Help me with picking Universities for medicine

Hi, I'm in year 12 and want to do medicine at university, however, I got only two 8s, some 7s, and some 6s. Any medical students might know the emphasis medical universities place on GCSEs. I just wanted to know which universities don't place as much emphasis on GCSEs. So far, I've planned on applying to Newcastle and Hull York because I'm part of the Sutton Trust Programme. I would appreciate any help and advice I can get!

Reply 1

chewy55555

6

Hi! I'm in year 13 and I have just received offers to study medicine at Edinburgh, Bristol, Cardiff and Plymouth

It's very important that you do your research. Go onto a bunch of Universities sites and look exactly what metrics they use to measure an application. You want to be looking for universities that don't look at your GCSEs whatsoever and you should be absolutely fine. For example, Cardiff use GCSEs heavily so don't apply there or you won't get an interview.

It can also be really useful to go to a bunch of university open days, often they will have a station dedicated purely to the application and academics and you can talk to someone in their admissions office about your situation. For example, I visited Bristol, Plymouth, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Southampton, Nottingham, Keele and Birmingham before applying.

There are two other very important metrics when it comes to academics: Your predicted A levels and your UCAT. Obviously you want to be trying to aim for A*A*A* but you would probably be safe with AAA. Again look how universities score them, if it is just a cut off then AAA is fine. If it is a scoring system then you probably need slightly higher.

Your UCAT is probably one of the most important things in you application. Some universities won't even look at your GCSEs and give offers purely on your UCAT and/or A level predicted. For example, Bristol give interviews purely on their UCAT cut off (3010 this year). So try and do as best you can on that. I took mine right before the start of Y13 in September and got a 3220 (basically meant I was guaranteed an interview). I used Medify which I found was a really good website but there are plenty of others out there. Again lots of information on how to revise for UCAT online and at open days.

Academics are important for receiving an interview. Apply to universities that most suite your academics (depends on how heavily they weight A levels, GCSEs and UCAT) as you will be most likely to receive an interview. Once you have secured an interview, then it is a level playing field. Most universities will ignore all your previous academics and go solely on how you perform at interview. Get lots of practise with any doctors, healthcare professionals and teachers that are willing to help you.

I hope this helps!

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 2

user100400x

7

Original post by joshuadsouza

Hi, I'm in year 12 and want to do medicine at university, however, I got only two 8s, some 7s, and some 6s. Any medical students might know the emphasis medical universities place on GCSEs. I just wanted to know which universities don't place as much emphasis on GCSEs. So far, I've planned on applying to Newcastle and Hull York because I'm part of the Sutton Trust Programme. I would appreciate any help and advice I can get!

i honestly wouldn’t worry about the university u choose too much rn! your gcses aren’t bad or anything btw and goodluck with year 12, just focus on getting good predictions and doing good on the ucat.

it’s okay to have a dream uni but i truly recommend not fixating on any uni till u get ur ucat score :smile:

after that, u can decide according to cut offs (which might be weird since the ucat changed this year but i’m sure there’ll be some guidance with that)

Reply 3

user100400x

7

Original post by joshuadsouza

Hi, I'm in year 12 and want to do medicine at university, however, I got only two 8s, some 7s, and some 6s. Any medical students might know the emphasis medical universities place on GCSEs. I just wanted to know which universities don't place as much emphasis on GCSEs. So far, I've planned on applying to Newcastle and Hull York because I'm part of the Sutton Trust Programme. I would appreciate any help and advice I can get!

i honestly wouldn’t worry about the university u choose too much rn! goodluck with year 12, just focus on getting good predictions and doing good on the ucat.

it’s okay to have a dream uni but i truly recommend not fixating on any uni till u get ur ucat score :smile:

after that, u can decide according to cut offs (which might be weird since the ucat changed this year but i’m sure there’ll be some guidance with that)

Reply 4

Jonjon7

Universities Forum Helper

13

Original post by joshuadsouza

Hi, I'm in year 12 and want to do medicine at university, however, I got only two 8s, some 7s, and some 6s. Any medical students might know the emphasis medical universities place on GCSEs. I just wanted to know which universities don't place as much emphasis on GCSEs. So far, I've planned on applying to Newcastle and Hull York because I'm part of the Sutton Trust Programme. I would appreciate any help and advice I can get!

