I have a good shot. My GCSES for reference are one 9, seven 8s and two 7s. I may be eligible for Widening Participation but have not formally gotten any Doctor's notes or diagnosis to prove it, but am in the process to. My other options are Southhampton, Bristol, Edge Hill. I am also considering other courses, such as Medical Bioscience at Imperial as they said they do not have any requirements on resits.
I'd appreciate any advice on which route to take.