Graduate Entry Medicine MBChB
Applications for September 2024 are now closed.
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Course Summary
Applications for this course for 2025 entry can be made by Home/UK and International students through UCAS by 18:00 on 15 October 2024.
The University of Chester's medical degree is a four-year, graduate entry MBChB programme, open to applicants with a previous degree in any discipline. Unlike many traditional MBChB degrees, this allows more mature students to consider becoming a doctor after having completed a previous course of study towards a graduate degree. For example, even if you have a first degree in the arts, humanities or languages but would now like to study medicine, you are eligible to apply. We welcome people from a wide variety of backgrounds who wish to pursue a degree in graduate entry medicine in the UK, not just those with a background in science or allied health care disciplines.
Our medicine programme has been designed to provide you with the underpinning scientific and clinical knowledge, skills and professional behaviours required of a 21st-century doctor. The course is structured into a series of core university and health and care placement blocks, which gradually introduce and prepare you for working with complex situations and more independently as a Foundation Doctor.
You will meet patients right from the early part of the course and this, plus our case-based learning approach, placements and simulation, provides a continuing focus on patient care. A strength of the University of Chester MBChB programme is the longitudinal integration of core themes throughout all four years of the course. This spiral curriculum approach integrates the introduction and consolidation of knowledge and skills appropriate to each stage of the course.
Community and primary care placements and hospital-based teaching provide a rich experience within a variety of settings across our region with a diversity of patient groups. Clinical exposure increases as you progress through the course, with placements in primary, community and secondary care settings and across clinical specialties on a rotational basis in Years 2, 3 and 4. Academic blocks and days are integrated throughout these years, offering opportunities for additional teaching, support, and consolidation of learning.
Student Selected Components (SSC) run throughout the four years of the programme. You can choose from a range of options, each of which has broad relevance to the core MBChB curriculum and enables you to explore a particular topic in greater depth.
As a new medical school, we are required to undergo quality assurance by the General Medical Council (UK) to ensure that our medical education is of a high standard and that we meet the requirements for all UK medical schools set out in the document, “Promoting excellence: standards for medical education and training”. The GMC's quality assurance process has several stages, culminating in approval for a new medical school to award a Primary Medical Qualification (PMQ). Chester Medical School is progressing through the stages of the GMC approval process and have agreed the 2024 commencement date with the GMC. As a graduate of the University of Chester's MBChB programme, you will be eligible to provisionally register with the General Medical Council (providing you meet all the GMC's Fitness to Practice requirements) and apply for Year 1 of the UK Foundation Programme (UKFPO). Places on the UKFPO are competitive and subject to you meeting all the eligibility criteria.
To avoid any risk to students enrolled on a new medical programme, each new medical school is mandated to have a contingency school. The contingency arrangement ensures that students are able to continue and complete their course of study in the unlikely event of a failure in the provider’s programme. The University of Chester's contingency school is Warwick Medical School.
What You'll Study
The aim of Year 1 is to equip you with the core knowledge, practical and clinical skills needed to get the most out of the intensive clinical placements in the rest of the course. The first year is therefore mainly provided as university-based teaching in the Wheeler Building on our Chester campus. Your learning is organised into five blocks of five weeks each. In each block, you will learn the biomedical, psychosocial and clinical knowledge and skills through a combination of lectures, case-based learning (CBL), practical sessions and simulation and clinical skills sessions, delivered in our state-of-the-art simulation facilities. You will learn with, alongside and about other health professionals, reflecting the interprofessional nature of our health and care programmes. You will meet patients early in the medical programme and be prepared for this through a combination of simulated patient encounters and clinical skills training.
MODULE
• Foundations of Science and Medicine (120 credits)
Year 2 is divided into three main blocks of teaching: Advanced Cases 1: You will spend approximately four days per week working with advanced clinical cases in group work and self-study with focused plenary lectures, as well as undertaking a student selected project (SSC I), and a day per week in clinical settings undertaking related clinical learning with patients in hospital and community settings. The Core Clinical Education block comprises three ten-week clinical placements in General Medicine, Surgery and other specialties. You will also undertake placements in General Practice (Family Medicine) and Community Psychiatry. In this block, you will spend most of your time in the clinical environment, building upon the theoretical material learned in earlier years. Student Selected Components (SSCs) will run throughout the year.
