Undergraduate Medical School

How do I apply?

All applications must be submitted via UCAS by the October deadline. This is usually the 15th but may change. To keep up to date for your admissions cycle, please see UCAS’ Key Dates Timeline. 

Any application sent to us directly or submitted after the UCAS deadline will automatically be rejected. Additionally, any course substitutions made to the course after the UCAS deadline will be rejected. No exceptions will be made.

How many places are available each year and how many applications do you receive?

Entry to this programme is highly competitive, attracting large numbers of applications from highly qualified and motivated applicants. Additionally, we are required to manage the number of students admitted to our programme in line with targets set by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council, which are set annually.

• We receive in the region of 1700 - 2100 applications per year
• We invite in the region of 800 - 1100 applicants to attend for interview
• We have in the region of 300 - 350 places available per year

Please note numbers are subject to change. Historical admissions data can be found here:MBChB Admissions Data 2022-2025

Can I apply if I'm under 18 years old?

An applicant is welcome to apply at any age providing they meet our minimum entry requirements. Given the rigorous nature of the programme and the application process we would advise any applicant to consider their experience and maturity prior to applying. International applicants who are under 18 years old would need a signed parental consent prior to commencing studies.

How will my application be assessed?

First Stage – UCAS application: Our team look at the UCAS application holistically, considering academic grades, personal statement and references. We do not weight/score sections. If an applicant meets the above criteria, then they are put on hold until UCAT scores are delivered. Applicants who don’t meet the above criteria will be rejected.

Second Stage - UCAT: UCAT scores are sent to the Medical School in early November by the UCAT team. The results are considered the last element of the screening process. The range of UCAT scores varies each year depending on the performance of each admissions cohort. Applicants who meet the UCAT thresholds will be invited to interview. Applicants who don’t meet the thresholds will be rejected.

Third Stage – Interview: Candidates who are being considered further are interviewed between November and February. For further information, please visit our interview section. 

Fourth Stage – Decision: Applicant scores are ranked and those that meet the score threshold will be given an offer. Those that don’t, will be rejected. The range of interview scores varies each year depending on the performance of each admissions cohort. The Medical School aims to process interview decisions on UCAS Track by the end of March. However, this can sometimes extend to the end of April.

Am I eligible for an adjusted/contextual offer?

We operate a system of contextualised admissions for applicants living in Scotland only. This means we consider all circumstances faced by individual applicants, which may have prevented them meeting our standard entry requirements and make adjusted offers of entry accordingly. Please click the link to see if you meet the widening participation criteria: widening participation criteria.

Applicants taking part in REACH / LEAPS do not automatically qualify for an adjusted/contextualised offer. They must also meet one of the widening participation criteria outlined above.

Graduate applicants are not eligible for consideration for contextualised admissions as they have already achieved a Higher Education qualification. Graduate applicants are also ineligible for our Gateway to Medicine programme.

Does the Undergraduate Medical School take extenuating circumstances into consideration?

The Medical School's extenuating circumstances policy differs from the wider university.

We appreciate that a candidate's exam sitting could have been adversely affected by extenuating circumstances, but any special consideration must be applied by the relevant Examination Board, via the candidate’s school or university. Mitigating factors should be taken into account at the time of the exams rather than retrospectively by the Medical School. We will honour grades obtained from successful appeal/re-mark procedures by the applicant’s school (subject to them meeting our minimum entry requirements).

Applicants should notify the Admissions Team by email: med-sch-admissions@gla.systa-s.com of their intention to appeal their exam grades. 

Applicants should also notify the Admissions Team of the outcome of their appeal as soon as possible. If the appeal has not taken place in time for the appropriate administration to take place before the start of the academic year, a deferred offer may be granted for the following year providing the conditions set are achieved.

Please note that submitting evidence does not automatically guarantee extenuating circumstances will be granted.

Can I defer my application?

We consider applications for 1-year deferrals only.

• Option 1: apply via UCAS by the October deadline in your current year (e.g. 2026) but put on your application the deferred year of entry (e.g.2028)

• Option 2: apply the following October (e.g. 2027) for the next September entry (e.g. 2028).

We do not consider applicants who have deferred as lower priority. Please note, all applicants must complete the UCAT by the October deadline date in the same year as application and you must also meet the entry requirements/offer conditions in the year of application.

Any deferral requests made after an offer is made will only be considered in August once all offer conditions have been met. Please note this may have an impact on getting accommodation or CAS (if required). Deferral requests are not guaranteed.

Do I need to submit a reference?

Yes. All applicants are required to provide a suitable reference as part of their UCAS application. The Admissions Team will not directly contact a referee for a missing reference. Nor will we accept a reference submitted separately to the application without prior agreement. Should an applicant have difficulty in finding a suitable referee, we expect them to reach out to the Admissions Team prior to the UCAS deadline to discuss a suitable alternative, med-sch-admissions@gla.systa-s.com.

Applicants currently studying/enrolled on a course, even if just for additional chemistry/biology qualifications, must provide a reference from their current teacher/tutor or equivalent. For pending qualifications, a predicted grade from an appropriate educational professional at your current institution of study must be provided.

Applicants who have been out of study for a while are permitted to supply a work reference instead.

We consider the following to be suitable referees:

• Tutor
• Teacher/ Professor
• Line manager

 We will not consider references from:

• Friends
• Colleagues
• Family
• Self written

Do I need to submit a predicted degree classification?

