Applying to Leicester Medical School

All applications, including those of overseas students and mature students, must be made through UCAS. The closing date is usually 15 October. 

We have minimum academic entry requirements for the MBChB and entry requirements for the MBChB with Foundation Year, and also require the UCAT exam to be sat in the year of application. Leicester Medical School is highly rated, so competition for places is keen and we expect high grades in appropriate A-levels (or equivalent).

Your UCAS form should detail all of your academic qualifications (achieved and pending), first sit results if any are resits, a current academic reference (mandatory) and a personal statement, plus details of any employment. Although not routinely read, your personal statement may be assessed in some situations and so should be clear and concise. It should outline your ambitions and experiences, and how they have shaped your personal development.

Medical work experience is not essential but you should be able to demonstrate that you have undertaken some kind of work where you are able to communicate with the public.

Incomplete UCAS forms will be rejected. If you do not have formal qualifications at year 10/11 i.e. GCSE equivalents, you must send in school transcripts to med-admis@le.ac.uk before 15 October.

We have a system to score and rank applications for our Medicine programmes. A numerical score is calculated, and the highest-scoring applicants will be invited to interview. Find out more about scoring for the MBChB and the MBChB with Foundation Year below.

The interview will take the format of multiple mini interviews (MMIs) and a numeracy test*. The MMIs will last about an hour and you will be assessed through a number of stations some of which include communication, motivation, empathy, and comprehension. We are planning face-to-face interviews for home students for 2025 entry. International candidates will be interviewed online.

Prior to interview you will be asked to complete a consent form and upload your academic certificates to a student portal. Please make sure you have read all the information sent to you ahead of time so that you do not miss this important step.

If you are usually entitled to extra time or other adjustments in examinations please notify us as soon as possible, and supply supporting information, as we may be able to make reasonable adjustments to the interview. The adjustments we offer are based on those available once on the course.

*The numeracy test is being reintroduced as basic numeracy is essential for a) patient safety, and b) all graduates need to successfully pass the Prescribing Safety Assessment. The test will largely consist of mental arithmetic. No prior medical knowledge, nor formulae learning, will be required. This station will have a pass mark associated with it. The threshold will be reviewed depending on the questions used.

Based on your interview score you may be made an offer. At the point of offer your reference, personal statement, academic certificates, and consent form including health and criminal conviction declarations will all be reviewed. Your offer may be conditional on academic results, or unconditional if you are an achieved candidate. All offers are based on occupational health and DBS clearance (information regarding these will be sent to you around confirmation). Some candidates will be required to have a formal occupational health assessment, which will be made a condition of their offer (see below).

Should you meet all the conditions of your offer your place will be confirmed. You will then be sent details, usually after A level results day, about the occupational health screen, DBS check, and be asked to agree to the annual Medical School agreement (PDF, 291kb). You may find it useful to review the current version of this document prior to your online registration but please note this Agreement is revised every year, so this version may differ from the one you are asked to sign on registration.

• A100 Medicine MBChB, 2025 entry (PDF, 304kb)
• A199 Medicine with Foundation Year MBChB, 2025 entry (PDF, 410kb)

Please note: we do not know what score will be required to be invited to interview as it depends on the quantity and quality of applications we receive.

Academic scoring

In considering your application, we will calculate a score for your academic ability, up to a maximum of 32 points, based on your UCAS form.

Applicants with predicted A-levels

Applicants with predicted A-levels (or equivalent qualifications) will be scored on 8 GCSE qualifications.

Applicants with achieved A-levels

Please see scoring document for full information.

Applicants with a predicted or achieved degree

Applicants with a predicted or achieved degree will be scored on 3 A-levels and their degree prediction or achieved classification.

Shortlisting for interview

Your academic score will be combined with a score based on your UCAT results, again up to 32 points, giving a maximum possible score of 64 points overall.

Your combined score will determine whether you are invited for interview. In order to distinguish between 'borderline' applicants, we may also take into account your 'personal qualities' based on your personal statement and reference, and contextual flags including UCAT bursary, GCSE school attainment 8, POLAR.

Because applications are ranked, there is no set score which guarantees an interview. The threshold will depend on the quality and quantity of applications we receive. We reserve the right to change our scoring systems at any time in order to rank applicants appropriately.

