Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS) is a Canterbury-based medical school run jointly by Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Kent, known for very early clinical placements and an unusual “contextualise everyone” approach to admissions. It’s one of the UK’s newest medical schools – it took its first students in 2020 and received full GMC accreditation in April 2025 – and it currently sits 37th in the Complete University Guide 2027 and 30th out of 40 in the Guardian University Guide 2027 (where it’s listed as “Kent”), with a strong teaching satisfaction score of almost 94%.
Kent and Medway Medical School adopts a systems-based curriculum, particularly within the first two years of the course, in which a range of teaching methods are used to support learning, including:
Years 1 and 2 cover systems modules such as Foundations of Health and Disease, Heart, Lungs and Blood, Nutrition, Metabolism and Excretion, Neuroscience and Behaviour, Reproduction and Endocrinology, and Musculoskeletal and Immune Systems, alongside Community and Primary Care in Practice, Professional Development and Person-Centred Practice, and Skills for Clinical Practice.
Within the first two years, you’ll be primarily based within the university; however, you will undertake the following clinical placements:
These are “immersion weeks” spread across the year in Primary Care Networks (PCNs) across Kent and Medway, with students allocated in groups of six to eight to a single PCN, and each week linked to the system you’re studying on campus.
From Year 3 onwards, you’ll be predominantly based within acute care hospital trusts in Kent and Medway and your learning will be supported by the following clinical experience:
Assessment is through Applied Knowledge Tests, OSCEs in the simulation suite, essays and reports, an e-portfolio, presentations and case-based discussions, plus the national Prescribing Safety Assessment in final year. KMMS has incorporated the GMC’s Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) into the final year, and you’ll graduate at Canterbury Cathedral.
Anatomy is taught in a dedicated anatomy learning centre for dissection, prosection and radiology, and you’ll also use a high-fidelity hospital simulation suite and Kent’s first GP simulation suite.
More information about the course content, teaching methods and learning environment can be found here.
KMMS is partnered with nearly 100 GP surgeries and community providers, including urgent treatment centres and hospices, the regional mental health trust and the four local acute hospital trusts. From Year 3 you’ll be based in and around one of these trusts:
Placements are long – Year 3 students are allocated to a trust for around 32 weeks – so you become genuinely embedded in the clinical team rather than moving on every few weeks.
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Kent and Medway Medical School offer the optional opportunity to complete an intercalated degree, allowing you to take a break in your BM BS course to undertake an additional degree. KMMS has NIHR funding covering full fees and a stipend for intercalated Master’s degrees, with eight funded places available for 2026-27.
Research is a core activity at KMMS, and every student completes an Individual Research Project in Year 4. You can also take part in NIHR-funded summer internships, independent projects and electives, with many students presenting their work at international conferences.
Away from the curriculum, KMMS MedSoc runs sports events, pub quizzes, movie nights, educational seminars and the annual Winter, Halfway and Graduation balls, with a growing number of specialty sub-societies. As a KMMS student you’re a member of both universities’ Students’ Unions, so you have access to hundreds of clubs and societies across the two campuses.
Kent and Medway Medical School have set targets for widening access to medicine, and there are a number of scholarships available to support students with tuition fees and maintenance; you can view the scholarships open to students starting in September 2026, to give you an idea of what’s available and the criteria for each.
Other selling points you could mention at interview include:
The typical entry requirements for 2027 entry are:
You must be at least 18 years old by the date of your first clinical placement, usually early November of your first term. KMMS doesn’t use predicted grades at any stage, doesn’t accept A level resits (except through its extenuating circumstances process), doesn’t accept BTEC, T Level or IB Career Pathway qualifications, and doesn’t accept deferred entry or transfers from other medical schools. QAA-compliant Access to HE (Medicine) diplomas are accepted, and international applicants are considered using University of Kent equivalencies. You can find the full details on the entry requirements page, and compare schools in our guide to medicine entry requirements.
