Access to Medicine: information for those with low A-Level grades

Hi everyone

I have been able to benefit from some extremely useful information from this forum, so I just thought I would share the results of some recent research I have done for my particular situation. I hope that this can help someone who might be in a similar situation.

(Apologies if this post should be within another thread, please do subsume it into a larger thread if more appropriate)

My profile:

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2008 A Levels: Chemistry (B), Maths (C), Spanish (B)

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2 contributing factors: anxiety and depression due to home circumstances, and being the primary carer for my father. No other qualifying WP criteria.

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circa 2 years NHS experience including: a 6-week Dietetics hospital placement, 3 months as a Dietetic Assistant, and the rest working in various roles in a mental health trust (Administrator, Ward Admin, HCA, Support Worker)

Access vs A Level resits:
I want to apply to medical schools commutable from London. I realised that my best option would be to do an Access to Medicine course, rather than A Level resits. This is because:

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Most schools do not appear to accept resits with grades as low as my original ones (even though they were 10+ years ago).

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Doing practicals for Science A-Levels is impractical(!) and expensive.

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There are a few Access courses with very good success rates in terms of students receiving offers.

Medical schools accepting Access:
I contacted a number of schools in or near enough to London, describing my particular case. These were the schools which confirmed they would consider an application from me:

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KCL

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SGUL

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Anglia Ruskin

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Kent and Medway (POST-Access ONLY)

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BSMS

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Southampton

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Bristol (current policy is guaranteed interview for mature applicants)

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Exeter

These are the schools which would ONLY accept A Level resits, not Access:

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Brunel

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Cambridge

These are the schools which would NOT consider my application:

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UCL

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Imperial

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QMUL (would need A Level Biology and undergraduate biomedical degree to then apply as a graduate)

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UEA Norwich

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Oxford (unless valid extenuating circumstances)

These are the remaining schools across the country which report accepting Access on their website, however I did not contact them due to having received positive responses from enough nearby schools already:

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Aberdeen

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Edge Hill

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Edinburgh

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HYMS

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Keele

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Lancaster

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Leeds

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Leicester

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Manchester

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Newcastle

Why not Foundation?
There is only 1 school in the country which would accept my profile for Year 0 entry. That is Liverpool, with their Foundation to Human and Animal Health Professions course. I will apply to this course, however I really do not want to have to leave London due to personal circumstances.

Conclusion:
It's not all doom and gloom if you did not do well in your A Levels the first time round (particularly if it was a long time ago).

The above information is targeted at those who already did A Levels previously, however I hope it may be a helpful starting point for other mature students too.