Visiting Student Electives
UCL Medical School welcomes international and UK medical students to our electives programme.
Electives for Visiting Students at UCL Medical School
The aim of this programme is to enable visiting students to pursue in depth an area of their own interest, and to gain experience of clinical practice in the UK healthcare system with the same duties and responsibilities as our own medical students. Electives are supported by a clinical supervisor, but driven by the student. Our scheme cannot guarantee that aims and objectives specific to the core curricula of home institutions will be fulfilled.
To be eligible to take up a place at UCL, applicants must have completed a minimum of 3 years of their medical degree programme with a minimum of 12 months clinical training and excluding an intercalated BSc, and must fulfil UCL’s English language requirement which cannot be waived. Additionally students must provide evidence that their home medical school offers a visiting elective programme which is open to UCL students.
Elective placements at UCL enable visiting students to broaden their clinical method and management experience, refine their communication and analytic skills, and continue their professional development. Our electives involve hands-on contact with patients. Objectives are agreed in discussion with the supervising clinician when a student takes up their placement. Timetables are scheduled flexibly and at the discretion of the supervising clinician to include relevant ward rounds, clinical meetings, and (where applicable) observe or assist with clinical procedures. On an ad hoc basis there may be the opportunity to join teaching sessions and seminars arranged for UCL medical students. Please keep in mind that these placements are undertaken in busy clinical services, and staff will try to offer teaching as they can but their clinical work takes priority.
Elective placements may be spent in our associated teaching hospitals: University College London Hospitals; The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust; and The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.
Electives are offered for a minimum of 4 weeks and a maximum of 8 weeks during medical school term dates: 1) September to December, 2) January to April and 3) May to July.
Electives are not available in August. Only one elective period may be spent at UCL by any student.
Students from outside the UK require a Standard visitor visa for study to enter the UK to take up a clinical elective placement.
We have designed our visiting student application process to be as straightforward as possible, seeking to maximise the educational and training value of placements for you, while complying with regulatory and, where applicable, visa requirements. The following sections detail each element of the process. Please keep in mind that many of the requirements for applicants arise from regulations beyond UCL Medical School’s control. Timelines and deadlines have been designed to maximise our opportunity to match your interests to a placement, while ensuring that there is sufficient time to resolve queries arising from your application, and minimise the risk that approval cannot be granted or, when required, a visa cannot be obtained in time for you to take up a placement.
All administration and correspondence is by email to: medsch.visitingelectives@ucl.ac.uk
The Application Form (Part 1) is submitted online and the link to the form will go live at 10am UK time on the opening date. Part 1 enables us to determine whether or not we are able to find a placement that suits your proposed visiting dates and interests, and identify issues that may prevent you from taking up an elective placement with UCL Medical School. We charge an application fee of £100 but the number of placements offered is dependent on your timing and preference of specialty. Some specialties are more popular than others and availability is also dependent on the teaching commitments of departments at certain times of our timetable. Please note that we are unable to guarantee an offer of a placement.
Administration and contacts
Our Visiting Electives manager is part of our team in the Office of the Divisional Tutor and works with the MBBS Tutor for Visiting Electives to manage the programme.
We aim to respond to enquiries within 2 weeks. Please do not seek an update on your enquiry before then as this may delay rather than hasten our response. If a truly urgent matter related to your application arises for reasons beyond your control, and you require a more rapid response, please mark your email as urgent in the subject line.
While we will try to respond as soon as we can, we cannot guarantee to do so more rapidly than for routine correspondence. Please note that late applications will not be treated as urgent, as doing so may disadvantage others who have applied to our visiting electives programme (see 'Application process and timeline’ below). If you do not receive a response after 3 weeks, please contact the Visiting Electives Administrator again. We aim to notify you if a suitable placement has or has not been found for you 6 to 8 weeks after receiving your application.
Emails should be directed to: medsch.visitingelectives@ucl.ac.uk
Fees
We charge an application fee of £100 which is non-refundable. Please ensure that you pay ONLY this fee at the point of application. You are not required to pay the Administration Fee or the Tuition Fee until you receive your provisional offer from the Visiting Electives team.
