Member Article

Record Breaking Year at Abbey College Manchester

Abbey College Manchester is boasting a 100% success rate after 18 students secured medical interviews for competitive university courses.

All the candidates at the city centre-based college, who want a career in medicine or dentistry have at least one university interview and three places have already been offered.

The places which have been obtained include, Peninsula Medical School, The University of York and University of Central Lancashire.

This impressive figure has been attributed to Abbey College Manchester’s comprehensive Medical and Dentistry University Preparation Programme.

As well as getting expert guidance on completing their personal statements, going on university visits; benefiting from expert speakers and advice on how to approach the various aptitude tests, candidates go through a series of Multiple Mini Interviews. These seek to test candidates’ skills in a variety of situations and are used by the college to replicate exactly what candidates go through during the universities’ selection process. Candidates are put in pairs or small groups and complete tasks that relate to listening and communication skills as well as those where decision-making, leadership and empathy are required.

It is a demanding process which is then followed at the college by an interview and sometimes other academic tests.

The mock interviews contained multiple tasks including: giving verbal instructions as to complete a task, watching a paper folding exercise and then reproducing it, articulating a response to an ethical issue, making decisions in a crisis, and writing the arguments for and against an issue.

Each candidate was scored on the activities undertaken and feedback was provided individually by Principal Liz Elam and the Director of the Science Faculty Paul Kelly.

Head of Upper Sixth at Abbey College Manchester, Marc Cronin said: “For a small independent school our record of getting students interviews is remarkable and is down to the preparation we give to the students.

“The applications process for students wishing to undertake medicine or dentistry at university is hugely competitive so it is vital that candidates are prepared well. Abbey College Manchester has an exceptionally rigorous preparation process in place that is the envy of most schools in the north west of Britain.”

Abbey College is a leading independent college in the heart of Manchester, with a fast-growing and vibrant community.

There are around 220 students at the college, 65% of whom are from the local area with the remainder from other countries. The college offers A-Level, GCSE and International Foundation Programmes.

For more information on Abbey College visit www.abbeymanchester.co.uk, or call 0161 817 2700.

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