Medicine is generally considered the most competitive course in the UK, thus applications require a great deal of commitment from both domestic and international students. Understanding exactly what medical school involves can really help you decide whether it’s right for you and give you the very best chance of securing a place at the school of your choice.
Finding the Right Medical School Course
There are currently 45 registered medical schools in the United Kingdom, all offering Medicine as a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree. (The courtesy title ‘doctor’ is granted upon registration with the General Medical Council.) Universities abbreviate the degree name variously as BMBS, MBBS, BM BCh or MB ChB – mainly depending on their historical preference for English or Latin. Thankfully the UCAS code is always A100 for the main undergraduate Medicine programme via standard entry.
While Medicine is ordinarily a five- or six-year course, there may be an accelerated option for students who already have an undergraduate degree. This will have a different UCAS code. Some medical schools even offer a longer where you study an extra year and graduate with a second degree in a closely-related field.
A big factor in your choice will likely be the instruction style. A medical school typically fits into one of that should be clear in its prospectus:
| Traditional teaching | Two or three years on scientific theory, followed by three years on clinical placements. |
| Problem-based learning | Learning is centred around clinical scenarios, with students working in small groups and guided by a facilitator. |
| Integrated style | Scientific and clinical learning are spread through the entire course. |
You will need to narrow your choices down to a maximum of four on your UCAS application. (There is one remaining slot for another subject, should you wish to have a backup.) You cannot apply to both Oxford and Cambridge in the same year. Take with a pinch of salt: research ratings factor highly, yet don’t necessarily reflect teaching quality.
What are the Best Universities for Medicine in the UK?
There are lots of ways to rank courses at different universities - including facilities, student satisfaction, research and teaching scores, and their overall reputation. A good place to start is the, which in 2025 had the following top 10:
- University of Cambridge
- University of Oxford
- UCL (University College London)
- Imperial College London
- The University of Edinburgh
- University of Bristol
- University of Glasgow
- Queen’s University Belfast
- University of Dundee
- University of St Andrews
Taking the time to look into student testimonials, attend university open days, and to do as much research as you can into your shortlist is a worthwhile task, helping you to discover which is the right fit for you.
How Hard is it to Get into Medical School in the UK?
The short answer: it’s hard!
Medicine is the sixth most popular undergraduate course in the UK but has the third fewest places available. For 2025 entry there were 23,350 applicants competing for 7,600 places (of which 500 are reserved for international candidates). You will try in vain to make useful predictions for 2026 entry since acceptance rates vary significantly by institution and by year. Take Nottingham, for example. Since the nationwide cap on medical school places was their acceptance rate has . If you are particularly intrepid, the equivalent statistics for other medical schools can be found via .
Understanding the Medical School Admissions Process
Your A-Level choices will already have kept some doors open for you and perhaps have closed others. Students with A-Levels in both Chemistry and Biology are for the widest range of Medicine courses: 14 medical schools require both, while more than half require at least Chemistry. Only 14 medical schools specify Biology plus another science subject or Maths. A minimum of three A-Levels in total is the general requirement, and most applicants for the top institutions will have Maths or Physics as their third option. GCSE grades are very important for Oxbridge applicants (see below).
Most urgently, you should note two things:
- University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT): All but two medical schools (Buckinghamshire and Central Lancashire) now require you to take it. For 2026 entry, register between 17th June and 19th September 2025 – but earlier if you want the widest choice of test dates and locations. The last test day is 26th September.
- The earlier UCAS deadline for Medicine: 15th October 2025.
The UCAT is a computer-based test which you will take in person at a Pearson VUE test centre (where you may also have taken a driving theory test). There are four sections, or subtests: verbal reasoning, decision making, quantitative reasoning, and situational judgement. You will receive a score for the first three subtests totalling up to 3600. Separately, situational judgement is scored in bands between 1 (excellent) and 4 (low). Unlike some other university admissions tests, you will receive your score straight away! The whole thing lasts nearly two hours – plus rest breaks and extra time for those who are eligible. UCAT offer their own along with .
Your UCAT score will be submitted directly to your chosen universities in November, after you submit your UCAS application for the 15th October deadline. You do not need to provide it yourself.
Read more in our Guide to the UCAT.
Oxford University Admissions Process for Medicine
Undergraduate entry to Medicine (BM BCh) at Oxford is with only a on average. The course is six years rather than five. Students earn a BA in Medical Sciences at the end of their three-year period of pre-clinical learning. After that, years 4-6 are primarily clinical placements.
Around a quarter of applicants can expect to be interviewed. The initial shortlisting for this is purely algorithmic: GCSE results and UCAT scores are given . Extenuating circumstances may be manually considered at this stage. The remaining list of non-shortlisted applicants then receives human attention from tutors, who may manually submit names to the Shortlisting Committee to review alongside the 80 highest-ranking candidates below the cut-off point. Note that the personal statement and predicted grades are here. Invitations to interview are sent in late November.
