How to apply for medicine (MBBS)
Thinking about applying to study medicine at the University of Central Lancashire? We have put together some guidance to help you with your application.
This page covers everything you need to know when applying for our Medicine & Surgery (MBBS) programme, including:
Before you apply for MBBS
Think clearly about why you want to become a doctor and write a list of your reasons. It would be good to get these across in your application.
Where do you want to study? Whichever university you apply to, make sure you visit it, talk to the students and have a good look around the campus and city. Five years is a long time.
Try to get some experience in a care environment. This might be work shadowing in a hospital, hospice or GP surgery but could also be time assisting in a care home or other care organisation. It’s good to see what being a healthcare professional is really about. If you’ve tried applying for work experience and just cannot get any, then don’t worry. Think about doing some voluntary work or some community related work.
If you have any questions before or during your application, feel free to contact MBBS Admissions via email.
Things to think about
Other choices
Don’t worry about applying to other universities and being judged for any of your other choices. It doesn’t matter if you also apply for a non-medical degree, as long as you can show a strong case for medicine.Taking a gap year
If you want to take a gap year then do so. Universities welcome students with diverse interests and a variety of experiences. It enrich everyone's experience.Your background
University selectors are not influenced by whether your parents are doctors, or what type of school you come from. They're focused on you as an individual.Be positive
Be positive about your strengths and share everything with us. If you get an interview, be confident and relax; it's your chance to showcase yourself. Don't be too shy to ask questions.
How to apply
UK applications are made via UCAS. UK medical school applications need to be submitted by October the year before entry. If you’re applying for September 2024, you will need to submit your application by 16 October 2023 at 6.00pm.
International applications can be made via UCAS or direct via our application portal. We accept direct applications throughout the year. However, you should apply as early as possible so that we can process your application in good time.
Step 1: Initial application assessment
Your application will be assessed against both academic and non-academic set criteria. For UK students, your University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) will be taken into consideration too. You can find out more about admissions tests on the UCAS website.
Step 2: Interview selection
Your personal statement and academic reference will be evaluated and scored to determine if you will be offered an interview.
Step 3: Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) and School facilities tour
The interview stage takes place between December and April each year. This usually consists of a multi-station MMI. For those interviews taking place at our Preston Campus you will also have the opportunity to take a guided tour of the School facilities.
For more information see the interview section in this guide.
Step 4: Offers and feedback to applicants
Offers are made based on performance at interview. If you're successful at interview, you'll need to do an occupational health screening as part of the enrolment process.
A satisfactory enhanced DBS check, in country police check and a satisfactory health check will be required at enrolment. The University reserves the right to check any application form submitted against the Excluded Student Database. We also reserve the right to add students details to the database if deemed necessary.
Our MBBS has a limited number of places available for UK students
Places for students from North West England
If you're a UK student, you'll only be eligible to apply for our MBBS if you currently live in North West England. This includes Lancashire, Cumbria, Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester. If you take one of these places, you'll need to pay undergraduate tuition fees as normal. Your UCAT performance will be considered as part of your application.
Four places for MBBS scholarships
We have four places available for those who receive the Mackenzie, Dr Kate Granger or Livesey Scholarships.
There are several stages to the MBBS admissions process:
We will assess your application against both academic and non-academic set criteria. Please make sure your application form is as comprehensive as possible.
You'll need to write a personal reflective statement as part of your application. The personal statement is a key element of the admissions process. Our Admissions Team have put together some guidance on how to write this in line with our set criteria. You can find this in the personal statement section of this page.
You'll also need to make sure you include all the supporting information for your application. This includes:
- Your academic qualifications where available.
- Copies of your IELTS qualification (or equivalent) if needed
- At least one reference, which must include an academic reference. This should also include predicted grades if you haven't finished your qualification yet.
- A letter confirming any work experience, job shadowing, or volunteering you've done.
If applying via UCAS, you will need to send these via email to our Admissions Team. Please quote either your UCAS or UCLan ID.
If you're invited to interview, you'll need to complete a transferable skills statement.
