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Medicine: Requirements

Student carrying out lab work © Medical Sciences Division and John Cairns

Academic entry requirements

Our standard entry requirements are:

A-levels: A*AA in three A-levels (excluding Critical Thinking and General Studies) taken in one academic year. Candidates are required to achieve at least grade A in both Chemistry and at least one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics.

NB: If a practical component forms part of any of the A-levels taken, we expect candidates to have taken it and passed.

Details of academic entry requirements for other qualifications can be found on the academic entry requirements page.

AGE REQUIREMENT

Oxford Medical School now requires all applicants to be at least 18 years of age by 1st November in the year they intend to start the degree course. Please see our FAQs for further details.

UNIVERSITY CLINICAL APTITUDE Test (UCAT)

 All applicants for Medicine at Oxford must register for and sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT). Please check our webpage about UCAT for any changes to UCAT arrangements and requirements in the 2024 application cycle for 2025 entry.

The UCAT is delivered in Pearson VUE test centres throughout the UK and in over 130 countries worldwide. A list of all available test centres can be found using the Pearson VUE Test Centre Locator.

Applicants can register to sit the UCAT by creating a UCAT account (from 14 May 2024) and then booking a test from 18 June 2024. The test is usually taken between July and September.

We have chosen to use the UCAT 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 students’ aptitude for our course. There is absolutely no need to attend a formal course to prepare for the UCAT and we would instead advise applicants to prepare using the free official practice materials which have been developed by the UCAT consortium.

Selection criteria

The personal characteristics we look for applicants to the A100 course (both the pre-clinical and clinical parts) are listed below.

Personal characteristics: suitability for medicine

  • Empathy: ability and willingness to imagine the feelings of others and understand the reasons for the views of others
  • Motivation: a reasonably well-informed and strong desire to practise medicine
  • Communication: ability to make knowledge and ideas clear using language appropriate to the audience
  • Honesty and integrity
  • Ethical awareness
  • Ability to work with others
  • Capacity for sustained and intense work
  • Alignment with the values of the NHS Constitution

Academic potential

  • Problem-solving: critical thinking, analytical approach
  • Intellectual curiosity: keenness to understand the reason for observations; depth; tendency to look for meaning; enthusiasm and curiosity in science
  • Communication skills: willingness and ability to express clearly and effectively; ability to listen; compatibility with tutorial format

Health & fitness to practise

The University is required by the General Medical Council to ensure that students who graduate with degrees of BMBCh are fit to practise Medicine. This is a matter in which conduct and health, and not simply academic standing, are relevant. Medical students must display similar standards of behaviour to qualified doctors (including honesty and integrity), a professional attitude towards patients and colleagues, an ability to communicate with patients and gain their trust, and an ability to cope with the emotional pressures associated with the study and practice of Medicine. For information and help visit the University of Oxford's Occupational Health Service website.

We also provide further information on health & fitness to practise matters.

Further information for graduate and international applicants

We also provide further advice for:

 

Pre-clinical