MODULE
• Core Clinical Education and Principles of Clinical Practice
The majority of teaching in Year 3 is based in regional community settings, general practice and NHS hospitals. Your Year 3 Student Selected Component (SSC) will run throughout the year and will include an opportunity to undertake a research project in an area which interests you. Advanced Cases 2: You will work with advanced clinical cases in group work and self-study with focused plenary lectures for approximately two days per week, and in clinical areas for three days per week undertaking related clinical learning with patients in the relevant hospital or community setting. Cases are designed to consider various patient care pathways (e.g. cancer, frailty, dementia) in primary and secondary care. Specialist Clinical Placements: These six-week placements cover eight specialties, six of which are undertaken in Year 3 and two in Year 4. Each student will undertake these in a rotation; therefore, scheduling varies according to student group.
MODULE
• Speciality Training Preparation for Practice 1
Year 4 is designed to prepare you for the national Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) and for working as a Foundation doctor. In the final year, you will finish the last of your specialist clinical placements, followed by the Junior Assistantship where you will rotate through acute medical and surgical specialties and primary and community care. After a consolidation period and the national examinations, you will undertake an elective in the UK or overseas to explore an area of interest, and finish the year with the Assistantship, working with Foundation doctors prior to you starting your first Foundation post.
MODULE
• Speciality Training Preparation for Practice 2
MB ChB Graduate Entry Medicine at Chester Medical School
Case-Based Learning
Case-based learning (CBL) is central to the MBChB curriculum. It mirrors the way experienced doctors learn throughout their professional lives, by putting knowledge in the context of how people present with health concerns and conditions. Throughout the four years, you will work in small groups facilitated by a tutor to explore and analyse a range of clinical cases that will help you to learn all the core information required for you to become a safe, competent, and compassionate doctor. CBL sessions are supported by lectures, seminars, clinical skills sessions and learning opportunities in the community and hospital.
CBL is structured to enable you to integrate the biomedical, psycho-social and clinical sciences with real-world medical problems, helping you to develop team-working, communication and professional skills that are vital to becoming an effective doctor.
Entry Requirements
2:1 honours degree
- At least an upper second class honours (2:1) degree in any subject.
- Candidates with a lower second class degree should hold either a Master's or a Doctoral qualification to be considered.
- In the case of an Intercalated Master's eg. MEng/MPharm, the equivalent of a Pass grade or above at Master's level (minimum 2:2).
- If you are starting or have started the final year of an undergraduate entry degree then you can apply, but please be aware that any offer will be conditional on you achieving a 2:1 or above. Similarly, if you have a 2:2 and are about to commence or you have already commenced a Master’s degree any offer will be conditional on successful award of a Master's degree.
- Meeting the minimum threshold mark in either UCAT, GAMSAT or MCAT. The total score required to secure a place at an MBChB Selection Centre varies year on year and is dependent upon the performance of all applicants. The acceptable threshold score includes a verbal reasoning score at or above the mean for the cohort in the year of application. Please see below for the required marks to join our September 2024 cohort.
- Applicants will be required to provide references to evidence work experience if invited to attend a selection centre: 70 hours (the equivalent of around ten days’) of prior work experience in a healthcare or allied setting, as a volunteer, or in a paid capacity, as a helper to someone with healthcare needs. Evidence of experience working in a healthcare environment can include being a Care Assistant in a care home/hospital, a volunteer in a hospital, visiting someone in their home to care for them, and working in a hospital lab or other healthcare setting. This work experience must have taken place in the 3 years prior to the date of application. Shadowing a doctor/healthcare professional can only count for a maximum of 20 hours against the minimum requirement of 70 hours. Applicants for 2024 entry may apply without the required 70 hours however they must be working towards it. It would then become a condition if an offer was made.
- Applicants must provide one reference from a person (not a relative or friend) who holds/has held a position of responsibility and who can comment on the applicants suitability for studying medicine. If the applicant has been in higher education in the last two years prior to application, an academic reference should be provided.
