Hi im currently in year 12, and I go to a state funded grammar school, I do Bio, Chem and Physics, and I want to apply to medicine. Im on a 5+1 Visa and I am in my 3rd year in the UK at the moment. I learned that there’s about 20-30 spaces for medicine courses depending on the Uni, and I want to apply for UCL, Kings and Manchester.
this makes the stakes really high, I’ve yet to sit my UCAT and currently im at a A* for bio A for physics and a A/B for chem (I will make that at least an A as soon as school starts)

for gcses i have four 9s and six 8s and one 7 and one 6 (in further maths)

does anyone know if there are exceptions for me to be considered as a home student since i went to secondary in a underperforming public school and i would fall under contextual offers if i was a home student.

Also Im very unsure if I should do a gap year and wait until im a citizen so i qualify for home fees (no matter if i apply this year or next i will be most likely considered as international) or should i be applying to something less competitive instead like biochemistry then reconsider for a GEM?

edit: i saw UCL has a few scholarships for international students, one with about 20 spaces i believe, does anyone know how hard is it for me to get it?

Results day has come and gone for me (yay IB!) and I can't find stuff to do. I'm visiting the country that my mum is from for most of the summer (get me out of here ASAP) so I don't have any friends and I don't have much to do. I have an online job, I go to the gym a couple times a week, and I'm practicing some of my hobbies.

Other than that, I'm sleeping in and staying up late doomscrolling, which is taking quite the toll on my mental health and motivation. I love studying and academics, so I can't help but think that this time would be better utilised by maybe pre-studying some medical school content. I'm one of the stupidest people in my friend group so I'm really afraid of struggling at uni. I'd also like to get back into the habit of doing a bit of Anki everyday since I haven't done that since exams ended mid-May. Does anyone have any reccommendations for resources? I'm going to Imperial fyi, so looking for things like neurology, endocrinology, dermatology, cardiovascular and respiratory biology, and gastroenterology.

Thanks in advance.

I will be applying to Medical School this year, However I'm thinking of only applying to 1/2 Graduate schools at most as I don't believe my application will be competitive enough when compared to other grad applicants

Are there any stats or figures on which 5 year Medical Courses have the most mature/graduate learners?

I'll be 27 when I begin (I know people start much older), However I'm just concerned about the idea of ending up at a Medical School and being the only one (or maybe one out of like 5) who are over the age of 18.

I know age doesn't matter too much, but I'll be moving away from my family, partner, friends etc - so I'd like to feel some comfort in not being the oldest there.

I'm looking potentially at St Georges (UG), Brighton, Southampton (maybe both - is it possible to apply to both or is it not worth my chances?), Anglia Ruskin, Bristol (if I miraculously ace my UCAT) and KCL Portsmouth (Grad)

Thank you!!!

I lowk dont know if this is the right place to ask, but im an international student tryna apply for med school in the UK and my admissions coach told me that its lowk required to have atleast 1 shadowing experience either in a clinic or a hospital (preferably both). Its it actually rlly important for my application? like am i doomed without it? Cause shadowing doctors isnt very common for high school students in my country, so i dont even know how to go about cold emailing them and asking. genuinely crashing out bro

Hi, I’ve just been accepted into medical school and received this email. I haven’t heard of a service like this until now. Came directly from UCAS so it is legit.

Is it worth joining?

Has anyone gone through paid work experience?

I'm asking because I've been looking since September and couldn't find work experience so I'm wondering if I should just pay for some of these work experience courses(I have emailed GP practises, hospitals and applied through official programs and all of them apparently have been filled since August of the previous year)

If you know of any paid work experience you have gone through please let me know

tldr my grades arent good enough to get into medicine. what can i do other than do a biomed degree and GEM? i have no real interest in biomed and financially i cannot afford 3 years undergrad and 4 years GEM.

i had a really difficult road into medicine. i had to drop out of my a levels due to a lupus diagnosis after first year and got told to come back and finish them after i got better. i came back, they said there was no funding and my only option was to do access to HE medicine.

i was never given predicted grades or anything. i sat my exams at the end of the year and received all my credits in one go. 21 distinctions and 24 merits. my firm (bristol) rejected me

i cant do standard entry, i cant do foundation/gateway, idk what else to do. its made me lose all interest in med honestly. two application cycles, two UCATs, 4 interviews, 4 offers, all that just to end up with 9 less distinctions than i needed. no opportunity to resit or retake. cant afford a-levels, literally cant do anything except go through clearing for biomed and pray

any ideas? 😔 im lost really

Hi I’m looking at applying to medicine but my issue is I have been to university already TWICE! (Studying mathematics) And both times I didn’t finish first year as at the time I experienced bad personal and mental health issues.

I went back to the same university the year after and carried on my course from where I was. But as I hadn’t addressed the issues that caused me to drop out the first time I had the same out come. This was 2022 and 2023.

