Everyone taking a gap year applies again through UCAS. What changes is whether you are resitting as well. If you missed the grades, each school’s resit rule decides where you can apply; if you have them, you are reapplying with them in hand, and no resit rule applies.
I missed my offer
My grades fell short of the offer I was holding, so I'll resit and apply again.
I got no offers
Where you go depends on your grades: resitting to reach them, or reapplying with them.
I got in, but want to reapply
I have a place I don't want, and the grades to aim for somewhere else.
For you if you missed your offer, or got no offers and missed the grades too. You will and apply again, so every school’s resit rule below decides where your four can go. Some also want a minimum at your , or only consider . To see them against your own grades, tick “I’m resitting” in the school finder and add your first-sitting grades: its suggested four then only uses schools that accept resits outright.
You can apply as a resit applicant. Several still set a minimum at your first sitting, or a higher offer for resitters.
| School | What the school says | First sitting | Resitters need |
|---|---|---|---|
Predicted resit grades of AAA (ABB under the Widening Access to Medicine Scheme) are accepted within three academic years of applying, if you got at least AAB (BBB) at the first sitting. If you already hold resit grades of AAA, the first-sitting minimum does not apply. | AAB or above | AAAthe standard offer | |
Applicants who have resat or are resitting GCSEs or A levels, with or without repeating a year, are considered. The final qualifications must normally be achieved within three academic years, allowing one resit year. Extenuating circumstances are not used in scoring. | No minimum | A*AAthe standard offer | |
BSMS ordinarily only considers resit applicants who dropped one grade in one subject, such as A*A*B, A*AB or AAB (ABB or AAC with an adjusted offer). If you apply before resitting, you must be predicted at least the required grade in the resit subject. Otherwise you can apply once you have AAA (AAB adjusted). | AAB or above | AAAthe standard offer | |
The department will consider applicants who resit their qualifications. | No minimum | AAAthe standard offer | |
Exeter Medical School will consider applicants who have re-taken part or all of a qualification. | No minimum | A*AAthe standard offer | |
Year 12 can be repeated or restarted once with no restrictions. Applicants repeating Year 13 must have got at least BBB at the first sitting, with no grade below B. A levels must be achieved within three years. GCSE resits to meet the entry requirement are accepted. | BBB or above | AAAthe standard offer | |
King's can consider applicants who have retaken their qualifications, but they are reviewed alongside applicants who got the grades within the normal timeframe, who may be viewed more favourably. A second resit is only considered with significant mitigating circumstances and a Mitigating Circumstances form. Taking the same subject again at the same level, even in a different qualification, counts as a resit. | No minimum | A*AAthe standard offer | |
Lancaster considers resit applicants who reach the grades within three years of study. ABB or above at the first attempt makes you eligible; BBB to CCC needs evidence of exceptional circumstances. The typical resit offer is A*AA. If you already have A*AA within three years, you are eligible whatever your first grades. | ABB or above | Typically A*AAthe standard offer is AAA | |
From 2026 entry, Leeds accepts one resit attempt per A level without mitigating circumstances. A third attempt is only considered with evidence of mitigating circumstances that prevented you getting the grades on the second attempt. | No minimum | AAAthe standard offer | |
Liverpool normally only considers a resit application with at least ABB at the first sitting. Resitting applicants complete an online form, available from September, and offers to them are usually higher than AAA, for example A*AA. | ABB or above | Usually higher than AAA, for example A*AAthe standard offer is AAA | |
Manchester welcomes applicants re-sitting A levels, but only one of Year 12 or Year 13 can be re-sat. Where A levels were attempted in Year 13, at least ABB is expected at the first sitting. Every re-sitting applicant must achieve A*A*A in the required subjects. | ABB or above | A*A*Aup from AAA | |
Newcastle would ideally like the grades at the first attempt, but allows a subject to be repeated once. When a subject is taken a second time, the grade required in it rises by a grade, for example from A to A*. | No minimum | One grade higher in each subject you resit (A*AA if you resit one)the standard offer is AAA | |
Nottingham considers resits of up to two A levels if you completed them in the last 12 months, already have at least ABB with an A in Biology or Chemistry, and your resit grades reach AAA including Biology and Chemistry. | ABB or above | AAAthe standard offer | |
With predicted grades you need at least ABB at the first sitting; otherwise resit and apply once you have the grades. A levels must be completed within three years of study, and the grades reached at the first resit attempt. | ABB or above | A*AAthe standard offer | |
Sheffield considers applicants who have resat to meet its requirements. You only need to resit the subjects below the required grade, and all A level resits must be in the same sitting. Resitting a qualification more than once is only considered with extenuating circumstances or disrupted studies, decided by its Disrupted Studies Board. | No minimum | AAAthe standard offer | |
Southampton accepts resits and does not raise its grade requirements for them. | No minimum | AAAthe standard offer | |
Sunderland accepts A level resits in certain circumstances: with AAB, you only resit the subject you got a B in, one attempt only, in the same subject. | AAB or above | AAAthe standard offer | |
UEA only considers resits if you got ABB or AAC at the first sitting. Resit applicants must get at least one A* in the subject or subjects resat, and anyone studying A levels over more than two years falls under this policy. Resitting more than once is not considered. | ABB or AAC or above | At least one A* in the subject or subjects you resitthe standard offer is AAA |
A resit is only considered if something outside your control affected your first sitting, usually with evidence, and often agreed before you apply. Cardiff and Leicester also only consider applicants who were holding their offer.