- At Chester we do not consider applications from those with previous academic failure at medical (or dental) school. For those with other, genuine reasons for needing to leave medical school, we consider these on a case-by-case basis and always contact the previous medical school for confirmation. Entry is only into Year 1 via the standard admissions process.
- All applicants who successfully meet the academic criteria and entry test standards will be required to attend for interview. The interview process lasts approximately one and a half hours and takes the form of six Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs). The detail of the stations will change each year, but all are designed to assess against GMC guidance on ‘Good Medical Practice’. You will be observed and scored at each station by two trained assessors. Assessors come from a range of backgrounds and include medical professionals, academics, current students and lay people with an interest in medical education. On completion of the MMI process, each candidate’s score profile is carefully reviewed to determine which candidates will be made an offer.
- All successful applicants must declare any and all, past or current, health, welfare and conduct issues that may affect an individual's fitness to study medicine and practise as a doctor following successful completion of the course.
- All successful applicants will be required to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), payable by the applicant. International applicants will need to provide evidence from the country they are residing by following the advice provided on the DBS website.
Disclaimer: Please be aware we are not able to give individual feedback from our selection centre process.
The minimum threshold scores vary each year. The table below shows our 2024 admissions threshold which should be used as a guide only and the 2025 admissions thresholds will be updated as appropriate.
UCAT |
GAMSAT |
MCAT |
Overall threshold 2540 |
Overall threshold 60 |
Overall threshold 505 |
Component requirements: Minimum score 570 in Verbal Reasoning section |
Component requirements: Minimum score 50 in Paper 3 (Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences) |
Component requirements: Minimum score 127 in Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills. No section score below 125. |
Occupational Health
You will not be able to be involved with NHS patients in the United Kingdom unless you are cleared by our occupational health (OH) provider, Innovate Health Care.
Before coming to the UK to study medicine, Chester Medical School requires that all students meet the immunisation and screening standards required for working in the National Health Service (NHS) as required by the UK Department of Health.
The first part of the clearance process is the completion of the online health questionnaire. The second part is to ensure that you have received the vaccinations as required by the UK Department of Health.
An appointment with our Occupational Health (OH) provider will be arranged for you at the start of your training and before you undertake any clinical placements.
Attendance at your OH appointment is mandatory, and you will need to show photo ID when you attend your appointment such as a driving licence or passport.
We cannot force you to have a vaccination and there will be some students who are exempt. However, it is unlikely that OH will recommend that you are fit for clinical placements if you have not had the appropriate vaccinations. This may mean that your offer of a place on the programme may be withdrawn.
It is highly recommended that you are immunised against the following if you do not already have immunity to them:
Vaccination | Recommendations |
---|---|
Tetanus, Polio and Diphtheria (combined) | Up to date (childhood record). |
Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) |
This is particularly important to avoid transmission to vulnerable groups. Evidence of satisfactory immunity to MMR is either:
|
Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) | Recommended if staff/students have close contact with infectious tuberculosis (TB) patients. |
Hepatitis B |
|
Varicella (chickenpox) |
Required if staff/students have direct patient contact and:
|
Influenza | The annual influenza vaccine will be offered to students directly involved in patient care. |
Please bring with you any records with details of your immunisations including dates of administration.
Please note that although we do not mandate Covid-19 or influenza immunisation we advise you to have your booster vaccinations to protect you, your colleagues and patients.
Throughout your programme we may need to seek independent advice from our occupational health provider and refer you to their services. This may involve further vaccinations or other appropriate interventions.
It is important that you are truthful when completing your online health questionnaire. Dishonesty is incompatible with training regulated by the General Medical Council and may result in a Fitness to Practise referral.
The University of Chester adheres to the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the GMC Code of Confidentiality.
2:1 honours degree
- At least an upper second class honours (2:1) degree in any subject.
- Candidates with a lower second class degree should hold either a Master's or a Doctoral qualification to be considered.
- In the case of an Intercalated Master's eg. MEng/MPharm, the equivalent of a Pass grade or above at Master's level (minimum 2:2).
