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Graduate Entry Medicine is a pathway for graduates and degree-holders who want to study Medicine. The programme is accelerated, so it usually takes 4 years to complete, instead of the 5 or 6 years that Undergraduate Medicine courses take.
Graduate Entry Medicine began over 20 years ago, with the first courses offered by St George’s in London and the joint Leicester–Warwick Medical School. It’s now a popular route into Medicine, and a lot of the UK’s Med Schools offer a GEM course.
Applying for Graduate Entry Medicine is competitive. If you’re considering this pathway to Medicine, bear in mind that there is a lot of competition for a relatively small number of places.
For example, Barts say on their website that they typically receive over 1,500 applications for their GEM course, and there are only around 39 places available. Some universities, such as Swansea and Warwick, have more places available than others – so make sure you do your research before you make your application choices.
There are currently 17 Medical Schools in the UK offering Graduate Entry Medicine courses, and 12 of these say they will consider applicants with non-science degrees. Please note that many of the courses which accept non-science degrees do specify requirements for at least one science A-Level, so make sure you check their websites for specific entry criteria.
This table outlines which universities offer Graduate Entry courses, how many places they have available each year, whether you need to have a science degree to apply, and which admissions test they require.
| University | Approx Number of Places | What Aptitude Test is Required? | Do They Accept Non-Science Degrees? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barts (QMUL) | 39 | UCAT | Yes |
| Birmingham | Not recruiting for 2023 entry | UCAT | No |
| Cambridge | 37 | None | Yes |
| Cardiff | Places only available to students currently on selected Feeder Stream courses | UCAT | No |
| Chester | 50 (government funded) + 25 international places | UCAT, MCAT and GAMSAT | Yes |
| Dundee/St Andrews – ScotGEM | 55-70 | GAMSAT | Yes |
| King’s College London | 28 | UCAT | No |
| Newcastle | 25 | UCAT | Yes |
| Nottingham | 93 | GAMSAT | Yes |
| Oxford | 35 | BMAT (Note: The BMAT will be discontinued in 2024) | No |
| Pears Cumbria School of Medicine | 50 | UCAT or GAMSAT | No, accepting Biosciences or Allied Healthcare degrees |
| Sheffield | 15 (from Widening Participation backgrounds) | UCAT | No |
| Southampton | 48 | UCAT | Yes |
| St George’s | 70 | GAMSAT | Yes |
| Surrey | 34 home student places + international student places. | UCAT or GAMSAT | Yes |
| Swansea | 142 | GAMSAT for UK applicants; GAMSAT or MCAT for international | Yes |
| Worcester (Three Counties Medical School) | 50 (government funded) + uncapped international places | UCAT or GAMSAT | Yes |
| Warwick | 193 | UCAT | Yes |
Studying medicine abroad can also be a great option. This table outlines some universities which offer Graduate Entry courses, how many places they have available each year, whether you need to have a science degree to apply, and which admissions test they require.
| University | Approx number of places | What Aptitude Test is Required? | Do They Accept Non-Science Degrees? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicosia | 60 | MCAT, GAMSAT or UCAT | Yes |
| AUA | MCAT | No | |
| Harvard | 165 | MCAT | Yes |
| Yale | 104 | MCAT | Yes |
| University of Melbourne | 105 | MCAT or GAMSAT | Yes |
| University of Sydney | 300 | MCAT or GAMSAT | Yes |
| Georgian National University | 200 | None | No |
| Bay University | 185 | None | No |
| Royal College of Surgeons | 82 | MCAT or GAMSAT | Yes |
If you’re a medical student on a Graduate Entry Medicine course, you are entitled to apply for partial tuition fee and maintenance loans, as well as the NHS bursary scheme. Some universities may also offer their own bursaries or scholarships.
Note that funding will be different if you are an international student in the UK and you will need to pay international fees.
The entry requirements for Graduate Entry Medicine vary depending on which course you’re applying to, so you need to check with each Medical School first.
In general, you need:
As an example, if you’re applying to Graduate Entry Medicine at University of Nicosia, you’ll need:
or
Some Graduate Entry Medicine courses will require you to take the GAMSAT admissions test. Others will want you to sit the UCAT instead.
Check out our GAMSAT guide for everything you need to know about GAMSAT and the universities that require it.
You apply for Graduate Entry Medicine through UCAS, just like with an Undergraduate Medicine degree. You can apply to up to four Medical Schools. Unlike with Undergraduate Medicine, you can include both Oxford and Cambridge in your UCAS choices for Graduate Entry.
When you apply, you’ll need to submit a Personal Statement for Medicine. See an example Personal Statement from a GEM student at King’s College London.
Once you have submitted your UCAS application, you will be invited to interview at any Medical Schools which have shortlisted you. After your interview, you will then wait to see if the Medical School has decided to offer you a place.
Make sure you check university websites directly to find out if there is anything unique about their application process. For example, in addition to applying through UCAS, some universities want GEM applicants to fill in a supplementary application form.
As you apply through UCAS, the timeline for a Graduate Entry application is the same as it is for an Undergraduate Medicine application.
The UCAS deadline for Medicine is typically in mid-October, which is earlier than for most other degrees.
We offer application advice and tutoring for stages of the application process including admissions tests and interviews – helping you to stand out from the crowd as a Graduate Entry Medicine candidate.
Thank you for all the help with the Graduate Entry Medicine interviews. As well as Cambridge I got two more offers from Southampton and St. George’s.
Sophie
Graduate Entry Medicine Tutee
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