Program Overview

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Medicine MBBS

Key Information

• Course type: Single honours
• Delivery mode: In person
• Study mode: Full time
• Required A-level: A*AA
• Full entry requirements, including contextual requirements
• Duration: Five years (six if an optional intercalated degree is undertaken)
• Application status: Closed
• Start date: September 2025
• Application deadline: 15 October 2024
• Optional study abroad

Course Description

Our Medicine MBBS degree provides an innovative and integrated curriculum to support your training and development as a medical professional. This will equip you to become an outstanding doctor and one of the next generation of medical leaders.

Key Benefits

• Integration of medical science with clinical teaching throughout with focus on learning in close contact with patients
• Partner hospitals include Guy’s, King’s College and St Thomas’ Hospitals – three of the most renowned and busiest teaching hospitals in London.
• Students benefit from clinical placements at district general hospitals located across the south east of England and over 350 general practices.
• Learn from some of the world’s most influential clinicians and scientists, who are global leaders in life sciences and medical research.
• A multi-faculty university giving you access to a breadth of non-core subjects including humanities and social sciences.
• Twinned with leading medical schools around the world, providing opportunities for clinical exchanges during your elective module.
• Accredited by the General Medical Council (GMC), this Primary Medical Qualification entitles the holder to apply to the GMC for registration to practise medicine in the UK.

Course Essentials

Our MBBS degree aims to train students to become:

• critical scientific thinkers
• collaborative leaders and innovators
• outstanding patient-centred clinicians
• excellent team-players
• educators and life-long learners
• resilient and adaptable professionals. The course is divided into three ‘Stages’ with an optional intercalation year between Stages 2 and 3. Although we offer four entry routes into Medicine, all our students follow the same core MBBS curriculum. Stage 1 provides you with a foundation in biomedical sciences and population sciences, along with the skills to begin to integrate them with clinical practice. Stage 2 brings together science and clinical practice in blocks organised around the human life-cycle and common pathological processes. It focuses on the care of patients with common conditions in a range of clinical settings. You will also follow patients for prolonged periods of time to learn how to deliver whole-person care. This stage is underpinned by study in biomedical and population sciences. Stage 3 is oriented towards future practice, and includes the opportunity to undertake elective study abroad. You will also conduct quality improvement projects and develop skills to transform patient and population health at home and abroad. Inter-professional training and increasingly realistic simulation are important parts of the curriculum. Through the programme there are a series of project modules, which offer a range of different learning, some of which can be adapted for student choice. We are looking to grow the range of Projects (and choice) we offer and this may result in changes to the Project modules in your programme. The intercalated degree is a one-year BSc course which gives you the opportunity to study the subjects of your choice in greater depth across King’s and the university’s clinical partners. As a multi- faculty institution, we offer an unrivalled range of intercalated degrees from clinical and biomedical sciences to humanities subjects. The intercalated BSc is an optional requirement on the A100 programme and is taken between Year 3 and Year 4.

Base Campuses

• Guy’s Campus: The Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, and the Institute of Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience are based at the riverside Guy's Campus, next to the Shard.
• Denmark Hill Campus: Home to the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience.

Special Features

• Optional study abroad: On this programme, you will have the opportunity to apply to study abroad, supported by the Study Abroad Tutor in your department and King’s Global Mobility Office. Together with partner organisations around the world, you will be supported in navigating your international, educational journey, developing new skills and competences and learning to apply different perspectives to your chosen discipline.

Course Accreditation

• General Medical Council (GMC)

Regulating Bodies

• King's is regulated by the Office for Students

Entry Requirements

Subject Requirements

• Required subjects: Chemistry and Biology
• Preferred subjects: No preferred subjects

A-Levels

• Required grades: A*AA
• Please note that A-level General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted by King's as one of your A levels.
• Must include grade A in Biology and Chemistry.
• Notes: If you are taking linear A-levels in England, you will be required to pass the practical endorsement in all Science subjects. This is with the exception of private candidates who are unable to take the practical component.
• We do not consider the EPQ at any point of the assessment process.
• All applicants must take the UCAT. Please see further details below.

