Applying To Newcastle Medical School

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What this guide to applying to study Medicine at Newcastle Medical School covers

In this medical school profile, we discuss valuable information for applying to study Medicine at Newcastle Medical School. We begin by highlighting the Medicine programmes provided by Newcastle Medical School. We cover the entry requirements to study Medicine at Newcastle Medical School. This includes how Newcastle Medical School uses applicants UKCAT results; Newcastle’s Medicine interview process; the role of the Medicine personal statement at Newcastle Medical School and other key information which will assist in applying to study Medicine at Newcastle Medical School. Finally, we cover tips on how to write a Medicine personal statement for Newcastle Medical School and tips on how to pass the Newcastle Medical School MMI interview, or for international students, the Newcastle Medicine panel interview.

Medicine programmes at Newcastle Medical School:

  • Standard Entry Medicine (5 years). UCAS course code A100.

  • Accelerated Graduate Entry Medicine Programme (4 years) UCAS course code A101

There is also a pathway for dentists wishing to study Medicine at Newcastle medical school to pursue a career in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. There is also a pathway for some Newcastle Science students to apply to study Medicine.

Competition to study Medicine at Newcastle Medical School:

Competition for the 5-year Standard Entry Medicine Course at Newcastle Medical School:

Number of applicants per interview: 1.9 (home/EEA only) 4.5 (international)

Number of applicants per place: 5.6 (home/EEA only) 17.5 (international)

Competition for the 4-year accelerated Graduate Entry Medicine Programme at Newcastle Medical School:

Number of applicants per interview: 11 (home/EEA only)

Number of applicants per place: 41.5 (home/EEA only)

International Applicants to Medicine at Newcastle Medical school

Newcastle Medical School welcomes applications from overseas applicants to its five-year Medicine programme. However, only home students (UK and EEA) are eligible to apply for Newcastle medical schools accelerated Graduate Entry Medicine programme. For 2019 entry, International Medicine applicants can be interviewed in Newcastle or by online video in their home countries.

Graduate Entry Medicine at Newcastle Medical School:

Newcastle Medical School hosts an accelerated four-year Graduate Entry Medicine programme. Students with a degree from any discipline or healthcare professionals within the NHS or equivalent bodies (e.g. RMN, RGN, Physiotherapists) can apply to the Newcastle Graduate Entry Medicine programme. Newcastle Graduate Medicine entry requirements are atypical in that Newcastle medical school does not use A-level or GCSE results for Graduates when deciding which candidates to interview or to give offers to. Contrast this to for example the entry requirements for Birmingham’s Graduate Entry Medicine programme which has high minimum requirements for pre-degree qualifications.

For more information on applying to Medicine as a graduate, see our free graduate entry Medicine guide which includes a detailed breakdown on deciding if applying to Medicine as a graduate is for you, fees, funding, choosing between accelerated programmes and standard entry Medicine programmes and much more. We also have a free guide on how to write an excellent graduate entry Medicine personal statement. This comprehensive guide takes you from the ideas phase with no plan or draft, all the way to a finished Graduate entry Medicine personal statement ready for submission.

Newcastle Medical School course structure for its 5-year Medicine programme:

The course structure at Newcastle Medical School is based on an integrated Medicine curriculum. Integrated Medicine curriculums are the most common form of teaching Medicine at UK medical schools. Integrated Medicine programmes combine scientific teaching with clinical teaching instead of making a distinct separation between the two (as is the case in traditional Medicine courses which are now very rare). This allows students to learn the scientific disciplines in the context of how patients present clinically. Integrated curriculums typically allow for much earlier patient contact which is the case at Newcastle Medical School where there is patient contact from the first year.

During years 1 and 2 of the Newcastle Medicine course, a series of cases are used to facilitate learning. For example, a case on a stroke can be used to teach and learn about the nervous and cardiovascular system, clinical skills, pharmacology, public health and communication skills. Contrast, this to a traditional curriculum where all these topics would be taught separately and Clinical topics such as strokes would not be taught in the first few years of study as basic Sciences would be taught first. Years 3, 4 and 5 of the Newcastle Medicine programme are much more clinically focused, and students are based in clinical facilities, e.g. Newcastle Hospital, instead of the university.

Intercalation at Newcastle Medical School

Newcastle Medical School offers its medical students the chance to intercalate at BSc or masters level. Intercalation is offered throughout UK medical schools and is a popular option for medical students. You can learn more about the pros and cons of intercalating in our free medical blogs section. Intercalation allows students to interrupt their Medicine degree and study for another degree in a chosen subject and then return to the Medicine degree. This allows medical students to gain an additional qualification on top of their medical degree and often in a much quicker and cheaper manner. For example, a BSc can be awarded in one year instead of the typical three it would take a non-intercalating student top to achieve.

