The Student Room Group

Are these GCSES achievable?

If I start Now/Sep Can I go from
English- 4 to 7
Maths - 4(foundation) - 6/7 (higher)
Double Science - 2-3 - to 6-7
Human Biology- 7 or 8

Can doing these GCSEs be achievable from now until June?
Anyone got anymore GCSE ideas to give me more GCSEs for med?
Please let me know what resources to use and how to achieve:smile:
Do med schools care for extra time?
(edited 8 months ago)
Reply 1
defo doable - are these the only gcses you are taking? because for med i believe you need 6/7 gcses? could be wrong tho
tell us your exam boards and we may be able to give you more suitable advice

for maths, i used maths genie. it sorts out all the questions based on what grade you want so i think this may be helpful for you so that you can see what grade you're working at. i just repeated these questions again and again until they stuck in my head

for science, i used cognito. this was probably the thing that enabled me to do as well as i did in my exams. it sorts ppqs by topic and difficulty. i also used flashcards which i made based on the content from the website physics and maths tutor, cgp revision guides and past paper questions i didnt get full marks on (question on one side and mark scheme on the other - this helps finetune the language you use in your exams so that you can pick up all the marks off the mark schemes).

for english, i used a youtube channel called first rate tutors which helped me SO MUCH. the woman is an absolute legend and ik she has stuff for other exam boards too. i would also reccomend lithcharts for any novels you are currently studying. i didnt use it at gcse but i wish i did as im using it for a level and its amazing. decent analysis and great summaries for the texts with notes on themes. course hero is also really good at summarising novels and helping your understanding of the plot. also, really utilise your teachers. do ppqs and kindly ask them to mark it for you. usually, theyre more than willing to help.

as far as my knowledge goes, med schools do take into account extra time and any other extenuating circumstances/additional arrangements. again, someone correct me if im wrong
Original post by TazmeenX
defo doable - are these the only gcses you are taking? because for med i believe you need 6/7 gcses? could be wrong tho
tell us your exam boards and we may be able to give you more suitable advice

for maths, i used maths genie. it sorts out all the questions based on what grade you want so i think this may be helpful for you so that you can see what grade you're working at. i just repeated these questions again and again until they stuck in my head

for science, i used cognito. this was probably the thing that enabled me to do as well as i did in my exams. it sorts ppqs by topic and difficulty. i also used flashcards which i made based on the content from the website physics and maths tutor, cgp revision guides and past paper questions i didnt get full marks on (question on one side and mark scheme on the other - this helps finetune the language you use in your exams so that you can pick up all the marks off the mark schemes).

for english, i used a youtube channel called first rate tutors which helped me SO MUCH. the woman is an absolute legend and ik she has stuff for other exam boards too. i would also reccomend lithcharts for any novels you are currently studying. i didnt use it at gcse but i wish i did as im using it for a level and its amazing. decent analysis and great summaries for the texts with notes on themes. course hero is also really good at summarising novels and helping your understanding of the plot. also, really utilise your teachers. do ppqs and kindly ask them to mark it for you. usually, theyre more than willing to help.

as far as my knowledge goes, med schools do take into account extra time and any other extenuating circumstances/additional arrangements. again, someone correct me if im wrong

Yeah, I could study more GCSEs but unsure on what ones to do. Is being 19 too old for GCSEs? I’m worried if med schools will automatically reject me but I can’t help my mental health issues in the past I guess.
All I can do is try. For English it would be AQA and for Maths I did AQA for foundation but I don’t know what exam board to do for maths higher. What would you recommend?
For science, I will be choosing IGCSEs so I don’t have to do the practicals or would you recommend me doing GCSEs and doing the practicals because Med may require me to?
If so, AQA again or whatever exam board is better for higher as I did AQA foundation. I may do double or triple. Would you say Triple is better?
I’d be new to maths as well as I haven’t studied maths in years! I hope it’s achievable 🤣.
Thank you so much for the resources!!
I need to get diagnosed with Autism, ADHD and possibly dyslexia as I struggle so much with paying attention especially in English. I don’t mind the regular time for maths and science though. It’s just needed for me to read huge texts. But if that does affect my application, I will just practice and practice but I don’t think I’ll be able to achieve the grades if so but I’ll try my best!
Reply 3
Original post by futuremedgirl
Yeah, I could study more GCSEs but unsure on what ones to do. Is being 19 too old for GCSEs? I’m worried if med schools will automatically reject me but I can’t help my mental health issues in the past I guess.
All I can do is try. For English it would be AQA and for Maths I did AQA for foundation but I don’t know what exam board to do for maths higher. What would you recommend?
For science, I will be choosing IGCSEs so I don’t have to do the practicals or would you recommend me doing GCSEs and doing the practicals because Med may require me to?
If so, AQA again or whatever exam board is better for higher as I did AQA foundation. I may do double or triple. Would you say Triple is better?
I’d be new to maths as well as I haven’t studied maths in years! I hope it’s achievable 🤣.
Thank you so much for the resources!!
I need to get diagnosed with Autism, ADHD and possibly dyslexia as I struggle so much with paying attention especially in English. I don’t mind the regular time for maths and science though. It’s just needed for me to read huge texts. But if that does affect my application, I will just practice and practice but I don’t think I’ll be able to achieve the grades if so but I’ll try my best!


