low GCSEs for medicine

The big issue is the 5 in english language it really limits your options everything else is fine you need to look realy hard for a school that doesnt score gcses and has low eng lang reqs e.g exeter however exeter requires high predicteds and a higher ucat depending on the predicted you can search the scoring sheet online I think plymouth may also be an option but you really need to look

Use this to check then go on uni website to cross reference and also sites like medic mind
uk-medical-school-entry-requirements-2024-entry.pdf (medschools.ac.uk)

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 3

OP

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by lilysilly_5454

The big issue is the 5 in english language it really limits your options everything else is fine you need to look realy hard for a school that doesnt score gcses and has low eng lang reqs e.g exeter however exeter requires high predicteds and a higher ucat depending on the predicted you can search the scoring sheet online I think plymouth may also be an option but you really need to look
Use this to check then go on uni website to cross reference and also sites like medic mind
uk-medical-school-entry-requirements-2024-entry.pdf (medschools.ac.uk)

hey thanks for replying 🤞🏼 should I just retake my eng lang? cause it’s rlly putting me behind

Reply 4

Jgp_34

5

Original post by needhelp11122

guys i rlly want to do medicine but I didn’t get great GCSEs as i didnt want to do medicine back then but it’s rlly making me question everything as my teachers are telling me to just forget about medicine even though I rlly want to persue it 😭😭
my grades …
76 - combined science
7 - eng lit
5 - eng lang
6 - maths
6 - business
6 - re
5 - geography
4 - French f tier

Heyo! My friend applied for medicine with a 4 in his English and a 5 in his Maths. Thing is, he had retaken those GCSE's whilst he studied for his A-Levels, and got a much better grade. You did get pretty low grades for a medicine applicant, but most of them are completely OK and match the minimum grade required. I'd definitely say looking into whether or not your college allows you to resit GCSEs, and if not, look for widening participation courses for medicine, which should lower the required entry grades for a degree. A final option is looking for foundation medicine courses too. I'd suggest a chat with your college's advisor is due, though.

Reply 5

artful_lounger

21

Just focus on applying to medical schools that don't score GCSEs and just have minimum GCSE requirements (e.g. UCL, Imperial), and if need be retake to get the required grades for those minimum requirements.

As above the only possible thing you may need to look at retaking is English language as some medical schools with just minimum GCSE requirements may require a 6.

Reply 6

University of Sunderland Student Ambassador

Official Rep

11

Original post by needhelp11122

guys i rlly want to do medicine but I didn’t get great GCSEs as i didnt want to do medicine back then but it’s rlly making me question everything as my teachers are telling me to just forget about medicine even though I rlly want to persue it 😭😭
my grades …
76 - combined science
7 - eng lit
5 - eng lang
6 - maths
6 - business
6 - re
5 - geography
4 - French f tier

Hi there,

I would recommend that you look at each individual university and their requirements which are listed on the website. There are lots of universities which don't look at GCSEs at all which you could look into. This is also not the only option, there is always the option of retaking some of the GCSEs or if you don't get into medical school it is really common for people to do a different degree first and then come into medicine as a graduate.

I hope this helps,

Ellen
Uni of Sunderland
Y4 Medical Student

Reply 7

OP

Original post by University of Sunderland Student Ambassador

Hi there,
I would recommend that you look at each individual university and their requirements which are listed on the website. There are lots of universities which don't look at GCSEs at all which you could look into. This is also not the only option, there is always the option of retaking some of the GCSEs or if you don't get into medical school it is really common for people to do a different degree first and then come into medicine as a graduate.
I hope this helps,
Ellen
Uni of Sunderland
Y4 Medical Student

thankyou!!

Reply 8

OP

Original post by Jgp_34

Heyo! My friend applied for medicine with a 4 in his English and a 5 in his Maths. Thing is, he had retaken those GCSE's whilst he studied for his A-Levels, and got a much better grade. You did get pretty low grades for a medicine applicant, but most of them are completely OK and match the minimum grade required. I'd definitely say looking into whether or not your college allows you to resit GCSEs, and if not, look for widening participation courses for medicine, which should lower the required entry grades for a degree. A final option is looking for foundation medicine courses too. I'd suggest a chat with your college's advisor is due, though.

this is so useful thankyou!!

