Surrey


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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-getting-into-medical-school-is-so-tough-i-need-a-lie-down-what-are-my-teenager-s-chance-of-getting-a-place"><strong>Getting into medical school is so tough I need a lie down! What are my teenager’s chance of getting a place?</strong></h2>



<p>Yes, choosing a career is medicine is more competitive than ever. A record number of students applied to medical school in the last two years – up almost 30% compared to five years ago. Of those applicants, around a third win a place at medical school each year. So, in 2023, UK medical schools awarded 10,010 places from a pool of 26,820 applicants. The year before that, there were 29,710 applicants competing for 9,834 places. Of course, this is from an extremely talented pool: every student applying to medical school is one of the top performers at their school. So, it’s a very high bar: you’ve got a roughly one in three chance competing against the cream of the crop.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-and-once-you-re-in-the-tuition-fees-are-hard-to-swallow"><strong>And once you’re in, the tuition fees are hard to swallow…</strong></h2>



<p>Tuition fees for studying medicine at UK public universities (like Oxbridge, Birmingham, Newcastle, Kings, UCL, Manchester and Imperial) are £9,250 a year, plus living costs. But private universities can charge around £30,000 to £50,000 a year – and take a more&nbsp;holistic&nbsp;attitude towards admissions. This is why we often recommend that overseas students apply off-UCAT to private medical schools like Buckingham or the University of Central Lancashire, which (unlike public unis) do not have quotas on places for international students. Since international students will have to pay £30,000 fees wherever they go, it could make sense to apply to less over-subscribed universities. Overall, UK students take the vast majority of places at our medical schools.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-much-do-grades-matter-i-read-in-the-news-recently-that-even-students-with-three-a-s-at-a-level-are-being-refused-places-at-medical-school"><strong>How much do grades matter? I read in the news recently that even students with three A*s at A-Level are being refused places at medical school…</strong></h2>



<p>Grades matter hugely – but also in a sense not at all because everyone applying will have very good grades as a baseline. Realistically, every offer is likely to be AAA or A*AA at A-Level and every applicant is expected to meet that. So unfortunately, simply getting the grades at A-Level is not enough. The other factor is that medical schools offer places based on predicted A-Level grades (which universities take with a pinch of salt), so actually GCSE results are in some ways more important.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-okay-so-how-many-top-gcses-do-you-need"><strong>Okay, so how many top GCSEs do you need?</strong></h2>



<p>Universities will have minimum requirements of, say, a 5 in English and Maths. But realistically you’ll need to look at achieving 8s and 9s across the piece. If you stomp 8s and 9s across eight subjects, that’s absolutely fine. The vast majority of applicants do all three science subjects at GCSE – plus maths of course.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-do-you-need-to-take-four-a-levels-to-stand-out-from-the-crowd"><strong>Do you need to take four A-Levels to stand out from the crowd?</strong></h2>



<p>Not at all. The offer from a university will usually be based on three A-Levels. However, it’s a tactics game so taking four A-Levels can work strategically because it gives you an extra subject to play with to achieve your offer grades. If you do three A-levels you have to get As or A*s in all of them so you have no room to manoeuvre. If you take four subjects you spread yourself a bit thinner but you can afford to get a B in one of them. This could be a sensible option for some students. In terms of A-Level subjects, pretty much all medics take Chemistry and Biology plus another subject – commonly Maths or Physics.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-and-what-do-you-need-to-score-in-the-ucat-test"><strong>And what do you need to score in the UCAT test?</strong></h2>



<p>To be a strong candidate for medical school, you need to score at least 2,700 out of 3,600 in the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT), which is taken between mid-July in the Lower Sixth and the end of September in the final school year. The lower your UCAT score, the narrower the choice of universities you can apply for. If you get 2,800 or above (the top 20% of test-takers), you should be able to have a decent shot anywhere. Below 2,700 you’re going to struggle. And if you’re in the bottom half, unfortunately your choices – and therefore chances of success – are much more limited.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sounds-brutal"><strong>Sounds brutal</strong>?!</h2>



