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 your academic qualifications (achieved and pending), 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 a return to face-to-face interviews for home students for 2024 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.

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; and 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, 618kb).  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, 2023 entry (PDF, 287kb)
• A100 Medicine MBChB, 2024 entry (PDF, 347kb)
  
  
• A199 Medicine with Foundation Year MBChB, 2023 entry (PDF, 345kb)
• A199 Medicine with Foundation Year MBChB, 2024 entry (PDF, 347kb)

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!

For 2024 entry our interviews will return to face-to-face for our Home fee status applicants, but will remain online for our International fee status applicants. 

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
• Academic ability
• 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 those 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 between December and February. The dates of interviews for the 2024 entry cycle are as follows:

• 11 – 15 December 2023
• 8 – 12 January 2024
• 12 – 16 February 2024

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.

NB. 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 these scores. Your UCAS form may also be examined 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.
• 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 any mitigating circumstances that may have affected your academic achievement.

The University’s policy regarding mitigating circumstances applies primarily to our current students but also provides a definition of mitigation and depicts the kind of unusual circumstances which may receive special consideration. Possible circumstances may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Personal health
• Close family health (first degree relatives)
• Domestic circumstances
• Educational disruption

If you believe that your academic achievement has been affected by any of the above we may be able take these issues into account when assessing your application.

Please note that we do not offer mitigation in lieu of meeting our entry requirements, although we will consider resits in line with the specific advice below. Where a change to a candidate’s scoring is made due to mitigating circumstances, it will be a small adjustment only.

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 two Sciences 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.

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^st September in the year of application, and all requests, along with supporting formal evidence should be sent to medadmis@le.ac.uk.

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 the UCAS deadline. 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).

We may refer applicants for Occupational Health assessment to determine what reasonable adjustment should be made. If, 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.

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.

The University of Leicester has extensive learning support facilities. Leicester Medical School has a policy for the support of students with a disability (PDF, 103kb).

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.

Our aim, where possible, is to widen participation at Leicester Medical School from under-represented groups and students whose background may have prevented them from achieving their full potential. We have developed a six year medical degree A199 Medicine with Foundation Year MBChB which offers an alternative route onto the medical degree for talented school leavers who meet or who have achieved or are predicted to achieve BBB at A-level in our required subjects. This course is designed to give the background and support to enable students to flourish and become compassionate and skilled doctors.

Our A100 Medicine MBChB degree also aims to produce compassionate and skilled doctors from all backgrounds.  Due to the competitive and demanding nature of the A100 5 year course, we normally make offers to those who are predicted or have achieved AAA at A-level in the required subjects. However we may give a reduced offer to those who have completed one of the progression programmes below.

Progression programmes

Progression programmes support students from under-represented groups and those who may have faced barriers to them achieving their full potential throughout Year 12 and Year 13. All of our progression programmes at Leicester are very valuable for enhancing study skills and preparing students for university life and study. At Leicester Medical School we have our own AccessLeicester: Medicine which is supported by staff in the medical school and the wider University.

The University of Leicester also supports and participates in the national Realising Opportunities Programme (ROP), and is a member of the UKWPMED group; which means we recognise progression programmes offered by fellow group members in the same way as our own. Students on these programmes may be considered for an automatic interview (see scoring document for more information) and if considered for an offer on successful completion of these programmes a reduced offer for the A100 course may be made (see scoring document for more information). If you are interested in finding out more about our progressions programmes or other outreach activities, please email schools@le.ac.uk.

Please note that no alternative offer is available for Medicine with Foundation Year.

Contextual data

When selecting for interview for our A100 5 year course, we score applications on academic qualifications and UCAT (see our scoring document). The top scoring applicants are invited to interview without regard to their background or the school they attended. For those in the borderline group, all aspects of the application are assessed including the personal statement and reference. We also look for a number of contextual markers (see scoring document). An applicant with two or more contextual markers may be advantaged at this stage over another applicant with the same score and no, or fewer contextual markers.

A similar process occurs following interview, whereby the highest ranking candidates will be given offers without regard to other aspects of the application.  For those in the borderline group all aspects of the application will be reviewed, including contextual markers. 

Access to HE Diploma courses

For mature candidates we will consider an Access to Medicine course (see our entry requirements). We don't accept access courses in lieu of poor science A-levels, but we will consider candidates who are re-entering education from another career or have undertaken non-science A-levels and have fully reconsidered a change in their career path.

Please note those with prior degrees will be scored as graduates.

We do not accept Access to Medicine courses for the Medicine with Foundation Year course.

Please note that the scoring of GCSEs for applicants with predicted/achieved A-levels has been changed for 2024 entry. Therefore the scores for previous years to get to interview cannot be used as a guide to the likely score needed for interview in 2024.

For the A100 Medicine MBChB course we expect to interview around 1000 plus UK/EU applicants and about 100 international applicants, in order to make approximately 700 offers for the 290 places (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 100 applicants for 35 places.

Statistics for admission to the A100 Medicine MBChB course and A199 Medicine with Foundation Year MBChB course at Leicester Medical School.

• A100 and A199 Admissions Statistics 2024 Entry pre-interview (PDF, 162kb)
• 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)

Admissions statistics for previous years:

• 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.