Which Medical School should I apply to?

Hi, I am a home student and planning to apply for Medicine for 2026 entry. Following are my Stats.
1.⁠ ⁠UCAT score with full breakdown: 1980
VR: 570
DM: 680
QR: 730
SJT: 2

2.⁠ ⁠GCSEs breakdown (or equivalent)
Biology: 8
Maths : 8
Physics: 8
Chem : 8
Eng lang: 6
Eng lit: 8
RE:8
History: 8
Geo: 7
Spanish: 6

3.⁠ ⁠A-levels (or equivalent): predicted

Biology : A
Chemistry: A
Maths: A
EPQ: A (achieved)
4. Non-contextual
5. Experience: - 1 year volunteer at a care home
- ⁠1 year volunteer at a local pharmacy
- ⁠4 days hospital placement at a stroke ward
- ⁠3 days of shadowing in a dental surgery
- ⁠virtual experience dental spring pod
- ⁠certified football coach for local junior team
- ⁠senior school prefect
- ⁠house captain
- ⁠volunteered for school open days.
Based on these stats we have selected the following University.
1. Sunderland
2. Plymouth (Or Brighton Sussex unable to decide).
3. Lancaster
4. Leicester (Or Liverpool unable to decide need your help)
I would greatly appreciate it if you could please advise whether these universities are Safe for the given stats. Any other safe university please suggest.
Thanks in advance.

Reply 1

TSR Hippocrates

Hey there, thanks for posting a question in the Medicine forum.

The Medicine forum gets a high volume of questions being posted, and some of these are already answered by the resources and Megathreads that members of the community and volunteers have created. This is an automatic post which is designed to highlight these resources. Below is a list of threads and articles that could answer your question (you should be looking in the original post of the megathreads). If one of the below threads is a more relevant place to ask your question, please post a reply in that thread to ask your question. If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked below, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.

Megathreads (Please read the first post before posting any further questions you have within that thread.)
The "Which Medical School Should I Apply To?" Uberthread
The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread
Medicine A-Level subjects queries
Work Experience and Voluntary Work
GANFYD's "Which medical schools accept retake A-Levels" list

2026 Applicants :
Official Thread: (Undergraduate) Medicine 2026 entry
Official Thread: Graduate Entry Medicine 2026 Entry
Medicine 2026 entry for resit/retake/gap year applicants
International Students for Medicine 2026 Entry (overseas students applying to the UK)
UCAT 2026 Entry Discussions Megathread
GAMSAT Megathread 2026/2027 entry
GAMSAT Megathread 2025/2026 entry
2026 entry A100/ A101 Medicine fastest and slowest offer senders
Medical Schools Index 2026 entry
Medical Schools Index 2025 entry

UCAS Extra and Clearing:
Medicine UCAS Extra for 2025
Medicine UCAS Clearing for 2025

Other application years:
Official Thread: (Undergraduate) Medicine 2027 entry
Official Thread: Graduate Entry Medicine 2027 Entry
Official Thread: Graduate Entry Medicine 2028 Entry

Current Medical Students and Doctors:
Guidance on posting in this subforum
So, you're going to medical school.... MKII
OSCE Tips and Advice
Increase in the NHS Bursary and expenses for placement
The postgraduate exams thread

Useful Articles:
Work Experience as a Graduate or Mature student
Medicine Personal Statement Advice
Medicine Personal Statement Advice (Graduate Entry)
Interview Frequently Asked Questions
MMI Medicine Interview Tips
What to do after an unsuccessful first application
Funding medicine as a second degree

Our Community:
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Medicine Gap Year Stories
Project: Minimum UCAT Score Trends

If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked above, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.

Reply 2

UoL Students

Official Rep

Original post

by fattypatty597

Hi, I am a home student and planning to apply for Medicine for 2026 entry. Following are my Stats.
1.⁠ ⁠UCAT score with full breakdown: 1980
VR: 570
DM: 680
QR: 730
SJT: 2
2.⁠ ⁠GCSEs breakdown (or equivalent)
Biology: 8
Maths : 8
Physics: 8
Chem : 8
Eng lang: 6
Eng lit: 8
RE:8
History: 8
Geo: 7
Spanish: 6
3.⁠ ⁠A-levels (or equivalent): predicted
Biology : A
Chemistry: A
Maths: A
EPQ: A (achieved)
4. Non-contextual
5. Experience: - 1 year volunteer at a care home
- ⁠1 year volunteer at a local pharmacy
- ⁠4 days hospital placement at a stroke ward
- ⁠3 days of shadowing in a dental surgery
- ⁠virtual experience dental spring pod
- ⁠certified football coach for local junior team
- ⁠senior school prefect
- ⁠house captain
- ⁠volunteered for school open days.
Based on these stats we have selected the following University.
1. Sunderland
2. Plymouth (Or Brighton Sussex unable to decide).
3. Lancaster
4. Leicester (Or Liverpool unable to decide need your help)
I would greatly appreciate it if you could please advise whether these universities are Safe for the given stats. Any other safe university please suggest.
Thanks in advance.

Hi,

Final year medical student from Leicester here! It looks like you've done well in your GCSEs and UCAT, so well done.

I know choosing which medical schools to apply to can be very overwhelming. It's great that you're thinking about applying strategically as there is no point wasting a UCAS spot on medical schools where you don't meet one of the minimum entry requirements. I would highly recommend having a look at the Medical Schools Council website which summaries all of the minimum entry requirements for each medical school, as well as the websites of each university. You can find the minimum entry requirements for Leicester here as well as detailed information on how applicants are scored here.