International Baccalaureate Diploma

• 38 points overall or an aggregate score of 19 from three Higher Levels.
• Must include grade 6 in Higher Level Biology and Chemistry.
• Notes: The total point score of 38 includes TOK/EE.
• GCSE/IGCSE English Language and Mathematics requirement can be met via IB Standard Level/Middle Years grade 5, if not studied/studying at Higher Level.
• All applicants must take the UCAT.

GCSE/IGCSE Requirements

• GCSE grade 6/B in both English Language and Mathematics is required.

The UCAT

• All applicants are required to sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT), previously known as UKCAT, prior to applying to this programme.
• Please note the UCAT must be taken the same year you apply in order to be valid.
• Please refer to the UCAT website for details on registration and test dates.
• King’s does not have a threshold UCAT score in any particular year, but all candidates are still required to take the UCAT examination for this course.
• The overall UCAT score averaged across the four subtests is given more consideration than the individual subtest scores.
• The Situational Judgement Test (SJT) is also taken into account when shortlisting.

Non-Academic Requirements

• Age on entry: King’s is only able to accept applicants who will turn 18 years of age before commencing the second year of the Medicine degree.
• Applicants who will not be 18 by this date should submit an application the following year.
• Occupational Health clearance: Required for successful applicants.
• All offers of a place, and continued enrolment, are made subject to satisfactory Occupational Health clearance.
• Enhanced criminal conviction check: Required for successful applicants.
• All offers of a place, and continued enrolment, are made subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check.

Alternative Accepted Qualifications

• Access to HE Diploma
• BTEC Nationals/CTECs
• Cambridge Pre-U
• European Baccalaureate
• Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers

Standard Requirements

• The Access to Higher Education Diploma must be 60 credits in total.
• Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits overall: 39 credits must be from units awarded at Distinction, with the remaining 6 at Merit.
• The Access to Higher Education Diploma must be in Medicine or Dentistry, and must include at least 15 Level 3 credits in Biology and 15 Level 3 credits in Chemistry awarded at Distinction.
• The Access to Higher Education Diploma must be a QAA accredited course which is studied through a UK Access to Higher Education Diploma Provider, listed on the QAA website here:
• Notes: Functional Skills, and Numeracy/Literacy modules studied within an Access to HE diploma, are not accepted for this programme to meet the GCSE/IGCSE requirements.
• All applicants must take the UCAT. Please see further details above.

International Applicants

• Equivalent International qualifications: Select a country to view the equivalent qualifications.

English Language Requirements

• English language band: B
• Please note that nationals of Majority English Speaking Countries (as defined by UKVI) who have successfully completed high school in the respective country, are not required to complete an English language test.
• For information on our English requirements and whether you need to complete an English language test, please see our English Language requirements page.

Selection Process

• Academic achievement: You should carefully check that you will meet the minimum academic standards before making an application.
• Contextual consideration: As part of the assessment process, we take into account contextual information to gain a more complete picture of each application.
• Deadline to meet requirements: In order to enrol onto our programmes, successful offer holders must be able to evidence that they can meet our requirements by the beginning of August in the year of entry.
• Deferrals: Deferral requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and are not guaranteed for this programme.

Graduate Applicants to Medicine A100

• Suitably qualified graduate applicants to Medicine are welcome to apply to our five-year programme (A100).
• Any interested applicants should check very carefully that they meet the requirements for the programme.

Foundation Courses

• Applicants studying Foundation Year programmes in the UK are welcome to apply for this programme.
• Foundation programmes from other universities and further education providers in the UK are considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Whether or not we can consider a particular foundation year as suitable for study at King's depends on the content of the syllabus and modules studied.
• In the past we have accepted foundation programmes from a number of other institutions.

Personal Statement and Reference

• Your personal statement is one of the many factors in the overall assessment of your application.
• We are looking particularly for evidence of appropriate commitment to, and realistic appreciation of, the academic, physical and emotional demands of a medicine degree programme and career.
• We would normally expect that you will have undertaken some work experience in a caring environment and/or observation in a Medical clinical setting.
• If this is not possible, we look for evidence that you have worked in a setting where you can interact with the general public, eg in a pharmacy, check-out or restaurant.

