We receive information about nationality and residential status through UCAS. To support this, applicants are recommended to complete our Initial Applicant Survey, which is sent automatically following an application.

Applicants may be required to provide additional information if contacted by email. If incorrect or incomplete information leads to an error in processing an application, then we reserve the right to amend our decision.

Fee status is determined by our Undergraduate Admissions team as a separate process, and so applicants may be required to provide further information at a later stage in the cycle.

All applicants who are applying from outside the UK or who have lived in the UK for less than 5 years at the point of application must demonstrate proficiency in English through one of the following recognised English Language qualifications:

• IELTS (a minimum score of 7.0 with no component less than 7.0) or
• Pearson PTE Academic qualification (at least 70 overall and at least 70 in each communicative skill sub-test)

Please see below for a list of exceptions:

• All applicants who have lived in the UK continuously for 5 or more years at the point of application
• Applicants whose first language is English and have always been a resident and citizen of a majority English speaking country, recognised by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)
• Applicants who have lived and had a significant proportion of their education in the UK, as determined by Lancaster Medical School, but are currently living outside the UK
• Graduate applicants who have completed an undergraduate degree in a recognised UK Higher Education establishment and have been continuously resident in the UK since graduation

This is in addition to our academic entry requirements. We do expect all applicants, including those from overseas, to have studied English as part of their secondary education. In our experience, however, GCSE/IGCSE English Language or English studied at A level/IB does not guarantee that applicants have appropriate ability in English.

Additional notes:

• Applicants must demonstrate their English language proficiency at the point of application. Those who do not include details of their English language proficiency qualification on their UCAS application will not be considered
• English language qualifications must be less than two years old at the time of application, and scores must be achieved in the same test sitting

As part of our commitment to widening access to medicine, we take a holistic approach to reviewing applications and aim to understand as much as possible about our applicants, their circumstances, and their potential.

You will be invited to declare this information in your UCAS application, Initial Applicant Survey (IAS) and Supplementary Information Form (SIF). You may need to provide evidence to support your case including evidence from your school, college, local authority, parent or guardian.

For applicants who are applying for their first degree, contextual information will be taken into account at two stages of the admissions process:

Stage 2: shortlisting for interview based on UCAT scores. Borderline candidates who meet WP criteria may be invited to interview using a lower overall score threshold.

Stage 3: candidates who are successful at interview may be considered for a contextually lowered offer of ABB.

Please note, we currently do not consider contextual information for entry for graduate applicants.

Widening Participation criteria:

• You are or have been in local authority care for three months or more, or considered as Care Experienced, including residing within a secure or children's care home, foster care, and kinship care. Visit our care leavers page for more information.
• You are a refugee.

If you do not meet one of the above criteria, then you must meet two or more of the criteria below:

• You live in a neighbourhood with low participation in higher education or an area of disadvantage (check the Index of Multiple Deprivation, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation or the Office for Students postcode look up tool).
• You live in a low-income household, demonstrated by one of the following:
  • Parent/guardian receives means-tested benefits (e.g. Universal Credit, Job Seekers Allowance)
  • You receive or are eligible for the 16–19 bursary or equivalent
  • You receive or are eligible for free school meals, or were during 11-16 education
• You attended a non-selective state school for your GCSEs with an attainment 8 score below the national average. This is calculated by the Admissions team based on recent Department for Education data.
• You attend(ed) a non-selective state school/college for your A levels with results below the national average. This is calculated by the Admissions team based on recent Department for Education data.
• Your parent(s)/guardian(s) did not attend university or attain a higher education qualification, either in the UK or abroad, apart from as a mature student over the age of 25 and did not graduate as either a doctor or dentist.
• You are a young carer to a parent or sibling.

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

Before you write your personal statement and apply to study medicine, it is important to learn what being a doctor is like and the range of non-academic skills you will need.

What counts as relevant experience?

Relevant experiences for medicine are not just shadowing opportunities in hospitals or working in a GP practice or other healthcare setting. A combination of experiences can enable you to develop the right skills and understanding needed as a part of your application.

This experience could include:

• Work experience (in person or virtual)
• Volunteering
• Life experiences (e.g. supporting your community, part-time jobs)

Do you need clinical experience?