Fees are paid via the UCL Online Store
(If you are arranging an elective at the IoN/NHNN please do not make payment via this link)
| Placement Duration | Administration Fee (non-refundable) | Tuition Fee (refundable) | Total to Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 weeks | £525 | £400 | £925 |
| 5 weeks | £525 | £500 | £1025 |
| 6 weeks | £525 | £600 | £1125 |
| 7 weeks | £525 | £700 | £1225 |
| 8 weeks | £525 | £800 | £1325 |
Note
If you receive a provisional offer, both the Administration and Tuition Fees should be paid in a single payment up to 4 months before the start of your elective placement.
Administration Fee (non-refundable)
This fee covers verification of documentation, UCL registration, Occupational Health Clearance and EPP testing (where required) including documentation verification for visa compliance, and UCL Medical School certification of completion of the elective.
Tuition Fee (refundable)
This fee is refundable if you withdraw your application or are unable to take up your placement.
Dates and availability of electives
2025-26 Timetable
| Placements within these dates | Applications open | |
| Block 1 | 22 September 2025 – 12 December 2025 | Monday 30th September 2024 - Closing Monday 18th November 2024 5pm |
| Block 2 | 12 January 2026 – 03 April 2026 | Monday 20th January 2025 - Closing Wednesday 5th March 2025 Midday |
| Block 3 | 13 April 2026 – 24 July 2026 | Monday 21st April 2025 |
List of Hospitals and Specialties currently offered
University College London Hospitals
The Royal Free Hospital
The Whittington Hospital
- Accident & Emergency
- Acute Medicine
- AES Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
- Anaesthetics
- Clinical Pharmacology & Therapies
- Dermatology
- Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- General (Internal) Medicine
- General Surgery
- Haematology
- Head and Neck Academic Centre
- HIV
- Intensive Care (with Anaesthetics)
- Nephrology RFH
- Neurosurgery
- Obstetrics & Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Orthopaedics UCLH
- Rheumatology UCLH
- Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics @ UCL
- Surgery (Endocrinology)
- Surgery (head and neck/maxillofacial)
- Surgery (Plastic & Reconstructive)
- Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery
- Urology
- Vascular Surgery
National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square
Visiting electives at Queen Square are arranged directly with the UCL Institute of Neurology and all queries and applications should be addressed to: a.o'regan@ucl.ac.uk
Application process and timeline
The application form has 3 parts.
Part 1
Part 1 enables us to determine whether or not we are able to find a placement that suits your proposed visiting dates and interests, and identify issues that may prevent you from taking up an elective placement with UCL Medical School. You should only submit Parts 2 and 3 of the application form once you have heard from us that we are able to provisionally offer you a placement. Please be aware that English language tests used to evidence fulfilment of UCL’s English language requirement must be have been taken within 2 years of the proposed start date of your placement.
Part 2
Part 2 confirms your eligibility for an elective placement with UCL Medical School, and must be signed by an authorised signatory at your home medical school. Information you provide in Part 3 of your application is used by UCL Workplace Health to determine if they can or cannot clear you for your elective. Please note that Part 1 is on online questionnaire and Part 2 should be sent by email to the Visiting Electives Administrator.
Part 3
Part 3 of your application form contains health information considered confidential to you and UCL Workplace Health, and should be submitted directly to UCL Workplace Health and should not be sent to the Visiting Electives Administrator.
