I can’t give a set threshold for what a standard applicant should have as the GCSE grades you need will vary depending on which medical school you apply to. A lot of medical schools have a requirement that you are able to offer a portion of your GCSE results at a grade A (or level 7) and above, so for that reason I’d expect that a lot of medical students would have that. However, some medical schools are fine with just making sure you’ve achieved a minimum of a B for each of the core subjects and don’t bother about them anymore. If you want more information on GCSE results and each medical school’s requirements I’d check out this page by the Medic Portal which provides a nice summary.
Number of GCSE grades don’t matter at all and I really have no idea how many GCSEs everyone else has. Each medical school specifies that they’ll look at your top X number of GCSEs and the rest won’t matter. The number varies from 5 GCSEs with some medical schools to 9 (which is the highest number I’ve come across, required by Liverpool). I’d say the average school offers around 9-10 GCSEs so most applicants should have the number that’s required from by any of the UK medical schools anyway. Any additional GCSEs won’t even be looked at so won’t matter at all.
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