Cardiff University Medicine Entry Requirements

To study Medicine (MBBCh, A100) at Cardiff for 2027 entry, you need AAA at A-level, including Biology or Chemistry plus a second science. You also need eight strong GCSEs, a UCAT taken in 2026 and a multiple mini interview. Cardiff doesn't lower the offer for contextual or Welsh applicants, but it gives them extra weight in selection.

Cardiff picks who to interview by scoring the qualifications you've already achieved (mainly GCSEs) and your UCAT, and it ignores predicted grades. Everything below comes from Cardiff's own pages for 2027 entry, checked on 6 October 2026.

What are the entry requirements for Cardiff Medicine?

Here's the whole picture for 2027 entry in one table.

What A-levels do you need for Cardiff Medicine?

Cardiff's standard offer is AAA in three A-levels:

• Core subject: Biology or Chemistry.
• Additional science: Chemistry, Biology, Maths, Physics or Psychology.
• Third subject: any academic subject. The Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales can take the place of one A-level at the same grade.

So Chemistry isn't compulsory. Biology, Psychology and History would meet the subject rules, as long as you get AAA.

A few smaller rules catch people out:

• Only one Biology counts, so Biology plus Human Biology won't work.
• Pass the practicals where your science A-level has a practical element.
• Three A-levels in two years. You must complete at least three over the standard two-year period. A fourth "will not enhance your application".
• Resits aren't normally accepted. The only exception is an applicant who accepted a conditional offer from Cardiff Medicine in the previous cycle and has verified extenuating circumstances. Re-sitting units within the normal two years is fine.
• The EPQ and AS grades aren't considered at any stage.

How many UCAS points is AAA?

Cardiff sets its medicine offer in grades, not Tariff points, but converting it helps you compare Cardiff with your other choices:

See every route to that total on the AAA UCAS points page, or check how Cardiff treats the Tariff across its courses in our Cardiff University UCAS points guide.

What GCSEs do you need for Cardiff Medicine?

GCSEs are a big part of the score that decides who gets an interview. You must already have eight GCSEs (or equivalent Level 2 qualifications), including:

• Biology and Chemistry at 7 (A), or double science at 77 (AA)
• Maths at 6 (B)
• English Language at 6 (B); the course page also accepts Welsh Language
• Four more GCSEs at 6 (B) or above

Resits only count if you take them within 12 months of the first sitting (English Language has no time limit), and they must be finished before you apply. If you took double science, enter both grades, or Cardiff will score you as if the second were a grade lower.

How does Cardiff score medicine applications?

If you meet the minimum requirements, Cardiff gives you an academic score from the qualifications you've achieved and your UCAT decile. Your eight best GCSEs, which must include Biology, Chemistry (or double science), English Language and Maths, earn points like this:

Your UCAT result is scored by decile:

The two scores are added together, with one extra point for academic achievement in further or higher education (including a place on Cardiff's High Performance sport programme). The highest scorers are invited to interview. Cardiff says it interviews around 1,000 applicants.

What UCAT score do you need for Cardiff?

There's no minimum UCAT score. You must sit the test between July and October of the year you apply, and results from earlier years aren't accepted.

Cardiff only applies a UCAT cut-off when too many applicants are sitting on excellent academic scores. That cut-off "is not predetermined and is unrelated to the previous year's cut-off", and it can differ between applicant groups. So there's no past number worth chasing. A result in the 7th decile or above earns full UCAT points, and strong GCSEs do the rest.

Is Cardiff Medicine hard to get into?

Yes. Cardiff is open about the competition:

Places are capped by the Welsh Government, and Cardiff warns that many excellently qualified applicants are turned down.

What is the Cardiff Medicine interview like?

Cardiff uses multiple mini interviews (MMIs): short stations with themed questions. Topics usually include the Cardiff course, ethics, a career in medicine, the NHS, teamwork, motivation, empathy, resilience and communication. For 2027 entry, interviews are in person for home applicants and online for overseas applicants, and Cardiff aims to contact every applicant by mid-December.

Are Welsh applicants treated differently at Cardiff?

