Applying To UCL Medical School

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

This medical school profile discusses essential information for applying to study Medicine at University College London (UCL) Medical School. First, we cover the Medicine courses on offer at UCL Medical School. We explain why the UCL Medicine course is six years instead of five and discuss exemptions for Graduate students. We cover UCL Medical School’s entry requirements for studying Medicine. This includes how UCL Medical School uses applicants BMAT results and list the recent BMAT scores for applicants and offer holders to UCL; UCL Medical Schools Medicine interview process; the role of the Medicine personal statement at UCL Medical School and other key details and statistics that will help you to apply to study Medicine at UCL Medical School. Then, we cover tips on how to write a Medicine personal statement for UCL Medical School and tips on how to pass the UCL Medical School panel interview.

Courses on offer at UCL Medical School:

  • Standard Entry Medicine (6 years). UCAS course code A100.

The competition for offers for a place to study Medicine at UCL Medical School:

Competition for the 6-year Standard Entry Medicine Course at UCL Medical School is as follows:

Number of applicants per interview: 3 (home/EEA) 10 (international)

Number of applicants per place: 7 (home/EEA) 31 (international)

International Applicants to study Medicine at UCL Medical School

UCL Medical School welcomes applications from overseas applicants. London is, of course, a major global city and a fantastic, albeit expensive, city for international students to study in. UCL also offers “visiting student electives”. These are for international medical students and those from other UK medical schools. A visiting student elective allows these students to undertake their elective at UCL medical school.

Graduate Entry Medicine at UCL Medical School:

There is no fast track 4-year Graduate Entry Medicine programme at UCL medical school. Graduates wanting to apply to study Medicine at UCL should apply to the standard six-year Medicine programme. The standard 6-year Medicine programme at UCL incorporates a BSc in the third year. Graduates with a UK degree are exempt from taking this BSc so will progress directly from the 2nd year to the 4th year. UCL medical school welcomes Graduates with at least a 2:1 degree in any discipline from a UK university. However, Chemistry and Biology are still required at A-level. UCL state that the requirement to sit these subjects is not typically waived, but this may be considered for some degrees. The A-level requirements for graduates applying to UCL medical school are ABB for A-levels taken before the degree. A-levels taken after the degree must be A*or A grades. The standard requirements for a grade B in GCSE Maths and English Language also apply to Graduate Medicine applicants.

Visit our free guide to applying to Medicine as a graduate for more information including 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.

Course structure at UCL Medical School:

The UCL Medicine degree is six years as a year is spent doing an intercalated degree. This is except for Graduates from UK universities who are exempt from taking the intercalation year and who therefore complete the UCL Medicine degree in 5 years. UCL Medical School’s course structure is framed around an integrated Medicine curriculum. Integrated curriculums are the most common method of teaching Medicine in the UK. In these courses, the Medical Sciences are taught alongside clinical Medicine. This contrasts with traditional courses which would separate the different disciplines. Traditional courses are now rare amongst UK medical schools. A wide variety of teaching methods are used at UCL medical school. This includes lectures, seminars, group activities, computer-assisted learning, clinical teaching and private study. Anatomy and medical imaging are taught through a combination of dissection, prosection and computer simulation and during clinical placements.

Intercalation at UCL Medical School

Intercalation is widely offered in UK medical schools. Usually, intercalation is optional. At UCL medical school, however, intercalation is part of the course structure. Therefore, the UCL Medicine degree is six years in duration instead of the more common five years to study Medicine. Only Graduate students with a UK degree are exempt from intercalation. They will skip the intercalation year and proceed straight to the next year of the Medicine course, making the degree 5 years in duration for them.

You can learn more about intercalation in our free medical blogs area. Intercalation allows medical students to interrupt their Medicine degree and study another degree in a chosen subject and then return to their Medicine degree. This allows medical students to gain an additional qualification on top of their Medicine 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.