Note that GCSE scores are . That means the number of grades 8 and 9 is not counted objectively, but rather is compared with the performance of other students similarly performing schools to calculate a positive ‘cGCSE' score. The university any further detail about this calculation. Note also that Oxford only use your numerical UCAT score for the three cognitive tests; they do not take your situational judgement band into account when shortlisting. The mean UCAT score for those most recently shortlisted was out of 3600.
Shortlisted candidates are interviewed online in . It will always be with at least two different colleges or PPHs (and they will not know whether they were your preferred choice or not!). The selection criteria are published . Applicants are re-ranked using scores from both colleges plus their UCAT score (including the situational judgement band) and then assigned offers. This is where your college choice plays a role, with over half of offers matching applicants’ preference or allocation (if that student made an open application). The Medical Sciences office circulates a ‘rescue list’ of high ranking candidates who have still not been allocated a college place at this point. In rare cases, students may receive an offer from a college that did not even interview them! To the lucky few, offers are sent in mid-January and are typically conditional on achieving
Cambridge University Admissions Process for Medicine
Undergraduate entry to Medicine (MB BChir) at Cambridge is less competitive than Oxford, with a higher . Cambridge also interviews a dramatically higher proportion of applicants than does Oxford: a whopping 70%! This does mean, of course, that a lower proportion of interviewees ultimately receive offers. Like Oxford’s, the course lasts six years and follows the traditional teaching pattern of three years on scientific principles and three years after that on clinical placements. Shortlisting considers the UCAT numerical score, but not the situational judgement banding. Personal statements are as part of the shortlisting process.
take place in the first three weeks of December, and may be online or in person depending on the college. Expect at least two, and possibly three or four. The process is . However, the interview criteria are common across the board and published .
Cambridge operate a formal which and makes offers to strong but otherwise unsuccessful candidates – although some of them will be invited back for a further interview in January before that happens. This is a significant part of the Cambridge admissions process since across all courses around a fifth of offer holders receive their offer this way.
The lucky Cambridge few receive their offers in late January with typical conditions of A*A*A. Note this is higher than Oxford’s A*AA. Across the board, Cambridge make .
Do I Have to Sit an Entrance Exam to Study Medicine in the UK?
In most cases, yes. Those applying to medical and dental degree programmes in 2025 will most likely have to sit the UCAT or University Clinical Aptitude Test. A similar test – the BMAT – has now been scrapped, and those universities that used the BMAT before (Imperial, Oxford, Cambridge, Lancaster, Brighton and Sussex, UCL and Leeds) now require applicants to sit the UCAT instead. Two medical schools, the University of Buckinghamshire and the University of Central Lancashire Medical School, do not require admissions tests.
How Can I Prepare for the UCAT?
The UCAT has sections on Quantitative Reasoning, Abstract Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, and Situational Judgment, all of which are designed to assess the aptitude of a candidate to succeed in studying Medicine or Dentistry, rather than their academic capabilities.
There is helpful advice on the relevant , from how to put together a preparation plan, to a , and the all-important UCAT .
°®ÒºÊÓƵ has a range of specialist tutors who can assist students approaching university aptitude tests for medical school and help you prepare for the UCAT via online or in-person tuition.
View a sample of the UCAT tutors we work with.
What are the Changes in 2025?
For 2025, Oxford and Cambridge are adopting the UCAT, and the UCAS Personal Statement has changed its format. Instead of writing a 4000 character essay, applicants must now answer .
How do I Prepare an Effective Personal Statement?
Your personal statement is a key tool for signaling your commitment to and suitability for a place at a UK medical school. You should ideally look to draw on a broad range of work experience undertaken in advance of applying, to illustrate what you have learned about the medical profession and your own motivations for wanting to enter it. A personal statement is a good chance to differentiate yourself in advance of what are sure to be challenging application interviews. On the topic of interviews, remember that these can vary enormously between medical schools, with some involving multiple interviews or even group interviews - so use your personal statement to give your interviewers some pointers on the kinds of questions they may wish to ask to fully understand your personality and potential.
Remember, you’re only able to submit the same personal statement for all of your five allocated applications via UCAS, of which only four can be to medical schools, so your personal statement should also be suitable for whichever course you select for your fifth application!
Looking for super curricular activity recommendations for Medicine? Read our Medicine Super Curricular Guide
UCAT & Medical School Admissions Tutors
If you'd like further information about applying to Medical School do contact us. We work with a range of tutors who have experience preparing students for the UCAT admissions test, super curricular learning and mock interview preparation.