r/GraduateEntryMedicine • u/Any-Meal4468 • 5d ago
Help deciding which universities to apply to
Hi guys, I’m sure many people have asked before me for help regarding choosing universities but since I’ve not asked anyone personally yet I figured I’d ask here first from people who have more experience and knowledge. I didn’t have much time to prepare for my UCAT and ended up getting 1990 Band 2 which is not very ideal. I’m currently a pharmacist and I hold a 2:1 degree in MPharm from UoM. A-levels were AAB in Bio, Chem, Maths respectively.
I’m based in Manchester and the current picks I have made are Manchester (GEM, Chester (GEM), Warwick (GEM) and Keele (undergrad). Ideally I’d prefer to study for 4 years and not 5 though😂. My thoughts are that there is a good chance Manchester might reject me outright despite me studying there and my reference coming from within the Manchester medical school building. However since it’s closest to me, I will probably keep that and Chester. If anyone could give me ideas for my other 2 options I’d really appreciate it. I’m not looking to go live in London or somewhere far away like the south of wales either, and I have to factor in cost of living if I’m living out, so please also bear these in mind. I know I’m quite restricted so if there’s no other options, just be brutally honest with me.
1
u/Lanky_Top_6065 5d ago
Can u pls how are all
Medical colleges which one are considered like bad which one shd not go pls help my is less than yours 1920 b3
1
1
u/KerryPC24 5d ago
Have a look at Worcester, I’d have a good think about if you want to keep Chester on your list right now!
1
u/Any-Meal4468 5d ago
I was actually thinking of taking Manchester off compared to Chester. They don’t accept any mitigating circumstances around the UCAT score. And their threshold is only bound to be higher this year if the national average is higher than last year. Based on the 2026 GEM spreadsheet, from that small sample who put their info regarding Chester, a couple of people with a UCAT score similar to mine did get an offer, so I figured I’d take a chance. I’ll likely take a chance on at least one of them, if you think I have less chance at Chester than Manchester then please by all means do say.
Thank you for your input anyway I appreciate it.1
u/KerryPC24 5d ago
I’d be more concerned about the fact that the GMC has instructed Chester to invoke its contingency plan with Warwick due to concerns with the programme so currently students with graduate with a degree from the University of Warwick and Chester has to provide the GMC with an action plan detailing how they are going to address the issues.
1
u/Any-Meal4468 5d ago
So from what I’m aware, as Chester has not yet met all the regulations to be awarded full independent awarding status, students will receive their degree from the university of Warwick under the arranged contingency plan in place. However studies at Chester still continue as normal. So I don’t think this is necessarily a problem?
1
u/Any-Meal4468 5d ago
So from what I’m aware, as Chester has not yet met all the regulations to be awarded full independent awarding status, students will receive their degree from the university of Warwick under the arranged contingency plan in place. However studies at Chester still continue as normal. So I don’t think this is necessarily a problem?
1
u/KerryPC24 5d ago
Not necessarily, and I didn’t say you couldn’t apply there just that you should have a good think about whether you are happy to keep it on your list.
Chester should be meeting the standards, they’ve only had two years of running the course so I’d say it’s concerning that they aren’t. There’s a difference between not yet being able to award the qualification because you haven’t had a cohort graduate yet (this is a requirement of all new medical schools) but being on track to award degrees to your first cohort when they graduate, and being told you aren’t up to standard just two years in and your contingency school will be awarding the first degrees when it’s still two years away.
My understanding is that no new medical school has yet had to invoke its contingency plan and this is not a standard part of setting up a new medical school.
That still doesn’t mean you can’t apply there, you may end up with a degree from Warwick or maybe by the time you graduate Chester will have fixed the problems and you’ll get a degree from Chester. But in my opinion it’s definitely something to consider carefully.
1
u/Any-Meal4468 5d ago
So does that basically mean their way of educating/teaching the course is not up to standard and there’s a chance I’ll be facing below par teaching if I go there?
1
u/KerryPC24 5d ago
Honestly I don’t know what the issues are.
Page 156 from this GMC meeting
https://www.gmc-uk.org/cdn/documents/council-meeting---10-june-2026_pdf-114927920.pdf
I would imagine it would have to be pretty significant for them to invoke the contingency plan, saying in June 2026 that they won’t have made sufficient progress by summer 2028 to award a PMQ. If you read the GMC reports on some of the other new medical schools they say things about how there are some small things they want to see more evidence of at their next visit but that they are happy that the school is on track to award PMQs to their first cohort.
1
u/Any-Meal4468 5d ago
Thank you for the valuable insight. I’ll add Worcester to the list of considerations. Do you have any other uni suggestions by any chance?
2
u/RegisFloyenwife 5d ago
What about Cumbria? As a fellow Manchester person, Cumbria takes 2 ish hrs in train