If you're looking to pursue a career in medicine, you'll need to meet certain academic requirements. Most reputable universities require applicants to have achieved five GCSE A* or A grades in core subjects, including mathematics and English, with three sciences making up the rest. This may include a B grade in a basic science subject such as chemistry, biology, or physics. If you have fewer than nine GCSEs for any reason, it's best to contact the medical school for advice before applying.
Some schools, such as Cardiff, may also ask for 66 or BB in Additional Science and Science (what used to be double-prize science) or equivalent. The broadening of the participation criteria, as well as other access to medicines programs, may allow for a reduction in GCSE entry requirements. Medical schools may also insist that you submit all your GCSE exams within a certain period of time, such as 12 months. If there are any mitigating circumstances that may have led to a reduction in GCSE performance, you should ask your referee to include the reasons for this in the reference. If you believe that your reduced performance on the GCSE does not accurately reflect your predicted A-level scores in terms of academic performance, you can request that your referee write something about it in the reference section of the UCAS form. Keep in mind that these are minimum requirements and most successful candidates will have more, usually A and A* (or 7, 8 and 9) in GCSE.
This means that medical schools have real evidence of academic performance even before any predicted A-level qualification and therefore excellent performance in GCSE is very important.
