MedLaunch’s Advice on Strategic Applications

Done your UCAT? Then it’s time to start thinking about strategic applications. READ ON, this is important.

What do we mean by strategic applications?

The term is pretty literal. Applying strategically means you play to the strengths of your application.

Medicine applications probably have the most elements out of any subject.

• Predicted Grades

• Personal Statement

• UCAT score

• UCAT SJT Band

• Work experience

• Interviews

Whilst everyone tries to perfect all these elements, in reality, its not always necessary. This is where strategic applications come in. You want to apply so that you get the maximum number of interviews and then the highest chance of an offer from that interview.

Usually this hinges on your UCAT score. Some medical schools are known to historically require a high UCAT score and some have lower cut-offs. Research this thoroughly because ideally you want to meet or be as close as possible to the cut-off for all 4 medical schools. Not all universities will publish a cut-off from last year but you can make make an educated guess as to what it was.

Using previous year's data is not a guarantee. For example, last year people with 9th decile scores applied to Bristol for both medicine and dentistry, as a common strategic application for high scores, yet were rejected pre-interview. This year is likely to be even more unpredictable as it's the first year after scoring was changed.

The most valuable resource BY FAR for strategic applications is Ojas Rajkumar's Strategic Medical School Applications Guide. While his company MyUCAT is technically a competitor, this resource is too valuable not to mention + we all used it ourselves so can't gatekeep, can we?

I'll link his 2025 guide here so you have an idea of what I'm talking about but keep an eye out for his 2026 guide in September*.

See here for why MedLaunch is better than our competitors

Essentially, you need to look at your application - grades & UCAT primarily - and see where you would have an advantage and where you would likely get rejected. Also factor in personal preference but you want to have at least 1-2 choices where you have a solid chance of getting an interview. Having said that, if you scored 4th decile, don't waste your chance by applying to Oxford or Imperial**.

The point of this advice is not limit your choices but rather maximise your chance of getting a place so do your research wisely.

*NOTE: this is not a promotion for MyUCAT, I personally have not used any other resource or service apart from this guide.

** I'd like to add, MedLaunch will always support ambition - if that's your dream you can find another way - but its important to be realistic.