Birmingham
Birmingham Medical School opened in 1825, 75 years before the University of Birmingham itself was opened. The campus is located in the Edgbaston region and is surrounded by renowned healthcare centres, such as the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, where you will complete your clinical placements.
Birmingham has been ranked 28th in the UK for their medicine course according to the Complete University Guide 2024.
About The Course
Birmingham’s five-year Medicine programme allows students the opportunity to experience hands-on learning that teaches practical, communication and theoretical skills needed to become a doctor. From various illnesses to the diversity of our five million population, students will broaden their knowledge from researchers, clinicians and academics. Placements are available at the UK’s leading hospitals including Queen Elizabeth Hospital
The course is split into three main components.
Structure Of The Course
Year 1-2
Birmingham medical school are currently in the process of refreshing their modules for the 2026 cohort which have yet to be confirmed, but the following is their previous structure.
Your first two years at Birmingham will largely consist of learning about the structure and function of the human body through lectures, anatomy prosection and small group sessions.
This will include how each system is controlled, its responses and effects of diseases and treatments. In small groups, anatomy is taught and will involve experience of presection. Students will also study psychology and sociology of illness and health of patients as individuals and as a collective.
You will also have clinical contact from the beginning of the course, which will be based in a GP surgery in years 1 and 2.
Year 3
From the third year, most teaching takes place in partner Teaching Hospital Trusts and involves an academy structure with junior doctors and senior clinicians. Students will receive training in each speciality whilst developing their clinical skills, including clinical history taking and learning how to deliver consultations—learning about common surgical and medical diseases and how to diagnose and manage them will also occur alongside theoretical work.
Clinical placements in hospital settings will become the focus in year 3. You will learn about history taking, examinations and communication skills while also developing your clinical medicine knowledge. In your third year you will be allocated a senior doctor as a personal tutor to support you in your learning.
Year 4-5
During the final two years, clinical attachments are undertaken in various specialities such as oncology, cardiology and neurology. These attachments prepare students for the problems they could face as a foundation doctor, and students will have the opportunity to arrange an elective placement for themselves.
Academic Requirements
GCSEs: Total of 7 GCSEs, which will be ranked. Must have English Language, Mathematics, Biology, and Chemistry (or dual award science) at grade 6/B or higher.
A-levels: A*AA To include Biology/Human Biology and Chemistry. The third A level can be in any subject (excluding General Studies, Critical Thinking and EPQ). Applicants must be predicted AAA at time of application.
Scottish Higher: AAAAA Five subjects at grade A including Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and English.
Scottish Advanced Higher: AA Chemistry and Biology
International Baccalaureate: 32 points 7, 6, 6 (higher level) from Chemistry, Biology and one other approved subject.
IELTs (International applicants only): 7.0 overall with no less than 7.0 in any band.
Bachelor's Degree (Graduates only): 2:1 in any degree subject plus an A level in Biology or Chemistry achieved in the last 5 years.
Mitigating Circumstances
Resits policy: Resits will only be considered in the event of extenuating circumstances. A level exams taken for the first time following calculated grades during Covid-19 do not count as resits.
Extenuating circumstances: Extenuating circumstances must be very serious life events for Birmingham to allow A levels to be taken over 3 years. They give death of a close family member during A level studies or illness as examples. They will not accept students who do not meet the academic requirements due to extenuating circumstances.
Deferred entry: Application for deferred entry is allowed and will not be at a disadvantage, however, it is expected that you spend your gap year in a useful way, e.g. working, travelling or voluntary work.
Transfers: It is not possible to transfer from other degree programmes onto a medicine course, whether that is another degree course within the University of Birmingham or a medicine course at another university.
Further Entry Requirements
Work experience: In light of the Medical Schools Council’s new guidance on work experience expectations for prospective students, Birmingham accept many different kinds of work experience as a demonstration of your commitment to medicine. This includes shadowing, volunteering and virtual work experience.
