Medicine Entry Requirements at Every UK Medical School

Most UK medical schools ask for AAA at A-level, and a smaller group, including Imperial, King's, UCL, Oxford and Exeter, asks for A*AA. Cambridge asks for A*A*A. You'll almost always need Chemistry or Biology plus a second science or Maths, and every school in our table asks for the UCAT.

That might sound like a lot, but the pattern is simpler than it looks. Once you know which subjects you're taking, you can rule schools in or out in a few minutes. The table below does that for you, with every figure taken from the medical school's own website.

What are the entry requirements for medicine at each UK medical school?

Here is the standard school-leaver medicine course at each school we could check. "Entry year" is the year the school's page says the figure applies to. Where a page doesn't say, we've marked it "Not stated". Offers change every year, so check the school's own page before you apply.

We left out schools whose pages we couldn't open or whose figures weren't clear, including Cardiff, Leicester, Dundee, Edinburgh and St Andrews. That doesn't mean they're harder to get into. It just means we won't print a number we haven't checked. For Cambridge in more detail, see our Cambridge medicine entry requirements guide.

The Medical Schools Council keeps its own listing of entry requirements for courses starting in autumn 2027. It says the schools supply that information, and it tells you to check each school's own website too. That's good advice for any table, ours included.

Which medical schools have the lowest entry requirements?

Looking only at the schools in our table, AAA is the usual floor for a standard offer. Two schools list something lower:

• Kent and Medway lists an AAB minimum. It doesn't use predicted grades at all. If you're still in Year 13, it looks at the GCSE grades you've already achieved instead, and it compares your results with your school's average.
• Plymouth gives a typical offer range of A*AA to AAB, and says AAB is for applicants from widening access backgrounds.

Some schools also accept a slightly different mix. Keele takes AAA if you also get an A in the EPQ, and Sheffield has an alternative offer of AAB plus an A in the EPQ. Queen's Belfast accepts AAA plus an A in a fourth AS-level.

At the top end, Cambridge asks for A*A*A, and Aston, Exeter, Imperial, King's, Oxford, Queen Mary and UCL ask for A*AA.

Do medical schools make contextual offers?

Many do. A contextual offer is a lower offer for applicants whose background or school may have held back their grades. Each school sets its own rules, so check whether you're eligible on its page. Our guide to contextual offers explains how they work in general.

These are the reduced offers that the schools' own pages state:

Imperial keeps A*AA for contextual offers but lets the A* be in any subject. King's College London says it doesn't make contextual offers for its standard medicine course.

How many UCAS points are medicine offers worth?

Medical schools make offers in grades and subjects, not points, so the points total won't get you an offer on its own. It still helps to see where you stand. Here's what the two most common offers are worth:

For the full picture, including why medicine rarely uses the Tariff, read our page on UCAS points for medicine. To compare medicine with other courses, see how many UCAS points you need.

Are there other routes into medicine?

Yes. If AAA isn't realistic for you right now, there are two main routes worth knowing about.

Gateway and foundation years

A gateway or foundation year adds an extra year at the start, usually with lower grade requirements. Most are for students from under-represented or widening participation backgrounds, so check the eligibility rules carefully. The schools' own pages list these:

• Anglia Ruskin: Medicine with Gateway Year (you must meet its Widening Access to Medicine Scheme)
• Bristol: Gateway to Medicine
• Glasgow: Gateway to Medical Studies, for students living in Scotland
• Hull York: Medicine with a Gateway Year
• Keele: Medicine with Health Foundation Year (A104)
• Lancaster: Medicine and Surgery with a Gateway Year
• Leeds: Gateway Year to Medicine
• Liverpool, Plymouth and UEA: a foundation or gateway year leading on to medicine
• Nottingham: Medicine with a Foundation Year (A108)
• Southampton: Medicine BM6 Widening Participation

Access to HE

Some medical schools accept an Access to HE Diploma, but the rules are strict. Keele accepts only an Access to HE Diploma (Medicine) that follows the QAA subject descriptor for medicine, with all 45 graded credits at Distinction. It says this route is for people with life experience outside formal education, not for recent school leavers. Exeter, Bristol and King's set out their own Distinction and Merit credit rules, with specific credits in Biology and Chemistry. Sunderland says it doesn't accept Access to HE courses at all.

If you're thinking about this route, start with our Access to HE guide. Then check the exact diploma title and credit rules on each medical school's page before you enrol.

When is the deadline for medicine applications?

For 2027 entry, the UCAS deadline for most medicine courses is 18:00 UK time on 15 October 2026. That's the same date as Oxford and Cambridge. UCAS calls it the equal consideration date, and your reference has to be finished before you can send your application.

You can apply to a maximum of four medicine courses. You can have five choices in total, so your fifth can be a course in a different subject, and you can add it later if its deadline is later. Our UCAS deadlines guide lists every date for the 2027 cycle.

Work out your UCAS points