We will take into account mitigating circumstances such as health problems or educational disruption if you tell us about them and provide evidence before 1 October of the year in which you apply.

Before applying for a medical degree at Leicester Medical School you must take the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT). This helps us to make a more informed choice from amongst the many highly-qualified applicants to our medical school, ensuring that the candidates we select have the appropriate mental abilities, attitudes and professional behaviour required for new doctors to be successful in their clinical careers. The UCAT does not contain any curriculum or science content.

The test is run by the UCAT Consortium in partnership with Pearson VUE, a global leader in computer-based testing and part of Pearson plc. It is delivered on computers worldwide through Pearson VUE's high street centres. Significant issues arising during the testing are reported to us through annotations and we will consider these when scoring an application. We do not usually consider mitigating circumstances for UCAT.

• UCAT key dates

We do not have a minimum UCAT score as such but it forms a significant part of our selection for interview. Those with a score in the lowest 2 deciles are very unlikely to score sufficiently to get invited to interview. Please browse our scoring criteria for the MBChB and the MBChB with Foundation Year above.

Please note: applicants with band 4 in the Situational Judgement Test will be automatically rejected pre-interview.

Applicants with a medical condition or disability

If you are normally entitled to additional time for exams based upon a medical diagnosis or report from a specialist teacher, you are entitled to sit the UCATSEN (University Clinical Aptitude Test - Special Educational Needs). Relevant conditions include (but are not limited to) dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, dysorthographia, attention deficit disorder or working memory deficit. Please refer to the Access Arrangements information on the UCAT website if you believe this may apply to you. 

We will begin sending out interview invitations by email in late November and this will be an ongoing process until mid-February. Emails will be sent from medoffice@le.ac.uk - please check that our emails are not arriving in your junk mail folder (especially if you have a Gmail account).

For 2025 entry our interviews will be to face-to-face for our Home fee status applicants, but will remain online for our International fee status applicants. To ensure the process is fair some candidates may be asked to complete a formal fee status questionnaire before we proceed with any decision on their application.

We use the multiple mini-interview (MMI) style - consisting of a number of individual mini-interviews (or 'stations') which will assess your:

• Motivation to study medicine and genuine interest in the medical profession
• Insight into your own strengths and weaknesses
• Ability to reflect on your own work
• Personal organisation
• Problem solving
• Ability to deal with uncertainty
• Ability to manage risk and deal effectively with problems
• Ability to take responsibility for your own actions
• Conscientiousness
• Insight into your own health
• Communication skills, including reading, writing, listening and speaking
• Teamwork abilities
• Ability to treat people with compassion, respect and dignity
• Resilience and the ability to deal with difficult situations
• Empathy and the ability to care for others
• Honesty
• Emotional intelligence
• Ethical judgement

Each station will be scored and you will be ranked on the basis of the total scores. Where two or more applicants are equally ranked, all aspects of your application may be used as a tie-breaker.

We regularly review our interview process and hence do not endorse and cannot recommend any interview courses.

Dates of interviews

Interviews will normally take place in December and January. The dates of interviews for the 2025 entry cycle are as follows:

• 9 – 18 December 2024
• 6 – 14 January 2025
• 27 – 29 January 2025

Please note: If applicants cannot attend any of the interview dates offered then please do contact us immediately. However, we may not be able to offer any alternative dates, nor be able to reschedule.

We reserve the right to alter our interview dates if other circumstances necessitate this.

Decision

After your interview, each of your stations will be scored and you will be ranked on the basis of the total scores. Your UCAS form including personal statement and reference, and consent form including health declaration and criminal record, will be reviewed at this stage by our selectors. On the basis of the thorough consideration of these, one of three decisions will be made:

• Offer: this will be conditional if you have not yet received your A-level or equivalent results, or if you require a formal Occupational Health assessment (see below).
• Hold: the decision about whether to make you an offer will be made once our position is clearer. However, all outstanding decisions become ‘reject by default’ by UCAS in May.
• Waiting list: in May any outstanding decisions are made ‘reject by default’ by UCAS. However, we will ask some candidates not holding medicine offers elsewhere if they would like to be placed on a waiting list. From this we may be in a position to make late offers through UCAS Extra, or offers on results day, or deferred offers, depending on our situation. Medicine is a capped course and we are penalised if we go over our numbers so we have to be cautious in our offer making.
• Reject

We will endeavour to send out decisions as soon as possible following interview, but please be mindful that our interview process spans a number of weeks, and there are a fixed number of places on the course. The timing of offers can therefore vary from early January to mid-May. If you do not hear from us immediately after your interview, this does not necessarily mean you have been rejected.