UCL Occupational Health Service: uclstudentoh@ucl.ac.uk.
| 10-12 months prior to the start of each block (Blocks start September, January and April) | Applications open online 10-12 months before the start date for each block You should: Complete and submit Part 1 of the application form (personal details and elective preferences) via the link on the website; make an online payment of the non-refundable initial processing fee via UCL Online Store; provide evidence of your proficiency in English language. |
| 6-8 weeks after application received | Notification of placement and provisional offer You will receive notification either that we have identified an elective placement that meets your requirements or that we have been unable to match your requirements but may be able to offer alternatives. Please note that the Medical School will make every effort to secure a placement for you, but cannot guarantee to match your dates and specialty. If we have found a suitable placement, you will receive a provisional offer by email. You should confirm your acceptance of the provisional offer and download Parts 2 and 3 of the application form. |
| No later than 4 months before the start date for your placement | Payment of Administration Fee and Tuition Fees. You should complete your payment of the non-refundable administration fee and tuition fee, refundable if a placement is not taken up via UCL Online Store so that your application can be processed. Please note that offers cannot be confirmed until fees have been received by UCL. |
| No later than 4 months before the start date for your placement | Submission of documents to the Visiting Electives Administrator. You and your home medical school should complete the Part 2 (Academic Verification) of the application form and return it by email with ALL required documents (in English) to medsch.visitingelectives@ucl.ac.uk Documents required:
Please note that you should submit your application and all documents together. Applications which are submitted with incomplete documentation will be declined. |
| 2 - 4 weeks after submission of documents to Visiting Electives Administrator | Verification and confirmation of documentation. You will receive either: an email from UCL Medical School confirming that your documentation is satisfactory and complete, that OH have confirmed health clearance and that your fee payment has been received or a request for further information if any items need clarification. Your completed and checked application will be passed to the Sub Dean (Electives) for approval. |
| Within 2 weeks of email confirmation of satisfactory documentation | Confirmed Placement Offer. You will be sent email notification that your elective has been approved and that the offer can now be confirmed. The email will include instructions for enrolment with UCL and for taking up your placement. |
| Within 2 days of the email confirming your placement details | Formal letter of confirmation for students requiring a Standard Visitor Visa UCL is the sponsoring institution for the Standard Visitor visa and you will be registered as an UCL student for the duration of your elective. The Medical School will provide you with the formal letter of confirmation when you have satisfactorily completed our application process for registration. Please note that you can only apply for the Standard Visitor Visa 3 months in advance of the elective placement. Please ensure that you have read UCL visa guidance information: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/students/sites/students/files/short-term-student-visa-guidance.pdf We advise you not to book air tickets or incur other costs for your elective until you have received this formal letter of confirmation and are confident that the timing is sufficient for your visa to be issued in time to take up your placement. |
Regulatory and visa requirements
Registration and prior clinical study
Applicants must be full-time registered medical students in good standing at their own medical school who have completed a minimum of 3 years of a medical degree programme (excluding an intercalated BSc) and including 12 or more months of clinical study. The elective period must be a required component of the undergraduate medical degree leading to a qualification from an overseas higher education institution that is recognised as being equivalent to a UK higher education qualification.
English language proficiency
If your first language is not English, UCL requires that you provide recent evidence that your spoken and written command of the English language is adequate for the programme for which you have applied.
The minimum level required to undertake a clinical elective is ‘Standard’.
The level recommended to benefit fully from your clinical elective experience is ‘Advanced’, which is the level required for entry to the undergraduate medicine degree programme at UCL.
UCL’s preferred qualifications are:
- British Council International Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Version)
- Standard level: Overall grade of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each of the subtests.
- Advanced level: Overall grade of 7.5 with a minimum of 6.5 in each of the subtests.
- TOEFL
- Standard level: Score of 92 overall with 24/30 in reading and writing and 20/30 in speaking and listening
- Advanced level: Score of 109 overall 24/30 in reading and writing and 20/30 in speaking and listening
Students who are nationals of a majority English-speaking country* OR have studied for a minimum of 2 years at a medical school in a majority English-speaking country will not be required to submit English language test results. If your current medical degree is not taught in a majority English-speaking country but you can provide evidence (academic reference) that it is taught in English, this will be sufficient.
*Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, or United States of America
Standard Visitor Visa
Applicants who are studying a medicine degree abroad are now permitted to enter the UK on a Standard Visitor Visa for study to take up a clinical elective placement.
