Medicine: Application Checklist
We suggest that you use this checklist below when preparing an application.
1. Check entry requirements
As well as fulfilling the academic entry requirements, all applicants are required to sit the BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT) in November of the year of application. Find more information on the BMAT on the BMAT website. Please also check our webpage about BMAT for any changes to BMAT arrangements and requirements in the 2023 application cycle for 2024 entry.
Applicants should also read our statement on health & fitness to practise medicine.
All applicants need to be aware that there is now a lower age limit in place at Oxford Medical School, which means you should be 18 years of age on 1 November in the year you are applying to start the course. Please see our FAQs for further details.
2. Attend an open day
We strongly recommend that you attend one of the Medicine open days at the Medical Sciences Teaching Centre. Find out more on the University's Open Day landing pages.
3. Think about costs & funding
How much will it cost?
Information on course fees and general living costs can be found on the student funding website.
What's my fee status?
It is extremely important that applicants are clear on their fee status prior to submitting an application to the Medical School. Do consult the advice posted by the UK Council for International Student Affairs on their website, which provides a checklist covering information that we may ask you for when deciding on your status:
Any applicant unsure of their status should check the University’s website on determining status for fees purposes and/or write to the Student Fees Team at student.fees@admin.ox.ac.uk with full details of their circumstances.
Are there any scholarships?
We regret that there are no scholarships available for Medicine in Oxford due to the nature and duration of the course and the costs involved. For more information about student finance matters, and to undertake a full funding search, please see the student funding website.
This scholarship search website may also be of interest.
Your local branch of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies might be able to advise you on finding scholarships, or looking for more affordable medical courses, perhaps in your own country.
UK students are strongly advised to read through the Oxford Bursaries website.
4. Register for the BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT)
Normally all applicants for Medicine at Oxford must register for and sit the BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT). Please check our webpage about BMAT for any changes to BMAT arrangements and requirements in the 2023 application cycle for 2024 entry.
UK applicants are able to sit the BMAT in their own school or college - and should contact their examinations' officer to register for the test. Applicants outside the UK should identify the open test centre closest to them. A list of available test centres worldwide can be found on the BMAT Assessment Admissions Testing website.
Applicants can register for the BMAT from 1 September; the entry closing date is 29 September.
We use the BMAT as part of our shortlisting process as it is the one measure we have for all our applicants and we know the test has some capacity to predict how well students will do on our course. There is absolutely no need to attend a formal course to prepare for the BMAT, but research has shown that practising using past papers does make a significant difference to test success. Find past papers (including worked answers) and other advice for free here. Once you have familiarised yourself with the formats of the test papers and questions, we suggest you practise under self-imposed exam conditions to give yourself the best chance of performing well in the BMAT itself. Note that the test is designed to be quite demanding, so don’t be disheartened if you find it harder than other exams you have taken in the past.
Please note, the University of Oxford will not accept BMAT results from the September sitting for A100 Medicine.
5. Choose a college
Look at the page on colleges, and the University website on colleges.
You can choose a college if you want to, BUT you do not have to! You can in fact submit an open application to the University. Around 20% of applicants to Oxford choose to do this. In any case, you can be assured that our admissions process strives to admit the best candidates irrespective of choice of college on the UCAS form. All colleges are strong academically, and your course (lectures, practicals, seminars, etc) will be the same regardless of the college of which you are a member.
6. Submit an application through UCAS
The deadline for submission of UCAS applications is 16 October in 2023. You can apply on the UCAS website. Please note that applications submitted to UCAS past the 16 October deadline cannot be considered by the Medical School.
Do ensure that you give your complete educational history, and not just details of the qualifications you might be currently working towards (i.e. provide full information on your GCSEs or GCSE-equivalent qualifications).
When writing your personal statement, think about our selection criteria, and read our advice on personal statements:
Do remember to allow sufficient time for your referee to complete their section.