gateway med or retake

Hey guys I got ABB in my A levels and I'm looking to apply to gateway med for next year ( I think I can get my paper remarked to an A for bio ) so AAB (potentially) if so I was thinking I could retake chem and then apply for normal med with AAA.

I have checked and I am eligible for some gateway med programmes.

What do you guys recommend ? Should I retake or not.

Because some schools don't even seem to be too keen on resits. But ofc some are ok with them.

I'm just not entirely sure.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Reply 1

TSR Hippocrates

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Reply 2

Nadi09

Original post by Nadi09

Hey guys I got ABB in my A levels and I'm looking to apply to gateway med for next year ( I think I can get my paper remarked to an A for bio ) so AAB (potentially) if so I was thinking I could retake chem and then apply for normal med with AAA.
I have checked and I am eligible for some gateway med programmes.
What do you guys recommend ? Should I retake or not.
Because some schools don't even seem to be too keen on resits. But ofc some are ok with them.
I'm just not entirely sure.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Or should I apply through normal med but as widening participation (AAB)

Reply 3

harshi._.jk

Original post by Nadi09

Or should I apply through normal med but as widening participation (AAB)

I'm in a similar position and I'm trying for imperial College London rn 😭 I have researched this and there are certain medical schools that accept resits based on what you have achieved the first time doing alevels for example :

Bristol- The Medicine department will consider applicants who resit their qualifications. A maximum of one resit is allowed.

Buckingham - Applicants who attain BBB at their first A-Level attempt can apply with a resit. Applicants with lower grades at their first attempt and significant mitigation can apply after they have attained the required grades of ABB. Predicted grades will not be considered for such applicants.

Exeter - Exeter does not discriminate against applicants who have re-taken part or all of a qualification, and will treat an achieved or predicted qualification grade in the same way irrespective of whether or not re-takes are involved.

King’s College London - KCL is able to consider applicants who have retaken their qualifications, but you should bear in mind that your application will be reviewed alongside other strong applicants who might be viewed more favourably if they achieved the required grades within a standard timeframe.

Liverpool - Resitting candidates may be considered if the applicant otherwise meets the GSCE criteria. If applying to Liverpool for the first time, resit applicants must usually have achieved a minimum of ABB at first sitting. If an offer is made, resit applicants might expect it to be higher than typical (i.e. minimum of A*AA).

Manchester - Manchester welcomes applications from those resitting their A-Levels, though applicants may only resit one of either Year 12 or Year 13. For A-levels, applicants are expected to have obtained a minimum of grade ABB at first sitting for the resit grades to be considered. All resitting applicants are required to achieve grades A*A*A.

Newcastle - Applicants ideally should have achieved the necessary A-Level grades at the first attempt as an indicator that they will be able to manage the intensity of the course. However, Newcastle recognises that sometimes circumstances mean that students underperform. As a result, they allow a subject to be repeated once.

Nottingham - They will consider resits for no more than two A-Levels, as long as you have already obtained at least ABB, with at least one A in biology or chemistry. You must achieve at least AAA after taking your resits

Plymouth - Resit applicants are considered with the following requirements: If you are applying with predicted grades, a minimum of ABB must have been achieved on first sitting. Where ABB was not achieved on first sitting, applicants must resit the required qualifications and apply once suitable grades have been achieved.

Reply 4

Alexanderlouis

Newcastle partners BBB

Soton and Plymouth 6y widening access BBB

look at Leics and Hyms and Keele 6year. I think your grades shd be ok.

Lancaster widening access BBB 6y

Bristol BBC

Plymouth BBB

Kings do a 6y widening access think ABB

Uea 6y. ABC or BBB. I am here now and loving it. Just finished gateway year

Dundee too

Plenty of choices out there that you dont need to resit for.

Smash the ucat and get reading up now for interviews. Good luck

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 5

George&Mary

I would look at Gateway /Foundation criteria carefully. Some don't allow you to apply if you have an A at A level.

I know I have replied on your other thread, but I would suggest looking at resits and reapplying for standard a100 next year. This will give you th widest range of choices to apply to. You will need to push for a high UCAT though
So my advice would be to get that done, do as well as you can and see where you go from there.

I don't know if you are looking to resit one or two A levels or do it at school or privately. If privately you can still ask to sit the exams at the school and see if they wil do predicteds / references as part of that. It can be difficult sometimes if you have to resit any practicals as they can be challenging to arrange. See what your school / college says.

Good luck.

Reply 6

Alexanderlouis

OP makes a good point re checking out if your grades are too high. I think they might be for Plymouth and Bristol.

Check the other ones out carefully

What about applying to A100 Newcastle partners ( check out the partners criteria and see if you qualify - the offer is BBB). Newcastle need a reasonably high ucat though and three other widening access ones. I interviewed for 3 widening access courses and got three offers.

You could always start with a resit year and dont have to continue it if you get an offer? Then get a job, save and start in Sept 2025.

Happy to help by PM if you would like