If you're applying for September 2024 entry, you'll need to take the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT). The test assesses your ability and aptitude in a range of areas. This includes verbal, quantitative and abstract reasoning. It also tests your decision making and situational judgement. You can find out more information on the UCAT website, including a free practice test.
Please makes sure you look at the testing dates available so you can complete the test in good time. You UCAT score will help us decide who is offered an interview. The threshold score will be set based on the scores of those applying in each cycle and will not be known beforehand. The UCAT result is only valid for one year
All applications are first read by our Admissions Team to ensure that you meet the minimum academic requirements. If you meet the academic requirements, your application will be given an academic score and passed to our selection panel. If you do not meet these, your application will be rejected at this initial stage. For UK applicants, your UCAT results will be utilised as part of the interview selection process.
If you produce a strong personal statement, using the guidance on this page, you are more likely to be invited to interview. If you have a very low evaluation for any aspect of your application, you are unlikely to be called for interview.
You should make sure that your referee sees the criteria by which your reference will be scored. Please see the reference section on this page. Both you and your referee should address each aspect outlined in the guidance. Referees should be aware that we expect to see more than a record of academic achievement. Strong references that highlight your strengths in the specified areas are more valuable than basic "school report" style references.
If you're invited for interview, you'll take part in our Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). You will not be made an offer without an interview. The interviews are usually held at our Preston Campus between December and April. For international students, we may interview in other locations across the world.
Once all the interviews are complete, applicants who succeed in the MMI stations will be ranked by their scores. Offers will be given to the highest-ranking applicants until we fill all the available spots. A small number of applicants who perform exceptionally well at interview may be made an early offer.
If you're successful at interview, you must go through health screening during the enrolment process. This includes checks for tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, and HIV. Failing the health screening won't stop you from studying the MBBS, but it may affect how you study and your ability to practise as a doctor.
Further details are available on the General Medical Council’s website.
Personal statement for MBBS
You should look at your personal statement in the same way as a job application. You should use it to provide evidence that you have the qualities required by a trainee doctor. Don't tell us what you think you're good at. Instead, give us examples of things you've done that show us what you're good at.
We assess applications on the basis that observation does not mean experience. So you should avoid giving us a great deal of detail about time spent shadowing doctors. We want to know what you have done and what qualities you have demonstrated. In your personal statement, focus on what you've gained from your work experience or how you've reflected on it. We don't want a detailed account of what you observed during your work experience.
Your personal statement should have specific details that show if your experience was relevant or useful. Since there's not much space, only include things related to this unless another university asks for something else.
Your personal statement should cover the following:
Tell us why you want to study medicine, especially if this is a new direction for you.
A well-defined understanding of the role of a doctor is an important part of your personal statement. In your personal statement you should explain what you understand the role of a doctor to be and why you wish to train for a career in medicine.
You must clearly describe what you have done to come to this decision. Examples could include shadowing a doctor or talking to doctors. Or learning from personal or other experiences of being a patient.
In your personal statement use your experience to explain why you want to be a doctor. The rest of your statement should show that you have the characteristics, skills and values to make you a successful doctor.
Practical experience in a caring role is essential to understanding what a career in medicine involves. Getting experience in this area through work or volunteering can happen in different ways. This could be helping with community care projects or becoming involved in a more clinical setting.
You must provide examples from experiences that show the characteristics, skills and values required by a doctor. Claiming to have these attributes without providing evidence will not be enough.Active involvement in assisting underprivileged, sick, disabled, or distressed individuals is highly valuable. It can help you gain experience for a future career in caring. Other valuable experiences can involve handling demanding situations. Or going above and beyond your basic duties to assist someone at work.
If you have taken paid employment, you may use examples from your interactions with people at work. Especially if you have experience in a role involving personal interaction.
In your personal statement, you must mention how often and for how long you've been doing the described activity. You also need to say why you chose to do it, what your responsibilities were or are, and most importantly, what you've learned from it.
