Minimum Admission Criteria |
6-year programme |
4-year programme |
---|---|---|
No. of places | 150 (including 20 overseas places 20 places for Canadian students (A990) |
40 |
Degree | Minimum 2:1 Science degree | Minimum 2:1 Science or Arts degree |
A-levels | A in Chemistry | Minimum Grade B in Chemistry |
GCSEs | Minimum B in Biology, English and Mathematics | Minimum B in Mathematics |
Exam | UKCAT | GAMSAT; UKCATace or SJT component of UKCAT |
Interview | MMI | MMI (held at Dundee) |
Work experience | Essential | Essential |
Undergraduates can apply to a 6-year programme, which is divided between the University of St Andrews and another partner university, as listed above. The first year aims to give students a strong base of knowledge regarding normal human physiology, as well as introductions to key topics in Medicine. These include overviews in areas such as pathology, microbiology, psychology, public health and medical law and ethics. In the following 2 years, students will develop and build on the knowledge gained in the first year. In the second year, each body system is studied in depth, allowing students to gain an understanding of important disease mechanisms and how therapeutic treatments work to combat these diseases.
Towards the end of the 3rd year, students carry out a student-selected research dissertation. These projects provide a lot of flexibility as students are able to choose between a laboratory-based project, a project in medical education, a critical review or a data handling project. Students are then responsible to pursue their chosen topic over 10-12 weeks.
Basic clinical skills are taught all throughout the course – from basic life support and recording vital signs in Year 1 to history taking and patient examination techniques in years 2 and 3. Video recording facilities are used in clinical training to improve skills, as well as to provide evidence of a student’s competence in clinical examination. There are lots of opportunities for students to practise their clinical skills – from simulated patients in the medical school to primary care attachments and 10 teaching sessions aimed at practicing clinical and communication skills in Fife teaching hospitals. Moreover, there is a unique opportunity to spend a residential week in a range of primary or secondary clinical care placements during the summer vacation between 2nd and 3rd year.
St Andrews expects students to achieve AAA including Chemistry and one other of Biology, Mathematics or Physics. General Studies, Critical Thinking, and Global Perspectives & Research are not considered. Note that a 4th A level or a 4th subject at AS is not required.
At GCSE, grade B in Biology, Mathematics, and English must be achieved. Dual Award Science is not acceptable as a comparison to GCSE Biology. To be considered for an interview, A-level applicants are expected to offer a minimum of 8As or 6A* grades at GCSE as well as be predicted to have AAA in the appropriate subjects at A-level.
SQA – Highers/Advance Highers:
Applicants must achieve:
Minimum 38 points including:
Applicants will be considered if they have fulfilled the academic entry requirements for Medicine before they begin their undergraduate course. They must apply by the 15th of October and have sat the UKCAT. Candidates who have progressed to second year will not be considered. No credit will be given for the undergraduate year as all entrants must do the full 6 years of the medical degree. A reference is required from the current university tutor commenting on their academic performance and suitability for Medicine, as well as details of grades obtained so far.
Applicants are required to sit the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT).
The global UKCAT score is used to determine whether the applicant is offered an interview. If the applicant is given an interview, the decision to make offers will be based on the interview score and the global UKCAT score. Note that the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) component of the UKCAT is being used as an element of the interview process, with the SJT score being incorporated into the interview score.
For 2016 entry, the average global UKCAT score for those given an interview was 2750 (out of a possible 3600).
For 2017 entry, the estimated equivalent score will be around 2080 (out of a possible 2700). The actual cut-off score for an invitation to interview will, as usual, depend on the scores of the cohort of applicants for that year.
The HNC Applied Sciences Pathway to Medicine at Perth College is the only accepted Access course.
St Andrews medical school is involved with a number of schemes aimed to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds in applying for medical school, including the following:
The university also takes note of contextual data, and while minimum grade requirements still apply, this data will be used to inform the selection process for an interview.
Overall there are 20 places for international/overseas applicants. All non-native English speakers must take the International English Language Testing Service (IELTS). A score of 7 must be achieved in all areas, and the scores will be valid for 2 years.