Personal statement: Your personal statement will not be scored like the rest of your application, however, you will be expected to produce one that details your commitment to medicine (e.g. discusses work experience).
Admissions Process
Your score will be generated based on the sum of weighted scores for the following 3 components; GCSEs (45%), UCAT (40%), and contextual (15%). In the 2025 application cycle, the minimum UCAT score which received an interview was 2680 for standard applicants and 2430 for contextual applicants. As the 2026 cohort is the first year to sit the UCAT without the Abstract Reasoning components, a comparable minimum score for standard applicants is around 2028. Further details on the scoring process can be found on Birminghams scoring guide.
Admissions Tests:
UCAT ✅
Your UCAT score will be ranked against all other applicants and Birmingham will use their own deciles to allocate points. The thresholds for the deciles change each year.
Interview Type: MMI
Interview Topics: Birminghams MMI circuits comprise of six to seven 8-minute stations with 2 minutes preparation time and are based on the following topics:
- Critical thinking
- Commitment and insight into medicine
- Dealing with personal and ethical challenges
- Data interpretation
- Interaction in a healthcare setting (role-play)
- Interaction in a social setting (role-play)
- Calculation (computer-based)
Invitations for interviews are typically sent between December and January and final offers will be made by mid-March.
You can find out more about Birmingham’s interviews in our guide.
Admissions Statistics
| Total number of applicants: | 1941 |
| Total number of places: | 408 |
| Total number of entrants: | 401 |
| Acceptance rate: | 20.66% |
Fees
| Home students: | £9535 pa |
| Rest of UK: | £9535 pa |
| International students: | £32580 pa (pre-clinical years 1 and 2, £52,080 pa for clinical years 3-5.) |
Teaching Methods
Teaching style: Birmingham’s teaching style is varied, including traditional seminars and lectures as well as some problem-based learning too. The course structure is integrated with two pre-clinical years and three clinical years.
The University of Birmingham achieves an integrated teaching style via:
-Early clinical exposure
-Small group anatomy prosection
-Lectures
-Student Selected Components
-Seminars
-Bedside demonstrations
Intercalation mode: Intercalation opportunities are available after the second, third, or fourth year. Additionally, in the fourth year, there’s an opportunity for students to opt into elective studies for two months in a different country.
Graduate Prospects
97% of UoB medicine graduates are employed 15 months after their graduation, with their average earnings at that time being £36,000 per annum. 97% of medicine graduates believe that the course gave them the knowledge and skills that they needed for their future.
FAQs
Is Birmingham good for medicine?
Birmingham has been ranked 28th in the UK and 67th in the world for Medicine by the Complete University Guide 2026 and the QS World University Rankings 2025 respectively. Birmingham has a very good reputation for its Medicine course.
How hard is it to get into Birmingham Medical School?
For home students, there are 3.9 applicants per place and 2.7 applicants per interview invite. For international applicants, there are 27.3 applicants per place and 7.3 applicants per interview invite. Birmingham has an offer calculator in which you can get an idea of your chances of receiving an offer.
What university is the least competitive for medicine in the UK?
No UK medical school is easy to get into. However, Leicester and Queen’s Belfast are known to have the lowest applications to offers ratio on average. It’s also easier to secure a place at one of the newer medical schools, such as Edge Hill, Sunderland, and Anglia Ruskin.
What is the lowest UCAT score needed for Birmingham?
There is no UCAT cut-off score. Your UCAT score has a 40% weighting in the selection process. For 2025 entry, the average UCAT score of applicants who received an offer was 2680, which without the AR component is around 2028.
Is Birmingham a Russell Group university?
Yes, the University of Birmingham is a Russell Group university.
School Details
School Details
"If you get offered a place and come to Birmingham make the most of it- don’t let yourself be bogged down by the work- join lots of societies, experience the city, go to all the events and have lots of fun!"