Open days at UCL Medical School

UCL offers several open days throughout the year, and this includes UCL open days that are specific to Medicine and the medical school. Attending a UCL Medical School open day allows you to see the medical school yourself and speak to staff and students. There are also information days for the University of London and UCL participate in this. A UCL Medical School open day or other information days and visits also provide an excellent opportunity for you to explore the city of London and the UCL campus for yourself.

Entry Requirements for UCL Medical School six-year Medicine programme:

Applying to any medical school is competitive and requires meeting high academic and non-academic entry requirements. While sharing many similarities, medical schools still have very different entry requirements and policies in specific areas. The entry requirements for UCL Medical School are no different in this regard so you must carefully understand the entry requirements for UCL Medical School when considering applying to UCL Medical School. Below are some headline details about the entry requirements for UCL Medical School for 2019 entry. You can see the full UCL Medicine entry requirements on their prospectus or website.

A-Level requirements for UCL Medical School: Typical offer of A*AA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology. UCL medical school use contextual offers to widen access to Medicine for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. There are strict criteria for this, and it can result in a lower offer of AAB including, A grades in both Biology and Chemistry.

GCSE requirements for UCL Medical School: UCL requires English Language and Maths at a minimum of grade B/6. UK based students require a Grade C/5 or equivalent in a foreign language (other than Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew or Latin)

Admissions tests – how does UCL Medical School use BMAT scores?

UCL medical school uses the BMAT as part of its selection process. They do not have a BMAT cut off score as the BMAT is one part of the application process. Below we have included the mean BMAT scores at UCL medical school for both all applicants and successful offer holders. These are for guidance purposes as figures fluctuate from year to year and admissions criteria change.

The mean BMAT scores for UCL medical school offer holders in 2018

Section 1: 5.1

Section 2: 5.3

Section 3: 3.5A

The mean BMAT scores for UCL medical school applicants in the 2018 admissions cycle

Section 1: 4.4

Section 2: 4.5

Section 3: 3.1A

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

How Does UCL Medical School use the Medicine personal statement?

The Medicine personal statement is an integral part of the UCL medical school application process. This is because UCL medical school use a significant amount of non-academic information from the UCAS form, e.g. motivation, work experience, extracurricular activities to decide which candidates to offer a UCL Medicine interview. UCL state that they may ask candidates to also a supply a table/list summarising work experience after they submit their UCAS form, but these should not be submitted unless specifically requested.

Tips on how to write a successful Medicine personal statement for UCL 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.
  • 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 UCL 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 an excellent candidate to study Medicine. Our free article: How to show the attributes of self-reflection and personal insight into 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 UCL Medical School use?

UCL medical school uses a traditional panel interview. UCL is one of the few medical schools still using panel interviews as most have switched to using MMI Medicine interviews. A UCL Medicine interview panel is typically comprised of 2-3 interviewers. The Medicine interview panel can consist of clinical and medical Science staff, medical students and “laypersons” (e.g. Head of Sixth Form or GP). UCL Medicine interviews are on weekday mornings or afternoon and involve an opportunity to speak with current students as well as a tour of the campus.

Tips for passing a panel interview at UCL Medical School interview

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

  • A strategic plan on how to prepare for your medical school interview – We cover this in detail in our entirely free guide on how to prepare for your medical school interview in seven steps.
  • Learning critical medical school interview strategies – We have a wealth of free articles covering Medicine interview strategies. We also have a free database of real Medicine interview questions with full competent answers, analysis, and advice on how to answer these medical school interview questions. We also have a free guide to Medical Ethics and free blog articles such as answering opinion questions, dealing with rude or hostile interviewers/ MMI actors and many more topics
  • Avoiding common medical school interview pitfalls – See our free guide on common Medicine Interview pitfalls and how to avoid them.
  • Intelligent, reflective medical school interview practice – Use our free exclusive database of medical school interview questions and answers.
  • Execution on the Medicine interview day – Preparation and practice are one part of success. The other part is peak performance and execution on the day. Read our free article about dealing with nerves.

If you prefer a face to face approach, Medicine Answered also provide excellent doctor delivered one-day Medicine 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.