Newcastle medical school open days and poster offer visit days

Newcastle Medical School hosts several open days. Attending a Newcastle Medical School open day allows you to see the medical school for yourself and speak to students and staff. A Newcastle Medical School open day also provides an excellent opportunity to explore the city of Newcastle for yourself. Newcastle also holds post-offer visit days which will give you a taste of being a Newcastle medical student.

Age requirements to study Medicine at Newcastle medical school

Newcastle does not have an upper age limit to study Medicine. They state that it may not be possible to consider applicants who will be under the age of 17 on entry.

Entry Requirements for the Newcastle Medical School 5-year Medicine programme:

Applying to any medical school is highly competitive and requires meeting high entry requirements. While sharing many similarities, medical schools also have very different entry requirements and policies in specific areas. The entry requirements for Newcastle Medical School are no different in this regard. For example, unlike many other medical schools, Newcastle after initially considering academic achievements at the pre-interview stage, then do not consider academic achievement further in the application process.

You must carefully understand the entry requirements for Newcastle Medical School before you make an application there. Below are some headline details about the entry requirements for Newcastle Medical School for 2019 entry. You can see the full Newcastle medical school entry requirements on their prospectus or website.

Graduate applicants to the standard entry 5-year Medicine course: Graduate applicants must have achieved, or expect to achieve, an honours degree in any discipline to at least a 2:1 or Integrated Master’s degree.

A-Level entry requirements for Newcastle Medical School: AAA including Chemistry and/or Biology and not including Critical thinking or General Studies. Practical elements of Science A-levels must be passed if these are taken. If only one of Biology and/or Chemistry is offered at A-level, then the other subject should be offered at GCSE grade A/7 or a Dual Award Science grade A/7.

Admissions tests – how does Newcastle Medical School use UKCAT scores?

All applicants to Newcastle medical school must sit the UKCAT. This includes applicants to the accelerated four-year Graduate Entry Medicine programme and applicants to the 5-year standard entry Medicine programme. The UKCAT must be sat in the same year as the Medicine application to Newcastle medical school. Results from earlier years are not valid, and the UKCAT must be retaken.

For more information about the UKCAT and how to prepare for the UKCAT, see our free UKCAT guide and FAQ.

How Does Newcastle Medical School use the Medicine personal statement?

The Medicine personal statement is not read before or at the Newcastle Medicine interview. However, it is read before offers being made although not for scoring purposes.

Tips on how to write a successful Medicine personal statement for Newcastle Medical School

  • Read our comprehensive free guide on how to write a medical school personal statement in 10 steps. This guide takes you from step 1 – with no draft, plan or anything written down, all the way to step 10 – a completed and excellent medical school personal statement ready for you to submit to UCAS.
  • See our free full analysis of a successful Medicine personal statement which gained offers for an interview from all four medical schools (and subsequently four offers of a place). We analyse why this Medicine personal is effective and how you can learn from this in writing your own Medicine personal statement.
  • The meaning and insight gained from experiences such as work experience or extracurricular activities are the most critical thing admissions tutors are looking for, even more so then what you actually did. Merely making long lists of achievements or diary accounts of activities is not what admissions tutors at Newcastle Medical School or any other medical school are looking for. It is up to you to make the most of what you have done and show the medical school admissions panel how your experiences will make you an excellent candidate to study Medicine. Our free article: How to display the attributes of self-reflection and personal insight in your Medicine application will help you to write in the manner that admissions tutors are looking for.
  • You can consider a Medicine personal statement review service. Various companies offer these. They are not essential, so do not believe any company that tells you otherwise. However, services by competent providers can add real value to your Medicine application. When looking at providers ensure that they are by experts in Medicine admissions and have professional skills in editing and reviewing. Medicine Answered provide an excellent medical school personal statement review service with a unique level of expertise. A professional editor and then a doctor (who received all four offers to study Medicine) will examine the personal statement line by line and make the appropriate corrections. After making sure the grammar and writing are flawless, they will also comment on the overall strength of the application and make suggestions of things which may be asked at your Medicine interview based on your medical school personal statement.

What type of interviews does Newcastle Medical School use?

International students (as classified by fees status) are interviewed by a panel. For 2019 entry this can be in Newcastle or via online video in the international applicants home country. Newcastle interview home (UK/EEA as classified by fees status) students using MMI Medicine interviews.

For 2019 entry offers to study Medicine at Newcastle are made based on performance at the Medicine interview. Before and during an interview, selectors will not have access to the applicants Medicine personal statement or reference.

Tips for passing a Newcastle Medicine interview

Success at a Newcastle Medicine interview or any medical school interview is not random. It involves a tried and tested set of steps that you can also follow:

For those preferring a face to face approach, Medicine Answered also provide excellent doctor delivered one-day medical school interview courses as well as one to one private tutoring online or in person. All of our courses and tutoring are delivered only by doctors who passed all four of their Medicine interviews. For more information see our services section.