Low ucat what should I do?

I did the UCAT exam yesterday and I got 1590 Band 2, which I was really disappointed with. I was struggling in my mocks but my average was still around 1690 so I was expecting to get similar in the exam. Is it still possible to apply to med school, and what ones are recommended for low UCAT scores or will they probably not accept me? I live in Scotland so ideally a med school in Scotland but ik there's not many so I wouldn't mind moving to England if I had to

I did the UCAT exam yesterday and I got 1590 Band 2, which I was really disappointed with. I was struggling in my mocks but my average was still around 1690 so I was expecting to get similar in the exam. Is it still possible to apply to med school, and what ones are recommended for low UCAT scores or will they probably not accept me? I live in Scotland so ideally a med school in Scotland but ik there's not many so I wouldn't mind moving to England if I had to

I did the UCAT exam yesterday and I got 1590 Band 2, which I was really disappointed with. I was struggling in my mocks but my average was still around 1690 so I was expecting to get similar in the exam. Is it still possible to apply to med school, and what ones are recommended for low UCAT scores or will they probably not accept me? I live in Scotland so ideally a med school in Scotland but ik there's not many so I wouldn't mind moving to England if I had to

If your GCSES are VERY strong, Aston university is a shout- unlikely though unless you have very strong predicted/ maybe a contextual?. Honestly though, you're better off taking a gap year and then taking the UCAT in August after Year 13. At the moment, focus on your A levels or the equivalent and dont stress too much about this. You would be surprised by the amount of medical 1st year students who are joining after a gap year its A LOT. A medicine course is 5 years and then 2 years FY1/FY2 being a junior doctor, with you being usually randomly placed across the UK in a hospital- if I was living in Scotland, living away for THAT long would be very scary but then again it depends if your comfortable living away for that long. Dont force yourself to move to England for a medical school, you might not like the place and then get stuck there for 5 years- mental health is a big thing- either way it would be hard to get a place in medical school in England anyways as your practically competing against students who have took 1 or 2 gap years and got higher UCAT/ A level scores- gap year would be beneficial to you.

What did you get in your Highers? Do you meet any contextual/widening access criteria? Going to England is going to cost you £50,000 and is unlikely to improve your chances.

I did the UCAT exam yesterday and I got 1590 Band 2, which I was really disappointed with. I was struggling in my mocks but my average was still around 1690 so I was expecting to get similar in the exam. Is it still possible to apply to med school, and what ones are recommended for low UCAT scores or will they probably not accept me? I live in Scotland so ideally a med school in Scotland but ik there's not many so I wouldn't mind moving to England if I had to

Yeah I was thinking about taking a gap year but I'm just worried that if I don't get in next year, then I'll have just wasted a whole year. Can I apply this year anyway and then if I don't get in can I take a gap year then apply next year once I hopefully will score better in the ucat? Or am I only allowed to apply once?

Hi,
Final year medical student from Leicester here! I also had a hard time with the UCAT and didn't do as well as I hoped, so I completely sympathise with how you're feeling. I would really recommend having a look at the Medical Schools Council website as they summarise the key information about minimum entry requirements for each medical school. Otherwise your best bet is to take a detailed look at the entry requirements web page for each university. For example, you can find out exactly how Leicester select candidates for interview here.
It's good that you're thinking about applying strategically. Medicine is so competitive that you can't waste a UCAS space on a med school that definitely won't accept you. Have a look at the preliminary UCAT deciles to get a sense of where you are. Remember there are lots of routes into medicine including medicine with a foundation year, graduate-entry medicine or taking a gap year to retake your UCAT. I had a gap year before university as did lots of the people in my year, it's very common!
Best of luck with your applications. Please feel free to message if you have any other questions about medicine or university in general.
Frankie (Final year med student)

I got AAAAB b in English, a in maths, Physics, human bio and chem. I have a mental disorder but I'm not sure if that meets any of the criteria, other than that I don't meet any of them

Yeah I was thinking about taking a gap year but I'm just worried that if I don't get in next year, then I'll have just wasted a whole year. Can I apply this year anyway and then if I don't get in can I take a gap year then apply next year once I hopefully will score better in the ucat? Or am I only allowed to apply once?

What did you do in your gap year?

If your GCSES are VERY strong, Aston university is a shout- unlikely though unless you have very strong predicted/ maybe a contextual?. Honestly though, you're better off taking a gap year and then taking the UCAT in August after Year 13. At the moment, focus on your A levels or the equivalent and dont stress too much about this. You would be surprised by the amount of medical 1st year students who are joining after a gap year its A LOT. A medicine course is 5 years and then 2 years FY1/FY2 being a junior doctor, with you being usually randomly placed across the UK in a hospital- if I was living in Scotland, living away for THAT long would be very scary but then again it depends if your comfortable living away for that long. Dont force yourself to move to England for a medical school, you might not like the place and then get stuck there for 5 years- mental health is a big thing- either way it would be hard to get a place in medical school in England anyways as your practically competing against students who have took 1 or 2 gap years and got higher UCAT/ A level scores- gap year would be beneficial to you.