A-levels

ok so i start school in 5 days (year 12)
i want to do medicine at all costs but theres one problem
i got

bio,chem,physic= grade 6
english lit=8
eng land=8
math=7
at GCSE'S

so from my undertsanding and research THANK GOD,i meet the entry requirment in terms of GCSE'S, but obviouslt theyre not great BUT I ALSO KNOW that uni's look at A-levels much more than GCSE's and ofc theres BMAT,personal statement etc

HERES MY A-LEVELS
bio
chem
math

so heres what i desperatly need advice on:
no 1-HOW DO I INCREASE MY PREDICTED GRADES TO BE A*s by the time ucas sends them off to uni's
no 2-Do i need to do something extra like a diploma to increase ucas points just beacause i got bad gcse's

also yall AM I DOOMED ,cus i rlly wanna do medicine doesnt matter if ts a top uni or not

Reply 1

compliant-castaw

9

All hope definitely isn't lost from your GCSE grades for sure! Definitely revise as you go along and don't let work pile up! Make sure you understand content when you're first taught it, because if you don't understand the basics properly, then when you're building your knowledge, the more complex topics won't make sense. Just suck it up for 2 years and dedicate yourself to your studies as much as you can. Make sure you try your best in your class tests and try even better for your mocks at the end of year 12 as they all contribute to your predicted grades. Things that definitely stand out for applying to medicine is completing medical work experiences, online courses and a medical-related EPQ if your school offers that as an option. Hope this helps!!

Reply 2

cupquake

OP

9

Original post by compliant-castaw

All hope definitely isn't lost from your GCSE grades for sure! Definitely revise as you go along and don't let work pile up! Make sure you understand content when you're first taught it, because if you don't understand the basics properly, then when you're building your knowledge, the more complex topics won't make sense. Just suck it up for 2 years and dedicate yourself to your studies as much as you can. Make sure you try your best in your class tests and try even better for your mocks at the end of year 12 as they all contribute to your predicted grades. Things that definitely stand out for applying to medicine is completing medical work experiences, online courses and a medical-related EPQ if your school offers that as an option. Hope this helps!!

Thank you I’ll look into the EPQ but what exactly do you mean by medical EPQ?and I have done a gcse which I got distinction star in,called HEalth and social care would that help or stand out?

Reply 3

compliant-castaw

9

Original post by cupquake

Thank you I’ll look into the EPQ but what exactly do you mean by medical EPQ?and I have done a gcse which I got distinction star in,called HEalth and social care would that help or stand out?

That GCSE distinction would definitely help make you stand out! The EPQ is where you choose a topic (usually a question to answer) to research and present about. It can be shown as a practical research experiment, an artefact or a dissertation (the most common form). If you do this and get a high grade, it gives you UCAS points, lowers grade requirements for some unis and shows your interest in a particular topic that is medical-related. For example, my EPQ was titled 'What is the Microbiome and How Does it Affect Our Health?'. Hope this helps and definitely ask your sixth form/college if they facilitate it!!

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 4

bea_murray0

16

Original post by cupquake

ok so i start school in 5 days (year 12)
i want to do medicine at all costs but theres one problem
i got
bio,chem,physic= grade 6
english lit=8
eng land=8
math=7
at GCSE'S
so from my undertsanding and research THANK GOD,i meet the entry requirment in terms of GCSE'S, but obviouslt theyre not great BUT I ALSO KNOW that uni's look at A-levels much more than GCSE's and ofc theres BMAT,personal statement etc
HERES MY A-LEVELS
bio
chem
math
so heres what i desperatly need advice on:
no 1-HOW DO I INCREASE MY PREDICTED GRADES TO BE A*s by the time ucas sends them off to uni's
no 2-Do i need to do something extra like a diploma to increase ucas points just beacause i got bad gcse's
also yall AM I DOOMED ,cus i rlly wanna do medicine doesnt matter if ts a top uni or not