For example:
"During the last six months I spent one morning a week in a care home, where I took responsibility for feeding three elderly residents. I learned that it takes a long time. One of the residents would not co-operate without a lot of coaxing and another had difficulty swallowing following a stroke. I learned to feed very slowly. I can now share experiences with the families and other carers to improve the feeding experience of the residents."
In other examples you might be able to show the benefits of your intervention to the recipient. This could be progress made by a child with reading difficulties as a result of work you have done with them.
There is no value in writing something such as:
"Working in an elderly care home for six months showed me the importance of respecting each resident as an individual."
You must clearly describe how the experience taught you this lesson and how you applied it in practice. For instance, how you showed respect for residents as individuals. Be aware that we may ask for confirmation from the organisation where you gained work experience.
A career in medicine can be enormously rewarding. It can also be challenging, frustrating and distressing at times. During their career a doctor has to keep up to date with innovation, cope with uncertainty and respond rapidly to change.
You must demonstrate a healthy work-life balance in your personal statement. This will show us your capability to handle diverse and, at times, conflicting time demands. It also provides evidence of your ability to cope effectively.
You must show that you can connect with the world around you and make your own choices and decisions. This may include examples of leadership, responsibility, enterprise or ingenuity. These examples may come from activities in the community, workplace or an academic environment.
Taking part in activities like community groups, church events, sports clubs, or bands is valuable. However, it's important to show how you also relax and enjoy your free time, instead of just listing your achievements and worthy causes.
We are aware that different kinds of opportunities are open to different individuals so will look at all kinds of activities.
In your personal statement, you can earn recognition by showing how your own ideas and actions made a positive impact. This is beyond just academic accomplishments.
Examples of contributions in this category could be:
- Establishing clubs or societies
- Organising fund-raising
- Community activities
- Awards or prizes
- Evidence of achievement in a previous career
If your effort was a success, be sure to show proof of it too. For example:
"While in my final year I found many other students were interested in photography, so I set up a club that meets twice a term. I organised outside speakers and competitions to be judged by the school governors. There is now a thriving club with about 20 regular attendees."
We can only give you recognition if you write clearly about your own contribution. We'll also give you recognition if you've shown commitment outside of the academic environment in any area of interest. This might relate to charitable work as well as sport, music or hobbies.
You can show your commitment in several ways. This could include:
- Passing exams or tests, such as music grades
- Completing tough challenges. such as the Duke of Edinburgh or a similar national award
- Taking on important roles, or participating in significant events
You should use these examples to tell us how much time and effort has gone into your commitment. We need proof that the activities required an exceptional level of commitment. Without this, we cannot give extra credit. No credit will be given for simply listing interests.
A medical career requires teamwork and you need to understand the doctor's role within a healthcare team. Your personal statement should also show how you would contribute to effective teamwork. You can show examples of team-working in many different experiences, both in and out of the academic environment.
In your personal statement you must show how you have contributed to a team, either as a leader or as a member. You must provide a credible account of the outcome of your contribution to the team.
For example, you'll not gain credit for stating that you passed a Duke of Edinburgh award. But you are likely to gain credit if you can give an example of how you worked as part of a team during a Duke of Edinburgh event.
Effective communication is an essential skill for a career in medicine. You must give examples of any experience you have in communicating with different groups. You should provide an example of a task where you have been able to exhibit good communication skills.
Examples of good communication are not limited to public speaking. However, they should be from contact with people beyond your usual peer group. You'll receive the most credit if you can give a specific example of effective communication. This could be feedback or the conclusion of the communication scenario you've discussed.
We assess applications based on the quality of writing. Avoid careless mistakes in spelling, grammar, and punctuation, as they can impact your score. Be thoughtful about how you present your personal statement. Avoid unnecessary abbreviations or technical details that don't add value. For example listing the names of operations you observed during hospital shadowing.
Please make sure you tell us if you have made any exceptional achievements or had to overcome exceptional difficulties. It is helpful if these statements are backed up by your referee.
Reference for MBBS
In your reference, we want to know what your referee thinks about you as a whole person. We don't just want to know about your academic achievements and potential.
