You can select up to four medicine courses on your UCAS form. It’s highly recommended to use all four for medicine. ✅

• Your fifth choice must be a non-medicine course. This won’t impact your medicine applications.

• Many students use this as a backup in case they don’t receive an offer for medicine. The fifth choice can be at any university, not just the ones you’ve chosen for medicine. Popular options include degrees in biomedical sciences, biochemistry, pharmacy, psychology, or allied health professions. These can serve as potential stepping stones to graduate medicine 🪜

• However, pick something you genuinely want to study 😀 Most medical schools won’t allow you to transfer into medicine from another course.

• Only pursue your fifth choice if you're committed to completing that degree. Universities can take a dim view of students who drop out of courses without extenuating circumstances 😡

Should I leave the fifth choice blank on my application to medicine?

You may have seen advice to leave the fifth choice blank. The usual basis for this decision is that if you are genuinely committed to medicine, you should not need a fifth choice. We would strongly suggest against this ❎

• Admissions staff at one school won’t know about your applications to other medical schools or universities unless perhaps you have applied to a course in the same university as your medical school choice.

• In the past, all your UCAS choices, including your fifth choice, were visible to everyone, and you could be asked why you picked your fifth choice or even why you applied to another medical school. This should no longer happen.

• You won't have to accept any future offer made by any of your choices at the initial stage of your UCAS application. The worst outcome is that your fifth choice is rejected, so why leave it blank? 🧐

• You can add a fifth choice after submitting your UCAS form, right up until the January deadline ⏳

Can I pick a fifth choice in a subject with lower entry requirements than medicine?

• Absolutely, but note that some university subjects will have entry requirements, in terms of A-level and perhaps GCSE requirements, equal to, if not higher, than medicine. The insurance value of such a choice will be limited if you don’t meet the A-level grades.

Which subject should I choose as my fifth choice?

Most medical school applicants will pick an allied subject to medicine as a fifth choice.

Most medical schools won’t allow you to transfer into medicine from another course. Only pursue your fifth choice if you're committed to completing that degree ⚠️

• Some graduate entry medicine programmes at medical schools may only accept candidates with a ‘medically related’ undergraduate degree – you may also find that these are four years instead of the usual five in duration (usually with the UCAS code A101 or A102).

• Other graduate entry medicine programmes may require a degree in an allied medical subject, such as nursing or paramedic science.

• Some medical schools do not accept allied medicine degrees and instead want bioscience subjects such as pharmacology, biomedical sciences, and pharmacy.

• Some medicine schools also accept any undergraduate degree, provided you meet minimum academic standards. These medical schools may place more significant emphasis on work experience.

• If you have the ‘wrong’ undergraduate degree, you may have to apply for the standard 5-year programme (UCAS code usually A100) ⚠️

Which university should I pick as my fifth choice?

• Pick a university for your fifth choice that also offers medicine. Remember, Graduate Entry Medicine is also very competitive, but some medical schools may reserve places for, or prefer, students who are on other degree programmes with them already. This could be an unwritten rule not found in any medical school literature.

• As mentioned, universities cannot see your fifth choice or the other medical schools you apply for. The exception to this could be if you applied for medicine and your fifth choice at the same university. Even in this scenario, they are unlikely to see a fifth choice on your UCAS application as questioning your commitment to medicine.

• There are articles about the fifth choice by the Medical School Council, which acknowledges that it is something that medical schools are aware of and should not prejudice your application in any way.

Should I choose an unrelated course to medicine as my fifth choice?

• You may have a passion for art, music, or Japanese, but understand that the fifth choice is ultimately a stepping stone to getting into medicine.

• I would question the wisdom of an unrelated fifth choice, as it would likely make the aim of getting into medical school more complicated, though not impossible ❎

What should I put in my UCAS personal statement about my fifth choice?

• You should focus your UCAS personal statement specifically on medicine. Check with the university offering your fifth choice if they require a separate personal statement. If needed, it will be submitted directly to them ⚠️

Can the fifth choice be used if I have no offers for medicine?

• You could be in an unfortunate situation where you end up with four rejections out of four medical school choices or perhaps only have one offer for medical school. Here is where your fifth choice could come into play. Without this, you will go automatically into UCAS clearing.

• If a student has high actual GCSE grades, the correct predicted A-level grades, and good entrance exam scores (such as UCAT and BMAT), the student may strategically choose to take a chance with clearing rather than commit to the fifth choice. The number of medical school places available through clearing has been increasing recently 📊

Can I change my mind once I accept an offer from my fifth choice?

• Remember, if you pick your fifth choice as a firm or insurance offer on your UCAS form, you must commit to it. This will be a contract with your chosen university, so you should consider and approach it as such. The university may allow you to cancel if you ring up, but do not delay this, as you may start to incur student fees if you leave it too late.

• If you cancel your firm place, you will usually have your insurance place cancelled and go into clearing. If, for some reason, you wish to cancel your firm place but take your insurance place, you should phone the insurance place to see if they will still accept you if you decline your firm place.

When will I receive offers for my fifth choice?

• You may find that universities give you an offer for your fifth choice much quicker than for your medicine choices. You may not need to go through any interviews or sit any further entrance exams for your fifth choice.

What about the financial aspects I must consider when choosing a fifth choice?

• As with any degree or course, I always say it should be commercially viable. That means completing your fifth-choice degree should significantly increase your job prospects, salary or access to other opportunities in life 🏃🏾

• You have to consider you will be paying hefty tuition fees to study for your fifth choice, perhaps for many years, plus all the associated accommodation and living expenses. This could be for a degree you don’t want to do in the first place and possibly in a subject you do not enjoy. The costs could be more than £45000 in England of student debt for a three-year degree.

Can the university offer me advice on the best options for me?

• Before you make firm your fifth choice, you should contact the university for advice on your options for a future application to medicine.

• Remember, they will only offer advice on their programmes and little if any, strategic direction to improve your chances of getting a medical degree.

• Are there any courses I need to know when choosing a fifth choice?

• Be wary of one-year ‘foundation’ or ‘gateway’ to medicine courses or diplomas – these may have their own UCAS code. They may only be considered by the medical school of the same university you complete them in, and you may be unable to transfer them between medical schools. Some courses may only be available to students from a particular locality or a widening participation background ⚠️

• Ask how many students from such one-year courses are in the medicine degree programme. You will still need to pass any such courses or diplomas and go through a competitive process for a place in medicine.

• We are aware of several students who have completed such foundation courses and have yet to be able to progress to a medical degree ⚠️

• Some medical schools may offer a guaranteed interview in medicine for students who have studied in one of their other undergraduate programmes. A guaranteed interview does not mean a guaranteed place ⚠️ Check whether there are any other additional hoops you need to go through, such as the UCAT or GAMSAT exams.
  

Conclusion to all this

• Remember, you must never give up on your pursuit of studying medicine until you have exhausted all viable options. Don’t start exploring your fifth choice out of pessimism. There are still options of a gap year, resits, and studying medicine abroad as an alternative to starting a fifth-choice degree.