- If you are starting or have started the final year of an undergraduate entry degree then you can apply, but please be aware that any offer will be conditional on you achieving a 2:1 or above. Similarly, if you have a 2:2 and are about to commence or you have already commenced a Master’s degree any offer will be conditional on successful award of a Master's degree.
- Meeting the minimum threshold mark in either UCAT, GAMSAT or MCAT. The total score required to secure a place at an MBChB Selection Centre varies year on year and is dependent upon the performance of all applicants. The acceptable threshold score includes a verbal reasoning score at or above the mean for the cohort in the year of application. Please see below for the required marks to join our September 2024 cohort.
- Applicants will be required to provide references to evidence work experience if invited to attend a selection centre: 70 hours (the equivalent of around ten days’) of prior work experience in a healthcare or allied setting, as a volunteer, or in a paid capacity, as a helper to someone with healthcare needs. Evidence of experience working in a healthcare environment can include being a Care Assistant in a care home/hospital, a volunteer in a hospital, visiting someone in their home to care for them, and working in a hospital lab or other healthcare setting. This work experience must have taken place in the 3 years prior to the date of application. Shadowing a doctor/healthcare professional can only count for a maximum of 20 hours against the minimum requirement of 70 hours. Applicants for 2024 entry may apply without the required 70 hours however they must be working towards it. It would then become a condition if an offer was made.
- Applicants must provide one reference from a person (not a relative or friend) who holds/has held a position of responsibility and who can comment on the applicants suitability for studying medicine. If the applicant has been in higher education in the last two years prior to application, an academic reference should be provided.
- At Chester we do not consider applications from those with previous academic failure at medical (or dental) school. For those with other, genuine reasons for needing to leave medical school, we consider these on a case-by-case basis and always contact the previous medical school for confirmation. Entry is only into Year 1 via the standard admissions process.
- All applicants who successfully meet the academic criteria and entry test standards will be required to attend for interview. The interview process lasts approximately one and a half hours and takes the form of six Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs). The detail of the stations will change each year, but all are designed to assess against GMC guidance on ‘Good Medical Practice’. You will be observed and scored at each station by two trained assessors. Assessors come from a range of backgrounds and include medical professionals, academics, current students and lay people with an interest in medical education. On completion of the MMI process, each candidate’s score profile is carefully reviewed to determine which candidates will be made an offer.
- All successful applicants must declare any and all, past or current, health, welfare and conduct issues that may affect an individual's fitness to study medicine and practise as a doctor following successful completion of the course.
- All successful
- applicants will be required to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), payable by the applicant. International applicants will need to provide evidence from the country they are residing by following the advice provided on the DBS website.
Disclaimer: Please be aware we are not able to give individual feedback from our selection centre process.
The minimum threshold scores vary each year. The table below shows our 2024 admissions threshold which should be used as a guide only and the 2025 admissions thresholds will be updated as appropriate.
UCAT |
GAMSAT |
MCAT |
Overall threshold 2540 |
Overall threshold 60 |
Overall threshold 505 |
Component requirements: Minimum score 570 in Verbal Reasoning section |
Component requirements: Minimum score 50 in Paper 3 (Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences) |
Component requirements: Minimum score 127 in Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills. No section score below 125. |
Occupational Health
You will not be able to be involved with NHS patients in the United Kingdom unless you are cleared by our occupational health (OH) provider, Innovate Health Care.
Before coming to the UK to study medicine, Chester Medical School requires that all students meet the immunisation and screening standards required for working in the National Health Service (NHS) as required by the UK Department of Health.
The first part of the clearance process is the completion of the online health questionnaire. The second part is to ensure that you have received the vaccinations as required by the UK Department of Health.
An appointment with our Occupational Health (OH) provider will be arranged for you at the start of your training and before you undertake any clinical placements.
Attendance at your OH appointment is mandatory, and you will need to show photo ID when you attend your appointment such as a driving licence or passport.
We cannot force you to have a vaccination and there will be some students who are exempt. However, it is unlikely that OH will recommend that you are fit for clinical placements if you have not had the appropriate vaccinations. This may mean that your offer of a place on the programme may be withdrawn.