Your reference is likely to be written by your head teacher, college principal, head of year or form tutor.
If you're not currently in school or college, you should approach an academic supervisor whenever possible. A ‘character reference’ is not enough. Please ensure that whoever is writing the reference sees a copy of these guidelines.
The areas in which we require information from your referee are listed below:
Your commitment to medicine can be demonstrated in many ways. The length of time that you have been committed to a career in medicine is an aspect of this. But it's important that your reference explains any roles you have taken on that confirm your commitment to medicine. This could be work or volunteering experience in a caring role.
It would be helpful to show your awareness of the realities, advantages and disadvantages of a medical career. If you have work or volunteering experience in other fields that convinced you they're not the right fit, your referee can mention that here.
Your reference should provide an understanding of your interest and enthusiasm for a career in medicine. You should not be discourage if your interest in a career in medicine has begun later in life. A reference can assist applicants whose interest and dedication to medicine developed later. This could be relatively late in your school career, or as a graduate or other later applicant.
Effective communication is essential to the practice of medicine. Good communication begins with listening. We want to know more about how you get along with others, especially students who may struggle more or are younger than you. We're also interested in how you handle feedback. This information is just as important as your class participation and extracurricular activities.
Your referee should talk about your ability to be empathetic and about your suitability to work in a caring profession. They should also discuss how you see yourself in your school and community, or for later applicants, in your workplace or higher education.
We'd like your referee to share examples of when your readiness to take on responsibilities and how well you handle them.
Your intellectual potential is not just shown by your actual or predicted grades. It is important for your referee to tell us about late academic developers. For example the student who achieved a less than perfect score but is likely to blossom during upcoming examinations. We also welcome other evidence of intellectual potential beyond the ability to pass exams.
You can show good teamwork skills in various situations, not just in sports. Your referee should talk about your involvement in social activities or charity work. They may wish to discuss your membership in groups like choirs or orchestras. Your ability to work well in teams during field trips, expeditions, or treks is also important. They should mention examples where you showed leadership. However, remember that part of successful teamwork is recognising that not everyone has to be the leader.
Mitigating circumstances refer to situations or events that give an explanation for someone's performance. Typically, these situations are beyond their control. They have most likely affected their abilities or decision-making skills.
Your referee should tell us about any mitigating circumstances that might have influenced you. This is not just your grades but any part of your application. If you had tough times during your exams, your school or college should inform the exam boards right away. This is so they can make appropriate allowances.
If any mitigating circumstances are mentioned in your reference, we will assess these. If we think they should be formally considered, we'll contact your referee for more information.
Interviews for MBBS
The interview stage takes place between December and April each year. This usually consists of a multi-station Multiple Mini Interview (MMI). For those interviews taking place at our Preston Campus you will also have the opportunity to take a guided tour of the School facilities.
A Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) is an interview technique used by many medical and health related schools. You'll go through short independent assessments in different stations. There are usually between six to ten.
Further information for MBBS
Our School values the positive impacts of disabilities and diversity on our MBBS programme. We welcome and encourage applications from all students. We offer guidance on diversity and disability, which you should look at before filling out your application.
You must list all completed and certified qualifications in your application. This includes ones you have failed. If you have uncertificated A Levels, mention this in your personal statement or reference. Deliberately hiding qualifications will result in your application being cancelled. We'll also notify UCAS about it.
We might need to request more information if there are gaps in your education and/or employment record. You will get a deadline for responding to such a request. Failure to reply by the deadline will result in the rejection of your application.
We can only assess your application on the information you provide in your direct or UCAS application. This will be used to select candidates for interview. Offers of places will be made solely on the basis of performance at interview.
We reserve the right to reject applications that are incomplete. Any application submitted without a completed reference will be automatically rejected.
If you fail to achieve a place on the MBBS programme you may only make one further consecutive application to the programme.
Contact MBBS admissions
If you have any questions or worries, feel free to get in touch with us.
Related links
SubjectMedicine
CourseMedicine & Surgery, MBBS
ArticleBecoming a doctor in the UK