Universities resit policies for medicine

WRITTEN SUMMER 2012 - ALWAYS CHECK POLICIES
Good evening,
I hope everyone's exams are going well / have gone well (depending on where you are in your life) and that you feel confident you've got the grades you need.

I realise this post comes with some unfortunate timing as it is exam results day tomorrow, but I'm seriously rooting for everybody to have got the grades they need to get in, and if you miss them, well that's a post for tomorrow I suppose.

Universities policies on re-sits change quite frequently, for example, Sheffield used to be well known as a "resit University" and changed this status due to the high number of resit applications they received. So if you are reading this after 2012 and it hasn't been updated, check for yourself.

Let's begin!

Aberdeen: does not accept resit applicants.
Barts: does not accept resit applicants.
Birmingham: accepts resit applications when there have been extenuating circumstances, and the required grades have been narrowly missed. However they will not accept applications from people who have been previously rejected. I don't know if this means that only people who have previously been offered a place can apply, or anyone who hasn't previously applied...
Brighton: accept resit applicants. The applicant must have only narrowly missed one grade, and must have achieved at least a B. You've got to get an A* in the re-sat subject.
Cardiff: accept resit applicants. You must have achieved at least a B in Biology to apply.
Dundee: does not accept resit applicants.
Durham: does not accept resit applicants.
UEA: accept resit applicants. You must have achieved BBB or ABC. If you resit all 3 A-Levels you need to get A*AA, if just re-sitting one subject, you must achieve an A* in it.
Edinburgh: accepts resit applicants who have extenuating circumstances, however you must provide evidence of these circumstances before you apply in the next UCAS cycle.
Glasgow: accepts resit applicants who have extenuating circumstances, and have narrowly missed a grade, however you must provide evidence of these circumstances before you apply in the next UCAS cycle.
Hull York: accepts resit applicants who have extenuating circumstances with documented evidence.
Imperial: accepts resit applicants who have previously had an offer from Imperial, and who have acceptable extenuating circumstances to explain missing their grades, these circumstances must be included in the referee statement and the candidate should write directly to the school. You have to achieve at least CCC, and be predicted AAA in WINTER exams (not Summer!).
Keele: only accepts applications from re-sitters who have already achieved their re-sit grades (essentially you can't apply till the year after).
Kings: I couldn't actually find the information! If anyone knows please comment below and I will edit it in.
Lancaster: accepts resit applicants. You have to meet their minimum GCSE requirements and discuss it in your personal statement.
Leeds: accepts resit applications from people who have previously held an offer from Leeds, and have well documented extenuating circumstances. You must provide the information and contact the admissions office before applying in the next UCAS cycle.
Leicester: do not accept resit applicants. However they MIGHT accept a resit candidate who has previously held an offer and has strong mitigating circumstances (always worth asking if you fit this criteria!)
Liverpool: resit applicants CAN be considered. You must reflect about re-sitting on your personal statement, and meet the GCSE grades.
Manchester: considers resit applications, however candidates must perform very well at interview to be considered for a place, play to your strong suits if you know you are good / bad at interviews.
Newcastle: does not accept resit applicants.
Oxford: re-sit applicants considered with extenuating circumstances and evidence given.
Peninsula: accepts resit applications, you must have achieved AAB in the first sitting.
Sheffield: resit applicants not accepted.
Southampton: resit applications are considered, you must reflect on your personal statement.
St Andrews: consider resit applicants with extenuating circumstances, you must send evidence to the admissions office before the next UCAS cycle.
St. Georges: resit applicants not accepted.

To some this up, for those of you without extenuating circumstances, and only missing one grade, you can apply to:

• Brighton
• Cardiff
• UEA
• Keele (in a year)
• Lancaster
• Liverpool
• Manchester
• Peninsula 
• Southampton

I hope this has been helpful. I probably won't  be able to answer many questions on the subject, so anyone with queries is best of contacting admissions offices.

Good good good luck with exam results tomorrow, all the best! 

Re-applying for Medicine

*EDIT: Remember applications for Medicine have an October deadline! This means you won't have an entire gap year to boost your application - just the months post exams, so get busy now! And maybe don't book too many holidays...*

First off, I am very sorry if you have no offers!
Butttt do not loose hope, many people do not get into Medicine straight after school, and it is perfectly common to re-apply and take a gap year.
Here are some things you can do to improve your chances next year:

• Volunteering - volunteering makes up a large chunk of many peoples applications, it can be very difficult to gain medical work experience, and the value volunteering adds to your application should not be undermined. Most universities request volunteering placements relating to healthcare, and (preferably) working with the elderly, the very young, disabled people or the very sick. This essentially translates to palliative care, care homes, hospitals and after-school clubs for the young. I did a post earlier with some volunteering websites , and often your local hospital / care homes and hospices will run their own schemes; in which case I turn you to the wonder that is Google. The more, the better, and remember breadth not depth. This will boost your application and expose you to different areas of medicine; however do not take up a placement just for UCAS! Volunteering should also be slightly altruistic haha, and if it is not it will quickly become a chore.
• Work experience - obviously this will aid your application. Do not be afraid to ring up hospitals and GP surgeries to ask for work experience. With hospitals, contact the human resources department or the volunteering department, these are usually little goldmines of information. With GP surgeries, ring the practice manager, many GP surgeries have websites with the practice managers details listed. They know the policy on work experience and will be organising it for you. DO NOT ring up the prescription line or appointment line, you are not a patient there! This will irritate the practice and may mean you are denied work experience. Many practices will not let your have experience in your own GP surgery, so look around for other practices in your area.
• UKCAT / BMAT - trying to improve your scores on the entrance exams can be a real booster. Identify any problems you had last time and learn from experience; if you know you didn't revise enough / were exceptionally nervous / went out the night before / bought the wrong revision guide etc. etc. than ensure these mistakes don't happen again! Easier said than done I know, but a few extra points can make such a big difference.
• Get a healthcare related job - not only will this relieve the financial pressures of having a gap year, but will provide work experience and put your CV one step higher than all the other junior doctors! You can look at NHS Jobs for related posts, from what I've heard, a lot of people become health care assistants or secretaries to Consultants.
• Improve interview technique - I did a massive post on interviews here and here and here. Not much else to say really it is all in there! If you did get any interviews, make sure to ask for feedback. Anything you can improve on will be really useful for the second time round. Also, the average medical applicants spends 40 hours preparing for interview, so if you didn't that much this time, it might be something to think about.
• Research medical schools - each university seems to have a perfect candidate. Look around on places such as the student room and new media medicine to see which kinda of candidates get in, and the specific qualities they have. I wish Medicine wasn't this way, but you do need to play the game to get in. Find and apply to at least one university which is perfect for you (e.g. GCSE's are your strengths = Birmingham, UKCAT your strength = Sheffield) this will hopefully ensure at least an interview.
• Finally, do not give up and work damn hard for them A-Levels!!!

Good Luck !!