medicine question

Hi I’m in year 12 and planning on doing medicine. People who are in year 13 or are already doing medicine, where should I start? I wanna start off early so for interviews or UCAT exam what should I do and where should I study from? I’m a complete beginner and no clue where to start and don’t know any websites or sources. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Hi! So usually the UCAT testing period is in summer starting from July and ending at the end of September. So since you’re in year 12, you would be expected to do it in the summer of 2025.
Since it’s an exam testing aptitude rather than academic knowledge, most applicants usually prepare for about 6-8 weeks before their exam (but of course it’s different for everyone depending on their individual ability).
The reason for this is due to the fact that it’s not an exam requiring academic knowledge where the more you revise, the better of a score you get since it tests things like your ability to recognise patterns (Abstract Reasoning). So I think if you start preparing very early, you’re more likely to burn out. But what I would recommend is perhaps watching youtube videos that can help familiarise yourself with the components of the UCAT (i.e QR, AR, DM, VR and SJT)
The two main UCAT preparation resources that people are Medify and Medentry. I personally like Medify better as I found it harder and more similar to the actual exam. For both of these platforms you do have to pay, however there is the official UCAT practice question bank which is free.
To help get an understanding of the application process, I would recommend taking a look at The Medic Portal which is website that has information on the UCAT (i.e tips, UCAT score cutoffs) and interviews.
I hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions!

Genuinely thanks so much I’ve been waiting awhile for an answer ur an angel!!!

Hi I’m in year 12 and planning on doing medicine. People who are in year 13 or are already doing medicine, where should I start? I wanna start off early so for interviews or UCAT exam what should I do and where should I study from? I’m a complete beginner and no clue where to start and don’t know any websites or sources. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

As well as what the person above said, getting work experience is crucial in your medicine application as you will need it to talk about in your personal statement/interview and it will give you a better insight into the career you are getting yourself into in general.
Volunteering is also important and you should try and get medical-related volunteering such as in a care home or with a st. Johns ambulance equivalent.
You won't have to start preparing for interviews until you have submitted your application, but just practise speaking to people with confidence, and speaking to more than one person at a time to make sure that you will be able to do the same if needed while in an interview.
Good luck!

Yesss I’ve been trying to volunteer at places but the area I live in has given me no luck and I’m so trying my best but hopefully soon I’ll find something (desperation at its peak)

Yesss I’ve been trying to volunteer at places but the area I live in has given me no luck and I’m so trying my best but hopefully soon I’ll find something (desperation at its peak)

Yesss I’ve been trying to volunteer at places but the area I live in has given me no luck and I’m so trying my best but hopefully soon I’ll find something (desperation at its peak)

On your PS and at interviews you can show appropriate skills you have learned from any part-time employment too (if it’s people facing: teamwork/how you deal with difficult people or if it’s busy: how you prioritise/how you cope with stress etc) so getting that kind of work experience is good too. Volunteering anywhere with vulnerable people (children, care home, hospice, disability centre etc) is also excellent. Regularly supporting an elderly neighbour could also potentially be useful. Long term commitment is better even if it’s just an hour or two a week. You do not need to have spent time shadowing medical staff to have a set of great experiences and be able to show that you have some of the skills and reflection a doctor needs.
Take a look at this document too, which describes the most recent entry criteria and predicted UCAT requirements to all UK med schools. It’s a good starting point to look on when you are considering which ones to apply to. Apply tactically so that you give yourself the best chance to get interviews, so remember that all med schools are equal (you end up being a doctor at the end). Good luck
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vxhlJpv2HrHAW42h-7htcTE64LeY1RoC/view

On your PS and at interviews you can show appropriate skills you have learned from any part-time employment too (if it’s people facing: teamwork/how you deal with difficult people or if it’s busy: how you prioritise/how you cope with stress etc) so getting that kind of work experience is good too. Volunteering anywhere with vulnerable people (children, care home, hospice, disability centre etc) is also excellent. Regularly supporting an elderly neighbour could also potentially be useful. Long term commitment is better even if it’s just an hour or two a week. You do not need to have spent time shadowing medical staff to have a set of great experiences and be able to show that you have some of the skills and reflection a doctor needs.
Take a look at this document too, which describes the most recent entry criteria and predicted UCAT requirements to all UK med schools. It’s a good starting point to look on when you are considering which ones to apply to. Apply tactically so that you give yourself the best chance to get interviews, so remember that all med schools are equal (you end up being a doctor at the end). Good luck
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vxhlJpv2HrHAW42h-7htcTE64LeY1RoC/view

Maybe one of the best documents I have ever seen in relation to medicine applications. Did you or someone else pay for it or what?

I know right??? I so appreciate it

English applicants have so many choices, I know even though I'm Scottish I could have applied to English schools but I'm not paying for something I can easily get for free and moving so far away. I would probably end up getting stuck making the decision 😂

Maybe one of the best documents I have ever seen in relation to medicine applications. Did you or someone else pay for it or what?

Although to compensate the lack of choices, not only do you get much cheaper costs but Scottish students often get much lower ucat cutoffs for Scottish unis (several Scottish med schools are highly desirable to RUK applicants and highly rated in the med league tables - tho as I say, that’s not so relevant when it comes to studying med!) As my grandma would say, 6 of one, half a dozen of the other!

It came from the ucat people website I think? Whatever the watermark says! It is a magical document! They are heroes for compiling it - it’s horrendous to try and find all that info yourself. On their website they also have one for the year before and one for dentistry. Always bare in mind that entry criteria can and does sometimes change and that ucat guides are an estimate as they always change a bit. But it’s a great place to start.

Yes I'm not complaining, definitely not!, all I have to pay for is my accommodation until labour try and take away no uni fees for Scots 😡
As much as I like going to Edinburgh its too full of English people but it is obviously a very good medical school and I'm obviously going to get my degree by the end, if I make it 🥲

There’s a lot of English people in England unis too though 😂 Plus there more options than just Edinburgh - Dundee, St Andrew’s, Glasgow?