If you are applying as an overseas student and have not taken the IB or A levels, please contact us by email ([email protected]) if you would like more information on the minimum grades needed to be considered for a place in Medicine at St Andrew's.
Applicants can re-apply once to St Andrew's if they meet the entrance criteria that year, but no further re-applications will be considered.
The University of St Andrew’s does not usually consider deferred entry.
APPLICATION DEADLINES
Applications via UCAS for 2018/19 entry for are open from 6th September 2017 and close on 15th October 2017.
Home applicants:
Whilst all students spend their pre-clinical training at St Andrew's, they are able to indicate a preference on where they would like to undertake clinical training on the UCAS form.
If students would prefer to spend their clinical training at a Scottish partner school (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh or Glasgow), they should apply to A100: campus code S (Scotland).
If students would prefer to spend their clinical training at an English partner school (Manchester or Barts and the London), they should opt for A100 campus code R (England).
If applicants have no preference, they will be allocated randomly and should apply for A100: campus code N (No preference).
For ‘home’ applicants, there are 52 places for phase 2 in Scotland; 50 places for Phase 2 in Manchester; and 20 places for Phase 2 in Barts and the London. Allocation to specific to medical schools is done in the December of the 2nd year.
Overseas applicants:
Overall there are 20 places for overseas applicants. Overseas applicants will be completing phase 2 at the University of Manchester and therefore must apply to complete phase 2 in England – A100: campus code R (England). If you are applying from North America and you are only applying to St Andrew's, not to any other UK universities, you can make a direct application. Kindly visit the website of St Andrews to see how to apply.
APPLICATION DOCUMENTS
SELECTION PROCESS
The following is reviewed:
Applicants must have a strong academic record, a positive reference, and relevant, medically-related work experience.
Regarding the personal statement, successful applicants should also be able to show evidence of:
Applicants who meet these requirements will then be rated on their UKCAT global score and those ranking in the top 400 will be invited for an interview. After the interview, the interview score will be combined with the global UKCAT score – it is this combined score which will dictate the decision to make offers.
For 2017 entry, the lowest UKCAT score for applicants called to interview was 1800.
INTERVIEW
Key points:
Home, EU and overseas students living in Britain will be invited to interview in St Andrews whilst overseas students can be interviewed via phone or Skype.
The interviews are in the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format, which consists of a number of small ‘mini’ interviews which candidates rotate through.
There are 6 ‘mini’ interviews which assess applicants on:
Following the interview, applicants will be given the opportunity to have a tour of the medical school with a current medical student.
For 2017 entry, there were 773 Home/EU applications to the A100 6-year course of which 397 were invited to interview. There were 185 overseas applicants of which 28 were interviewed. This does not include any overseas applicants who were on the International Foundation for Medicine at St Andrew's.
In the Guardian University Guide 2018 for Medicine, St Andrews ranks 17th.
In the Complete University Guide 2018 for Medicine, St Andrews ranks 20th.
The QS World University Rankings 2017 places St Andrews within the top 301-350 universities for Medicine.
Graduates can apply to the 6-year programme, along with undergraduate applicants. It is divided between the University of St Andrews and another partner university, as listed above. The first year aims to give students a strong base of knowledge regarding normal human physiology, as well as introductions to key topics in Medicine. These include overviews in areas such as pathology, microbiology, psychology, public health and medical law and ethics. In the following 2 years, students will develop and build on the knowledge gained in the first year. In the second year, each body system is studied in depth, allowing students to gain an understanding of important disease mechanisms and how therapeutic treatments work to combat these diseases.
Towards the end of the 3rd year, students carry out a student-selected research dissertation. These projects provide a lot of flexibility as students are able to choose between a laboratory-based project, a project in medical education, a critical review or a data handling project. Students are then responsible to pursue their chosen topic over 10-12 weeks.