Shortlisting

• When considering those students which will be shortlisted for interview the selectors consider the following; GCSE (or equivalent performance), predicted or achieved A-level grades (or equivalent), the personal statement, the reference and the score in the UCAT.
• These contribute to the shortlisting of candidates, and we do assess for this programme holistically, taking in to account all these factors and your performance in the context of your educational background.
• Examination results and the UCAT score are perhaps the most important factors when considering applications.
• These are highlighted as they provide us with the fairest and most consistent method of assessing applicants.

The Interview

• No offers are made without an interview.
• Interviews are held between November and May and you must be available for interview in order to be considered for admission.
• A large number of applications are received for Medicine and although we recognise that this is an anxious time for you, all applications are carefully considered and therefore you should not expect a decision post-interview until the cycle has completed in May.

Receiving a Decision

• There continues to be considerable pressure on the available places for students wishing to study Medicine.
• Applications each year for our undergraduate medical programmes are around 5500 for a total of roughly 410 places.
• Around 4000 of these applications are for A100.
• 1200–1400 applicants are selected for interview across all medicine programmes and there are around 300 places available on A100.
• We aim to notify all applicants of final decisions by the end of May at the latest.

Resits

• In a standard admissions cycle, we are able to consider applicants who have retaken their qualifications, however, you should bear in mind that your application for this programme will be reviewed alongside other strong applicants who might be viewed more favourably if they achieved the required grades within a standard timeframe, for example, a two year period for A-levels.
• We will only consider second resits if there are significant mitigating circumstances.
• In these situations we still cannot guarantee that your application will be considered, but you should submit a Mitigating Circumstances form so that this can be considered alongside your application.
• Please note, we consider taking the same subject again at the same level, even within a different qualification, to be a resit.

Transfers

• Transfers into this programme are not permitted.

UCAS Choices

• A maximum of four choices on the UCAS form may be made for programmes which lead to a professional qualification in medicine.
• You may add one of the following alternative non-health programmes to your UCAS application: Anatomy, Developmental & Human Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Genetics, Pharmacology, Physiology, Neuroscience, Biomedical Science.
• Please be assured that you will be considered as having a full commitment to medicine whether you include a non-health programme choice or not.

Teaching Methods - What to Expect

• Lectures
• Tutorials
• Seminars
• Directed self-study

Assessment

• Formative Assessment
• Summative Assessment

Structure

• Courses are divided into modules.
• The Intercalated BSc is optional but must be taken between Stages 2 and 3.

Required Modules

• The following Stage 1 modules are studied in year 1.
• You are required to take:
  • Foundations of Medical Science (15 credits)
  • Physiology and Anatomy of Systems (45 credits)
  • Introduction to Values Based Clinical Practice (30 credits)

Optional Modules

• There are no optional modules for this year.

Tuition Fees

• Full time tuition fees UK: The UK tuition fee for the academic year is currently £9,535 per year. This is based on the UK Government's cap.
• Full time tuition fees International: The International tuition fee for the academic year is £53,000 per year.
• Please note that the International tuition fee is subject to annual increases in subsequent years of study, in line with King's terms and conditions.
• All International applicants to Undergraduate programmes are required to pay a deposit of £5000 against their first year's tuition fee.
• This deposit is payable when you firmly accept a conditional or unconditional offer to study with us, and will be offset against your tuition fees when you join King's.

Additional Costs

• Alternative venue examination fees
• Books if you choose to buy your own copies
• Clothing for optional course related events and competitions
• Library fees and fines
• Personal photocopies
• Printing course handouts
• Society membership fees
• Stationery
• Graduation costs
• Travel costs for travel around London and between campuses

Funding

• To find out more about bursaries, scholarships, grants, tuition fees, living expenses, student loans, and other financial help available at King's please visit the Fees and Funding section.

Related Courses

• Pharmacy MPharm
• Biomedical Science BSc
• Sport & Exercise Medical Sciences BSc
• Medicine MBBS
• Extended Medical Degree Programme MBBS
• Graduate Entry Medicine Programme MBBS
• Graduate Entry Medicine Programme (University of Portsmouth branch campus) MBBS

Related Departments

• School of Basic & Medical Biosciences
• School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences
• School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine & Sciences
• School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences
• School of Life Course & Population Sciences
• Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine
• GKT School of Medical Education