| School | What the school says | First sitting | Resitters need |
|---|---|---|---|
Aberdeen does not normally consider applicants resitting to upgrade their results, unless they experienced very serious personal difficulties at the first sitting that were declared to the exam board at the time. These are considered case by case. | No minimum | AAAthe standard offer | |
A level resits are only considered with extenuating circumstances, and with at least BBB achieved at the first attempt. | BBB or above | A*AAthe standard offer | |
Resit grades for GCSEs, A levels or equivalent qualifications are not considered, except as detailed in Birmingham's extenuating circumstances policy. | No minimum | AAAthe standard offer | |
Cardiff does not accept A level resits (applicants in Wales can resit AS levels), with one exception: people already holding a Cardiff Medicine offer, in exceptional extenuating circumstances the exam board has not already considered. Circumstances have to go to the exam board at the time; Cardiff cannot consider them afterwards. | No minimum | AAAthe standard offer | |
A levels must be completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years. A third year of study may be permitted after a successful extenuating circumstances application. | No minimum | A*AAthe standard offer | |
All grades must be obtained at the first attempt of each subject. Applicants with resit qualifications are not entered into selection except in very exceptional circumstances, with verified evidence provided before the UCAS application. | No minimum | AAAthe standard offer | |
Applicants in a third year of A level study are not considered unless they have had extenuating circumstances accepted, or they already have the grades and are taking one more subject to meet the subject requirements. Taking more than three years to complete three A levels is not considered. | No minimum | A*AAthe standard offer | |
Resits are only considered if you held a conditional firm offer for Medicine at Leicester and substantial mitigation was agreed by its Mitigating Circumstances Panel beforehand. You need at least ABB at the first sit to apply with predicted resits, and the resit requirement is A*AA. Taking three years to complete A levels is not normally considered. | ABB or above | A*AAthe standard offer | |
Oxford wants three A levels taken in the same academic year. It might consider an applicant resitting A levels after extreme circumstances beyond their control, such as disruption from a change of school, severe discontinuity of teachers, bereavement or a one-off debilitating illness. | No minimum | A*AAthe standard offer | |
Applicants who retake A levels to meet the requirements are not normally considered. With extenuating circumstances, those whose grades were borderline, typically one grade below the requirement, may be. Anything further below is not considered. | No minimum | AAAthe standard offer |
The school's entry requirements do not say either way. Ask its admissions team before you use a choice on it.
| School | What the school says |
|---|---|
Cambridge publishes no resit policy for Medicine on its own website. The Medical Schools Council quotes it as saying: “We would typically expect candidates to achieve the minimum offer level in a single sitting. However, where candidates have been adversely affected by circumstances outside of their control, we will consider on a case-by-case basis.” | |
Dundee's page does not mention resits. It does say A levels must be achieved in the same sitting, in the same year, two years after GCSEs. A resit year is three years after GCSEs, so ask Dundee directly before you use a choice on it. | |
Queen's University Belfast's Medicine entry requirements do not mention resits. |
| School | What the school says |
|---|---|
Re-sits or additional time to sit qualifications are not permitted. The required grades and subjects must be obtained at one sitting and at the first attempt. | |
Imperial does not accept resit qualifications. If mitigating circumstances affected your results, it recommends contacting your school or exam board. | |
The course does not accept resits: a second or later attempt at a qualification you already hold an award in. |
For you if you got the grades: no offers, or a place you don’t want. Your grades are achieved rather than predicted, so no resit rule applies, and you know exactly which offers you meet.
Your grades
Enter what you got, not what you were predicted
The school finder reads them against every offer and subject rule. Achieved A*A*A or above is at or above every school’s offer, but the subjects still have to fit, including where a school says which subject the A* must be in.
Your UCAT
Sit it again
A UCAT result only counts for the cycle you sat it in, so reapplying means a new test. See every school’s line.
More than a year out
Some grades expire