Which medical school should I apply to

Would appreciate advice for daughter please. Has attended open days and wanted to apply to Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff and Oxford. Now will need to rethink Bristol as under last years cut off and I’m now worried about Cardiff having had a quick read here. We live North West and she wants to go South but not London. What would you recommend please?

GCSES
Eng 9
Eng Lit 9
Maths 9
Biology 9
Chemistry 9
Physics 9
Music 9
DT 9
French 8
History 8

A level predictions
Biology A*
Chemistry A*
Maths A*

UCAT
VR 690
DM 830
QR 730
AR 650
TOTAL 2,900. SJT Band 2.

Work experience
1 week theatres/icu acute hospital
1 week GP practice
1 year patient support worker (volunteer) hospice inpatient unit.
Several online work experiences (unsure exactly what)
10 months hospitality (local pub)

Has completed 2 research projects at college:
Opioid receptors
Unsure of other.

Suggest posting here https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7312527&p=98736464&page=18#post98736464 for further comments. But agree Southampton looks good option. Exeter would be also with those predicted grades and ucat. Birmingham (midlands?!) - would hope ok - but check if eligible for any contextual points (will be if attended virtually any state school - see website) as should definitely be okay to interview if so (otherwise may still be ok but would think some element of risk as may not be in their top ucat decile so may not score max non contextual points. 8.1 on their scoring was needed last year and that's about where she would be if no contextual points and not in their top ucat decile). Certain to interview at plymouth (or aru) but then v competitive.

Would not have interviewed at Bristol last year but close - would view as risk. Cardiff seems not very transparent - should be fine but they use personal statement and discriminate depending on whether Welsh or not. I think I might be minded to just include one of bristol and cardiff, if any, depending on risk attitude and how much she likes them.

If venturing out of south, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle would be good possibilities. Uea carry the ucat score across post interview so would be good chance of offer here.

No need to risk the bmat or spend time and energy on it (that could be spent on a levels and interview practice) unless you really want to. If doing bmat then would suggest making sure other 3 are very much safe to interview. Otherwise if bmat doesn't work out and you only have two interviews from rest, there would be more pressure on those. (Note - would ignore school if there is pressure from there to apply for Oxbridge and she isn't so sure.)

She sounds like she will do great anyway and good luck!

Thank you, I’ve just figured how to post in the mega thread. Oxford is her No 1 choice and is where she has wanted to go since she knew about university. We know that it is likely a pipe dream but she will almost certainly perform better in BMAT than UCAT. Why do you think that she might not be Birmingham top UCAT decile? How far off do you think she is? Birmingham is very much her favourite UCAT uni. I can’t find any contextual data but she attended a state school and is attending a state sixth form college.

It sounds like she will be suited for bmat but it is an unknown when applying. It sounds like she may regret it if she doesn't try.

On Birmingham they used to publish a list of schools but looks like they now just set out criteria - see use of contextual section here https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/medical-school/applying-to-medicine/entry-requirements-five-year-programme.aspx . As 90% of state schools are included it is highly likely that one of her two would count (think it will be selective grammar school etc that arent). The contextual score then depends on your postcode. On the deciles they use their own deciles and not the national statistics. There will be a selective effect as those on lower ucat scores are less likely to apply at all and those with higher ones are more likely to apply to. They used to publish their own deciles (@ganfyd will have details) and I understand this backed this up. So whilst 2900 might end up in the 10th decile nationally it seems quite possible it will be 9th for Brum and so score 3.6 rather than 4 on ucat https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/medical-school/applying-to-medicine/selection-for-interview.aspx . She would score 4.5 on gcses but a lot will, particularly as they score 8s and 9s the same. So that means either 8.5 or 8.056 without contextual points, with the lower being very much in the cusp last year (understand cut off was around 8.1). But with any contextual points would be comfortable. Sorry for detailed reply! But unfortunately the whole application process in complex

@GANFYD tag as source of comments I have read in past on brum deciles

Would appreciate advice for daughter please. Has attended open days and wanted to apply to Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff and Oxford. Now will need to rethink Bristol as under last years cut off and I’m now worried about Cardiff having had a quick read here. We live North West and she wants to go South but not London. What would you recommend please?

GCSES
Eng 9
Eng Lit 9
Maths 9
Biology 9
Chemistry 9
Physics 9
Music 9
DT 9
French 8
History 8

A level predictions
Biology A*
Chemistry A*
Maths A*

UCAT
VR 690
DM 830
QR 730
AR 650
TOTAL 2,900. SJT Band 2.

Work experience
1 week theatres/icu acute hospital
1 week GP practice
1 year patient support worker (volunteer) hospice inpatient unit.
Several online work experiences (unsure exactly what)
10 months hospitality (local pub)

Has completed 2 research projects at college:
Opioid receptors
Unsure of other.