UCAS Clearing for Medicine
Getting on to a Medicine course is hard work and requires a lot of dedication to show the admissions team that you’ve got what it takes. This means it can be especially disappointing to find you haven’t made it and you’ve been entered into Clearing.
Just to remind you, you’ll be entered into Clearing if you weren’t made an offer, haven’t met the conditions of your offer, applied after the deadline, or haven’t applied to any university.
Medicine is a very popular and extremely competitive course so you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled to spot a course vacancy. In fact, most universities won’t have vacancies after the first round of applications because Medicine is so popular.
However, if you do spot a Medicine course, don’t think that you’ll be scraping the bottom of the barrel. Some of the top universities and medical schools will be offering places through UCAS Clearing.
How to get an offer
Competition is stiff and you’ll need to be prepared if you’re going to convince the admissions tutors that they should choose you over the hundreds of other candidates that will apply.
You’ll need to move fast and contact the university directly to pitch yourself as their perfect student. Take a look at our guide to what to say when calling universities during Clearing for some top tips.
You’ll need good results at both GCSE and A Level, a whole raft of extra-curricular activities under your belt, relevant work experience, and the ability to convey your genuine passion for Medicine over the phone.
What if I don’t get made an offer?
If you don’t get in during Clearing, don’t give up. Medicine is so oversubscribed you’ll be up against some serious competition and there are many ways you can improve your application so you’ll be accepted the second time round.
Options open to you included taking a foundation course to give you the grades you need to move on to a degree in Medicine. Alternatively you could take a gap year, get some more work experience, improve your grades, and try again next year.