Basic clinical skills are taught all throughout the course – from basic life support and recording vital signs in Year 1 to history taking and patient examination techniques in years 2 and 3. Video recording facilities are used in clinical training to improve skills, as well as to provide evidence of a student’s competence in clinical examination. There are lots of opportunities for students to practise their clinical skills – from simulated patients in the medical school to primary care attachments and 10 teaching sessions aimed at practicing clinical and communication skills in Fife teaching hospitals. Moreover, there is a unique opportunity to spend a residential week in a range of primary or secondary clinical care placements during the summer vacation between 2nd and 3rd year.
In 2018, the first cohort of Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) will be running at the University of St Andrews. This will be a 4-year programme which will be run with the University of Dundee and in partnership with the University of the Highlands and Islands and NHS Scotland. Students will train at a variety of different areas in Scotland including NHS Fife, Tayside, Highland and Dumfries and Galloway.
The first year of the course is based at the University of St Andrews and NHS Fife where teaching is delivered through case-based learning with weekly clinical experience in the community. During the second year, studies focus on the lifecycle and students are expected to spend time in different regions, including weeks away in Tayside, the Highlands and Dumfries and Galloway. Clinical exposure also increases with an additional half day in a specialist clinical environment as well as some experience in unscheduled care in the form of emergency department and ambulance shifts. There is a focus on community medicine during the third year where students spend the whole year based in a general practice, seeing and following patients through their patient pathway. It is not until the final year when students undertake rotations in hospitals, where they may choose areas of particular interest. In order to prepare for work as a junior doctor, students have two one-month Foundation Apprenticeships, and there is also an opportunity to undertake a 8-week elective.
Undergraduate medicine course (A100)
ScotGEM (A101):
Undergraduate (A100) Course:
ScotGEM (A101) Course:
Undergraduate (A100)
Applicants are required to sit the UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT).
For the 2016 sitting of the test, UKCAT are not including the subtest, Decision Analysis (changing to Decision Making), in the candidate’s overall score. Therefore medical schools will receive a total scaled score for the sum of the remaining three sections: Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Abstract Reasoning.
The global UKCAT score is used to determine whether the applicant is offered an interview. If the applicant is given an interview, the decision to make offers will be based on the interview score and the global UKCAT score. Note that the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) component of the UKCAT is being used as an element of the interview process, with the SJT score being incorporated into the interview score.
For 2016 entry, the average global UKCAT score for those given an interview was 2750 (out of a possible 3600).
For 2017 entry, the estimated equivalent score will be around 2080 (out of a possible 2700). The actual cut-off score for an invitation to interview will, as usual, depend on the scores of the cohort of applicants for that year.
ScotGEM (A101)
Applicants are required to sit the GAMSAT which should be sat during the year of entry or the previous year.
Applicants are also required to sit the Situational Judgement Test for Admission to Clinical Education (SJTace) or the UKCAT SJT in the year of application. Note that the SJTace has identical content to the SJT subtest within the UKCAT therefore if applicants are already sitting the UKCAT for a different application, they do not need to sit the SJTace.
Access to Medicine coursesThe HNC Applied Sciences Pathway to Medicine at Perth College is the only accepted Access course.
International StudentsOverall there are 20 places for international/overseas applicants. All non-native English speakers must take the International English Language Testing Service (IELTS). A score of 7 must be achieved in all areas, and the scores will be valid for 2 years.
If you are applying as an overseas student and taken qualifications other than those listed above, please contact us by email ([email protected]) if you would like more information on the minimum grades needed to be considered for a place in Medicine at St Andrew's.
Policy on Re-applicantsApplicants can re-apply once to St Andrew's if they meet the entrance criteria that year, but no further re-applications will be considered.
Policy on DeferralsThe University of St Andrew’s does not usually consider deferred entry.
APPLICATION DEADLINES
Applications via UCAS for 2018/19 entry for are open from 6th September 2017 and close on 15th October 2017
Home applicants:
Whilst all students spend their pre-clinical training at St Andrew's, they are able to indicate a preference on where they would like to undertake clinical training on the UCAS form.
If students would prefer to spend their clinical training at a Scottish partner school (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh or Glasgow), they should apply to A100: campus code S (Scotland).
