Undergraduate Admissions

Medicine

Our aim is to educate students to become compassionate, thoughtful, skilled members – and leaders – of the medical profession.

Hard work, very rewarding

Success in medicine requires application and hard work, both while you’re learning and when you enter practice. However, it brings great rewards in terms of job satisfaction and the variety of career opportunities within the profession. Learning about and practising medicine is also very enjoyable, involving as it does a combination of applied science and human interactions. The environment in which different types of medicine are practised is rich and varied, and continually changing, so that doctors continue to learn throughout their working lives.

That’s why we’re interested in students who have the capacity for, and interest in, a lifetime of learning about this fascinating subject. We provide the education and training you require to be one of tomorrow’s doctors, reflecting the latest advances in medical sciences and practice.

Teaching and assessment

At Cambridge, you're taught medicine in the traditional way; first you study medical sciences (Pre–Clinical Studies) before moving on to apply that knowledge to medical practice (Clinical Studies). During your Pre–Clinical Studies, teaching is provided through lectures, practical classes (including dissections) and small–group supervisions, and you can typically expect 20 to 25 timetabled teaching hours each week. Clinical Studies teaching is a mixture of lectures, tutorials, supervisions and clinical placements.

The public expect their doctors to be knowledgeable and well–informed so assessment plays a significant role in the medical course. Your ongoing progress is reviewed on a weekly or termly basis by your College supervisors. Formal assessment, which determines your ability to proceed with the course, takes a variety of forms including written and practical examinations, multiple–choice questions and coursework submission.

Who we’re looking for

You need to be a keen scientist, with a sound scientific understanding as selection for medical school implies selection for the medical profession. We aim to admit those applicants with the potential to be the best doctors and are guided by current thinking the Medical Schools Council's Consensus Statement, on the Role of the Doctor and Guiding Principles for the Admission of Medical Students. See also the course requirements.

Your age

Students under the age of 18 cannot undertake any clinical elements of the Medicine course, which start in the second term of first year at the latest. Therefore, applicants should ensure that they'll have reached the age of 18 by the start of the second term of their first year.

Professional expectations

The General Medical Council has certain expectations regarding the attitudes, behaviour and performance of medical students. Trainee doctors at Cambridge must satisfy fitness to practise requirements, both during the application process and throughout the course. These requirements are in place to ensure the safety of patients. If you're offered a place to study Medicine at Cambridge you're required to undergo an Enhanced Disclosure through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). Minor misdemeanours will not necessarily prevent you from entering the medical profession but you should declare these in your UCAS application. More information can be found in the course requirements.

Courses available

NHS Bursaries

A limited number of NHS Bursaries are available for Medicine students. Please see the NHS Student Bursaries website for further information.

Graduate entry

Graduates wishing to study Medicine have two options. You may apply as an affiliated student to Lucy Cavendish, St Edmund's or Wolfson Colleges if you have:

  • a good honours degree in a science subject
  • GCSEs
  • passes at AS/A Level (or equivalent) in three of Biology/Human Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics (one of which must be Chemistry and at least one must be at A Level)

Alternatively, you can apply to the accelerated Graduate Course in Medicine

Career opportunities

The majority of UK graduates go on to work in the NHS, and up to half become general practitioners, providing comprehensive health care for the local community. There's a broad spectrum of hospital–based careers across medical, surgical and other specialties, but health care is moving towards a more community–centred model of delivery, and consequently doctors will increasingly be expected to deliver health care in a range of settings.