I do suggest you avoid med schools that score GCSE as a pre-requisite before interview invitation.

Selection criteria for interview invitation for med schools that consider GCSE (heavily in some)

Oxford - score GCSE 50% and UCAT 50%. Ideally they are looking for 10x 9/8. Though they review holistically

Newcastle - score GCSE 40% and UCAT 60%. Your GCSE will pull your academic score down quite a bit (do let me know your best 8 subjects results, ie no. of 8, 7, 6). Upon invited to interview, this academic score will then be divided by 2 down to 50% and interview will hold 50%. As you are under the Sutton Trust, you can either be considered under contextual or you can participate NCL Partner's programme. However, it can be risky.

Leeds - score GCSE (ideally 8x 9s across but there have been several cases of few 9, 8 and 7 in the bundle, though 8,7,6 combination has not been seen, maybe there might be) too but very opaque in how they assess.

Few other med schools look at GCSE too, like Cardiff.

But the most important thing for you to be invited to interview is your UCAT as some of the earlier posts mentioned. Once you have a stellar UCAT score, it opens up to almost all med schools unis (albeit those who still score GCSE).

DO get back once you have taken your UCAT and am sure you will be assisted by the volunteering advisors to pursue your aspiration in medicine!

All the best for UCAT and mocks!

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 5

Anonymous_Fly

10

Original post by joshuadsouza

Hi, I'm in year 12 and want to do medicine at university, however, I got only two 8s, some 7s, and some 6s. Any medical students might know the emphasis medical universities place on GCSEs. I just wanted to know which universities don't place as much emphasis on GCSEs. So far, I've planned on applying to Newcastle and Hull York because I'm part of the Sutton Trust Programme. I would appreciate any help and advice I can get!

UCL and Imperial - but that’s only if u get a rlly good ucat score. So don’t worry about Unis now, just focus on doing well in the ucat and predicted grades

Reply 6

joshuadsouza

OP

2

Original post by chewy55555

Hi! I'm in year 13 and I have just received offers to study medicine at Edinburgh, Bristol, Cardiff and Plymouth
It's very important that you do your research. Go onto a bunch of Universities sites and look exactly what metrics they use to measure an application. You want to be looking for universities that don't look at your GCSEs whatsoever and you should be absolutely fine. For example, Cardiff use GCSEs heavily so don't apply there or you won't get an interview.
It can also be really useful to go to a bunch of university open days, often they will have a station dedicated purely to the application and academics and you can talk to someone in their admissions office about your situation. For example, I visited Bristol, Plymouth, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Southampton, Nottingham, Keele and Birmingham before applying.
There are two other very important metrics when it comes to academics: Your predicted A levels and your UCAT. Obviously you want to be trying to aim for A*A*A* but you would probably be safe with AAA. Again look how universities score them, if it is just a cut off then AAA is fine. If it is a scoring system then you probably need slightly higher.
Your UCAT is probably one of the most important things in you application. Some universities won't even look at your GCSEs and give offers purely on your UCAT and/or A level predicted. For example, Bristol give interviews purely on their UCAT cut off (3010 this year). So try and do as best you can on that. I took mine right before the start of Y13 in September and got a 3220 (basically meant I was guaranteed an interview). I used Medify which I found was a really good website but there are plenty of others out there. Again lots of information on how to revise for UCAT online and at open days.
Academics are important for receiving an interview. Apply to universities that most suite your academics (depends on how heavily they weight A levels, GCSEs and UCAT) as you will be most likely to receive an interview. Once you have secured an interview, then it is a level playing field. Most universities will ignore all your previous academics and go solely on how you perform at interview. Get lots of practise with any doctors, healthcare professionals and teachers that are willing to help you.
I hope this helps!

Thank you so much. That’s a lot of really useful information!

Reply 7

joshuadsouza

OP

2

Original post by Anonymous_Fly

UCL and Imperial - but that’s only if u get a rlly good ucat score. So don’t worry about Unis now, just focus on doing well in the ucat and predicted grades

Thank you very much!

Help me with picking Universities for medicine

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