Program Overview

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Graduate Entry Medicine Programme (University of Portsmouth branch campus) MBBS

Key Information

• Course type: Single honours
• Delivery mode: In person
• Study mode: Full time
• Duration: Four years
• Application status: Closed
• Start date: August 2025
• Application deadline: 15 October 2024
• Optional study abroad

Course Description

The Graduate Entry Medicine programme is based out of our campuses in London and in Portsmouth as a collaboration with the University of Portsmouth. The programme enables honours-degree biomedical/life science graduates and healthcare professionals with equivalent academic qualifications to study for a fast-track degree in medicine. The programme design enables graduate applicants to complete a conventional medical degree in four rather than five or six years resulting in the MBBS qualification.

Key Benefits

• Delivered in Portsmouth and the surrounding region working with excellent local hospitals; with experts contributing from both the University of Portsmouth and King’s College London.
• Integrated medical science with clinical teaching with a focus on learning through patient contact.
• Achieve a King’s College London degree whilst living and studying in the Portsmouth area.
• Students benefit from secondary care clinical placements in regional NHS Trusts and significant time in primary care working with General Practitioners and community partners in the region.
• Benefit from a new state of the art purpose designed facility based at the University of Portsmouth.
• Learn from some of the world’s most influential clinicians and scientists, who are global leaders in life sciences and medical research.
• Twinned with leading medical schools around the world, providing opportunities for clinical exchanges during your elective module.

Course Essentials

• Portsmouth-based students have the same access to King’s online learning resources and student groups as London-based students but all the lecture theatres, classrooms, OSCE and simulation suites used are on the University of Portsmouth campus or at Portsmouth Hospital University NHS Trust.
• Assessments are identical for both London and Portsmouth-based students.
• The MBBS degree at King’s 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 Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) curriculum consists of four years (GEM1, GEM2, GEM3, GEM4).
• The Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) is our four-year fast-track entry route into medicine for biomedical/life science graduates and health professionals.

Entry Requirements

• A minimum 2:1 (upper second class honours) undergraduate degree (or international equivalent) in a Biosciences subject with both Biology and Chemistry content.
• Bioscience degrees include:
  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Physiology
  • Biochemistry
  • Pharmacology
  • Neuroscience
  • Molecular Genetics
  • Molecular Biology
  • Pharmacy
• Please note this list is not exhaustive and we would encourage applicants with other Biomedical or Life Sciences degrees not listed to apply, if you feel your degree contains at least two thirds Bioscience content.
• We are unable to review transcripts for suitability prior to receiving an application.
• Please note that Nursing and Psychology degrees are not considered as Bioscience degrees.
• A straight Chemistry degree or Biology degree also would not meet the requirements for this programme.
• There are no specific A-level requirements for this programme.

The UCAT

• Please note that all applicants are required to sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT), previously known as UCAT, 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

• Occupational Health clearance: Required for successful applicants.
• Enhanced criminal conviction check: Required for successful applicants.

Academic Achievement

• You should carefully check that you will meet the minimum academic standards before making an application.
• Please note that many applicants meet the minimum requirements and so all applications are considered within a competitive environment.

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 year of entry.
• Any applicants who feel that they could be eligible for the programme but who will not be able to provide evidence of meeting our requirements by August should instead apply in a later application cycle when they are able to do this.

Deferrals

• Deferrals and applications for deferred entry are not permitted for this programme.
• Applicants are only able to apply in October for entry onto the programme in September the following year.

Graduate Applicants for the Four-Year A102 and the Five-Year A100 Programme

• Suitably qualified graduate applicants to Medicine are welcome to apply to both our four-year Graduate/Professional Entry Programme (A102) and our five-year programme (A100).
• Any interested applicants should check very carefully that they meet the requirements for both programmes and add both programme choices on the UCAS form.

Shortlisting

• When considering those students which will be shortlisted for interview the selectors consider the following; predicted or achieved 2.1 (or equivalent) in a Biosciences degree; 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.
• During the current Admissions cycle (2023 entry), interviews will be conducted remotely.
• Further information regarding interviews will be detailed in the information communicated via King's Apply to those who are invited to an interview.
• Interviewers will assess a range of values and personality based attributes, knowledge on topical medical issues and ethical reasoning.
• Communication skills will also be assessed during the interview.
• Interviewers have no prior knowledge of candidates before they meet them and will complete standardised interviewer assessment score sheets.

Receiving a Decision

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

Transfers

• Transfers into this programme are not permitted.

Teaching Methods

• Lectures
• Tutorials
• Seminars
• Directed self-study
• We will provide you with high-level teaching from experts, which you will put into practice on your placements.

