Everyone’s pathway to medicine is different, there are may different challenges that can be faced along the way of becoming a doctor but it is the persistence that matters. That being said getting good GCSE’s, and then perfect UCAT/BMAT, all interviews, all offers and good A-Levels is quite rare. Not everybody has a straight and clear path and that is completely ok. There are many other ways to achieve your goals of studying medicine without going down the general route and I will be discussing one today.

An aspect many people struggle with is GCSE’s, these aren’t the most important factor contributing to a place of medicine at universities being given but they are a limiting factor to some universities especially Russel groups. One way to tackle this is by simply resitting the GCSE’s that are required, especially if you are still in year 12 majority of universities do not mind if GCSE’s are re-sat. You can resit this at your secondary school or a private centre and still continue into Year 13.

Another big aspect people struggle with is UCAT scores, many Russel groups such as KCL, Bristol and Manchester weight UCAT scores highly. When applying for universities for medicine you should apply strategically so instead you may choose to apply to universities who take a lower UCAT such as Birmingham, Exeter and Sunderland which are all good medical schools. However, if for some reason you have your heart set on a specific university another option may to be to take a gap year and re-do the UCAT.

This leads on to A-levels, sometimes results come unexpected and you may not have met the entry requirements for the offer you were given. But don’t be disheartened it is NOT the end of the world. It is also an option to take a gap year and re-sit one of you’re a-levels, although many universities don’t accept A-Level resits for medicine there are quite a few that do; so do research before deciding. You can also decide to apply to universities that take lower A-level requirements through clearing on results day.