At Mossbourne Sixth Form, high-achieving students are carefully nurtured in preparation for applications to the fields of medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine.

The Medical Bursary Programme provides up to £1,000 per student of additional support, activities and preparation, throughout your time with us. This demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that our students are enabled to fulfil their aspirations to become the doctors and healthcare professionals of the future.

Success against the Odds

Nationally, students applying to these courses have low success rates, but at Mossbourne we buck this trend. An outstanding record of accomplishment of excellent exam grades and tailored support enables our students, to progress to study at prestigious establishments, including Cambridge, Oxford, Newcastle, Imperial College London, University College London, Royal College of Veterinary Medicine, King’s College London, and Birmingham. In 2024 alone, 18 students were successful in their applications to study Medicine, that is 10% of the year group!

Work Experience

Work experience is a vital part of preparing an application to these university courses. It gives students a realistic impression of what a career may involve and means that they can talk with authority in interviews. Unfortunately, it is often difficult for individuals to gain this vital experience without already having links to people in the profession. We have fostered a broad network of links with healthcare professionals and institutions, meaning we can aid students in securing work experience. Sometimes this can mean tailoring the work experience to the specialism students are interested in within a profession, such as shadowing surgeons if this is an area of particular interest.

Entrance Exam Training

Students applying to Medicine and Dentistry must complete the UCAT entrance exam, with scores being shared with universities. It is essential to get a high UCAT score to make a competitive application, with universities using this to determine which students to interview or give offers to. The UCAT is unlike any test students will have taken previously, so thorough preparation and lots of practice is needed to succeed. 

At Mossbourne, students will receive rigorous training in preparation for the exam with access to Medify, an online platform to support in their practice. All of this is paid for by the Medical Bursary Programme.

Trips

To further students’ exposure to the realities of being a healthcare professional, we take students on trips to hospital simulation centres, where doctors receive their training. Working with peers, they are put through a range of simulated scenarios, stabilising patients, operations, and recovery.

Not only do students find this experience enjoyable, but they can also use it in personal statements and interviews to show they have what it takes to be a healthcare professional.

Interview Training

A key part of the application process are university interviews. To prepare students as thoroughly as possible, we have a rigorous interview preparation programme. This culminates in a Saturday session supported by alumni, where up to 30 medical professionals and medical, dental, and veterinary students give up their time to provide face-to-face interviews with our candidates. Once our students receive an invitation to interview at a university, we call upon our network of medics and alumni who have been successful at that university to do further interviews.

Application and Selection

Students wanting a career in medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine, should apply for the Medical Bursary Programme by indicating this on their Mossbourne Sixth Form application form.

Students will be selected on a number of criteria, including their academic record and enthusiasm for their chosen career.

Our Medicine Bursary Programme provides you with the challenge necessary to prepare you thoroughly for medical school, and requires, in return, both hard work and complete dedication, from you.

Mossbourne Sixth Form runs an Architecture and Built Environment programme for students that might be interested in careers in architecture, planning, surveying or other careers in the built environment. The programme works with some of the best architecture schools and practices in the country, and also the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

The programme runs alongside chosen A level subjects during our Sixth Form enrichment slot on Wednesday afternoons. It consists of speaker slots from experts in the field, mentoring from architecture students, visits to building projects, architecture schools and practices, work experience and projects to develop a portfolio for a potential application to architecture school or similar.  Students who then want to progress to an Architecture, Engineering or related degree will then have the support of the Sixth Form team in taking this forward.

Students who have an interest in the built environment, who can develop ideas into projects showing the various stages along the way, and who can communicate their thoughts and ideas to others are very welcome to apply. Experience with architecture, product design, art or similar would be advantageous but is not compulsory.  The most important thing is that you have an inquiring mind and curiosity about how the built environment is created or can be changed.