Year 13 applicant checklist

A busy six weeks. The UCAT score is in, so the four choices can be made on real numbers, and the personal statement and reference both have a fixed date to hit.

1. 1.Read the UCAT result against the published cut-offs

   Universities use the UCAT in quite different ways, and a score that is weak for one school can be comfortably above the threshold at another. It helps to sit down with the cut-offs page and the student's score before talking about choices.

   Where to send them: UCAT cut-off scores by university · UCAT score calculator and deciles

   • Veterinary: Most veterinary courses do not use the UCAT, so this step is usually skipped. Vet choices turn on grades, subject requirements and documented weeks of animal experience instead.

2. 2.If the score is below their targets, revisit the choices

   Often a hard conversation. A student with a lower UCAT still has good options, particularly at schools that weight it lightly or only use it as a threshold, so look at the four choices again together.

   Where to send them: Where to apply with a low UCAT score

3. 3.Check every shortlisted course against its own entry requirements

   Check predicted grades, GCSEs, subject combination and any contextual criteria course by course. A choice the student is not eligible for cannot lead to an offer.

   Where to send them: UK medical school entry requirements · UK dental schools · UK vet schools

   • Veterinary: Vet schools vary widely on required subjects and on how much animal experience they expect, so check each one on the vet school hub.

4. 4.Finalise four course choices and decide what the fifth slot is for

   An applicant may apply to a maximum of four courses in medicine, dentistry or veterinary medicine. The fifth UCAS choice has to be a different course; some students use it for a course they would happily take, such as biomedical science, and others leave it empty.

   Where to send them: UK medical schools · UK vet schools

5. 5.Finish the personal statement against the three UCAS questions

   The statement is now three structured questions instead of one essay. Reading a strong example alongside the guide helps, and so does checking that each answer responds to the question UCAS asked.

   Where to send them: Medicine personal statement guide · Successful personal statement examples · Dentistry personal statement guide · Dentistry personal statement examples

   • Dentistry: The dentistry guide and the dentistry examples are the better fit here. Dental statements often cover manual dexterity and what the student saw in a dental practice.
   • Veterinary: The structure advice is the same. The content usually names the weeks of practice and husbandry experience completed and what each one taught.

6. 6.Get the referee the information they need, in writing, by late September

   The reference is written by the school, and it often draws on facts the referee does not otherwise have: the work experience, the volunteering, the wider reading and any mitigating circumstances. Some schools give students a short list of what to send and by when. The Word template below sets out the three UCAS reference sections with prompts, which helps a referee who has never written one for medicine.

   Where to send them: What a medicine UCAS reference needs · UCAS reference template (Word)

7. 7.Submit ahead of the 15 October deadline

   Medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and Oxbridge applications are due in mid-October, well before the main January deadline. The exact date and time are published on ucas.com each year. Many schools aim to send applications several days early in case anything goes wrong.

   Where to send them: The UCAS application, step by step

Invitations can come with less than a fortnight's notice, often in the middle of mocks, so it helps to start preparing before the first one arrives.

1. 8.Find out when each of their universities interviews

   The dates hubs collect published interview windows by university, so in November you can see whether a student is likely to be called in December or February, and plan around mocks and holidays.

   Where to send them: UK medical school interview dates · UK dental school interview dates

   • Veterinary: There is no aggregated vet interview dates table. Check each vet school's admissions page directly, as several interview earlier than medical schools.

2. 9.Check which interview format each university uses

   A panel interview and a multiple mini interview circuit need different preparation. For each of their four, the student should know whether it is panel, MMI or a mix, and how long it lasts.

   Where to send them: Medicine interview questions guide · Dental school practice interview questions · Vet school practice interview questions

   • Veterinary: The vet school practice interview questions guide is the one to use here. Vet interviews tend to lean more on practical experience and animal welfare than medicine interviews do.

3. 10.Practise MMI stations under time, out loud

   MMI stations are short and timed, and reading about them only goes so far. A few minutes talking to an adult they do not know is good practice, and a school can usually arrange it for free.

   Where to send them: MMI preparation guide · MMI tips

4. 11.Cover medical ethics once, in some depth

   Non-medic teachers often feel least sure about ethics stations, but they are among the easiest to learn. The four pillars give a student a structure that works on almost any ethics question.

   Where to send them: Answering medical ethics questions · The four pillars of medical ethics

5. 12.Brief them on this year's hot topics and on how the NHS works

   Applicants are regularly asked about current pressures on the health service and about the structure they are applying to join. This works best as background knowledge built up through the autumn.

   Where to send them: Interview hot topics · NHS interview topics · NHS dentistry hot topics

   • Dentistry: NHS dentistry has its own set of current issues, including access and the contract. The dentistry hot topics guide works alongside the general NHS one.

6. 13.Run one mock interview in school before the first real one

   A mock run by staff who are not medics still works: the student gets to speak under pressure and hear specific feedback. The mock interview library has ready-made packs with stations, timings, interviewer notes and a mark scheme, so nobody has to write questions.

   Where to send them: The mock interview library · Medicine mock pack 1

   • Dentistry and veterinary: The library carries separate dentistry and veterinary packs. The stations differ by subject, so a dentistry applicant will get more from the dentistry pack.

7. 14.Suggest they reread their own reflection log the week before

   Almost every interview asks about work experience, and a student who has just reread their notes has specific examples to hand. It takes about twenty minutes.

   Where to send them: Printable reflection log

Decisions arrive over several months, and a rejection in January while friends are still waiting is hard. Talking through both outcomes early makes results day easier to handle.

1. 15.Help them choose a firm and an insurance choice

   An insurance choice works best when its offer is lower than the firm's and the student would be happy to go there. If both carry the same offer, the insurance gives little extra protection.

   Where to send them: Accepting an offer and the UCAS waitlist

2. 16.If all four come back as rejections, start the next plan in the spring

   There are still routes in: a gap year and a stronger reapplication, a related degree with graduate entry afterwards, or a foundation or gateway course. Talking about it in March leaves far more options open than August does.

   Where to send them: No offers: what to do next · Support after a rejection

3. 17.Tell families what results day involves, before August

   Parents tend to ask the school, not the university. The parents' results day page sets out what happens if grades are met, narrowly missed or missed, so you can send them one link.

   Where to send them: Results day for parents · The parents' hub

4. 18.Agree the school's results-day plan in July

   A lot happens in the first two hours of results morning. Who opens the results, who phones which university, what a narrowly missed grade means for a place and whether a remark is worth asking for are all easier to settle in July than at eight in the morning in August.

   Where to send them: The results-day playbook for schools

5. 19.Know how clearing works for these courses specifically

   Clearing places in medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine are rare and can go within hours, which makes it very different from clearing in other subjects. Read the guide before results morning.

   Where to send them: Medicine clearing guide · Dentistry clearing guide · Veterinary clearing and gateway courses

   • Veterinary: The veterinary clearing and gateway courses guide also covers the gateway and foundation routes that take students who narrowly missed.

6. 20.Arrange for someone at school to be contactable on results day

   A student who has narrowly missed often has to decide something in the first hour, and a named member of staff with the guides open makes that much calmer. Some schools agree who that is in July and share the number with families.

   Where to send them: The results-day playbook for schools · Results day for parents

7. 21.Debrief the ones who got in, and use them next year

   Some schools ask each successful applicant for a short written note on what they were asked at interview and what they wish they had done sooner. It costs one email and is very useful to next year's Year 12s.

   Where to send them: Running a school MedSoc