Reply 9

Original post by University of Sunderland Student Ambassador

Hi there,
I would recommend that you look at each individual university and their requirements which are listed on the website. There are lots of universities which don't look at GCSEs at all which you could look into. This is also not the only option, there is always the option of retaking some of the GCSEs or if you don't get into medical school it is really common for people to do a different degree first and then come into medicine as a graduate.
I hope this helps,
Ellen
Uni of Sunderland
Y4 Medical Student

There are not lots of med schools that don't look at GCSEs at all, there is now 1. All the others have some form of minimum requirement and/or score GCSEs for shortlisting.

@needhelp11122 as pointed out, you should resit your Eng Lang, if possible, but provided you have good A level predictions and UCAT, you will have enough choices that it is not worth resitting the others

Reply 10

Original post by GANFYD

There are not lots of med schools that don't look at GCSEs at all, there is now 1. All the others have some form of minimum requirement and/or score GCSEs for shortlisting.
@needhelp11122 as pointed out, you should resit your Eng Lang, if possible, but provided you have good A level predictions and UCAT, you will have enough choices that it is not worth resitting the others

Could I ask what the one is?

Reply 11

Original post by lilysilly_5454

Could I ask what the one is?

Sure, it’s Cambridge. They will look at the whole application when deciding about an offer, but GCSEs are not considered for shortlisting 🙂

Reply 12

Original post by GANFYD

Sure, it’s Cambridge. They will look at the whole application when deciding about an offer, but GCSEs are not considered for shortlisting 🙂

Oh so what does Cambridge look at and is it not still risky to apply with less than 6 grade 7 and above

Reply 13

lanky_giraffe

15

Original post by GANFYD

Sure, it’s Cambridge. They will look at the whole application when deciding about an offer, but GCSEs are not considered for shortlisting 🙂

is that true for all courses? Or just medicine?

Reply 14

Original post by lilysilly_5454

Oh so what does Cambridge look at and is it not still risky to apply with less than 6 grade 7 and above

Cambridge will interview pretty much everyone it thinks has a realistic chance of achieving A*A*A, but then will use the whole application holistically post interview to decide about offers.
GCSE will therefore be taken into account post interview and I would imagine the better you have done the more it will work in your favour, but they do heavily contextualise things so it depends on the rest of your school

Reply 15

Original post by lanky_giraffe

is that true for all courses? Or just medicine?

I’ll give you two guesses about how much I know about courses other than medicine 😂😂

Reply 16

Jasmine6789

13

Original post by needhelp11122

guys i rlly want to do medicine but I didn’t get great GCSEs as i didnt want to do medicine back then but it’s rlly making me question everything as my teachers are telling me to just forget about medicine even though I rlly want to persue it 😭😭
my grades …
76 - combined science
7 - eng lit
5 - eng lang
6 - maths
6 - business
6 - re
5 - geography
4 - French f tier

Although they might be low grades for medicine those are still great grades and whoever told you otherwise is lying. The 5 in English language is a bit limiting as most medicine school require a 6 minimum. But you could retake it depending if you have time. Other than that, just make sure to apply strategically and don’t apply to gcse heavy schools like Cardiff, Oxford ect. Also most unis don’t really care about your gcse grades, so if you do really well in your a levels and UCAT your sure to get a place.

Reply 17

OP

Original post by Jasmine6789

Although they might be low grades for medicine those are still great grades and whoever told you otherwise is lying. The 5 in English language is a bit limiting as most medicine school require a 6 minimum. But you could retake it depending if you have time. Other than that, just make sure to apply strategically and don’t apply to gcse heavy schools like Cardiff, Oxford ect. Also most unis don’t really care about your gcse grades, so if you do really well in your a levels and UCAT your sure to get a place.

thank you smm this rlly motivated me to actually apply for medicine 😭😭😭 I literally feel like giving up when my teacher keeps on telling me to apply for something else 🥲

Reply 18

fucmahnoor

7

Original post by needhelp11122

thank you smm this rlly motivated me to actually apply for medicine 😭😭😭 I literally feel like giving up when my teacher keeps on telling me to apply for something else 🥲

are you in year 13?

Reply 19