It is highly recommended that you are immunised against the following if you do not already have immunity to them:
Vaccination | Recommendations |
---|---|
Tetanus, Polio and Diphtheria (combined) | Up to date (childhood record). |
Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) |
This is particularly important to avoid transmission to vulnerable groups. Evidence of satisfactory immunity to MMR is either:
|
Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) | Recommended if staff/students have close contact with infectious tuberculosis (TB) patients. |
Hepatitis B |
|
Varicella (chickenpox) |
Required if staff/students have direct patient contact and:
|
Influenza | The annual influenza vaccine will be offered to students directly involved in patient care. |
Please bring with you any records with details of your immunisations including dates of administration.
Please note that although we do not mandate Covid-19 or influenza immunisation we advise you to have your booster vaccinations to protect you, your colleagues and patients.
Throughout your programme we may need to seek independent advice from our occupational health provider and refer you to their services. This may involve further vaccinations or other appropriate interventions.
It is important that you are truthful when completing your online health questionnaire. Dishonesty is incompatible with training regulated by the General Medical Council and may result in a Fitness to Practise referral.
The University of Chester adheres to the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the GMC Code of Confidentiality.
English Language Requirements
International applicants will be required to submit an English Language test certificate confirming a score of (or equivalent to) IELTS 7.0 with a maximum of two component scores at 6.0 or 6.5. Please note, we do not accept University of Chester in-country English Language Tests for the MBChB course.
Fees and Funding
£9,250 per year (2024/25)
The tuition fees for Home students studying Graduate Entry Medicine in 2024/25 are 9,250 per year.
Graduate Entry Medicine students apply for Undergraduate finance as they can receive the standard package of support including Tuition and Maintenance support.
The regulations provide that eligible students can apply for a tuition loan of up to £5,785 for the first academic year of their course and £5,535 in all other years of the course. Graduate Entry Medicine students are however still required to self-fund the first £3,465 of the tuition charged in their first year. In years two to four of the course, the first £3,715 is paid as part of the income-assessed NHS Bursary.
In year 1 students can apply for a means-tested maintenance loan and supplementary grants from Student Finance England and from year 2 to 4 of the course, as these students can apply for means-tested NHS bursaries, they become eligible for the RRML.
£42,500 per year (2024/25)
The tuition fees for international students studying Graduate Entry Medicine in 2024/25 are £42,500.
Irish Nationals living in the UK or ROI are treated as Home students for Tuition Fee Purposes.
Your course will involve additional costs not covered by your tuition fees. This may include books, printing, photocopying, educational stationery and related materials, specialist clothing, travel to placements, optional field trips and software. Compulsory field trips are covered by your tuition fees.
If you are living away from home during your time at university, you will need to cover costs such as accommodation, food, travel and bills.
The University of Chester supports fair access for students who may need additional support through a range of bursaries and scholarships.
Full details, as well as terms and conditions for all bursaries and scholarships can be found on the Fees & Finance section of our website.
Your future Career
Job prospects
Being a doctor is not just about scientific knowledge, you must develop both professionally and personally throughout your career. The Professionalism and Personal Development strand runs throughout our curriculum with this in mind. Important aspects that you will explore include
- Teamworking
- Managing change and uncertainty
- Managing complexity
- Patient safety, including understanding how medical errors occur
- Leadership and management
- Time management and task prioritisation
- Becoming an effective teacher
- Managing your own wellbeing, developing resilience to stress
- Reflective thinking
- Learning to learn effectively
Careers service
The University has an award-winning Careers and Employability service which provides a variety of employability-enhancing experiences; through the curriculum, through employer contact, tailored group sessions, individual information, advice and guidance.
Careers and Employability aims to deliver a service which is inclusive, impartial, welcoming, informed and tailored to your personal goals and aspirations, to enable you to develop as an individual and contribute to the business and community in which you will live and work.
We are here to help you plan your future, make the most of your time at University and to enhance your employability. We provide access to part-time jobs, extra-curricular employability-enhancing workshops and offer practical one-to-one help with career planning, including help with CVs, applications and mock interviews. We also deliver group sessions on career planning within each course and we have a wide range of extensive information covering graduate jobs .