First of all - take time to yourself and dust yourself off
The Medical School Application process can be brutal. You have almost certainly worked extremely hard throughout the process. Heck, you’ve probably been working very hard since before the whole process. From working hard in your A-Levels to missing social events so that you could do that voluntary work. It doesn’t feel fair - and indeed, many people who would make excellent doctors are rejected every year.
The very first thing to do is to take some time to yourself. Take time to dust off from the application cycle. Take the time to do the things that you enjoy. If you are in Year 13, you may still have A-Levels coming up and so it’s extremely important that you don’t get burnt out and underperform on your A-Levels. Importantly, do not compare yourself to your peers. It’s likely that you will have many friends who have applied for different courses who managed to get in. It can be difficult to see your peers go off to university when you also wanted to join them. However, remember that everyone goes at their own pace and your time will also come.
So, dust yourself off. Take time to relax, time to reconcile what has happened and be kind to yourself. Then, move on to the next step...
One unsuccessful application cycle will feel hugely important right now, but it will become a very small part of a much longer career. Give yourself enough time to reset before deciding what you want to do next — and, if you still have exams ahead of you, make protecting those grades your immediate priority.
Try to get feedback
After taking some time to yourself, try to get feedback from the Medical Schools that you applied to. This will give you a good indication of what things you need to work on for next time. It can be uncomfortable to read negative feedback, but don’t let the perceived uncomfortableness of it put you off. The only way we can improve ourselves is through feedback like this. Indeed, most of my time as a doctor is spent through receiving uncomfortable feedback. However, this does help me improve my own clinical practice.
In addition, make sure you do some self-reflection. For example, did you apply wisely? Did you meet the entry requirements for every single medical school that you applied to? If not, you know that you need to be more careful for next time. Or was it that you didn’t have enough work experience or voluntary work? If so, you know to actively work on this. Was there an issue with your interview performance? In which case, you know now that you need to work on interview technique. The list goes on - the key thing is to ensure that you are receptive and open to improving yourself through this feedback.
Feedback is only useful if you turn it into a plan. Try to identify the main reason your application was unsuccessful: was it your choice of Medical Schools, your academics, experience, UCAT performance or interview technique? Once you know that, your next application can be much more targeted.
Did you get pre-interview rejections?
If you got pre-interview rejections, the key thing that you need to think about is whether or not you applied wisely. This means that you really need to think about whether or not you truly applied to medical schools according to your strengths. For example, if you had excellent academics but only average work experience, were the medical schools that you applied to more focussed on non-academic achievements?
It sounds obvious, but many medical applicants are rejected every year simply because they didn’t choose their options properly. Sometimes people choose their options emotionally rather than pragmatically, and so do some real thinking to see if that applied to you as well.
The good news is that this is a very easy thing to rectify if you plan on reapplying.
A pre-interview rejection does not automatically mean that you were a weak applicant. Sometimes an otherwise strong application has simply been sent to Medical Schools whose selection criteria do not suit it. Choosing your four options strategically can make a significant difference.
Did you get post-interview rejections?
If you got post-interview rejections, the key thing that you likely need to work on is your interview technique. This is where it becomes important to try to ask for feedback.
As above, this can make uncomfortable reading. In fact, it’s possibly more uncomfortable to read about post-interview rejections, as it can feel a bit more personal. Remember, though, that it is not personal - rather, feedback should be written in a way designed to support you.
Here are some common things that people end up getting wrong at the interview (from my own experience as a medical school interviewer):
- Not answering the question that was asked.
- Being too underconfident or overconfident
- Not reflecting on answers
- Panicking under pressure
- Being unprepared
- Sounding robotic and as though you are reading a script
You still have options
It’s extremely important to understand that all is not lost - there are still several options available to you. We will go through those options here to help you make an informed decision on what to do next.
Take a gap year and re-apply next time
One option is to take a gap year, work on the weaknesses in your application in that time and then re-apply the year after. In fact, this is the option that we would recommend.
A gap year can give you plenty of time to explore options and work on your application. You can do further voluntary work, work experience or even do something a bit different which you wouldn’t have had the chance to do otherwise. This can help you build as a person, as well as help to build your medical school application for next time. Not only this, but the undergraduate route is often less competitive than the graduate entry medicine (GEM) route. It’s also cheaper in the long-run to re-apply rather than to go for GEM.
Do a different course, and apply for graduate-entry medicine (GEM)
If you would rather go to university and do a different course, that’s also fine. You might have had a 5th option that you applied for which you got into. Or, you might have got an offer for a different course through clearing. Whilst this is a good option as well, there are a few things to bear in mind:
- GEM is often even more competitive than the undergraduate route.
- GEM is more expensive. This may mean that you have to work on top of doing GEM - and this can be challenging.
