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Are these GCSE grades good enough to study medicine at a 'top' school?

I recently received my GCSE grades, and I want to know if they are good enough to study medicine at a 'top' school (e.g., Cambridge), as I am concerned that my Chemistry, Biology, and English Language grades are too low.

Biology: 8
Chemistry: 8
English Language: 7
English Literature: 7
Geography: 9
Maths: 9
Music: 9
Physics: 9
RE: 9
Spanish: 9
Reply 1
Original post by evangeline_wmcb
I recently received my GCSE grades, and I want to know if they are good enough to study medicine at a 'top' school (e.g., Cambridge), as I am concerned that my Chemistry, Biology, and English Language grades are too low.

Biology: 8
Chemistry: 8
English Language: 7
English Literature: 7
Geography: 9
Maths: 9
Music: 9
Physics: 9
RE: 9
Spanish: 9


How are you defining "top" medical school here? Geographically? Alphabetically? As Aberdeen is top of those and your GCSEs would be fine for them. Cambridge have literally zero GCSE requirements
Original post by GANFYD
How are you defining "top" medical school here? Geographically? Alphabetically? As Aberdeen is top of those and your GCSEs would be fine for them. Cambridge have literally zero GCSE requirements

I'm defining 'top' in terms of uni course rankings, e.g. the ones listed in the Guardian etc. (although again, i acknowledge that 'top' is a loose term when referencing medical schools)
Reply 3
Original post by evangeline_wmcb
I'm defining 'top' in terms of uni course rankings, e.g. the ones listed in the Guardian etc. (although again, i acknowledge that 'top' is a loose term when referencing medical schools)


There are no top, or not top, universtities for medicine, if you are going to be working in the UK - rankings are irrelevant as any job application is done blind as to where you attended medical school.
The things they are measuring are largely irrelevant to medicine and different med schools are ranked in different places in different ranking guides, so even they can't agree whether one is better than the other; is Aberdeen 2nd, 18th or 23rd? Is BSMS 8th, 26th or 34th? And one of the guides gives a high ranking to a university that does not even offer an UG medicine course.....
Original post by GANFYD
There are no top, or not top, universtities for medicine, if you are going to be working in the UK - rankings are irrelevant as any job application is done blind as to where you attended medical school.
The things they are measuring are largely irrelevant to medicine and different med schools are ranked in different places in different ranking guides, so even they can't agree whether one is better than the other; is Aberdeen 2nd, 18th or 23rd? Is BSMS 8th, 26th or 34th? And one of the guides gives a high ranking to a university that does not even offer an UG medicine course.....

Good point. I will amend my definition of 'top' to 'most difficult to get into' (specifically in terms of GCSE grades, I understand that different schools weight GCSE grades differently).
Reply 5
Original post by evangeline_wmcb
Good point. I will amend my definition of 'top' to 'most difficult to get into' (specifically in terms of GCSE grades, I understand that different schools weight GCSE grades differently).


It is hard to say that without your other stats, as at some med schools a stellar result in an admissions test can make up for less than perfect GCSEs.
Currently, your GCSEs make shortlisting unlikely at Cardiff, Oxford, Birmingham, Edinburgh, QUB, though a stellar UCAT and lots of contextual points may make up for GCSE score at Birmingham and the others may amend their selection criteria by then!

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