Medicine with Foundation Year (A199)

You must have achieved at least a grade C or 5 in English Language (as a first language), Maths, and two sciences, including Chemistry and Biology, or Double Science.

We do not specify a minimum number of A* grades at GCSE. However, we do take GCSE performance into consideration when selecting applicants for interview, as competition for our places is so intense.

We will consider resits in GCSE English Language and Maths from any applicant. We will only consider resits in other GCSE subjects if there are very significant mitigating circumstances that have been previously agreed by the admissions tutors in writing.

You can apply for mitigating circumstances 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 

All results must be listed on the UCAS form (i.e. first and resit grades), and predicted grades must be listed in the ‘qualifications not yet achieved’ column and not solely mentioned in the academic reference.

We require school leavers to have predicted or obtained minimum A-level grades of BBB in Chemistry or Biology, and one of Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Maths or Psychology, and a third subject excluding General Studies, Critical Thinking, Citizenship Studies or Global Perspectives. We will consider applicants with predicted or obtained ABC provided the grade C is in the third subject. All A-levels should be taken within 2 years of your GCSEs.

Note: if the third subject is a language other than English, and you are a native or home speaker of that language you would be made an adjusted offer if you got to offer stage. Candidates with foreign language A-levels or equivalent will be asked to declare whether they are a native speaker.

If you study Mathematics and Further Mathematics, you may only count one of these grades towards your potential offer.

A-levels sat in year 12 will not form part of the pre-interview selection process, nor will EPQs or 4th subject AS levels, except in the rare situation of a candidate being in a borderline group. Candidates must take three subjects in year 13 to show they can cope with the depth and breadth of study required.

We do not accept General Studies, Critical Thinking, Citizenship Studies or Global Perspectives (Cambridge Pre-U) or the Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate.

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 the 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.

*please note that the grade requirement for applications to A199 with resits will be at least BBB (or ABC with A and B in two sciences)

You can apply for mitigating circumstances 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 

We also accept the International Baccalaureate, for which we require at least 30 points overall, with 5 points each from 3 Higher Level subjects including Chemistry or Biology, and one of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths or Psychology.

We accept the BTEC National Extended Diploma: DDD in Applied Science. We do not accept other BTEC National Extended Diplomas because they do not cover enough of the required science subject material. We will accept a single BTEC in conjunction with two A-levels, provided that one A-levels is Chemistry or Biology and the other is Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths or Psychology provided there is not significant subject overlap with the A Levels.

We accept T Level with a Distinction in Science, with a minimum of B in the core component and a minimum of merit in the occupational specialism.

For 2025 entry

Applicants must meet the two essential criteria (group A) and meet one or two other criteria (group B) depending on the individual circumstances.

Essential criteria (group A)

must meet both the criteria:

• You are due to complete, or have recently completed, your A-levels/BTEC/IB/equivalent (completion should be no longer than two years prior to the start of the course) and have not already attended any higher education institution. Candidates who have previously attended a higher education institution, even for a short time, will be rejected.
• You attended a state school for GCSEs  

Other criteria (group B)

meet one of the following:

• You are, or have previously been, in local authority care/looked after for a minimum of three months or more (a confirmation letter from the local authority, your care worker, or your school/college is required) 
• You have refugee status (a letter from the Home Office is required)

Or

meet a minimum of two criteria from the following:

