The UCAT is done. This replaces the August map, which was built expecting 2450 to 2550. The shortlist has changed, and one school turns out to fit him far better than anything else in the country.
2026 preliminary deciles put D4 at 1910 and D5 at 1980, so he is in the 5th decile. The preliminary mean is 1970, but last year the preliminary 1939 fell to a final 1891 once everyone had sat. Expect similar drift, landing the final mean near 1920.
So 1940 most likely sits just above the national median. Last year 1820 was exactly the 4th decile. He has moved up a decile, and held Band 1 while doing it.
His Medify mocks two days before predicted VR 547 and DM 580. He delivered 630 and 700. The mocks understated him by 83 and 120 points, because he sat them having done eight full mocks in seven days while describing himself as overwhelmed. QR came in at exactly the mock figure, 610.
Decision Making at 700 is his standout. The 2026 cohort mean for DM is 657.
Checked against Lincoln's own admissions guidance today, not an aggregator.
Spencer's most recent qualification is A-levels. His GCSEs are therefore not scored at all. His UCAT is doubled instead, forming a combined academic score out of 60.
His single biggest structural weakness, the six 6s at GCSE, is deleted at Lincoln. And the SJT bands score 15 / 10 / 5 with Band 4 rejected outright, so his Band 1 takes the full 15 against the 42% of candidates on Band 2 and the 32% on Band 3.
No other school on his list removes his weakness and maxes his strength at the same time. Lincoln is the anchor.
Three realistic, one stretch. Every one accepts resits and takes AAA rather than A*AA.
I first wrote KMMS off by comparing his 1940 against their 2490 benchmark. That was a scale error. KMMS's own page states the 2490 threshold corresponded to the 47th centile, which places it on the old /3600 scale, before Abstract Reasoning was removed in 2025. It is not comparable to a /2700 score.
On this year's scale the 47th centile sits around 1940 to 1950 (D4 is 1910, D5 is 1980). Spencer is on that line. KMMS also states plainly that it does not commit to the same threshold for 2027.
And the offer itself fits him exactly: AAA or AAB in any order, so a B in Chemistry is explicitly allowed. GCSE gate met. Eligible as he stands, with no resit at all.
KMMS states: "KMMS does not accept A level re-sits (except through extenuating circumstances policy)", and requires the three A-levels to be taken in the same examination year.
So the two routes pull against each other. The resit opens Lincoln, HYMS, Brunel, Southampton and Leeds, all of which need AAA. It may simultaneously shut the one school that already accepts him.
This is now the single most important phone call. Ask KMMS: "He holds AAB in one sitting and meets your offer. He is also entering a June 2027 Chemistry resit for other applications. Does declaring that resit disqualify him with you?" Everything else in this plan waits on that answer.
Fifth UCAS choice: a non-medicine science degree that leads to graduate entry. It costs nothing and it is the difference between a fallback and a gap.
Buckingham sits outside UCAS entirely, so it uses no slot. No UCAT, eligible today, roughly £187k self-funded across 4.5 years. A financing conversation, not an admissions one.
| Grade | Boundary /270 | He scored 177 |
|---|---|---|
| A* | 234 | needs +57 |
| A | 200 | needs +23 |
| B | 164 | achieved |
OCR A H432, June 2026 boundaries.
Every school on his open list asks for AAA. Lincoln, HYMS, Brunel, Leeds, Southampton, BSMS, Anglia Ruskin. An A in Chemistry satisfies all of them.
The schools that demand A* from resitters are Manchester (A*A*A), Liverpool (A* in Chemistry), Newcastle (A* in the resat subject) and Lancaster (A*AA). Every single one of those is GCSE-blocked for him anyway.
It costs two and a half times the work of the A, for zero admissions value, and risks the grade that every one of his four applications actually depends on.
Get the tutor. Point them at making the A certain, not at the A*. Nine months, three papers, 23 marks. That is the highest-value money in the entire plan, because all four applications convert to a place only if that A lands in August 2027.
The August audit was built from official pages, but it is six weeks old and I have already caught aggregators misreporting Lincoln today. Nothing goes on the form second-hand.
Book the Chemistry tutor. Target the A. Three papers, 23 marks, nine months.
Five verification calls from section 05. Lincoln first.
Personal statement refresh. Honest about the year, the resit and the improved UCAT. Band 1 SJT is worth referencing.
UCAS submitted. Four medicine choices plus a non-medicine fifth. Resit declared as pending.
Enter the June resit through school or a private centre. Entry deadlines run to roughly February.
Interviews. Prep starts when the first invite lands, not before.
Three Chemistry papers.
Results, conditions met, place confirmed.
Three failure points, each with a landing.
He is 18. A 2028 start makes him 20 on day one, which is unremarkable in a modern medical school intake.
The preparation demonstrably works. DM +80 and QR +40 came off a September in which he did eight full mocks in seven days and walked in exhausted. That is not his ceiling. It is a badly executed run at it, and there is room in a properly paced year.