Additional Alevels in Gap Year (Medicine)

I am currently in Year 12 studying Maths, Psychology and Economics at a sixth form. However this combination was not my original one but last minute.

My initial combination was Biology Maths Chemistry and Psychology because I wanted to study Pharmaxy or Medicine in the future. However, I need a 7 in both Chemistry and Biology if I wanted to study it at A levels and ended up getting a 6 in both at GCSE. I didn’t apply to any other schools except my own so in a panic I chose Psychology and Economics because other sixth forms had the same standards and I wasn’t ready to go to college due to unexpected changes I my life.

So currently, I attend my sixth form doing those 3 A-levels and plan to resist GCSE Biology and Chemistry this year so I can study it in a gap year (home study where I’ll take the actual exam in my sixth form).

Now this plan in my head seemed reasonable but the more days I spend in sixth the more I realized how isolated and depressed I felt from everyone else who got to do their first choices of A-levels. I feel like a fraud who’s carrying all this guilt of not getting the grades I needed especially when people ask why I’m not doing Biology and Chemistry.

This became worse though when today I found out some Universities may immediately reject my application for medicine after completing my gap year as they see it as the equivalent of re-sitting A-levels. I really wanted to go to one of the Russel group universities and now my mind is spiraling out of control. I had been planning work experience both physical/virtual, programs and super curriculums to do just to find out my plan again may fail.

It already hurts me seeing people in my year heading towards medicine already completing things the school is giving to help make them strong candidates when applying and I’m not included. That was my main reason as to why I wanted to stay because most people go on to the best universities and they give very good opportunities.

I thought I might come in here to see if I could get advice or help because I fear even teachers look at me shamefully and even people who I call my friends. Because whether I stay I’d still be sticking to the original plan and still be with all my friends but in the back of my mind be reminded that they’ll all go uni without me. Or even dropping out of sixth form and having to start Year 12 again at maybe a college feeling even more alone not being around my age group as-well as not having the ability to make friends that easily.

i would suggest you sit down and have a proper discussion with your careers advisor/tutor/parent/teacher you get on well with, it sounds like you need some guidance and pastoral support. You sound quite low and sometimes the more mental effort we spend trying to work out a solution in our head, the more fixated we become which isn't helpful to our mental health.

I'm terribly sorry to hear this, it doesn't sound fun at all
What I get from reading your post is that you have a dream to do Medicine, and it has gone a bit pear-shaped because you couldn't study Biology and Chemistry at A-level at your sixth form. You also feel like people are ashamed of you and are feeling jealous that they'll go on to uni while you take a gap year or go to a college and start afresh
First, let me assure you that no one is ashamed of you, and if you asked for help, you might even receive some at school! And taking a gap year while your friends go to uni is not so hard, from my own personal experience. It's a funky feeling at first, but it's just a part of life, and you'll meet other people in your gap year and then go off to uni and make new friends and everything will be OK.
Secondly, resitting your GCSEs might be a bit of a moot point. Unless you want to apply to a uni that scores GCSEs (a lot don't, other than asking for minimum grades), you can probably get away with just sitting the A-Levels for Biology and Chemistry in a gap year. In fact, if you pick your uni options right, you might even get away with sitting just one of them, although admittedly it's probably best to sit both of them to have as many uni options open. It's true that some medical schools get funny with A-levels if you don't do them all in a single sitting after two years of study, but not all universities will be like that, and most importantly, it doesn't matter! Your priority is to get into Medical School, the uni you end up at is irrelevant for Medicine - you'll get the same degree from them all, Russell Group or not.
It won't be easy, but if you really want to do it, you can still become a doctor. Don't give up. Carry on trying to arrange work experience and doing extracurricular stuff, and in the background research the universities you'll be able to apply to (it won't be all, but you'll have lots of options. If you put your mind to it, you'll get this. Good luck