Widening access: KMMS runs a “Contextualise Everyone” scheme, comparing your achieved GCSE or A level grades with the average attainment of the school where you sat them, rather than using postcodes, free school meals status or self-reported criteria – which is why it doesn’t make separate lower contextual offers. Special consideration is given to applicants studying at schools in the Kent and Medway Progression Federation or at a partner school or college of either university, and the Future Doctors Programme offers outreach for local students. There’s also a Widening Participation Scholarship worth £1,500 a year for the duration of the course.
Kent and Medway Medical School uses the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format for its interview; however, they state on their website that theirs are considerably different to the majority of other UK medical schools.
The MMI will assess qualities such as:
Previous MMIs comprised six short stations – data handling, problem analysis, situational judgement, roleplay, task and values-based – each lasting 7 minutes with 3-minute intervals, followed by a 40-minute group station in which applicants are individually assessed. These have run in person in Canterbury in all years except 2021; international applicants have been interviewed remotely with three short stations and a group station. KMMS doesn’t commit to the same number or type of stations each year, but says it will likely retain the same time formats, and all applicants are asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement about the station content.
For 2027 entry, the first round of MMIs will be held over several days in December on the University of Kent Canterbury campus – KMMS lists 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16 December, with dates for international applicants to be confirmed – and you’ll be able to choose your slot through your KentVision account. There’s no dress code, but be prepared for some walking across campus.
You can find more information about their selection process and MMI on their website here.
To be selected for interview, the majority of UK medical schools specify that you need to pass an admissions exam.
Admissions exam for Kent and Medway: University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)
The UCAT assesses the skills, characteristics and professional behaviours which are required for medical school. The exam includes 4 subtests: Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Situational Judgement (SJT). Abstract Reasoning has been removed from the test.
For 2027 entry, the UCAT is being held between 13 July and 24 September 2026.
Kent and Medway use your UCAT score, alongside other entry criteria, to decide if you’ll be selected for interview. There is a minimum UCAT score which you must meet, however, you won’t know what this is in advance – KMMS says it operates a threshold but is unable to define it before the cycle. It will never consider an applicant with an SJT score in band 4. Importantly, passing the threshold is not the end of the process: applicants are then contextualised or scored at stage 2b, so a very high UCAT score doesn’t automatically beat a lower one that still clears the threshold. Graduates, international applicants and applicants whose schools have no published data may also be asked to sit an additional online assessment, which was Casper in the last two cycles.
The thresholds KMMS applied in the 2025-26 cycle were:
| Applicant group | Total UCAT threshold | SJT requirement |
|---|---|---|
| School leavers (groups A and B) | 2490 or above | Band 3 or above |
| Graduates (group D) | 2490 or above | Band 2 or above |
| Other and international applicants (groups C and E) | In line with school leaver or graduate status | As above |
Source: KMMS Entry Requirements 2027.
KMMS describes 2490 as around the 47th centile of 2024 UCAT candidates – that test was scored out of 3600 on the previous five-subtest format, so it isn’t directly comparable to your score out of 2700, and KMMS is clear that it doesn’t commit to the same or a similar threshold for 2027 entry.
Effective UCAT preparation will help you meet these minimum requirements and secure an interview at Kent and Medway. Our adaptive UCAT question bank can help you. Using artificial intelligence, it continuously assesses your strengths and weaknesses, and automatically provides UCAT questions aimed at the areas which you need to improve.
With the question bank dashboard (below), you can also easily see for yourself how you’re performing in each of the subtests, with your calculated skill level, the total number of questions you’ve answered and correctly, and your response time. So for SJT, in which you’re required to score at least band 3 for Kent and Medway (band 2 or above if you’re a graduate), you can quickly identify if you’ve “mastered” the section or need to dedicate more time to it.
For more information and advice about the UCAT, visit our UCAT complete guide and preparation guide.
You can also see how other medical schools use the test in our guide to UCAT universities.
Tuition fees for students starting in 2026/27 are:
Fees for 2027/28 haven’t been confirmed yet, and KMMS reserves the right to increase fees to the maximum permitted level in later years of the course, so check the funding your degree page for the latest information. Eligible home students can also receive the KMMS Financial Support Package of £1,000 per year of study.
Good luck with your application to Kent and Medway! For more help, take a look at our guides to applying to medical school and the best medical schools in the UK.