No. We do not prioritise applicants who have had the opportunity to shadow doctors in person, or other similar experience. Online research and virtual work experience are just as valuable for you to understand the range of non-academic skills required to be a doctor.

What matters most for your application with us is that you reflect on what you've learned and link it to the role of a doctor.

How to reflect on your experiences

• Think about what the experience taught you about real life situations, medicine and about yourself.
• For example: Did you learn about teamwork, communication, or empathy? How does that relate to being a doctor?

At the offer-making stage of the admissions process we verify relevant experiences for medicine by contacting named references and checking certificates of completion. It is worth making a note of these details shortly after you have completed relevant experiences in case contacts or supervisors have moved on by the time you apply.

For more tips and ideas, check out the Studying Healthcare webpages.

You are required to submit a personal statement as part of your UCAS application, but we do not score or rank it at any stage of our admissions process. Instead we use your interview to learn more about you - your background, relevant experiences, and what led you to apply for medicine.

Your personal statement is mainly a way to prepare for interview questions. It should show:

• Who you are
• What you have done to explore medicine as a career
• What you have learned about being a doctor
• Why you are suited to the profession
• Your commitment to helping others

Your personal statement is split into three sections, each based on a question. We do not require specific details in each section, but other medical schools might, so check their websites before you decide on your structure.

For applicants who are resitting or reapplying to study medicine, the personal statement also provides an opportunity to reflect on the circumstances which have led to further years of study.

UCAS also has great general advice on writing personal statements, make sure you look at their guidance too.

• Lancaster Medical School strongly endorses the view of the General Medical Council (GMC) that applicants who have a disability or medical condition should be welcomed to the medical profession and valued for their contribution
• Having a health condition or disability is not, in itself, a fitness to practise concern, but applicants with a condition that might impact on their ability to practise medicine safely should provide details on their UCAS application
• Disclosed disabilities or medical conditions are not taken into account during the selection process. If successful after interview, the applicant will be assessed by an Occupational Health professional to determine whether they are fit to practise or if there are reasonable adjustments that Lancaster Medical School can make to support them in their medical training

• All students will be tested for and/or immunised against a range of infectious diseases before any patient contact will be permitted
• All students must pass a fitness assessment from the Occupational Health Department (OHD) at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust (UHMBT). This includes a health screening confirming absence of infection with communicable diseases, immunisation status and functional capacity. The standards are defined by the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Department of Health and Social Care. The Higher Education Occupational Practitioners provides additional guidance on standards of medical fitness to train.

• Doctors are expected to maintain trust in the medical profession by being open, honest and acting with integrity at all times

• We take probity seriously throughout the admissions process. Your UCAS application must be completed fully, accurately and honestly and without omissions. Lancaster Medical School reserves the right to reject any applicant who is found to have been dishonest at any stage of their application

• You will be expected to behave in a professional manner from the very outset of your medical degree programme.
• All students are annually required to sign our LMS Student agreement , agreeing to commit to the expected standards of behaviour.
• Medical students are expected to act in accordance with the standards of professional behaviour as outlined by the General Medical Council in Professional behaviour and fitness to practice and Good Medical Practice.

• All medical students are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
• Details of any criminal convictions, reprimands, warnings, cautions or fixed penalty notices should be declared if you are invited for interview.
• This information is not taken into account during the selection process and is only considered after interview.
• If successful at interview, the circumstances of the incident will be considered by the Lancaster Medical School Fitness to Practise panel and a judgement made as to whether it impacts on your fitness to practise.
• In most instances, minor offences do not bar entry to medical training or clinical practice.
• Applicants who fail to disclose information that subsequently comes to light through their enhanced DBS check will be subject to Fitness to Practice procedures and may be excluded from the degree programme.
• Spent criminal convictions, cautions, warnings and reprimands that would not normally appear on your criminal record may be disclosed through an enhanced DBS check.

This information is collected in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. For unsuccessful applicants, data related to any declared criminal convictions will be deleted and removed from our admissions system by the end of the relevant admissions period

• To learn more about how the University ensures the security of personal information please refer to the University’s Information Security policy.
• GDPR grants individuals certain rights in relation to their own personal data. For more information on these rights and how they have been embedded at Lancaster University, please refer to the Rights of the Data Subject page on the University website.
• For more information about how the University uses student and applicant data, please visit the Student Privacy Notice on the University’s website.