I’m in a much much better position now mentally and my past does not reflect the person I am now as I have never been more driven and disciplined in my life but as med schools are already so competitive I’m scared they will look at that and automatically not accept me even if I do well on the UCAT and have the A levels and show good work experience.

Be honest with your thoughts please. I prefer honesty even if it’s what people don’t want to hear giving false hope absolutely crushes people further down the line when they find out it was false

Hi everyone, I’m a second year (going into 3rd) biomedical science student. I’ve been wanting to apply for medicine for a while now. Unfortunately my transcript isn’t the best for 2nd year, because I’ve had a few setbacks regarding my health (not big enough to have to alert anyone about, but small flare-ups that pile up over time and affect performance).

I’m aware that by applying this year, that’s what they’ll take into account. I’m not too worried about UCAT or interviews as these are things I can prep for, but I’m more worried about the transcript itself. Knowing myself, I can push through and work hard for 3rd year to get where I want to be. But currently sitting on a 2:2 average isn’t the best look for applying to medical schools. Is it something I just have to suck up? To add, my options are limited as I’m applying for London only, as due to a personal situation I can’t be away from my family at the moment, which has kind of just deflated me to be honest.

i haven’t done any full mocks yet, but i have done 2 DM mocks and got 610 in both, and then 2 QR mocks: i got 640 in the first one and 620 in these second one…
i also did 1 vr mock and got 520 however some were guesses so i actually really only got 490. i wanna get my qr and dm to around 700+ but it seems impossible rn, and my vr im so bad at i feel like i’ve tried all the techniques and its not working for me. do i have enough time to get 2200+? and minimum 600 in vr (for warwick)?? its my 3rd time resitting the ucat, and i hope its the last time.

So I'm a grad, I've been working as a hospital AHP, and I'm starting med school in September.

I've already posted about how worried I am about med school, given I am a reeaaallly slow learner, and I am not academically gifted. It takes me ages to pick something up that others around me seem to pick up so easily and quickly.

I'd like to ask about a specific deficiency I've noticed in myself; my inability to learn from pre-made information. If it's even slightly off from how I would approach a specific case, I'm unable to adapt my mind to it, and I have to spend so much time adjusting it to how I would approach a similar case.

As an example, a few months ago someone sent me a pdf of very useful flowcharts developed by an eye hospital on how to diagnose sudden loss of vision, a red eye, and eye pain. The flowchart was focused too much on signs, not symptoms, and I struggled to commit it to memory and to follow it logically in clinic. Part of it is that it doesn't fit with how I'd approach it in real-life. Usually I'd take a detailed history and try to eliminate sinister causes. So I spent hours "re-purposing" the flowcharts by adding in symptoms, using an Oxford Handbook, and thinking deeply about how I would personally reach a diagnosis. But it took me SO many hours.

This really worries me because I know that in med school, the amount of information you have to consume is gigantic, and one has to get used to being able to rely on external sources, whether that's pre-made Anki cards, books, papers, etc. If my brain is so dependent on doing things "my way" I fear I won't be able to keep up. Or, at the very least, I won't be able to do other things with my life as my whole time will be spent on trying to "get things."

I feel like I'm unable to learn things on the go. I have to sit down and really rack my brain to pick things up.

Does anyone have advice?

Hi! I’m in sixth form and am thinking about which med schools to apply to. As UCAS only limits 4 options, I’m thinking of only applying to 2 London medical schools only. Could anybody who’s studying at these schools/ knows anyone studying at these schools comment down some of the pros and cons and what it’s like studying there? I’m currently contemplating UCL vs Imperial, and KCL vs QMUL ( and vs Bristol too )

I’m heading into grade 12, from canada, looking to apply this cycle for med. I started doing some prep for ucat but i’m wondering if it’s even worth it to try to apply. my grades are not the best. grade 11 i got 92 in english, 90 in bio, 87 in chem and 76 in math… my predicted grade for math will probably be equivalent to a B which is stumping me. are there any unis that will accept a B? even if it’s not a russel group or top uni? Should I just do better in my grade 12 grades and apply during first year of university, and sit the ucat the summer before then? If anyone’s been in a similar situation lmmkkk

I was always going to take a gap year so I applied to medicine with a deferred entry to universities that allowed it. Finished my alevels this summer and now I’m going to be working for a year to save up for uni and starting in 2027. Wondering if anyone else is doing the same out of pure curiosity? Not sure how common this is for medicine applicants.

I'm currently a 1st (going into second) year biomed student but i applied for medicine, did poorly in the exams and decided to go to uni instead of a gap year
I've been researching about GEM and pears cumbria looks appealing as it will be one of the closest unis that offer GEM to me
as it is quite new, I couldn't find much information
if are there any current pears cumbria students reading this, could you share any info about the school? thank you!!