Medicine With a Foundation Year: Gateway to Medicine Courses for 2027

Medicine with a foundation year is a six-year route into medicine. You spend a first year, often called a gateway year or Year 0, building science and study skills, then move onto the standard five-year degree. Most are widening participation courses with lower offers, usually BBB or BBC for 2027 entry, and you must meet each school's eligibility rules.

If AAA feels out of reach because of where you grew up or the school you went to, this is a real route to becoming a doctor, not a lesser one. You follow the same medical degree and sit the same exams as everyone else. Below are the 2027 courses we could check, with their grades and eligibility rules.

What is a foundation year in medicine?

It's an extra first year added to the front of a medical degree. Schools call it a gateway year, foundation year or Year 0, but the idea is the same. You study the sciences behind medicine, such as chemistry, cell biology, anatomy and physiology, plus study skills.

If you pass, you move straight onto Year 1 of the school's medical degree. Bristol, Hull York and Bangor all describe this progression as automatic. Passing has a definite meaning, though: Keele asks for a 70% progression mark in its second-semester and year-long modules.

A few points worth knowing:

• It's tied to one school. Keele says progression to its MBChB from other foundation years isn't permitted.
• It isn't a general science foundation year. Our guide to foundation years in other subjects covers those.
• There's a safety net at some schools. Bangor says students who don't meet the progression rules can move onto other degrees in its medical school, such as Biomedical Science or Pharmacy, if they meet the entry criteria.

King's College London works slightly differently. Its Extended Medical Degree Programme lasts six years (seven with an intercalated degree) and teaches Stage 1 of the curriculum over two years rather than adding a separate foundation year.

Which universities offer medicine with a foundation year for 2027?

Here's every course we could confirm on the school's own 2027 entry page, with its standard five-year offer for comparison. Each link goes to the school's page.

A few more routes are worth knowing about:

• Plymouth runs a BMBS with Foundation Year (A102) with a typical offer of BBB, including B in Biology and B in a second science. Its page doesn't say which entry year the figures are for, so check before you apply.
• Liverpool runs Foundation to Medicine (Year 0), UCAS code 789S, for September 2027. It's aimed at mature students who have usually been out of formal education for five years or more.
• Dundee runs Gateway to Medicine (A104), a one-year course for Scottish residents from widening access backgrounds. Do well and you get a direct place on Year 1 of its medicine degree.
• St Andrews runs a one-year Gateway to Medicine (LQV9) for Scottish students who meet its widening access criteria. Its page currently shows 2026 entry details.

We've left out courses we couldn't confirm for 2027, so search UCAS too.

What grades do you need for gateway to medicine?

For 2027 entry, the usual range is BBC to BBB, with King's at ABB. Subject rules matter as much as grades. Almost every course wants Biology, Chemistry or both, and some want a second science. Southampton's list of second sciences even includes Psychology, Sociology and Geography.

Here's the surprise: grades that are too high can rule you out. These courses are for people who can't yet meet the standard offer, so several schools set a ceiling:

• Bristol says applicants predicted or achieving AAB or above, or an A in Chemistry, aren't eligible.
• Hull York wants predictions no lower than BBC and no higher than ABB.
• Leeds sends applicants predicted ABB or higher, with the A in Chemistry or Biology and both subjects taken, to its standard course through Access to Leeds instead.
• Nottingham and Plymouth say you mustn't already meet the entry requirements for their five-year course.
• UEA and Keele advise applicants who meet the standard requirements to apply for the five-year course.

So if you're predicted AAB or higher and meet a school's widening participation criteria, look at its contextual offer for standard medicine first. Our medicine entry requirements guide lists those reduced offers school by school.

Lincoln and Nottingham don't score predicted grades when selecting, though any offer still depends on getting the grades.

See our pages on BBB in UCAS points and BBC in UCAS points, or use the A-level UCAS points calculator for your own predictions.

Can anyone apply for medicine with a foundation year?

No. Nearly every course here is a widening participation route for UK (home fee) students, and you must meet the school's own criteria. They come from a familiar list: a postcode with low university participation or high deprivation, free school meals, time in care, parents who didn't go to university, a school with below-average GCSE results, or a UCAT bursary. What changes is how many you need.

Read the small print, too:

• Previous university study. Leicester rejects anyone who has attended a higher education institution, even briefly. Lincoln, UEA and King's also exclude anyone who has started a degree.
• Time since school. Keele's reduced grades only apply if you're in Year 13 or finished the year before. UEA says no more than three years since leaving school, and Leicester wants your A-levels or equivalent finished no more than two years before the course starts.
• Age. Leicester wants you to be 18 by 1 September of your entry year and Hull York by 1 October. UEA also sets a minimum age date, so check it on its page.
• Applying to both courses. Nottingham won't let you apply for its foundation year and its five-year course together, and Leeds won't consider both in the same cycle. King's lets you apply to A100 and A101 and considers each separately.

How do you apply for a gateway year?

You apply through UCAS, the same way as for standard medicine. For 2027 entry the deadline for most medicine courses is 18:00 UK time on 15 October 2026, and Bangor and Nottingham both confirm their gateway courses follow it. UCAS caps you at four medicine courses, so ask the school how a gateway course counts towards that before you apply. Our UCAS deadlines guide has every date for the cycle.

Every school in our table asks for the UCAT, and most say you must sit it in the year you apply. Shortlisted applicants are then interviewed. Leeds, Lancaster and UEA all use multiple mini interviews, where you move between short stations.

Liverpool's Year 0 is designed for mature applicants, though it won't consider people currently studying an Access course. Nottingham and Southampton will consider an Access to HE Diploma in Medicine for their foundation routes. Leicester doesn't accept Access to Medicine for its foundation year, and Lancaster doesn't take applicants who are studying or have studied an Access qualification. Our Access to HE medicine guide goes into those rules in detail.

What should you do next?

1. Check eligibility first. Use the school's checker (Bristol and UEA both have one) before you worry about grades.
2. Match your subjects to the Biology and Chemistry rules in the table.
3. Book the UCAT and apply for the bursary if you qualify, since some schools count it as a criterion.
4. Compare with standard entry. If your predictions are strong, read our guides to Leeds medicine entry requirements and Bristol medicine entry requirements to see their contextual offers.
5. Apply by 15 October 2026.

Work out your A-level UCAS points