Applicant mitigating circumstances

We aim to be as inclusive as possible and, therefore, will give due consideration to substantial mitigating circumstances that may have affected your academic achievement. Please view our mitigating circumstances guide, which applies primarily to our current students but also provides a definition of mitigation and depicts the kind of unusual circumstances which may constitute special consideration.  Possible circumstances may include (but are not limited to) the following: 

• Personal health
• Close family health (first degree relatives or grandparents)
• Domestic circumstances
• Educational disadvantage
• Educational disruption (we would not consider the pandemic per se as this has affected everyone’s education)

It is essential that you submit mitigating circumstances as soon as possible if you believe that your academic achievement has been affected by any of the above, as we may be able take these issues into account when assessing your application. However, we will not accept academic qualifications below our minimum requirement. Accepted mitigation may mean we consider resits, or award bonus academic points (maximum 2).

You can apply by completing our Mitigating Circumstances Form and sending any supporting evidence to medadmis@le.ac.uk with the email subject: 'Mitigating Circumstances Evidence - SURNAME_Firstname' e.g. Mitigating Circumstances Evidence - SMITH_John

Please note: In order for mitigation to be considered, an official letter must be provided by the relevant professional (school/college/university/health consultant/GP) to corroborate such circumstances. This letter should include the applicant’s full name and UCAS number. It should be printed on letter-headed paper, signed and dated. This should be submitted via email preferably with your UCAS number.

The evidence must explain:

1. what the circumstance was
2. exactly how it affected you in relation to your studies and
3. precisely when it occurred (i.e. identifying which assessments were affected).

All mitigation and supporting documents must be received by 1 October in the year of application. If we do not receive mitigation by this date then it will not be considered and the scoring of the application will be carried out on the basis of no mitigation.

If mitigation is received by 1 September in the year of application we will give you a definitive response as to whether we will or will not accept the mitigation before the closing date for applications.

No decision on mitigation will be given via the telephone.

We do not usually consider mitigation for the UCAT test, but will consider this on an individual basis. UCAT does inform us of any issues that arise during the test, and significant annotations will be taken into account.

GCSEs

Please note that we will not accept GCSE results below our minimum requirements: Grade B/6 (A100) or 5/C (A199) in English Language, Mathematics and Chemistry/Biology or Double Science even if you have mitigation. However, we may accept re-sits in some cases, as described below.

English Language and Maths can be resat once without mitigation but resits in any Science subject will only be considered if there has been prior agreement from the admissions tutor. To gain prior agreement you must email medadmis@le.ac.uk (A100) or medfound@le.ac.uk (A199) explaining what circumstances affected your performance in your Science GCSE and providing relevant evidence. First sit and resit grades must be declared on your UCAS form.

A-levels over 3 years

Year 12 resits (first sit of A-levels after 3 years)

Candidates who for significant health or social reasons have taken 3 years to sit their A-levels for the first time will be considered, but this will have to have been formally agreed by the admissions tutors ahead of application. The latest date for receipt of requests will be 1 October in the year of application, and all requests, along with supporting formal evidence should be sent to medadmis@le.ac.uk. If you wish to receive a decision before the UCAS closing date we would need the evidence by 1 September for it to go to the mitigating circumstances panel in time.

A-level resits

Applicants who had not attained the required grades at first sit, will only be considered with resits if there is substantial mitigation that has been previously agreed by the admissions tutor. All mitigation requests should be sent along with formal supporting evidence to medadmis@le.ac.uk by 1 October. If the request is received by midnight of 1 September, we will provide a definitive response as to whether or not the mitigation is accepted before the UCAS closing date; after this date we are not able to guarantee that candidates will receive a response before the UCAS closing date.

We encourage applications from candidates with disabilities. All applications will be considered according to the University's equal opportunities policy and taking into account the advisory guidelines in the welcomed and valued published by the General Medical Council. The Medical School will endeavour to make reasonable adjustments for candidates with disabilities.