Once you have a short list of universities you know you meet the minimum requirements for, the decision on which to apply for is very personal. Think about what teaching styles suit you best, whether you want early clinical exposure, whether you want to experience dissection etc. Think about whether you can see yourself living in that city, and how far away you want to be from family. For example, I chose Leicester because of the integrated approach to teaching, access to full body dissection and the central location of Leicester in the country!

Best of luck with your applications. Please feel free to message if you have any questions about medicine, Leicester or university in general.

Frankie (Final year med student)

Reply 3

Tracy45

Based on your stats, Sunderland and Plymouth are likely safe options, while Leicester may also be suitable. Consider Lancaster cautiously, but Liverpool might be more competitive; Anglia Ruskin and Birmingham are additional safe alternatives.

Reply 4

University of Plymouth Undergraduate Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post

by fattypatty597

Hi, I am a home student and planning to apply for Medicine for 2026 entry. Following are my Stats.
1.⁠ ⁠UCAT score with full breakdown: 1980
VR: 570
DM: 680
QR: 730
SJT: 2
2.⁠ ⁠GCSEs breakdown (or equivalent)
Biology: 8
Maths : 8
Physics: 8
Chem : 8
Eng lang: 6
Eng lit: 8
RE:8
History: 8
Geo: 7
Spanish: 6
3.⁠ ⁠A-levels (or equivalent): predicted
Biology : A
Chemistry: A
Maths: A
EPQ: A (achieved)
4. Non-contextual
5. Experience: - 1 year volunteer at a care home
- ⁠1 year volunteer at a local pharmacy
- ⁠4 days hospital placement at a stroke ward
- ⁠3 days of shadowing in a dental surgery
- ⁠virtual experience dental spring pod
- ⁠certified football coach for local junior team
- ⁠senior school prefect
- ⁠house captain
- ⁠volunteered for school open days.
Based on these stats we have selected the following University.
1. Sunderland
2. Plymouth (Or Brighton Sussex unable to decide).
3. Lancaster
4. Leicester (Or Liverpool unable to decide need your help)
I would greatly appreciate it if you could please advise whether these universities are Safe for the given stats. Any other safe university please suggest.
Thanks in advance.

Hi there! Great to hear you're considering Plymouth! 😄

You can find the current course information, including entry requirements and average offers, here and visit for an open day by checking out our upcoming dates here (which I'd definitely recommend to get the best idea of the facilities and speak to current staff and students, including viewing the brand new InterCity Place facility with state-of-the-art equipment healthcare courses in your subject area).

As I don't study this subject, I wouldn't be able to give you an accurate answer on entry requirements and stats, so hopefully some others from a similar background to yourself will help out below! But if you have any more questions in the meantime, you can reach out to [email protected] who will be able to give you all the current information and guidance.

Best of luck for the application process! 🙌

-Alfie, University of Plymouth Undergraduate Student Rep

Reply 5

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

Original post

by fattypatty597

Don't forget the "Which med school, should I apply to?" megathread. Instructions are in the first post:

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7532244

Reply 6

Bertie biggins

Hi there, anyone out there know how much work experience is needed for Sunderland Interview Tool. My DD is thinking of applying . She has following :
1 year of 1 day/week in special needs school
1 year are of 1 day/week visiting old people’s flats
1 week in hospital
1 day at flu clinic.
Lifeguarding
Several Medic Mentor virtual WEX
I’m not sure if this is enough. Thanks

Reply 7

University of Plymouth Undergraduate Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post

by fattypatty597

Hi, I am a home student and planning to apply for Medicine for 2026 entry. Following are my Stats.
1.⁠ ⁠UCAT score with full breakdown: 1980
VR: 570
DM: 680
QR: 730
SJT: 2
2.⁠ ⁠GCSEs breakdown (or equivalent)
Biology: 8
Maths : 8
Physics: 8
Chem : 8
Eng lang: 6
Eng lit: 8
RE:8
History: 8
Geo: 7
Spanish: 6
3.⁠ ⁠A-levels (or equivalent): predicted
Biology : A
Chemistry: A
Maths: A
EPQ: A (achieved)
4. Non-contextual
5. Experience: - 1 year volunteer at a care home
- ⁠1 year volunteer at a local pharmacy
- ⁠4 days hospital placement at a stroke ward
- ⁠3 days of shadowing in a dental surgery
- ⁠virtual experience dental spring pod
- ⁠certified football coach for local junior team
- ⁠senior school prefect
- ⁠house captain
- ⁠volunteered for school open days.
Based on these stats we have selected the following University.
1. Sunderland
2. Plymouth (Or Brighton Sussex unable to decide).
3. Lancaster
4. Leicester (Or Liverpool unable to decide need your help)
I would greatly appreciate it if you could please advise whether these universities are Safe for the given stats. Any other safe university please suggest.
Thanks in advance.

Hiya, great to hear you're interested in studying at Plymouth 😊]

I'm a current student here, although I wouldn't be too sure on medicine application chances as I don't study this subject, however, I can link you to the current entry requirements here (under the apply section) to give you an idea. We do have a medicine student, Gifty, available on our Unibuddy site, where you can ask her any questions about the course, application process, and entry requirements, so I'd recommend starting a conversation!

We also have lots of upcoming open days which I'd highly recommend to give you a feel for the campus, hear about courses and facilities, as well as tour the new Intercity Place building, the home for healthcare students and state-of-the-art equipment, teaching spaces, and resources.

If you have any general questions too about the university or city, feel free to let me know and I'd be happy to help 🙂

Best of luck with your application! 🙌

-Alfie, University of Plymouth Undergraduate Student Rep