predicted bad grades and dont know what to do

hi everyone,

im starting year 13 in september with predicted grades of BCC (maths, bio and chem). Since the start of y12 ive always wanted to medicine but clearly with those predicted grades that i got in my june mocks i wouldnt be able to, so i changed plans and decided that im gonna apply for a bioscience degree (neuroscience) in y13 and then apply to graduate entry medicine when i graduate from neuroscience.

little did i know back then that GEM is much more competitive than standard entry medicine and now im wondering if i picked the wrong choice...

is it too late to tell my ho6f that i wanna change plans AGAIN by taking a gap year after year 13 so that i can apply to standard entry medicine in the 2026 cycle?

PS i got 876655554 in my gcses, which i know arent good enough for medicine so i had decided to resit english language this year too (since i had got a 5 in 2024 and pretty much all med schools require a 6 or above) and i ended up getting a 4 this year...

please please please give me some honest advice im actually clueless

Reply 1

ac2906

Hi,

I was in a similar situation in terms similar predicted grades in yr12/13 and also had aims of studying medicine when I originally was in school. I then applied for Biomedical Sciences and started that degree in September 2020 (pandemic year).
I knew some who people tried to and some successfully get into GEM medicine after biomed and I tried it as well even though I eventually realised it wasn’t for me.

I then completed an MSc Management degree and kind of changed career paths which I’m glad I did as I’m into aviation and have secured a job in that field.
In terms of medicine, seeing people like my brother , you have to be fully dedicated and need to be willing to work hard. It’s not an easy process by no means, but it’s definitely doable if you have the drive and determination.
In terms of GCSE, some med schools also have retake requirements so best to look into that. If you have any other questions I could try and answer..

Reply 2

comicF1

Original post

by ac2906

Hi,
I was in a similar situation in terms similar predicted grades in yr12/13 and also had aims of studying medicine when I originally was in school. I then applied for Biomedical Sciences and started that degree in September 2020 (pandemic year).
I knew some who people tried to and some successfully get into GEM medicine after biomed and I tried it as well even though I eventually realised it wasn’t for me.
I then completed an MSc Management degree and kind of changed career paths which I’m glad I did as I’m into aviation and have secured a job in that field.
In terms of medicine, seeing people like my brother , you have to be fully dedicated and need to be willing to work hard. It’s not an easy process by no means, but it’s definitely doable if you have the drive and determination.
In terms of GCSE, some med schools also have retake requirements so best to look into that. If you have any other questions I could try and answer..

thank you so much for ur advice i highly appreciate it and yes im aware of med schools having retake requirements, so im probably just going to stick to the GEM route instead of taking a gap year (as I would need to resit eng lang again + my weak gcses wouldnt really land me a spot anywhere whereas for GEM they no longer care about your gcses by then). even if later down the road i decide medicine isnt for me i can always pivot into neuroscience 🙂 what grades did you get for ur a levels if you dont mind me asking?

Reply 3

ac2906

Sorry for the late reply. That makes sense; I would advise going for it all in your neuroscience degree. If I am being honest, many people say GEM is much harder than the normal medicine entrance, although like I mentioned, if you have the drive, anything is possible. Yh best to go for it rather than retaking GCSEs, and that's a good point regarding the GCSEs for GEM (they tend to not give as much importance compared to A levels/degrees). Yeah, exactly, and who knows if there is any other field you are interested in—finance, etc. (even though that may not be the case if your heart is set in science)—you can do so much with a life science degree that is definitely for sure. You gain many transferable skills, and ofc getting involved in university life helps. I got ABB, but this was after all the A-level drama lol, as I was supposed to sit A-levels in 2020. - all that algorithm stuff, then teacher-predicted grades, etc.