Yes. All qualifications, including those which are pending and any in which an applicant has been unsuccessful, must be declared in full on the UCAS form.

For pending qualifications, a predicted grade from an appropriate educational professional at your current institution of study must be provided. The Admissions Team will not chase up any applicant who has not applied in full. Nor will they directly contact a referee for a missing reference or predicted grades.

To ensure fairness to all applicants, we do not accept predicted grades sent into us separately OR after the UCAS deadline unless prior approval has been granted by the Admissions Team.

If predicted grades are not supplied at point of application, the application will be rejected. Should there be an issue with being able to supply predicted grades, applicants must contact the Admissions Team to make an alternative arrangement ahead of time, med-sch-admissions@gla.systa-s.com.

Can I, my school or university update my predicted grades at a later date?

No. To ensure fairness to all applicants, we do not consider any updates to predicted grades after the UCAS deadline. All decisions will be based solely on the grades and information provided at point of application. It is up to both the school/university and the applicant to ensure that both parties are aware of the grades submitted. We will not change grades retrospectively or post decision.

If a genuine error has occurred with predicted grades, then please contact the Admissions Team immediately via email: med-sch-admissions@gla.systa-s.com for further assistance.

Can I apply and then make changes to my UCAS application afterwards?

You can make some changes (e.g. add/remove overall qualifications, change qualifications titles etc) after you've applied to your application yourself via UCAS. 

Any other changes will need to be approved by the MBChB Admissions Team. To ensure fairness, any application that has missing information or has not been completed in full at point of submission will automatically be rejected. It is up to the applicant to ensure that all information is correct at point of submission.

To ensure fairness, we do not allow applicants to provide additional references or personal statements. We will only consider the one reference that has been submitted as part of your UCAS application. 

I didn’t submit a personal statement, reference or my predicted grades in my application. Can I send them separately?

No. To ensure fairness, we do not allow applicants to provide personal statements, references or predicted grades separately. It is up to the applicant to ensure that all information is correct at point of submission. Additionally, we will not chase up any applicant who has not applied in full or directly contact a referee for a reference or predicted grades. Any application that has missing information or has not been completed in full at point of submission will automatically be rejected. 

I'm unsure of my fee status. How do I find out?

For information regarding how your fee status is determined, please see: Fee Status.

Applications will be assessed in full before we can decide on your fee status. If your application is successful, we will advise you of your fee status and the fees that you will be liable for in your Offer Letter. I’m afraid the Medicine Admissions team does not make residential category/fee decisions.

If you disagree with your fee status, you will need to contact our Central Admissions team via the Fee Status Enquiry form. The form should be returned to the Recruitment and International Office for determination of your fee status, and we uphold the decision made by them in relation to this.

Please note, you will hold this status during the whole MBChB course; fee status cannot be amended after you matriculate onto a degree programme. Your status must be determined before your unconditional offer is made.

Who can request information about applications?

Due to GDPR rules, we are not permitted to liaise with any individual other than the applicant OR their nominated UCAS contact about application-specific matters.

Will taking a gap year disadvantage my application?

We consider applicants who have taken one or more gap year before applying, providing they meet our standard requirements with qualifications achieved within seven years from the proposed date of entry. It is important to spend gap years wisely. We strongly encourage applicants spend the majority of their time out in a manner which will be of educational benefit. Gaining work experience or becoming involved in a voluntary project relating to care or community work may be useful in developing skills.

Is work experience essential?

No, obtaining work experience in a medical setting is not necessary to study or obtain entry to medicine but it is expected that candidates will have a realistic understanding of what a career in medicine entails and be aware of current issues facing the medical profession. A commitment to caring for others is also expected, which can be demonstrated through voluntary or paid work in a community setting. Any commitment to work experience or similar is expected to last beyond the offer- making stage of the admissions process.

Can I apply through UCAS Extra or Clearing?

Due to the number of applications received, it is unusual for places to be made available through UCAS Clearing or UCAS Extra for Medicine. If places become available later in the admissions process, we may contact applicants who narrowly missed an offer after an interview during that admissions cycle and who are not holding a place at another institution.

I've been rejected. Can I reapply?

Unsuccessful applicants can apply for the MBChB course in future years. All applicants must meet our minimum academic entry requirements for the current admissions cycle (with qualifications obtained within seven years of the proposed entry date). The school will consider a re-application as a “fresh application.” You must re-sit the UCAT test.

Altantively, applicants can undertake another degree and then reapply as a graduate, and we would recommend this for applicants that do not meet our minimum high school entry requirements. We would also encourage applicants to research how each Medical School assesses an application and consider applying to those that play to their strengths. Please also note that if you reapply for admission, you must re-sit the UCAT test.

My offer states I need to 'Pass' the additional qualifications I'm taking. Why?

Candidates are not expected to take more qualifications than our minimum. However, we do ask for a 'Pass' in any additional Highers/Advanced Highers/A-Levels etc. taken to show that an applicant can still maintain good grades if studying multiple subjects together. We would consider a D a pass.

A pass grade for applicants taking a 'crash' Higher in a mandatory subject is a B.

For instance:

• Applicant A is taking AH Chemistry and AH English in S6. Their offer would be BB or BC (if contextual)
• Applicant B is taking AH Chemistry, AH Maths and AH Art in S6. Their offer would be BB Pass / BC Pass (if contextual)
• Applicant C is taking AH English, AH Biology and crash Higher Physics in S6. Their offer would be BBB / BCB (if contextual)