Graduate-entry medicine: selection criteria FAQs
First, check the Admissions Criteria information concerning degrees. The degree subjects listed there are indicative of applied and experimental science courses that should prepare applicants for the intensive teaching in core medical science that is delivered during the first two years of the course. The list is not intended to be exhaustive, but potential applicants with degrees that are not included here should carefully consider whether their programme would provide an equivalent depth of experience in one or more of the core sciences (Chemistry/Biology/Physics/Applied Mathematics/Biomedical Sciences).
No. Please don’t ask us to do this. The decisions about admissions are made at admissions time by a panel of college tutors and faculty tutors, and they work to the selection criteria that are published on this web site. You already have all the information you need to decide whether you are a suitable candidate for the course. We really cannot give advice in advance on individual cases.
You can’t know this, because selection for the course is competitive, and so your chances of being selected must depend to some extent on the strengths of the other candidates who apply. In practice, we very seldom admit candidates with lower-second (2:2) class degrees; usually about half of our successful candidates have first-class degrees, and about half have research degrees of some kind; about a third have upper-second (2:1) class degrees with no research history. But academic history is not the only criterion we consider: a first-class degree will not guarantee you a place, and a 2:1 does not mean that you have no chance of success. It’s worth mentioning that some of our best students on the course have arrived with 2:1 degrees and no research degrees.
Comparison of candidates who have very different academic and personal strengths is one of the most difficult aspects of shortlisting, and all graduate-entry courses have this problem. The Oxford course has a very strong academic emphasis, and so we look particularly for academic excellence in our candidates; but demonstration of this ability may be through a good performance in the entrance test (the UCAT), or through a history of good A-levels and a good degree, or a combination of the two. We also take very seriously your personal suitability for medicine and for this course, but those characteristics are usually assessed at interview in candidates who have already demonstrated their academic ability: we would not expect to interview candidates who could not demonstrate high academic ability, however good their personal suitability for medicine might be. In practice, we usually shortlist for interview most candidates who perform well in the UCAT (by which we mean scoring in the top quarter of the applicants); and also candidates who score slightly less well in the test (perhaps in the top 40 per cent of applicants) but who have a particularly strong academic history. Candidates whose scores in the entrance test are in the bottom half of the class generally are not interviewed.
No. This is a very intensive course, and we will need some evidence of real academic strength; but we are also looking for the right personal qualities (as detailed in the selection criteria on this website). Someone with clear aptitude/commitment to Medicine with a 2:1 degree will have a better chance than someone with a top First who cannot interact with other people. We are also aware that external circumstances might have meant that your degree result does not reflect your true ability, and we are usually willing to take into account supporting evidence from your referees on this point. However, we do need evidence of real academic strength: candidates whose best achievement is a 2:2 degree, even if they have excellent personal qualities, will not succeed on this course, though they may make excellent doctors through training on another course that is better suited to them.
Please note also that selection is competitive and based on several factors; there is no particular standard, academic or any other, that will guarantee you a place on the course or on the shortlist for interview.
No: around 40% of our applicants are still undergraduates at the time of application. However, the degree result is one of the factors we use in shortlisting and so, if you don’t have a degree at the time you apply, then other factors (referees’ reports, UCAT score) will carry more weight than they otherwise might; we might be inclined to look more closely at your earlier academic record particularly (A-levels or equivalent).
Although we are very happy to take graduates straight from their first degree (and in practice between a third and a half of places available are offered to applicants in the final year of their first degree), we do encourage applicants to think carefully about whether continuing to Medicine immediately is the best step for them. Many people benefit from a year or two of something different between the first degree and the medical course and so please don’t feel that you have to rush to start this course as soon as you have finished your first degree.
Yes. We will normally expect candidates to have Chemistry A-level (or equivalent qualification*), unless they have a first degree in either Chemistry or Biochemistry. The medical course makes no provision to teach A-level science. It should be quite easy for graduates to bring themselves up to the level of competence required, and to take an A-level during the year before they start the course. We will normally expect two science A-levels (including chemistry), and GCSE in biology or dual-award science, or equivalent.
*Equivalent qualifications to Chemistry A-level
International Baccalaureate
Chemistry at Higher Level
Scottish Advanced Higher
Chemistry at Scottish Advanced Higher level
BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma
To include units in Chemistry
Irish Leaving Certificate
Leaving Certificate with Chemistry at Higher level
Welsh Baccalaureate
Chemistry at A-level as part of the qualification
European Baccalaureate
To include Chemistry
Other qualifications
We welcome applications from those studying towards qualifications other than those listed here, as long as they are considered equivalent to A-levels - in terms of both content and achievement.
We advise all non-A-level applicants to make it clear on their UCAS application form that they meet our requirements i.e. all subjects studied, and at what level, should be specified.
The University has provided some guidance on qualifications required from international applicants, see the University listing of international qualifications.
Please note that, regardless of which accepted qualification is offered, we will require applicants to achieve particular excellence in Chemistry (compulsory), plus at least one from Biology, Physics and Mathematics.
Any applicants genuinely unsure of their eligibility for the course should contact geadmissions@medsci.ox.ac.uk for guidance.
We do not require the practical endorsement for A-levels taken as an external candidate, which should reduce the cost of sitting the exams.
Yes. It's not uncommon for applicants to take A-level Chemistry alongside their degree in order to become eligible to apply. It is acceptable to apply with a result pending as long as a final grade will be awarded within the standard A-level results window in mid-August. Were the offer of a place to be made, the conditions of the offer would be very likely to include a particular grade in the A-level(s).
Normally, yes. Candidates who have a first degree containing significant amounts of bioscience may be exempt from this requirement, but graduates in Chemistry or other sciences certainly need a Biology or dual-award science GCSE or O-level, or equivalent qualification.
Yes, we welcome applicants with these qualifications but please note that we apply the same criteria for these routes as are used for entry to the standard (A100) course. In particular, applicants would need to demonstrate that:
- The course covers the same content as the A-levels we ask for in our entry criteria (and to an equal standard), particularly for Chemistry (which is compulsory).
- The syllabus is assessed by formal written examination.
- The result is classified (ie. it is possible to achieve Distinction(s) rather than simply a Pass).
Please check with the provider of your particular course if you are unsure about any of the above. We ask applicants to submit a letter from the provider to confirm that the course is equivalent to the A-levels concerned (usually Chemistry and a second core science).
As with other qualifications, we would expect applicants with Access to HE/Foundation qualifications to have excelled (and to have maintained a high level of performance at first degree level) in order for them to be able to make a competitive application.
Our tutors select students using the selection criteria. All applicants are free to make reference to skills or experience acquired in any context to date when trying to address our selection criteria: sometimes applicants refer to voluntary work and other extra-curricular activity, but many forms of evidence can help demonstrate to tutors that an applicant has tried to make an informed decision regarding his/her own suitability to study Medicine.
While some work experience in hospitals is theoretically desirable, we do appreciate that it can be very difficult to arrange and we therefore have no requirement for it. Any form of voluntary work would be beneficial in the context of applying for Medicine (such as helping out in a hospital, at an old people's home, St John's Ambulance, or work with a charity or overseas agency).