If students would prefer to spend their clinical training at an English partner school (Manchester or Barts and the London), they should opt for A100 campus code R (England).
If applicants have no preference, they will be allocated randomly and should apply for A100: campus code N (No preference).
For ‘home’ applicants, there are 52 places for phase 2 in Scotland; 50 places for phase 2 in Manchester; and 20 places for phase 2 in Barts and the London. Allocation to specific to medical schools is done in the December of the 2nd year.
Overseas applicants:
Overall there are 20 places for overseas applicants. Overseas applicants will be completing phase 2 at the University of Manchester and therefore must apply to complete phase 2 in England – A100: campus code R (England). If you are applying from North America and you are only applying to St Andrew's, not to any other UK universities, you can make a direct application. More info on how to apply and available courses can be found on the University of St Andrews website.
Note that overseas applicants are not eligible to apply for the ScotGEM course.
Application Documents
SELECTION PROCESS
The following is reviewed:
Applicants must have a strong academic record, a positive reference, and relevant, medically-related work experience.
Regarding the personal statement, successful applicants should also be able to show evidence of:
Applicants who meet these requirements will then be rated on their UKCAT global score with those ranking in the top 400 will be invited for an interview. After the interview, the interview score will be combined with the global UKCAT score – it is this combined score which will dictate the decision to make offers.
INTERVIEW
Key points:
Home, EU and overseas students living in Britain will be invited to interview in St Andrews whilst overseas students can be interviewed via phone or Skype.
The interviews are in the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format, which consists of a number of small ‘mini’ interviews which candidates rotate through.
There are 6 ‘mini’ interviews which assess applicants on:
Following the interview, applicants will be given the opportunity to have a tour of the medical school with a current medical student.
ScotGEM (A101)
Interviews will be held at the University of Dundee and will also follow a Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format.
For 2017 entry to the 6-year programme, there were 773 Home/EU applications to the A100 6-year course of which 397 were invited to interview. There were 185 overseas applicants of which 28 were interviewed. This does not include any overseas applicants who were on the International Foundation for Medicine at St Andrew's.
In the Guardian University Guide 2018 for Medicine, St Andrews ranks 17th.
In the Complete University Guide 2018 for Medicine, St Andrews ranks 20th.
The QS World University Rankings 2017 places St Andrews within the top 301-350 universities for Medicine.
In partnership with the University of Edinburgh and the University of Alberta, St Andrew’s offers the A990 course. This course involves spending a proportion of the course at all three universities, with students being eligible to apply for residency programmes in Canada upon completion of the course.
Course content:
Canadian applicants are eligible to apply for both the A100 and A990 programme. Both programmes follow the same course in St Andrews.
Students, therefore, spend the first 3 years working towards a BSc (Honours) medicine from the University of St Andrews. Phase 2 will be spent at the University of Edinburgh where students will complete their clinical training. Whilst at Edinburgh, students will also spend time on placement at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (FoMD) at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. Students will spend 16 weeks in Edmonton towards the end of the end of their training.
The attachment includes:
Following graduation, students will be eligible for residency training programmes in Canada.
The grade requirements for all Canadian applicants are the same – regardless of whether they are applying for the A100 or the A990 course.
If taking the High School Diploma:
Regarding SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Tests) and ACT (American College Testing) tests:
Applicants are required to sit the UKCAT and are subject to the same scoring process as other applicants.
APPLICATION DEADLINES
Canadian applicants who are ‘Overseas’ can apply for either the A990 or A100 programme not both.
If applying for the A100 programme, students follow the exact same process as other ‘Overseas’ students where there are 20 places for on the course. Regarding the course structure, students spend 3 years at St Andrews followed by 3 years at the University of Manchester (note that these applicants should select the A100 campus code R (England) on the UCAS form.
With regards to the A990 programme, there are 20 places for Canadian citizens or those who are domiciled in Canada with permanent residence rights. These students will complete Phase 2 at the University of Edinburgh once they have gained their BSc (Honours) in Medicine at St Andrews.
For 2016 entry on to the Canadian programme, there were approximately 81 applications for the 20 places available.