<p>Yes, and that’s not the end of the selection process. Universities take a student’s UCAT score, their personal statement and their academic performance (GCSEs and predicted A-Level grades) to decide who they are going to invite to interview. The vast majority of medical schools then stop and completely reassess each candidate from scratch at the interview stage. How well you’ve done up to that point then becomes largely academic; it’s then all about the interview.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-it-sounds-like-students-need-all-the-extra-help-they-can-get-how-can-the-medic-portal-boost-their-chances"><strong>It sounds like students need all the extra help they can get. How can The Medic Portal boost their chances?</strong></h2>



<p>We can start helping to build students’ applications as soon as they have their GCSE results. But many students approach us when they start thinking about the UCAT test in the Lower Sixth. It takes at least two to three months to prepare for the UCAT test adequately, so we start seeing people coming to us in April/May that year. Once they’ve taken the UCAT test, our tutors can support them through submitting their personal statement (by 15 October) and then help coach them for their interview, which takes place in November and December. </p>



<p>We offer online tuition and practice papers for the UCAT test, personal statement support and interview bootcamps. We’re creating a package builder so students can tailor their own support, choosing tutoring either through live online courses or in-person tutorials. We tend to say getting a good score in the UCAT test requires 1-2 hours of practice a day for 12 weeks, then ramping up the hours of study in the weeks before the exam.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-if-students-put-in-the-hours-what-s-your-success-rate"><strong>If students put in the hours, what’s your success rate?</strong></h2>



<p>Students who prepare with us achieve an average UCAT score of 2,817, which puts them among the top 20% of applicants. Almost 90% of those secure at least one interview from the four medical schools they can apply to. By comparison, the 2022 national average UCAT score was 2,500 – bang on the 5th decile. In total we’ve worked with more than 40,000 students, including those from independent schools like Eton, Harrow and Radley College.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-do-you-decide-whether-oxbridge-is-for-you"><strong>How do you decide whether Oxbridge is for you?</strong></h2>



<p>Oxford and Cambridge provide three years of learning the foundational sciences of medicine before three years of clinical placements to apply the theory on real patients. This means you would have very limited patient contact for three years. It’s important to decide whether learning the basics and then applying your knowledge would be more suited for you than an integrated course where you’d be taught practical skills in a hospital from the start. If you feel you would thrive in a more academic style of medicine and value small-group teaching, Oxford or Cambridge (you can’t apply to both!) may be a good fit.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-are-there-any-students-you-d-advise-against-a-career-in-medicine"><strong>Are there any students you’d advise against a career in medicine?</strong></h2>



<p>People think you’ve got to be able to handle the sight of blood. But actually, being squeamish isn’t usually an issue – students either get used to it or don’t apply in the first place. When we see students and think that medical school isn’t for them, it’s those who are very interested in the academic side of medicine. They shouldn’t be studying to practise as a doctor because it’s a hands-on vocational career. If you are fascinated by the science of medicine then you should study, say, biochemistry and go into medical research and work in a lab. The pay will put many people off too – if money is your goal, it’s not the fastest route to riches. After all your years of study and training, you’ll earn £32,398 as a Foundation 1 doctor, rising to £126,281 for the most experienced doctors.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-horses-for-courses-then-how-much-do-you-charge-for-your-tutoring-services"><strong>Horses for courses, then. How much do you charge for your tutoring services?</strong></h2>



<p>Costs vary depending on which stages of the application process you would like to be coached for and the level of support. For example, a full-season online UCAT course costs £195 and UCAT packages that blend courses, question banks and tutoring start at £383. You can spend as little as £25 or all the way up to thousands for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.themedicportal.com/tutoring/bespoke/?utm_source=muddy-stilettos&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=tmp-may24">Premier Service</a>, which is mainly designed for international students and makes financial sense when you consider their tuition fee costs.</p>



<p><em>Interested in helping your child apply to medical school? Check out this&nbsp;<a href="https://www.themedicportal.com/blog/?utm_source=muddy-stilettos&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=tmp-may24">wealth of further reading and resources</a>&nbsp;to help you plan. If you’d like to discuss your medical school application, or the different tutoring packages available,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.themedicportal.com/?utm_source=muddy-stilettos&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=tmp-may24">The Medic Portal</a>&nbsp;consultants are happy to discuss your options. Email:&nbsp;<a href="mailto:info@themedicportal.com">info@themedicportal.com</a>, Tel:+44&nbsp;(0)20 8834 4579.</em></p>


How to give your kids a healthy shot at medical school

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