For full information on the Standard Visa requirements for a medical elective, please go to the UCL Immigration and Visa website:
Professionalism and Student Code of Conduct
It is a condition of offer and enrolment that students agree, during their placement, to observe all the regulatory and policy requirements that apply to UCL medical students, including:
- A-Z Policies
- See Code of Conduct on our A-Z Polices and Regulations
Accommodation
Students are responsible for arranging their own accommodation and because of the short duration of elective placements, visiting elective students are not eligible to apply to UCL halls of residence.
Occupational health requirements
Health screening and testing for visiting elective students is undertaken by UCL Workplace Health and all queries about health clearance should be submitted directly to the service at uclstudentoh@ucl.ac.uk.
The occupational health requirements are set out in Part 3 of the visiting electives application form. Students must complete and submit Part 3 with all required documentation directly to uclstudentoh@ucl.ac.uk. Part 3 of your application form contains health information considered confidential to you and UCL Workplace Health, and so must be sent directly to UCL Workplace Health and must not be sent to the Visiting Electives Administrator.
Students from countries with a high incidence of TB will be required to have a Quantiferon test as set out in NICE guidelines. Appointments will be arranged by UCL Workplace Health on the first morning and students must attend before joining their placement.
Additionally students who are applying for placements in Renal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Surgery, and Accident and Emergency must obtain clearance for Exposure Prone Procedures (EPP), for which UCL Workplace Health works to UK Department of Health guidelines agreed by Medical Schools Council. Appointments for EPP testing will be made on the first morning of the placement for all students requiring EPP clearance and student must attend before taking up their placement.
Current guidance on EPP is as follows:
Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV
Medical students are required by the Department of Health in the UK to provide evidence that they are not infected with Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) before they can perform EPPs. The Department of Health defines EPPs as “those invasive procedures where there is a risk that injury to the worker may result in the exposure of the patient’s open tissues to the blood of the worker. These include procedures where the worker’s gloved hands may be in contact with sharp instruments, needle tips or sharp tissues (eg. spicules of bone or teeth) inside a patient’s open body cavity, wound or confined anatomical space where the hands may not be completely visible at all times”. Venepuncture, cannulation and suturing are not considered as EPPs.
Please note that in accordance with the Department of Health guidelines, UCL OHW are required to confirm the results of the following tests which were performed abroad, and which will be repeated in the UK, on UK validated blood samples analysed by a CPA accredited laboratory:-
- Hepatitis B surface antigen
- Hepatitis C antibodies
- HIV antibodies
These confirmatory tests must be completed before a medical student is given approval to undertake EPPs. Students may attend an elective placement for which EPP clearance is required, but must not undertake EPPs until UCL Workplace Health has issued a “Health and Exposure Prone Procedure Clearance Form” which you must present to your clinical supervisor.
Please note that some placements require students to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Taking up your place
| Prior to your arrival | Medical School Code of Conduct Please familiarise yourself with UCL Medical School’s Code of Conduct: See Code of Conduct on our A-Z Polices and Regulations Pre - Enrolment Please refer to the below link and select student group based on your level of study and if you'll be home or overseas to receive the correct pre enrolment information: |
| First morning | Occupational health Occupational health appointments take absolute priority. If you have been instructed to attend UCL Occupational Health Services, be sure to attend. If you have any queries, please contact UCL Workplace Health: +44 (0)20 7679 2802 or email uclstudentoh@ucl.ac.uk |
First Morning after 10am UCL ID card collection | UCL Student ID card A UCL student ID card will be issued to you when you have completed enrolment task and booked an ID card issue slot following the link on your confirmation of enrolment email. The booking system will confirm the location of your appointment. Please ensure you have received an email to confirm your enrolment has been completed before you book an appointment. This ID card allows access to UCL buildings including the libraries (reading rights only) and the UCL Union after 5pm. To access UCL services and facilities you will be asked for the card to prove your student status. |
| First morning | UCL email account Once you have enrolled, you will be able to activate your UCL email account: Please go to the ISD Service Desk in the DMS Watson Library to obtain a password for your UCL account DMS Watson Library |
| After ID card collection | Report to your placement Once you have completed all the above, you can go to meet your clinical supervisor and the clinical team in accordance with the placement specific joining instructions sent to you by your supervising consultant. |
Certification of satisfactory completion
If your medical school requires an elective report issued by UCL Medical School, you should download an Elective Report Form and ask your educational supervisor to complete it at the end of your placement. If, additionally, your medical school requires certification of satisfactory completion from UCL Medical School, you should send a copy of your signed report form to medsch.visitingelectives@ucl.ac.uk clearly stating that your require certification of satisfactory completion.
