Medicine and Surgery with a Gateway Year

This course offers a route into medicine for those who do not meet the standard grade requirements and who meet specific Widening Participation criteria.

Medical students practicing on a manequin

Academic eligibility for Medicine and Surgery with a Gateway Year

The first stage of the application process is to check whether you meet our academic entry requirements.

We do not accept applications from those who are studying or have studied for a degree or an Access qualification.

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Non-Academic eligibility for Medicine and Surgery with a Gateway Year

Alongside academic qualifications, we review domicile status, English language proficiency, and any contextual information provided to ensure applications are reviewed fully and fairly.

To be eligible for Medicine and Surgery with a Gateway Year, you must meet at least two of our Widening Participation criteria.

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University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)

The second stage of the application process requires you to sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT).

Registration for the UCAT is separate from the UCAS application process. The test must be taken in the summer before application.

Registration typically opens in May with bookings open from June. The testing window runs from July to September. Those wishing to take the test must register for an account in order to access bookings.

The cost of taking the UCAT is £70 in the UK and £115 for those living in other countries. Applicants may be eligible for the UCAT Bursary and Access Arrangements, which must be applied for and arranged prior to booking a test.

You can find more information on the UCAT website.

Applicants who meet our academic requirements will be ranked according to their overall UCAT score. Invitations to interview will be made based upon this ranking. We will give preference to applicants with an SJT score in bands 1-3.

The UCAT consists of four separately timed subtests in multiple-choice format:

  • Verbal Reasoning: assesses your ability to critically evaluate information presented in a written form
  • Decision Making: assess your ability to make sound decisions and judgements using complex information
  • Quantitative Reasoning: assesses your ability to critically evaluate information presented in a numerical form
  • Situational Judgement: measures your capacity to understand real world situations and to identify critical factors and appropriate behaviour in dealing with them

UCAT has produced a number of resources aimed at helping you to prepare for the test, including tutorials for the different subtests as well as question banks to practice and familiarise yourself with the test.

UCAT recommends that candidates should "use the free official preparation materials to support their test preparation". All of the resources on the UCAT webpages are free to access.

Interview

Stage three of the application process is the interview stage.

Applicants who meet our requirements and score competitively on their UCAT will be invited to interview, held in January and February.

Applicants will complete a number of different 'stations' which assess some of the skills, values and attributes required to study and practise medicine successfully.

Each station is assessed by a trained interviewer, including university staff, NHS clinicians, GPs, patient and public representatives, and medical students.

Applicants will be ranked based on their overall MMI score, which is calculated by combining individual station scores. Offers will be made to the highest scoring applicants. No offers are made without attending an interview.

Fitness to practise

Finally, you will be assessed on your fitness to practice.

The professional body that governs medical practice in the UK, the General Medical Council (GMC), has specific requirements to protect staff and patient safety. In accordance with these requirements, all medical students must have the ability to function as a fully competent doctor and fulfil the rigorous demands of professional fitness to practise.

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Resit and reapplication

GCSE (or equivalent) resits

We are able to consider GCSE resits without exceptional circumstances where the required grade(s) have been achieved within two attempts (i.e. first sitting then one resit).

A level (or equivalent) resits

We do not normally accept applications from applicants who have taken longer than two years to meet the A Level requirements, unless they can evidence that they have missed the majority of a year of study through exceptional circumstances.

For further guidance, please contact us at medicine@lancaster.ac.uk.

Reapplications

We do not accept reapplications from candidates who were unsuccessful after interview in a previous cycle. However, if you were rejected before interview, you may reapply if you can demonstrate additional work experience and self-reflection.