Where to apply with a high UCAT score - Medicine 2021
Recently we looked at where to apply with a low UCAT score. Now we are going to look at where to apply with a high UCAT score. Your initial thoughts may be that you can apply to any medical school which asks for the UCAT exam. This is of course true, and a higher score is always an advantage, but it can also a greater advantage at some medical schools compared to others.
Once again we must stress that the information below is only a guideline. Medical schools do update policies so you must always check directly with the medical school before making a decision on where to apply.
Strategy for high UCAT score can be summarised by the following:-
The medical school ranks students based on the UCAT score and calls for interview those at the top of the list. So being near the top of the list is a major advantage.
The medical school combines the UCAT score with other factors, such as your GCSE performance, but there is a large weight on the UCAT score. However, it is highly likely that students that score highly on UCAT also have the better GCSE and predicted A-level grades, so this option is not as attractive as those medical schools that just use the UCAT score alone.
Your medical school interview performance remains critical whatever your UCAT score. Come to our MMI Medical School Interview Course and boost your knowledge, skills and confidence.
Here is a list of our top high UCAT score medical school choices:-
University of Newcastle
The medical school checks to make sure you meet the minimum entry requirements and then ranks UCAT scores with a threshold to decide who to call for interview. There appears to be no weighting applied with other factors. The higher the score, the higher the rank, and the more likely you are to get called for an interview.
From the medical school website:-
All applicants will be required to have a ‘current UCAT score’.
The definition of ‘current UCAT Score’: UCAT scores can only be used to support an application made in the year in which they are achieved (e.g. UCAT sat between July – October 2020 can only be used to support an application through UCAS by the UCAS closing date of 15 October 2020). If you apply for entry in later years you will need to retake the UCAT.
The UCAT threshold may differ in each admissions cycle as it is dependent on the scores achieved by those applicants who apply to our Medical School in the current cycle. Invitation to interview will be based on the ranking of applicants’ UCAT scores.
Candidates with a UCAT Situational Judgement Test Band of 4 (the lowest band) will not be considered
Applicants meeting the UCAT threshold will be sent an automated email inviting them to register for interview. Emails are sent in batches depending on the date range of interviews applicants are invited to.
University of Nottingham
This one is interesting, as the university uses the same process as applying to Lincoln (which features on our list of where to apply with a low UCAT score – on the assumption it is a less popular choice). Note ‘Nottingham’ is selected separately on the UCAS form from the ‘Lincoln’ option.
The UCAT score is combined with a GCSE score 40:16 to the UCAT – so a high UCAT score does have an advantage here purely of the higher ratios.
From the medical school website:
You'll be awarded points for each grade you achieve at GCSE level for your highest eight subjects. This will include the compulsory subjects of the sciences, English language and maths. A maximum of 16 points can be awarded.
To make sure that in most situations a few points either way don’t impact, we assign our own points based on the UCAT results. A maximum of 40 points can be awarded for the UCAT.
The GCSE score and the UCAT score are then added together to create your final score. There are a maximum of 56 points that can be awarded.
Interviews are offered to the top percentage of candidates based on their final scores.
We do not have a fixed UCAT threshold score when selecting for interview. The score threshold is based on the number of applicants and varies from year to year.
The UCAT threshold is set using the scores of applicants with GCSE scores. Anyone with GCSE equivalents will be selected for interview if they meet the same UCAT threshold score.
University of Manchester
This medical school is one of those that picks the top UCAT candidates with no apparent weighing for other academic factors (in some way similar to Newcastle). The medical school does say it will consider candidates with lower UCAT scores as part of an holistic assessment, but if you have a high UCAT score, this is one to apply for.
