Admissions Frequently Asked Questions
Read our most frequently asked questions.
There is no upper age limit. There is a lower age limit: students need to be 18 years of age by the start of the first term.
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UCL considers both the total UCAT score and the Situational Judgement Test (SJT) to rank candidates and shortlist for interview.
2024/2025 was the first year that UCL used UCAT for selecting candidates to interview and so we have no historical data to provide. Please see our Selection Procedure to see the average UCAT score for those applying to UCL as well as the scores that achieved an interview. Please do remember that the lowest score that achieves an interview each year will depend upon the number of applicants, spread of scores and number of interviews that take place, and will likely vary from year to year.
In 2025, Abstract Reasoning will be withdrawn from the test. The test will comprise 3 cognitive subtests (Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning) alongside the Situational Judgement Test. The total cognitive subtest score will therefore be out of 2700 rather than 3600.
Applicants should ensure that their applications are complete and accurate before submission to UCAS. All qualifications taken should be listed – you should not omit qualifications or other pertinent information. Applications will not be reconsidered once a decision has been made.
You may not attach additional documents to the UCAS application and should not send unsolicited material directly to the Admissions Officers. If we require additional information (such as extra references, further details about work experience placements) then we will contact you directly.
If you are currently studying at school or college, a teacher or tutor from that school/college should provide your reference. Your school may have a policy that one teacher who knows you well will provide the reference, or a head teacher or head of sixth form may collate information from all of your teachers in order to provide a reference.
Graduate applicants should approach their personal tutor or another tutor from their university who has taught them, perhaps during tutorials, or has supervised a research project, as part of their degree programme. Graduates should note that we do not consider it appropriate to provide a UCAS reference from their school – the reference should be from the university.
If you are taking a gap year, you should approach your former school or college to request a reference. If you have been out of education for some years and are applying as a mature student, please be aware that we expect a UCAS reference to be from an academic source – not from a work placement supervisor or employer. You may therefore need to contact your most recent educational institution. If you feel that this will be difficult or that too much time has elapsed since you attended that institution for the reference to be meaningful, we recommend that you contact us via email by the 1st September of the year you are making your application in order to discuss your options.
Please see here for a full list of English language qualifications accepted by UCL.
You need to achieve the ‘Level 4’ grade in whichever test or qualification you choose.
If you are a UK student, or if you have received your secondary education in the UK, then only the GCSE, IGCSE or IB options from the list are acceptable. International students may offer one of the English language tests listed, although IELTS is preferred. The majority of English tests are considered valid for two years.
If you remain unplaced following an unsuccessful decision, you are welcome to reapply. This includes if you have been unsuccessful following interview at UCL Medical School.
You should update your UCAS application and take the BMAT again. It may be inadvisable to reapply if you do not feel that you can strengthen or enhance your application. Taking more than one gap year would be disadvantageous, as would declining an offer to study Medicine elsewhere in order to apply to UCL.
Students are welcome to apply for deferred entry if they would like to take a gap year. Making an application on this basis does not affect your chance of being selected. However requests to defer made after an offer has been made will be considered on an individual basis but are not always granted.
We are not prescriptive about the way in which a candidate spends their gap year. It is up to you to decide how to spend the time. However, it is important that you use the time productively and, while we appreciate that you may not have finalised plans by the time you apply, we would expect you to have undertaken some planning. Certainly, we would expect you to be able to talk about your ideas at interview and to provide further information if we request it.
No, we do not consider students who fail to complete an alternative degree programme. This also applies to students who fail to progress in a medical degree at any medical school.
We appreciate that a candidate's exams may have been adversely affected by extenuating circumstances, but any special consideration must be applied by the Examination Boards via the school. UCL's policy is that such mitigating factors are a matter for the Examination Boards and should be taken into account at the time of the exams rather than retrospectively by the university.
We are not able to accept applications from students wishing to transfer to the Medicine MBBS programme from other courses.
Applications from students who have previously started but not completed a medicine degree at another medical school will not usually be considered. If you had to withdraw from a medicine programme on health grounds, we expect you to return to your previous institution to complete that programme rather than starting at a new medical school.
If you have been prevented from completing another medicine programme by serious events (e.g. war, revolution, forced repatriation), please contact medsch.mbbs@ucl.ac.uk to discuss your circumstances before applying.
Foundation years undertaken at other HE institutions will not be considered in lieu of the stated A Level or equivalent entry requirements.
