Medicine and healthcare
Medicine
MBBS, MBChB or equivalent
Overview
Medicine is the undergraduate degree that starts the training of a doctor. You learn how the body works in health and disease, how to examine patients, and how to make decisions when the information is incomplete. Early teaching often mixes lectures, anatomy, labs and communication practice. Later years are mostly clinical placements in hospitals and community settings, supervised by doctors. People choose it because they want responsibility for patients, not only an interest in biology. It is different from biomedical science, which does not give you a licence to practise medicine, and from nursing, which is a separate profession. The course is long and the number of places is limited. Students who settle into it are usually interested in people as well as science, and able to cope with an irregular placement timetable.
You want to train as a doctor and are ready for a long, regulated course with early contact with patients.
Biomedical science studies disease in depth but does not qualify you as a doctor. Nursing, midwifery and the allied health degrees are their own professions.
People who like science and also want to talk with patients, work in teams and keep studying after the degree.
What you will study
Universities do not teach the same modules. The lists below are a general shape, not a syllabus.
Early years
- Anatomy and physiology
- Biochemistry and pharmacology
- Clinical and communication skills
- Evidence and ethics
Middle years
- Pathology
- Clinical method
- Hospital placements
- Prescribing principles
Later years
- Speciality placements
- Emergency and community care
- Preparation for foundation training
Skills
Useful before you start
- Science understanding
- Careful communication
- Working with uncertainty
- Independent study
Developed during the degree
- Clinical reasoning
- Examination skills
- Teamwork on a ward
- Professional judgement
Teaching and assessment
Teaching often includes Lectures, Small-group clinical skills, Laboratory and anatomy teaching, Hospital and community placements.
Assessment often includes Written exams, Clinical exams, Placement assessments, Portfolio.
Typical weekly commitment
Estimate for a clinical degree. Placement weeks are not the same as lecture weeks. Not a timetable from one medical school.
Entry requirements
Indicative patterns from published UK admissions information. Not an offer. Actual requirements vary by course, university and year. Pearson Edexcel International A Level and Cambridge International A Level are not treated as the same qualification as GCE A level.
Indicative requirements by qualification
The A-level band is the catalogue reference. IB and American lines come from the named university guides under the table. They are not a conversion every university uses, and they are not an offer.
| Qualification | Indicative requirements |
|---|---|
| A Levels | AAA–A*AA. Chemistry plus one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics is the usual pattern. A minority of medical schools publish a different combination. Check the school. |
| IB Diploma | UCL publishes 38 points for AAA and 39 for A*AA, including 18 or 19 across three Higher Level subjects. A required A-level subject must be Higher Level in UCL's rule. Each Higher Level subject in that table is at least 5. UCL equates A* to 7, A to 6 and B to 5. This is one university's table. |
| American curriculum | A Manchester School of Social Sciences guide gives AP 5, 5, 5 for AAA and A*AA, with a High School Diploma and GPA 3.0/4.0, including B in English and mathematics. Bristol publishes a GPA of 3.2, or 3.4 for competitive courses, and does not use one AP pattern for every degree. |
- University College London: Undergraduate entry requirements. Retrieved 2026-10-14. Not a universal rule.
- University of Manchester, School of Social Sciences: Americas country guide. Retrieved 2026-10-14. Not a universal rule.
- University of Manchester, Civil Engineering: USA country entry requirements. Retrieved 2026-10-14. Not a universal rule.
- University of Bristol: USA international qualifications. Retrieved 2026-10-14. Not a universal rule.
This subject does not have a large set of ordinary low-entry undergraduate routes. Contextual offers exist only where a university publishes them.
A-level subjects
Chemistry plus one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics is the usual pattern. A minority of medical schools publish a different combination. Check the school.
Often recommended: Biology.
Useful preparation: Psychology, Mathematics.
GCSE and IGCSE
Many healthcare courses expect English language and mathematics, and often sciences, at GCSE or IGCSE. Grade thresholds differ. No single grade is stored as a national rule. International GCSEs are not automatically treated as GCSEs by every university.
UK medicine is competitive across the schools that offer it. A BBB-style band would misrepresent the usual published standard. Contextual offers exist only where a school publishes them.
Other ways in
- A foundation year is not a guaranteed route into a medical degree.
- Graduate-entry medicine is a separate, shorter route for people who already hold a degree. It is not the standard route from A levels.
- After the degree, UK doctors enter further training. The degree alone is not a finished specialist qualification.
Admissions tests and extra requirements
UCAT
Often used by participating universities. A clinical aptitude test used by participating universities for medicine and dentistry.
Selected UK medicine and dentistry courses. Not every medical or dental programme uses it.
Checked 2026-10-14.
Official test siteMCAT
Not a standard UK undergraduate requirement. An admissions test for many North American medical schools, which are usually graduate entry.
Not a standard requirement for undergraduate medicine in the UK.
Checked 2026-10-14.
Official test site
Course costs
For many standard full-time courses in England, the home-fee maximum in 2026 to 2027 is Up to £9,790. This is the maximum standard full-time fee published for approved English providers with a TEF award and an access and participation plan. It is not the fee a named university charges, and it does not decide whether you pay home or international fees.
Clinical, laboratory and studio courses are not given a different home-fee figure here, because the regulated maximum is not the same thing as an international or clinical fee.
International tuition is set by each university and is not stored here. Clinical courses are often much higher than classroom-based courses. A school in Qatar does not decide home-fee status.
Source: Changes to tuition fees: 2026 to 2027 academic year. Retrieved 2026-10-14. Living costs, field trips and professional fees are not included.
Where you could study
UK degrees in this subject are numerous. This page does not list every university, because a list without a checked entry requirement would look more certain than it is.
No individual UK course page is stored yet for this subject. Use the university site.
No overseas course has been checked for this subject yet.
Where could this degree take you?
Hospital doctor
Direct qualifying route
The usual first degree for a doctor. Speciality training comes afterwards.
GP
Direct qualifying route
General practice is a postgraduate speciality after a medical degree.
Surgeon
Direct qualifying route
Surgery is postgraduate training after a medical degree, not a separate undergraduate course.
Anaesthetist
Direct qualifying route
Anaesthesia is postgraduate training after a medical degree.
Psychiatrist
Direct qualifying route
Psychiatry is a medical speciality. A psychology degree does not replace medicine.
Paediatrician
Direct qualifying route
Paediatrics is postgraduate training after a medical degree.
Pathologist
Direct qualifying route
Medical pathology follows a medical degree. A science degree is a different job route.
Physician assistant
Related, but not enough on its own
Physician associate training is a different qualification, often after a first degree. Medicine is not that course.
Explore your pathway
A course sits between school subjects and a career. It does not guarantee either admission or a job.