For the reasons above, we would only recommend GEM if you feel as though you have no other option (e.g. you need to move out from home for personal reasons). We would also recommend it if you are not 100% sure if you want to do medicine, and want to explore other options. However, if neither of the above are true, we would recommend going for option 1 instead. We get that it can be hard to see your friends all go to university - but try not to base your decision based on that. Remember, a gap year is only one year of a (hopefully) long career in medicine.
Do a course that has an option to transfer to Medicine
Some universities (e.g. Newcastle University) offer the option to transfer from a different course (e.g. biomedical sciences) to medicine if you perform highly. Whilst this may seem like a feasible option, this is extremely competitive and has no guarantees.
For this reason, we would still encourage option 1. Of course, you may be thinking: ‘but there’s no guarantee when taking a gap year either!’
Whilst this is true, it may still be less competitive through the gap year option. Based on this, we would still strongly recommend going for the first option. The only situation where we would recommend taking this option is if you are not 100% sure that you want to do medicine, and you would be very happy to graduate with another degree (as that’s the most likely outcome). If this is the case, then by all means go for this option.
Apply through clearing
If you have managed to meet the minimum grade requirements on A-Level/IB results day, you could look to see if there are any spaces left at medical schools and apply through clearing. This is not guaranteed, and often medical schools have their own list of applicants on the waiting list. Nevertheless, there is no harm in trying.
The key is to ensure that you are organised. Make sure you have a list of medical schools, have all your information all ready (UCAS ID, grades, entry test scores etc.) and keep a close eye on UCAS clearing for any places that may be available. You can also try phoning medical schools that are not listed in clearing, but remember that they are already likely to be very busy so you should prioritise the ones that are listed in clearing.
If you manage to get in, congratulations! If not, don’t worry - look into options 1 to 3 instead.
Should I study medicine abroad?
Another option that people consider is studying medicine abroad. Sometimes, medical schools abroad may have lower entry requirements compared to medicine in the UK. In the past, I would list this as a potential alternate option. Whilst this is still an option, it’s something which I would have a strong think about before committing to.
Recently, the UK government introduced the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026. The details of this are still uncertain but essentially, the Act has been designed to prioritise giving training places to doctors who graduated from Medical Schools in the UK. This means that you may struggle to find a training post in the UK if your ultimate goal is to become a consultant here. It is unclear at this stage as to whether or not this will apply to even British Citizens who study abroad.
Therefore, I’d only recommend this option if you’re thinking about practising medicine abroad as well.
I would not choose an overseas Medical School simply because the entry requirements appear easier. You are committing several years and a substantial amount of money, so think first about where you ultimately want to train and practise medicine, and make sure you understand the implications of studying outside the UK.
Help! I missed my offer
It can be devastating to have secured a medical school offer, only for it to be taken away from you on results day. Remember that you’re not the only one who this has happened to, and there are many people who go on to become excellent doctors despite having failed examinations (whether it’s A-Levels, or whether it’s exams at medical school). The key thing, however, is that you still have options available.
Consider getting your papers remarked
If you were very close to the next grade boundary, have a think about getting your exam paper remarked. There is a fee associated with this, and marks can go down as well as up. Importantly, tell the medical school ASAP that this is what you plan to do. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that they will be able to hold your place - but do let them know.
Clerical Check
If you are genuinely surprised by your results, and think that the result doesn’t reflect how you felt the exam went on the day, you could consider getting a clerical check. This is where the exam board checks to make sure all of your marks were tallied correctly and that no pages were missed in the marking process. Again - tell the medical school ASAP that you are doing this (and again, there is no guarantee that they will hold your place, sadly).
If your marks remain unchanged or you don’t think a remark/clerical check is worth it...
Sadly, it may well be the case that you simply didn’t perform as well as you were hoping to on your A-Level/IB/Higher exams. If this is the case, you could either consider resitting and taking a gap year (again, this would be our recommended option), doing another degree and applying for GEM (but as above - this is more competitive than the undergraduate route), trying to do a biomedical sciences course where there’s the option to transfer to medicine (but this is extremely competitive) or studying abroad (with the caveats mentioned above).
Should you choose to resit your A-Levels/Highers/IB, you will need to have a strong think about what went wrong with your exams, and how you can rectify it for next time. Have a chat with your teachers, be prepared to learn some uncomfortable truths and be open to change. Do remember that not all medical schools will accept exams that have been re-sat. Therefore, when reapplying, you need to ensure that you choose your options extremely wisely, and only apply to the medical schools that accept resits.
If you are considering resitting, do your university research before building your next application. Resit policies vary between Medical Schools, so a strong set of resit grades will only help if the universities you apply to actually accept them.
Remember - all is not lost
No matter what has happened, do remember that you still have options available. I often share that I myself was unsuccessful when I first applied to medicine. I subsequently ended up interviewing for one of the medical schools that initially rejected me, and am now working as a cardiology registrar within the NHS. Although rejection was very difficult to handle, I did end up learning lots of lessons from it, some of which I apply to my own practice today.
So, dust yourself off, think about what went wrong and explore what options you still have available.
Whatever happens, it will end up working out.