St Mary’s University’s newly opened School of Medicine will use the University of Central Lancashire’s Bachelor Medicine Bachelor Surgery (MBBS) curriculum to teach its new cohort of students.
Based at Twickenham in London, St Mary’s University opened its new School of Medicine on Tuesday 29 October 2024, after the General Medical Council (GMC) provided assurance that it is currently on track and making good progress towards required standards for medical education.
St Mary’s will initially be recruiting international students and plans to welcome its first cohort in September 2026.
A new curriculum partnership between the two universities means the University of Central Lancashire can act as St Mary’s University’s contingency partner throughout the GMC accreditation process. It also enables St Mary’s to use the University of Central Lancashire’s MBBS curriculum in the development of its School of Medicine.
St Mary’s say the partnership with the University of Central Lancashire will add much-needed technical expertise, alongside a proven, successful, and progressive curriculum.
"When the University of Central Lancashire opened its new medical school, my team had the unique opportunity of writing a curriculum from scratch that would be fit for the long-term future."
— Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Cathy Jackson
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Health and Campus Development) Professor Cathy Jackson was the Founding Head of the University of Central Lancashire’s Medical School. She joined the institution in 2014 to set up the university’s medical school and led the team through to full accreditation of the programme by the General Medical Council.
Professor Jackson said: “Opening a brand-new medical school will present St Mary’s University with the ability to teach the next generation of professionals in a modern way.
“When the University of Central Lancashire opened its new medical school, my team had the unique opportunity of writing a curriculum from scratch that would be fit for the long-term future.
“The University of Central Lancashire’s Medical School will now support St Mary’s new medical school as it’s contingent partner as it progresses through all the stages to full GMC accreditation, and I’m delighted they’ll now deliver the curriculum we created to their new cohort of students.”
"Opening a brand-new medical school will present St Mary’s University with the ability to teach the next generation of professionals in a modern way."
— Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Cathy Jackson
The GMC oversees both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education and training in the UK. Any institution looking to establish a new medical school or training programme must demonstrate that it meets the GMC’s standards by being subject to an extensive period of quality assurance.
St Mary’s University is pleased to have been granted permission to move to the next phase of its School of Medicine and will be submitting further evidence to the GMC as it works towards the final timetable.
The School of Medicine at the University of Central Lancashire has been training doctors since 2015, offering over two hundred places each year for international students on its Bachelor Medicine Bachelor Surgery (MBBS) programme.