For medicine, UCAS points are irrelevant. Focus on getting the predicted grades you need, and later UCAT (BMAT is no longer used). EPQ is good, and I know Keele lower requirements to AAA if you get an A in EPQ (there may be others that do this too), but don't do it if it will cost you good predicted/actual A level grades. Your predicted grades don't need to be A*s, they just need to meet the entry requirements (normally AAA). When you get to applying, your GCSEs won't be a problem as long as you meet the minimum entry requirements for the specific unis you apply to and don't apply anywhere that scores GCSEs. Also, there are no 'top' unis for medicine - everyone gets the same degree and starts in the same F1 job with the same pay once you graduate! Hope this helps

Reply 5

cupquake

OP

9

Original post by compliant-castaw

That GCSE distinction would definitely help make you stand out! The EPQ is where you choose a topic (usually a question to answer) to research and present about. It can be shown as a practical research experiment, an artefact or a dissertation (the most common form). If you do this and get a high grade, it gives you UCAS points, lowers grade requirements for some unis and shows your interest in a particular topic that is medical-related. For example, my EPQ was titled 'What is the Microbiome and How Does it Affect Our Health?'. Hope this helps and definitely ask your sixth form/college if they facilitate it!!

so so so helpful thank you so much!

Reply 6

cupquake

OP

9

ok thank you,not really sure about epq right now this helps

Reply 7

cupquake

OP

9

Original post by compliant-castaw

All hope definitely isn't lost from your GCSE grades for sure! Definitely revise as you go along and don't let work pile up! Make sure you understand content when you're first taught it, because if you don't understand the basics properly, then when you're building your knowledge, the more complex topics won't make sense. Just suck it up for 2 years and dedicate yourself to your studies as much as you can. Make sure you try your best in your class tests and try even better for your mocks at the end of year 12 as they all contribute to your predicted grades. Things that definitely stand out for applying to medicine is completing medical work experiences, online courses and a medical-related EPQ if your school offers that as an option. Hope this helps!!

thank you,if you dont mind me asking what uni do you go to (if you do medicine at uni) and could you tell abt the process and how the epq made you stand out?

Reply 8

compliant-castaw

9

No worries at all!! I'm in year 13 but I got an A* in my EPQ I did last year and am applying for biomed (I can't stand blood and the gore of med unfortunately) but many of my friends who are applying for med who did it have mentioned it in their personal statements. It will also distinguish you from someone who hasn't done it as you have shown you can write a dissertation (a key skill for med at uni) and that you've been researching a med-related topic that shows your interest and ability to read, understand and write out your findings.

Hope this helps!

Reply 9

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

I'm not aware of any medical schools that use the UCAS Points Tariff system. They set offers based on A-level grades.

You still need to do the UCAT, and aim to do well in it. As noted above, the BMAT no longer exists.

You will still need to do the usual work experience required for healthcare professions courses like medicine and reflect upon this and be prepared to discuss your experiences and reflections in interview.

You don't have to take A-level Maths unless you want to. Any third academic subject is fine for all medical schools except one (Cambridge) and you should just aim for whatever you can get the best grades in.

You probably want to avoid GCSE heavy medical schools (e.g. Oxford, Cardiff) and focus on those with minimum requirements (e.g. Imperial, UCL) or those that weight UCAT more than GCSEs.

Many medical schools don't even consider A-level predicted grades, and for the ones that do it's simply a tick box to validate if you are predicted the standard entry criteria. If the entry criteria are AAA and you are predicted A*A*A* you do not have any better chance than someone predicted AAA for the majority of medical schools I am aware of. Also higher A-level predicted grades will not ameliorate lower GCSEs for medical schools that score GCSEs (e.g. Oxford, Cardiff). There are a couple of such unis where achieved A-level grades may ameliorate lower GCSEs but this would only be applicable for those applying in a gap year after doing the A-levels.

Unless you have a personal project that fits the EPQ marking scheme that you were going to do anyway, there's no point in doing it. Very few medical schools will make altered offers based on the EPQ, most won't consider it at all, it usually isn't part of an offer even if you do take it, and the same things you could use it to demonstrate in interview you could achieve through plenty of other ways (e.g. work experience, wider reading, etc).

A-levels

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