University College London (UCL) Medical School is one of the UK’s largest and most historic medical schools, training students to become the “UCL Doctor” across three central London clinical campuses. UCL is ranked 8th in the UK for Medicine in the Complete University Guide 2027 (up from 9th in 2026), and 16th out of 40 in the Guardian University Guide 2027, with a career prospects score of 97 and almost 90% of students satisfied with their teaching.
Within the first two years, University College London Medical School delivers its curriculum through sequential, integrated, system-based modules, meaning each module will continue to build on previous knowledge and skills. From Year 4 onwards, the focus will be on learning through clinical practice, supported by formal teaching sessions.
Running vertically through every year are Clinical and Professional Practice (CPP) modules, taught in small groups, which develop your communication skills, teamwork, ethics and law, professionalism and reflective practice. Anatomy is taught as part of the Anatomy and Imaging theme, using dissection alongside imaging, computer-assisted learning and simulation.
The first two years will provide opportunities for meeting patients and health professionals through weekly Patient Journeys sessions, but your main clinical placements will take place in Year 4 – 6, during which time you’ll undertake the following:
In total, the programme involves around 7,600 hours of undergraduate medical training, including 104 weeks of clinical placements and 1,200 hours for the intercalated BSc. You’ll sit the national Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) in the second term of your final year.
You can find out more about the course structure and content here.
Teaching can take place in the following ‘campuses’:
University College London also has links with 'Foundation Trusts, Associated University Hospitals, District General Hospitals, and a range of general practice and community settings', in which your clinical teaching may take place.
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At different stages of the programme, you’ll undertake student selected components – in Years 1 and 2, and again in Year 5 – as well as an eight-week elective placement within your final year, which you can take at a hospital of your choice in the UK or overseas.
During your third year, you’ll undertake a compulsory integrated BSc degree, meaning you’ll graduate with a BSc and a MBBS following completion of the programme. UCL offers one of the widest ranges of iBSc options in the UK, taught across multiple faculties – subjects include Neuroscience, Psychology, Oncology, Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Sports and Exercise Medical Sciences, and History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine. You can see the current list of options here.
In addition to this, University College London also offers highly motivated students who are aiming for a career in academic medicine the opportunity to complete a PhD. The MBPhD programme is taken between Years 4 and 5, with three years of full-time research before you return to Year 5, meaning you complete an iBSc, MBBS and PhD in nine years.
Away from the curriculum, RUMS (the Royal Free, University College and Middlesex Medical Students’ Association) provides social events, sports teams, societies, welfare services and academic representation for the roughly 1,200 medical students at UCL.
Although University College London does not offer a separate graduate entry programme, if you have a UK Bachelor's degree you will be exempt from the integrated BSc. This means that you will move directly from year 2 to year 4, making the programme five years, rather than six.
Other selling points you could mention at interview include:
The typical entry requirements for 2027 entry are:
You must be 18 years of age when you start the programme, and UCL does not accept qualification re-sits (other than GCSE re-sits to meet the GCSE requirement). For 2027 entry there are 337 places, of which 313 are for home fee paying applicants and 24 for overseas fee paying applicants. Access to HE applicants are considered, but only from the Access to HE Diploma (Medicine) at the College of West Anglia or a diploma conforming to the QAA subject descriptor for medicine, with 36 credits at Distinction and 9 at Merit. You can check the full details on the course page, and compare schools using our guide to medicine entry requirements.
Widening access: eligible applicants can receive a contextual offer through the Access UCL scheme of AAB (with Biology and Chemistry at grade A) or 36 IB points with 17 Higher Level points including Biology and Chemistry at a minimum score of 6. Access UCL applicants are flagged automatically and their UCAT scores are reviewed separately, against a lower threshold. UCL Medical School also runs Target Medicine, its widening participation initiative for students from non-selective state schools around greater London, which includes a year-long mentoring scheme matching over 230 Year 12 pupils with 60 UCL medical students, a Summer Challenge programme and the Become event for Year 9 and 10 students of African and Caribbean descent.
University College London uses the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format for its interview. You will be asked a series of structured questions which aim to assess the following:
The MMI consists of up to eight stations, each five minutes long, with one minute beforehand to read the instructions for that station. Each interviewer will ask you two or three questions, and the whole circuit takes around 50 minutes. UCL takes an NHS values-based approach, so expect questions around themes such as putting patients first, respect and dignity, compassion, quality of care and improving health and wellbeing. Your interviewers may be clinicians, academics, professional services staff, current medical students or local teachers.
You can find more information on what is assessed on their website here.
For 2027 entry, UCL will invite candidates on a rolling basis from December 2026 through to the end of March 2027, and says there’s no advantage to being interviewed at a particular point in the cycle. Home applicants are interviewed in person in the Rockefeller Building on University Street (bring photographic ID), while overseas candidates are invited to an online interview. Provisional interview dates will be published on the MBBS Admissions page from October 2026. UCL expects to make some initial offers in February, with the bulk of offers towards the end of March once all interviews are complete.
Most medical schools require you to pass an admissions exam before you’ll be invited for interview.
Admissions exam for University College London: University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)
The UCAT assesses your characteristics, attitudes and professional behaviours against those required for medical school. The exam is divided into 4 sections: Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Situational Judgement (SJT). Abstract Reasoning has been removed from the test. You’ll receive a total score of 900–2700 for the three cognitive subtests, plus an SJT band from 1 to 4.
For 2027 entry, the UCAT is being held between 13 July and 24 September 2026.
University College London select applicants for interview based on their UCAT scores. Once the admissions team has checked that you meet the minimum academic entry requirements, your total cognitive score (Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning) is used to rank eligible candidates, and the highest scorers are invited to interview. Where candidates achieve the same total score, the SJT score is used to separate them. GCSEs and A Levels aren’t scored or ranked, and exceeding the minimum grades doesn’t give you an advantage. Personal statements aren’t scored either. Access UCL (contextual) applicants and the 24 overseas applicants are ranked separately from home applicants, and re-applicants must sit the UCAT again.
The minimum total scores that led to an interview invitation in the last two cycles were:
| Applicant group | 2025 entry (out of 3600) | 2026 entry (out of 2700) |
|---|---|---|
| Access UCL (contextual offers) | 2600 | 2080 |
| Home | 2800 | 2190 |
| Overseas | 3060 | 2300 |
Source: UCL Medical School Selection Procedure.
The 2025 entry figures are on the previous five-subtest format scored out of 3600, so they aren’t directly comparable with the current 2700 scale. UCL also warns that previous scores aren’t a reliable guide to future cycles, as the applicant pool and score distribution change each year.
To help you to successfully prepare for all sections, the free Medibuddy UCAT question bank carefully selects questions based on your strengths and weaknesses within the syllabus, to ensure that you’re focusing on areas which will have the biggest impact on your UCAT score.
You can also clearly see in the question bank dashboard the areas you have “mastered” and those which you need to focus more time on.
It’s crucial that you prepare well for all areas to ensure that you get the best UCAT score possible and secure your interview place!
For more information and guidance, see our complete guide to the UCAT and our UCAT 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 2027/28 are:
UK fees for 2027/28 are subject to parliamentary approval and are quoted for the first year only, while international students benefit from a cohort guarantee, meaning your fee won’t increase during the programme. There are some additional costs to budget for, including a lab coat and goggles for anatomy, a stethoscope in Year 4, travel to placements across London and any expenses for an elective abroad. Check the course page for the latest information.
Good luck with your application to University College London Medical School! For more help, take a look at our guides to applying to medical school and the best medical schools in the UK.
