The University of East Anglia’s Norwich Medical School is a problem-based learning medical school in Norfolk, known for putting students in front of patients from the first week of the course. UEA is ranked 23rd out of 40 for Medicine in the Guardian University Guide 2027, with over 91% of students satisfied with their teaching and a career prospects score of 99, and 22nd in the Complete University Guide 2027 (up from 25th in 2026).
The curriculum at Norwich Medical School is organised into 'modules based on body systems' and delivered through a range of teaching methods, including:
Around 50% of the course is spent on placement, in settings that include hospitals, community services, general practice, social services and voluntary or private organisations, typically across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. Throughout the programme, you’ll cover:
You’ll be assessed through written examinations, placement-based assessments of your clinical skills, professionalism assessments and OSCEs. In your final year you’ll take the Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA), set by the GMC, and you’ll be supported to take the Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA).
More information about the course modules, as well as the learning and assessment processes, can be found here.
Norwich Medical School is based on the UEA campus and at its main partner hospital, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, with further placements in general practice and hospitals across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. UEA’s other NHS trust partners include:
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In years one, three and four there are student selected components, where you choose the topic you want to study, and at regular intervals across the five years you’ll learn about the principles and application of medical research.
Norwich Medical School offers the opportunity to undertake an elective placement of your choosing, during the summer of Year 4.
They also offer an optional intercalated postgraduate degree, usually taken between your third and fourth year or your fourth and fifth year. Currently, Norwich Medical School offers the following options:
You can find out more information about their intercalated degree options here.
Away from the curriculum, UEA MedSoc is the largest student-led society at UEA and was named UEA Student Society of the Year in 2020 and 2026. It runs socials and formals, offers conference bursaries and a hardship fund, and puts on lectures about intercalation and electives.
As well as MBBS Medicine, Norwich Medical School also offers Medicine with a Foundation (Gateway Year), which allows you to complete the five-year MBBS Medicine programme following successful completion of the Gateway Year. Find out more about this option here.
Other selling points you could mention at interview include:
The typical entry requirements for 2027 entry are:
You must be aged 18 or over by the start of the course, owing to the integrated nature of placements in first year. For 2027 entry there are 192 UK places and 13 international places, subject to confirmation by the Office for Students. Access to Medicine courses from a published list of providers are accepted at 75% overall and 75% in each module (or a Distinction in 45 Level 3 credits), while BTECs are accepted for the Gateway Year rather than A100. A Level resits are considered only if you achieved ABB or AAC at the first sitting, and you’d be expected to achieve at least one A*. You can check the full details on the course page, and compare with other medical schools in our guide to medicine entry requirements.
Widening access: UEA doesn’t make contextual offers on the five-year A100 course, so its main widening access route is MBBS Medicine with a Gateway Year (A104), which has 50 places for 2027 entry. It’s for students whose circumstances or educational opportunities have prevented them from realising their academic potential, and you’ll need to meet the academic criteria (typically BBB or ABC at the first sitting, IB 31 with Higher Level 555 or 654, or BTEC DDM) plus one of UEA’s contextual criteria. UEA also runs the free Preparing for Medicine programme for Year 12 students – applicants who successfully complete it and meet the academic requirements for MBBS Medicine are guaranteed an interview.
Norwich School of Medicine uses the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format for its interview. The circuit has six stations, each with a different interviewer, and you’ll spend five minutes at each station, with 1.5 minutes of preparation time. Interviews are held on campus in Norwich – both UK and international applicants are required to attend in person.
UEA doesn’t disclose its questions, but each one is written based on the Medical Schools Council’s statement on the core values and attributes needed to study medicine. If you’re invited to interview, you’ll be asked to provide two examples of relevant work experience which have informed your decision to study Medicine.
For 2027 entry, invitations will be emailed to applicants selected for interview from late November or December onwards, with interviews taking place between November 2026 and March 2027. You can find more information on their website here.
For most medical schools you’ll be required to pass an admissions exam before you’ll be invited for interview.
Admissions exam for East Anglia: University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)
The UCAT is designed to assess your characteristics, attitudes and professional behaviours against those required for medical school. The exam now includes 4 sections: 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. The entry requirements for East Anglia state that you must complete the UCAT in the year of application, meaning you won’t be able to resit the exam if you don’t pass or achieve the score you would like. UEA doesn’t have a cut-off score – it says a high score is advantageous, and a low score doesn’t disqualify an applicant from consideration. The overall UCAT score is used to rank applicants for interview selection and then used again, in combination with your interview score, to rank applicants who will be offered a place to study medicine. Your SJT band isn’t used as a separate hurdle; the SJT component score is included within your interview score. Interview score and UCAT score are weighted equally when offers are made, and your personal statement isn’t scored. Therefore, it’s essential that you prepare well for the UCAT to ensure that you score highly first time.
UEA publishes UCAT figures through freedom of information requests. For 2025 entry, non-contextual applicants had these average and median scores:
| 2025 entry (non-contextual) | Average UCAT | Median UCAT |
|---|---|---|
| Invited to interview | 2739 | 2710 |
| Received an offer | 2758 | 2730 |
Source: UEA FOI_25-265.
These scores are from a cycle when the UCAT was scored out of 3600 and still included Abstract Reasoning, so they aren’t directly comparable with your score out of 2700. UEA also confirmed that 20 non-contextual applicants with an SJT in Band 3 were interviewed for 2025 entry, and seven received an offer.
The free Medibuddy UCAT question bank can help you to prepare effectively. Using artificial intelligence to carefully select questions based on your strengths and weaknesses, our algorithm ensures that you’re focusing on the areas which will have the biggest impact on your UCAT score.
You can also easily identify how you’re performing in each section of the UCAT using the question bank dashboard (below). Your calculated skill level, the total number of questions answered and the number of questions you’ve answered correctly are all given, so you can clearly see which areas you’ve “mastered” and which you need to spend more time on.
For more information about the UCAT and how to prepare, check out our Complete Guide and preparation tips.
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, although UEA notes that the UK government has announced that the tuition fee cap for home undergraduates will rise to £10,050 for 2027/28. Check the tuition fees page for the latest information.
Good luck with your application to Norwich Medical School! For more help, take a look at our guides to applying to medical school and the best medical schools in the UK.