However, it must ensure that all candidates will be able meet the core learning outcomes and competencies of the course, and be able to practice as a doctor on completion of the course. The GMC mandates that in order to be conferred a medical degree, and be registered by the GMC on course completion, doctors must be able to perform a number of mandatory practical procedures outlined in the GMC's document outcomes for graduates (PDF, 450kb).

Candidates should be assured that their application and interview performance will be scored without regard to disability or specific learning difficulties. However, we advise candidates with a disability to inform the Medical School as soon as possible when invited to interview so that reasonable adjustments for multiple mini interview stations can be discussed.

If you have a health issue, disability or learning difficulty which has not been declared on your UCAS form, please contact the Medical School in writing. All information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Some candidates will be asked to have a formal Occupational Health assessment as a condition of their offer. Although this is to ensure they are fit enough to start the course, it is mainly to see what reasonable adjustments should be made on the course; and to inform them of the support services available both as a student and as a doctor in training. In the very rare situation where, following an Occupation Health assessment, the Medical School are concerned that an applicant may not be able to meet the core learning outcomes and competencies, the admissions tutors will refer the case to a Fitness to Practise panel who will make a decision, independently from the admissions process.

The University of Leicester has extensive learning support facilities.

If you have any concerns or queries please contact us.

Further information regarding Occupational Health standards for Medical Students can be found on the Higher Education Occupational Practitioners website.

For Access Leicester: Medicine or other UKWPMED progression programme: We will guarantee you an interview, provided you meet our minimum GCSE requirements (at first-sit); are predicted or have achieved (first gap year only) at least ABB in our required subjects without resits; successfully completed the progression programme; and have a UCAT in the top 7 deciles with a SJT 1-3. The A must be in Chemistry or Biology. Please state UKWPMED in the ‘Activities in preparation for Higher Education’ section on your UCAS form.

For Realising Opportunities Programme: We will guarantee you an interview, provided you meet our minimum GCSE requirements (at first-sit); are predicted or have achieved (first gap year only) at least AAA in our required subjects without resits; successfully completed the progression programme; and have a UCAT in the top 7 deciles with a SJT 1-3. Please state Realising Opportunities Programme in the ‘Activities in preparation for Higher Education’ section on your UCAS form.

Find out more about the approaches Leicester Medical School is taking to widen access to medical school from under-represented groups and students whose background may have prevented them from achieving their full potential.

For the A100 Medicine MBChB course we expect to interview around 1,200 plus UK applicants and about 100 International/EU applicants, in order to make approximately 600 offers for the 290 places currently available (272 Home*, 18 international) available.

*to include the 30-35 students who progress from the Foundation Year (Year 0) of the A199 course.

For the A199 Medicine with Foundation Year MBChB course we expect to interview around 140 applicants for 38 places.

Statistics for admission to the A100 Medicine MBChB course and A199 Medicine with Foundation Year MBChB course at Leicester Medical School. Please note that for A100, the scoring system was adjusted for 2024 entry onwards and therefore the scores required to secure an A100 interview in 2023 and earlier years are not relevant in relation to the current scoring system.

• A100 and A199 admissions statistics 2024 entry (PDF, 133kb)
• A100 and A199 UCAT scores 2024 entry (PDF, 174kb)

Admissions statistics for previous years:

• A100 and A199 admissions statistics 2023 entry (PDF, 134kb)
• A100 UCAT scores 2023 entry (PDF, 91kb)
• A100 and A199 admissions statistics 2022 entry (PDF, 480kb)
• A100 UCAT scores 2022 entry (PDF, 423kb)
• A100 and A199 admissions statistics 2021 entry (PDF, 118kb)
• A100 and A199 admissions statistics 2020 entry (docx., 273kb)

Whilst we do not require any pre-reading before starting the Medicine course, our staff have compiled a list of books about medicine and working within healthcare.

• AJ Cronin, The Citadel 
• Henry Marsh, Do No Harm
• Sue Black, All That Remains
• Dan Lieberman, The Story of the Human Body
• Peter Brown, Making it Stick
• Steven Rose, The Making of Memory, from Molecules to Mind
• Atul Gawande, Being Mortal
• Paul Kalinithi, When Breath Becomes Air
• Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain
• Oliver Sacks, Awakenings

Teach Me Anatomy is a useful online resource started by Leicester Medical students.

You will get online access to several of our recommended text books via the University library.