maybe you could do a humanity like religious studies or geography? i know you just said you its harder for you to read longer texts but these tend to be useful for essay writing and also just to have a well rounded application. perhaps you could do art/textiles or some other practical gcses?

definitely get a diagnosis for these difficulties as then you will really be able to milk them all when it comes to mitigating circumstances. there are also some uni summer schools you could try get into which offer guaranteed interviews/grade reductions. not sure if they'll let you on because you are 19 and if you do decide to do a levels, you'll be 20/21 so have a look and email in to clarify. if you have other widening participation flags eg living in an area of low progression to HE or FSM/16-19 bursary, they'll be more inclined to let you on. this applies to uni and mitigating circumstances too but you have got the whole shebang going on so i dont think you will need anything else

for maths, i did igcse edexcel and it is on the more difficult side but you get calculators in both papers so thats nice! the questions arent too wordy either because i believe the papers are aimed at international students lol. dw, you'll get the hang of maths once you get into it - if you need any help at all with any questions lmk because i do maths a level.

for science, i'd do triple but check with med schools whether they actually care. i dont think they care whether you do igcse science either but again, just check w the med schools you're thinking of applying to. perhaps drop a list of the ones you're liking the look of and i can take a look for you?
(edited 8 months ago)
Original post by TazmeenX
maybe you could do a humanity like religious studies or geography? i know you just said you its harder for you to read longer texts but these tend to be useful for essay writing and also just to have a well rounded application. perhaps you could do art/textiles or some other practical gcses?

definitely get a diagnosis for these difficulties as then you will really be able to milk them all when it comes to mitigating circumstances. there are also some uni summer schools you could try get into which offer guaranteed interviews/grade reductions. not sure if they'll let you on because you are 19 and if you do decide to do a levels, you'll be 20/21 so have a look and email in to clarify. if you have other widening participation flags eg living in an area of low progression to HE or FSM/16-19 bursary, they'll be more inclined to let you on. this applies to uni and mitigating circumstances too but you have got the whole shebang going on so i dont think you will need anything else

for maths, i did igcse edexcel and it is on the more difficult side but you get calculators in both papers so thats nice! the questions arent too wordy either because i believe the papers are aimed at international students lol. dw, you'll get the hang of maths once you get into it - if you need any help at all with any questions lmk because i do maths a level.

for science, i'd do triple but check with med schools whether they actually care. i dont think they care whether you do igcse science either but again, just check w the med schools you're thinking of applying to. perhaps drop a list of the ones you're liking the look of and i can take a look for you?

Thanks!! I will probably like religious studies more :smile: so I’ll give that a go. I may try sociology too or something as that looks very interesting and something I could do well in. Do they both sound good or is sociology not ideal?

Yeah, I’ll try go private maybe because my dr surgery doesn’t help me at all. And it will be faster too. I probably will do a-levels and will be very old. But I can’t wait to surprise my family as they have no faith in me whatsoever. But it’ll keep me busy as my boyfriend is going to uni this september so then I won’t be distracted as such. My area is a great place so I don’t think I’ll get anything from that hopefully my other issues are enough…

Did you do the maths IGCSE at school? That’s nice they both have calculators!! Thanks, I’ll make sure to ask for help :smile:

I’ll probably do triple if IGCSE do them as it’s an extra GCSE so that’s nice and will help me with A-Levels so that’s great. And I’ll ask to see if IGCSES are accepted… fingers crossed ha!

I haven’t looked much into what Med schools there are but I do like the sound of ARU :smile:. I’m not sure what Unis are suitable for me that will accept re takes or anything like that.
But for A-Levels if I can do med l, I’m looking into studying Biology, Chemistry and Physics/Psychology. I would do all the normal sciences but not sure if I’m smart enough for them all lol! We will see! 🙏🏼
And I did start some a-levels this year (self studying which included psychology) to then do Nursing or something along the lines as I thought I wouldn’t be good enough for Med but I really want to work in Gynaecology and help people and I’ve read so much about it over covid and now. I love it! Ever since I was diagnosed with PCOS and have signs of Endometriosis and my best friend has Endo, I have honestly been so interested in other conditions and I really want to help people feel listened. And I will definitely regret not trying for Med . So, my A-Levels aren’t suitable as all were essay-based. So i don’t know if studying A-Level psychology after my GCSEs would affect things as it would be studied for over 2 years (not 3 though as I started them about 6 months ago?)
My education status is a mess lol but I know that
I need to try.
I will research some Med schools and let you know what I have in mind. :smile:
But honestly thank you so much for your help!!
(edited 8 months ago)

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