Medical Places in October 2020
Universities normally make more offers than the places they actually have on a course- they rely on natural wastage, i.e. pupils failing to achieve their predicted grades. If teacher’s/school’s predicted grades have been generous with their submissions to the exam boards then it is unlikely that that the medical school will be able to honour their offers of medical places. However, there are some indications that exam boards will keep the grades awarded in line with previous years. However, if they have over offered, they might decide to revisit BMAT and UCAT scores.
If pupils achieve a lower than expected grade in August, will the university keep the offer open while they retake their a level in the November session which was part of the deal offered by the government? Will the universities class this as a resit? Only time will tell.
Many of the medical schools such as Cambridge have already stated that there will be some element of learning online and this may mean that many of this year’s UCAS entry might decide to defer for a year in order to take part in the traditional first year fresher experience. This will obviously make the next academic intake very competitive.
