Edinburgh Medical School

Pre-assessment day scoring process

How we score your application.

On the submission, each application is independently academically scored by two members of the admissions team therefore the academic scores calculated below are doubled.  The academic weighting applied is 25% of the overall total score. 

Once the academic part of an application is scored, we await confirmation of each applicant’s UCAT score and Situational Judgement Test (SJT) banding.    Providing an applicant has not been awarded a Band 4 in the SJT which is not accepted and have also met our UCAT cut off score (new for 2023 entry); we then apply a score for their total UCAT score with a 17.5% weighting and finally a score for their SJT banding worth a further 7.5%. 

The total of all three components is then used for possible shortlisting for invitation to one of our assessment days.  The pre-assessment day score is weighted at 50% with the assessment day also weighted at 50%.  When totalled together, this final overall score is used to shortlist for possible final offer within each fee status group. 

The tables below show our current academic scoring guidelines for our most common UK qualifications.

 

SQA applicants (school leavers)

Qualification
Breakdown
Points awards
National 5s

(best 6 to include the 4 required subjects of English; Maths; Biology & Chemistry)

Any Bs or lower in required subjects 1
Any Bs or lower in non-required subjects 2
All As 3
PLUS    
Highers

(Best 5 to include the 3 required subjects of Chemistry PLUS two from Biology/Human Biology; Maths or Physics– min 3 in 1 year)

Up to and including  S5 study

B in Chemistry 1
B in other required subject 2
B in any other subject 3
All As 4
PLUS    
Advanced Highers/S6 Higher

(no subject requirements)

BB

1

AB 2
AA 3
Total potential score
 
10

Our only requirements at Nat 5 are Bs in the four required subjects as stated.  However, if these requirements are not met but the same subject is being taken at Higher, we will still consider the application and it will not be rejected from the process.  If however, this required subject is not being taken at Higher, the application would be processed as unsuccessful.

 

SQA (school leavers) bypassing National 5s

Qualification
Breakdown
Points awarded
Highers

(Best 5 to include the 3 required subjects of Chemistry PLUS two from Biology/Human Biology; Maths or Physics– min 3 in 1 year)

From Biology and Human Biology only one would be accepted.

Up to and including  S5 study
B in Chemistry 2
B in other required science 3
B in other subjects 4
All As 6
PLUS
   
Advanced Highers S6 Study (minimum 2AH)

 

BB 1
AB 2
AA 4
Total potential score
 
10

 

GCE A level applicants (school leavers)

Qualification
Breakdown
Points awarded

GCSEs (or EdExcel Level 1 and 2 Certificates from 2012 onward)

(Best 8 but to include:  Chemistry, Biology, (or dual science),  Maths and English (either Language or Literature, whichever grade is more competitive).

Any Bs or lower 1
All 7s/As and up to five 8s/A*s 2
7s/As and more than five 8s/A*s 3
PLUS
   

A Levels

(Best 3 A Levels taken in upper sixth to include Chemistry and one of Biology/Maths/Physics

Only one from Maths and Further Maths is accepted.

AAA 2
2As and A* at subject other than Chemistry 3
2As and A*in Chemistry 5
A and 2A*s, in subjects other than Chemistry 6
A and 2 A*s, one in Chemistry 7
Total potential score
 
10

* References would be checked for school policy issues which impact on qualifications and combinations available. If less than 8 GCSEs are taken overall and this was the applicant’s school policy, proportional scoring would be used.

* Our only requirements at I/GCSE are B/6 in the four required subjects as stated.  If these requirements are not met but the same subject is being taken at A Level, we will still consider the application and it will not be rejected from the process.  If however, this required subject is not being taken at A Level, the application would be processed as unsuccessful.

* One BTEC National Extended Certificate/Cambridge Technical/AQA Level 3 Extended Certificate in an approved subject stated on our webpages can be accepted in lieu of an A Level but NOT to replace a required subject with the exception of BTEC National Extended Certificate in Applied Human Biology which can replace A Level Biology/Human Biology.  BTEC in Biology will not be accepted alongside A Level Biology/Human Biology. (BTEC qualifications are awarded with three mandatory results eg DDD – applicants are required to meet our standard requirements in each component).

 

International Baccalaureate

Qualification
Breakdown
Points awarded

Overall score (including TOK and EE)

37 1
38-39 2
40-41 3
42-45 4
PLUS
   
Higher Level scores
667-6 in Chemistry 2
667-7 in Chemistry 3
677-6 in Chemistry 4
677-7 in Chemistry 5
777 6
Total potential score
 
10

We check that SL requirements or equivalent are met however these will not be used directly for scoring purposes.

Maths is classed as a science for scoring purposes – we accept both streams: analysis & approaches and applications & interpretations.