Certificates of Satisfactory Completion are provided in English only and include:
- Date of placement
- Name of supervisor
- Specialty
Confirmation that the student has followed a course of study with the same rights and responsibilities as UCL medical students
Elective Report Form:
If your medical school issues its own report form, you may instead ask your clinical supervisor to complete this at the end of your placement. However, completion of your medical school’s form is at the discretion of your clinical supervisor, and may be declined if it requires assessments beyond those made to complete UCL’s elective report form, or where the information required is already fully covered by UCL’s elective report form.
Self-organised electives arranged directly with NHS Trust clinicians or UCL Academic Divisions and Institutes
Students who arrange elective placements directly with NHS Trusts, UCL Academic Divisions or Institutes outside UCL Medical School’s visiting elective programme, or those run by GOSH, should note that:
- you will not be registered at UCL;
- you will not be covered by UCL insurance policies;
- if from outside the EU, you will still be required to obtain a Short Term Study Visa which is needed to take up an elective place;
- you cannot be granted access to UCL buildings or libraries;
- you will not able to obtain any documentation or signatures certifying attendance at UCL from College authorities.
Clinicians who accept visiting elective students directly should:
- ensure that their Trust clinical negligence indemnity covers them to supervise visiting elective students, beyond those accepted to UCL medical elective programmes;
- ensure that their Trust Human Resources team have undertaken any necessary checks (eg DBS and occupational health) and issued an appropriate contract or agreement to the visiting elective student.
Clinicians who wish to accept elective students through the UCL Medical School Visiting Elective Programme may join at any time by contacting us via medsch.visitingelectives@ucl.ac.uk
Electives organised through Divisions and Institutes
A small number of Divisions/Institutes within UCL organise their own elective schemes separately from the Medical School and students who wish to apply are advised to check Divisional/Institute websites for information about how to apply.
For electives in Neurology, students should contact the Institute of Neurology education team - email a.o'regan@ucl.ac.uk
Applicants and Divisions/Institutes are advised that:
- these electives are independent of the Medical School
- insurance, health and criminal records checks are the responsibility of the Division/Institute
- payment of the elective fees should be made to the Division/Institute and not via the UCL Online
- the certificate of satisfactory completion of these electives can only be issued by the Division/Institute. The Medical School cannot certify satisfactory completion of these electives.
- students from outside the EU must obtain a Short-Term Study Visa either through the Division/Institute or by applying through the Medical School scheme. Students will be entering the UK illegally if they are intending to take up a medical elective having entered with a visitor’s visa
Student Selected Components
Student Selected Components (SSCs) are not currently offered to external students, but students at UK Medical Schools who are interested in undertaking a 4 week SSC at UCL may apply under the visiting elective scheme.
Offers made will be subject to the same terms, conditions and fee rates, and students should ensure that any placement offered satisfies the SSC requirements of their own Medical School.
Erasmus+ and Turing Study Schemes and Funding
- Visiting elective placements are open to EU students but UCL Medical School does not have an Erasmus programme. Please refer to the application process and fee structure above.
- The Turing Scheme, which replaced the Erasmus scheme in the UK, is designed for students to study outside the UK, and so does not apply to the visiting electives programme.
Elective Forms for current applicants:
Documents:
Part 2 - Academic verification
Part 3 - Health and Immunisation verification
Elective Report Form