From the medical school website:-
If your UCAT score is in approximately the top third of all results nationally and you achieve Band 1 or 2 in the Situational Judgement Test (SJT), you will likely be invited to interview based on our UKCAT threshold as long as you meet our minimum academic requirements (for example, GCSE and predicted grades). We expect to invite approximately 900-1000 candidates to interview based on this selection route. Please note that for 2021 entry, this is subject to change due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To help identify talented students from all backgrounds, UCAT scores from UK/EU candidates who come from similar educational and socio-demographic backgrounds are considered against each other. This is conducted using supplementary information provided by publicly available datasets.
We recognise that everyone has a different set of skills. If your UCAT does not fall within the top third of results nationally then we will include it as part of a holistic assessment using all the information available to us to arrive at a decision (for example, GCSE grades, A-level profile, additional qualifications, NAI form etc). We expect to invite 500-600 applicants to interview on this selection route.
Please note that we do not consider applicants who achieve Band 4 in the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) element of the UCAT. Applicants with a SJT band 3 are welcome to apply. However, we will prioritise applicants who are in bands 1 and 2 in both our UCAT and holistic assessments.
University of Sheffield
The medical school appears to rank UCAT scores and decide to call the top candidates for interview. There is no mention of weighting for GCSE results – it just states you need to meet the minimum entry requirements.
Medical school website details:-
In addition to the academic requirements, all applicants must have achieved a score of 2420/3600 or more to be given further consideration. Applicants must meet BOTH the academic entry requirements AND the UCAT entry requirements.
The Situational Judgement Test (SJT) component is only considered for those applicants who are invited to attend a Multiple Mini-Interview.
Applicants who meet or exceed both the minimum academic requirements and the minimum UCAT requirement will be ranked based on their UCAT score after the application deadline to determine which of these applicants are invited to attend a Multiple Mini-Interview.
King’s College London University
The medical school looks at academic performance and predicted grades, as well as the UCAT score to determine who to call for interview. However, they say the UCAT score is ‘probably’ the most important factor out of these, so leading on from this a higher score should give you an advantage.
Medical school website details:-
When considering those students which will be shortlisted for interview the selectors consider the following; GCSE (or equivalent performance), predicted or achieved A-level grades (or equivalent), the personal statement, the reference and the score in the UCAT. These contribute to the shortlisting of candidates, and we do assess for this programme holistically, taking in to account all these factors and your performance in the context of your educational background. Examination results and the UCAT score are perhaps the most important factors when considering applications. These are highlighted as they provide us with the fairest and most consistent method of assessing applicants.
Bart’s and the London School of Medicine
This medical school uses a combination of your academic performance with your UCAT score to decide who to call for interview. However it gives the UCAT score a 50% weight. Most applications (should) have high academic performance scores anyway, so the high weight of the UCAT would give you an advantage here.
From the medical school website:-
Applicants are selected for interview based 50% on UCAT score and 50% on UCAS tariff. You will be expected to have achieved or be predicted a UCAS tariff of 152 or more.
All candidates for medicine must undertake the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT). We use UCAT scores to select applicants for interview, in conjunction with academic performance to date.
You will not be considered for interview if your total UCAT score falls below the third decile.
University of Bristol
In the past Bristol was on our list for candidates with a low UCAT score due to the relatively low weighting they placed on the UCAT compared to the other parts of the application.
The medical school seems to have completely changed this policy and now has an unknown cut off threshold which is uses to select who to call for interview. This medical school is now one to go for with a higher UCAT score.
From the medical school website:-
All applicants are required to take the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) in the current cycle. The combined score from all subtests, with the exception of Situational Judgement, will be used to select applicants for interview. Whilst the UCAT score will be used to select applicants for interview once all academic requirements have been met, there is no cut-off score for the UCAT. The number used as a threshold for interview is subject to change year-on-year depending on the strength of the cohort, therefore a specific score cannot be used with certainty to predict the likelihood of receiving an invite to interview for the current cycle.
Blue Peanut has a range of courses and workshops to help you get your medical school place. Over 98% of our students obtain offers from UK medical schools. Come to our UCAT Courses, MMI Medical School Interview Course and let us help you complete your UCAS Personal Statement for Medicine.
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