Yes, in selection, though not in the offer. Cardiff "recognises Welsh-domiciled applicants as one of their contextualised groups", and its 2027 policy gives them additional consideration in scoring. It sorts applicants into five groups (Welsh-domiciled, rest of UK non-contextualised, contextualised rest of UK, widening participation and overseas), and interview cut-offs can differ between them. The offer stays at AAA with the same subjects.

There's more for Welsh speakers and Welsh students:

• Up to 73% of the course is available through the medium of Welsh.
• Interviews in Welsh. Anyone can book a Welsh or bilingual MMI date. You don't gain or lose points for the language you use.
• Step Up to University is for students in Year 12 or their first year of college who live in Wales, have always attended state schools, hold at least five GCSEs at A* to C including English and Maths, and meet one widening participation criterion. It guarantees a medicine interview if you meet the minimum requirements.
• Doctoriaid Yfory, the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol scheme, also guarantees an interview.

Does Cardiff make contextual offers for medicine?

Not in the usual sense. Many Cardiff courses give contextual applicants an offer at the middle or lower end of a grade range, but Medicine has a single AAA offer. Instead, contextual applicants get "additional consideration in the scoring and selection process" that decides interviews.

You're contextual if your UCAS application says you're care-experienced, a parent, a carer, estranged, a refugee or asylum seeker, or have been eligible for free school meals. Cardiff also builds a 0 to 330 score from your postcode, your school's data and your parents' education, and 100 or more counts. Only your original UCAS application is used, so complete it carefully.

These routes guarantee an interview if you meet the minimum entry requirements:

If you fit more than one category, extra consideration only counts once. Our guide to how contextual offers work explains the wider idea.

Does Cardiff have a gateway or foundation year for medicine?

Not as part of its medicine programmes. Cardiff's 2027 School of Medicine admissions policy covers just two programmes, A100 and the A101 feeder stream, and neither is a gateway or foundation year. If you want a gateway year, our guide to medicine foundation and gateway years compares the schools that run one.

A101 isn't open to every graduate. It's a four-year course for graduates with a 2:1 or higher from four feeder degrees: Medical Pharmacology or Biomedical Sciences at Cardiff, or Medical Sciences at the University of South Wales or Bangor (the last two are under review). Up to two places a cycle can also go to dentistry graduates. Other graduates apply to A100 with a 2:1, BBB or ABC at A-level in the right subjects (BBC with a PhD) and the GCSE requirements.

For Access to HE, Cardiff accepts only the Agored Cymru Access to Higher Education Diploma (Medicine). It's meant for people who haven't studied Biology or Chemistry at A-level but expect to meet the A-level grade requirements, and you must email Cardiff's medical admissions team to check eligibility first. Our Access to HE medicine guide covers other schools.

Can you get into Cardiff Medicine with A*A*B?

Not on Cardiff's published offer. A*A*B is worth more UCAS points than AAA:

But the offer is set in grades, not points. A B in any subject falls below AAA, and nothing in Cardiff's rules says an A* makes up for it. A resit won't normally help either, given Cardiff's strict resit rule.

Other medical schools set their own offers, so compare them in our medicine entry requirements guide, and if results day goes wrong, read about medicine in Clearing for 2027.

When is the deadline for Cardiff Medicine?

Your complete application must reach UCAS by 18:00 UK time on 15 October 2026. Cardiff says late applications "will not be considered", and an application missing its personal statement or reference is rejected as incomplete. Our UCAS deadlines guide for 2027 entry covers the full calendar.

• Deferred entry: choose your start year on the UCAS form. Cardiff allows only one deferral year.
• Reapplying: you can reapply with a new UCAT result if you meet that year's minimum requirements.
• Before you start: a DBS check and an occupational health check, including screening for blood-borne viruses and tuberculosis.

How does Cardiff compare with other medical schools?

The AAA offer will look familiar, but Cardiff's selection stands out because achieved GCSEs carry so much weight. For nearby schools, read our Bristol medicine entry requirements and Exeter medicine entry requirements guides, or see UCAS points for medicine.

Your next step: score your eight best GCSEs against Cardiff's table, then check your predicted A-levels against AAA and the subject rules before 15 October.

Check your predicted A-level points