Learning Outcomes

• On successful completion of the course, you will receive your MBBS degree, which is a primary medical qualification (PMQ).
• Holding a PMQ entitles you to apply for provisional registration with the General Medical Council (GMC), subject only to its acceptance that there are no Fitness to Practise concerns.
• Provisional registration is time limited to a maximum of three years and 30 days (1125 days in total).
• After this time period your provisional registration will normally expire.
• Provisionally registered doctors can only practise in approved Foundation Year 1 posts.
• To obtain a Foundation Year 1 post you will need to apply during the final year of your undergraduate course through the UK Foundation Programme Office selection scheme, which allocates posts to graduates on a competitive basis.
• Generally, all suitably qualified UK graduates are allocated a place on Foundation Year 1.
• On successful completion of Foundation Year 1, you will be eligible to apply for full registration with the GMC.
• You need full registration with a licence to practise for unsupervised medical practice in the NHS or private practice in the UK.

Assessment

• Formative Assessment
• Summative Assessment
• Assessments are identical for both London and Portsmouth-based students.
• Assessment is split between that which is formative (where the primary role is to give feedback to student, this does not contribute towards the overall module/degree score) and summative (where the primary role is to demonstrate competence against course standards and learning outcomes).
• Formative assessment occurs through the years.
• Summative assessment includes:
  • portfolio-based summative assessment continues throughout the course in preparation for professional life
  • progress (written) tests
  • OSCEs (formative in GEM 1 & 3, summative in GEM 2 & 4)
  • project assessment
• There is also one external assessment in the final year of the programme that is necessary to support your Foundation Year 1 training.
• It is not currently essential to pass this in order to graduate from the MBBS course.
• All students must pass the Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) as part of their degree before they can join the medical register.
• The MLA will test the core knowledge, skills and behaviour of doctors who want to practise in the UK.
• Applicants should be aware that to obtain registration with a licence to practise, medical students will need to pass both parts of the MLA, and all their modules and be able to demonstrate their fitness to practise.

Course Accreditation

• 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.

Regulating Body

• King’s College London is regulated by the Office for Students.

Structure

• GEM students do not undertake Stage 1 of the five/six Year MBBS course.
• Instead, you will have a three-week mandatory introductory module ‘Introduction to Graduate Entry Medicine ’ (30 credits) immediately before you start the GEM programme (19 August 2024), which includes elements of the Introduction to Values Based Clinical Practice module from MBBS Stage 1 and Anatomy.
• The following terminology applies to the GEM programme: GEM 1 – year 1 GEM 2 – year 2 GEM 3 – year 3 GEM 4 - year 4

Required Modules

• You are required to take the following modules for GEM 1 and GEM 2:
  • Introduction to Graduate Entry Medicine (15 credits).
  • From Science to Clinical Practice 1 (105 credits)
  • From Science to Clinical Practice 2 (120 credits)
  • Project (Doctor as Teacher) (15 credits)
  • Project (Introduction to Clinical Research) (15 credits)
• The following required GEM 1 and GEM 2 modules involve the opportunity to choose which area is studied in further detail:
  • The Student Selected Component (SSC) is a required module within which you undertake projects or short courses in medical, scientific and non-medical subjects that you choose according to personal interest. (15 credits)
  • Scholarly Project: You will undertake a scholarly project in an area of interest selected from across the multi-faculty university. (30 credits)

Optional Modules

• There are no optional modules for this year.

Employability

• Our course is 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.

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.
• Additional Costs
  • In addition to your tuition costs, you can also expect to pay for:
    • 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
  • You should also budget to pay for the associated subsistence costs, such as travel, visas, accommodation and food as well as any vaccination/immunisations required by the country to which you are travelling.
  • The following gives you an indication of additional costs associated with the Medicine course.
  • These costs are not included in your tuition fees.
  • Clothing: Students may need to purchase a white coat for laboratory work from any source.
  • Cost at August 2023: £14.00.
  • Course-related conferences: Conferences are optional.
  • If you attend a conference you will need to pay for all costs associated e.g. accommodation, travel, food & beverages and appropriate clothing.
  • If the conference includes travel abroad, you will need to budget for travel insurance and, if necessary, passport renewal and visas.
  • Disclosure and Barring certificates/clearance: Students have to pay for an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service clearance check.
  • This is payable as part of course registration (cost at July 2023 : £38).
  • Electives: Students have to pay for any accommodation required as part of your Elective.
  • You will need to pay for travel insurance and medical insurance if you choose to undertake your Elective outside of the UK and if necessary, passport renewal and visas.
  • Equipment: Approved calculators.
  • Across all King’s campuses computer workstations are available.
  • Students may wish to buy their own desktop/laptop/tablet computer to support their studies (optional).
  • For medical equipment and materials, you will need to purchase a stethoscope, any make/model and can be purchased from any source.
  • Students will need to buy a fob watch with a second hand that you can pin to your clothing or put in your pocket, as you are not permitted to wear wrist watches in clinical areas.
  • No specific make or model is required.
  • Health checks/immunisations/vaccinations: Students pay for any immunisation/vaccination costs required to ensure you have a complete immunisation/vaccination history prior to commencing the course.
  • Further information on required immunisations/vaccinations is provided to those applicants made an academic offer of study.
  • You will need to pay for any immunisation/vaccination costs associated with overseas travel if you chose to undertake your Elective outside of the UK.
  • Insurance: Students need to pay for insurance and medical insurance if you choose to undertake your Elective outside of the UK.
  • Travel: Students need to pay for travel to and from clinical placements.

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.