• Live in a neighbourhood with low young participation in higher education within the United Kingdom - your postcode must be in quintile 1 or 2 in POLAR4 young participation (postcode look-up) or Live in a neighbourhood with a high level of multiple deprivation - your postcode must be in decile 4 or below in the Index of Multiple Deprivation (postcode look-up)
• Live in a household with an income of no more than £35000 and in receipt of one of the qualifying benefits listed below OR Students who receive a UCAT Bursary award OR Students who have been in receipt of free school meals for a period of six months or more within the last six years (documentary evidence required*)
• Students who attended a state school for GCSEs where the Attainment 8 score is below the national average. For 2024 entry, we will consider the most recent data.
• Students who belong to one of the priority engagement groups which include students from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, and children of military families (a confirmation letter from your school is required)
• Students living independently of parents (for at least the last 6 months) due to situations of family breakdown or 'estrangement'. (a confirmation letter from your school is required)
• Students from a home where neither parent/carer attended university in the UK or abroad. (Declaration form will be required)
• Students who are the sole carer of a parent(s) or, if living away from home, you are the sole carer of a sibling (a confirmation letter from your school is required)
• Students who have successfully completed (or are about to complete) either Realising Opportunities or a recognised UKWPMED programme. (The Realising Opportunities programme and UKWPMED programmes provides additional support to students to ensure they are equipped with all the skills they need to succeed at university. The University of Leicester is proud to be a partner University and supporting these students into university study is part of our Access and Participation Plan. Most students accepted onto these programmes will also meet other criteria set out above.)

* For proof of household income we will accept the following:

Child Tax Credit. Tax Credit Award Notice for 2021-2022 or 2022-2023 which must include the pages showing total household income (less than £35,000) and the section where the candidate is named. Please ensure you provide both these pages or your application will be rejected.

Universal Credit (if the household income is stated on the award is less that £35,000). Universal Credit Award Notice for 2021-2022 or 2022-2023 – please supply the full letter.

Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance paid to your parent or guardian - please supply the full letter. 

For proof of free school meals, please provide a letter from your school.

Widening access evidence

If you meet the criteria in Group A you may be emailed by the Admissions Team, after 15 October, to provide evidence for the Group B criteria.

Please do not submit this evidence before being emailed as you will have to complete a form to enclose with your evidence.

Due to the volume of applications, we cannot confirm when your evidence has been received. We also cannot send evidence back, so please ensure that you do not send original copies of documents to us.

All applicants to Leicester Medical School are required to take the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) in the year of their application. This test helps universities widen access and make fairer choices amongst the many highly-qualified applicants who apply for medical degrees.

Applicants must be 18 years old by 1 September of their year of entry. This is due to patient contact during your foundation year.

Academic scoring and the interview process are undertaken without consideration of any health or special circumstances. However, if you are made an offer and you accept, you will be required to complete a Health Screening Questionnaire (Word document, 66kb). You may be contacted by the University's Occupational Health team if it is deemed appropriate. 

The UK government requires that all medical students in this country must be screened for hepatitis B.

Whilst we cannot mandate that all medical students in a healthcare setting have had at least two Covid vaccinations, this is recommended. It is the responsibility of all medical students to put patient safety as their first priority.

Under current GMC rules it is not possible to omit any part of the medical course curriculum, so you must have adequate vision, hearing and manual dexterity to undertake the entire curriculum. The GMC's document outcomes for graduates (PDF, 450kb) delineates all the mandatory practical procedures for completion of the course and preliminary registration. These should be read in conjunction with the GMC's welcomed and valued document.

Find further information for applicants with disabilities and learning difficulties. You will find this information under 'More application information' near the bottom of the page.

The University is required to use the government's Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to assess the suitability of applicants to medicine. If you have previous or pending cautions or convictions you should contact us in writing. All information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Applicants who have applied to us previously may be considered providing they meet the following criteria:

• Applicants presenting with achieved A-levels, IB or equivalent who have applied once before, but have not been interviewed, will be considered and scored as usual on their second application.
• In all cases applicants who have been rejected following interview will only be considered in a subsequent application if their interview score was no more than 5% below the level required for an offer in the year that they applied. They will need to demonstrate a significant improvement in any potential interview score to be considered for an offer, as the previous year’s score will also be taken into account. We do this to balance out any advantage due to being familiar with our interview process and stations.
• Applicants who were invited to interview but did not attend and had not submitted a valid reason will not be reconsidered.