Entry Requirements
Typical offers require
A Level: A*A*A
IB: 40-42 points, with 776 at Higher Level
Other qualifications: See Entrance requirements and International qualifications.
You may enter up to four medical courses in your UCAS application. Your remaining choice can be used for an alternative course without prejudice to your commitment to medicine.
See Entrance requirements and Choosing your post-16 subjects for additional guidance and conditions of entry and
Key Criteria for Medical Admissions.
Subject requirements
Please note, 'Science/mathematics subjects’ refers to Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Further Mathematics. It does not include Psychology.
A Levels
- A Levels in Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics, Mathematics.
- Most applicants for Medicine at Cambridge have at least three science/mathematics A Levels and some Colleges require this and/or particular subjects.
International Baccalaureate
- Higher Levels in Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics, Mathematics.
- Competitive applications typically have Higher Levels in two science subjects and Maths. Some Colleges require this and/or particular subjects.
- If taking Maths at Higher Level we recommend Analysis and Approaches for the most competitive application, however Applications and Interpretations will also be considered.
Other examination systems
We expect applicants taking other recognised examinations to demonstrate a level of understanding in science and mathematics roughly equivalent to those applying with A Levels. Refer to the Entry requirements page for details of other qualifications and consult any College Admissions Tutor for further advice.
Please note that only 22 places are available each year for overseas fee status students.
Graduate entry
Graduates may apply for the Standard Course (A100) as an affiliated student to Lucy Cavendish, St Edmund’s or Wolfson Colleges with:
- a good Honours degree (2.1 or above) in any discipline
- passes at A Level (or equivalent), as above
Affiliated students complete the course in five years, moving from the end of Year 2 to clinical studies.
Home fee status graduates from any academic discipline with a good Honours degree (2.1 or above) and A Level Chemistry (normally passed within seven years of entry) may apply to the accelerated Graduate Course in Medicine (A101) at Lucy Cavendish, Hughes Hall, St Edmund’s or Wolfson Colleges.
Graduates from any academic discipline may apply to the accelerated Graduate Course in Medicine (A101) at Lucy Cavendish, Hughes Hall, St Edmund’s or Wolfson Colleges. Competitive applicants will have at least A*A*A (if you graduated with a 2.1 or have yet to complete your first degree) or ABB (if you have graduated with a 1st class degree). A Level Chemistry, or equivalent, will normally have been achieved within seven years of entry. Results in equivalent qualifications, or from universities that use different grading structures, will be considered. This course is only available to Home fee status students.
Overall, graduate medical students with an undergraduate degree in an arts or humanities subject perform equally well on the course as those with biomedical sciences degrees.
Work experience
To develop understanding of what a career in Medicine involves and your suitability for your intended profession, you’re strongly advised (though not required) to undertake some relevant work experience, either paid or voluntary, in a health or social care organisation.
We are not prescriptive about how this is obtained, recognising the widely differing opportunities available.
Admission assessment
All Standard Course (A100) applicants (including applicants to mature Colleges) are required to take the Biomedical Admission Test (BMAT) at an authorised assessment centre (usually your school or college). You will need to be registered in advance.
Please see the BMAT website for details, including registration deadlines and costs. Check the BMAT page for further information.
Applicants are not typically asked to submit examples of written work. Some may be asked by their College to do some reading in advance of their interview, but if this is required the College will provide full details in the letter inviting the student to interview.
Selection requirements
You must be a keen scientist with a sound scientific understanding. As selection for medical school implies selection for the medical profession, admissions decisions are informed by national guidance on what makes a good doctor, for example, the Medical Schools Council's Consensus Statement on the Role of the Doctor and Guiding Principles for the Admission of Medical Students.
Applications from students who have failed at or been excluded from another medical school will not normally be considered for entry to Medicine at Cambridge.
Professional expectations
The GMC has certain expectations regarding the attitudes, behaviour and performance of medical students. Trainee doctors at Cambridge must satisfy the GMC's fitness to practise requirements, both when applying and throughout the course. These requirements are in place to ensure the safety of patients.
Your age
National restrictions mean that students under the age of 18 aren't permitted to undertake any clinical elements of the Medicine course. Therefore, medical students are required to be 18 years of age by the beginning of November of Year 1 to be eligible to apply for Medicine.
Disclosure and Barring Service check
All offers of a place on a Medicine course are subject to a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check or equivalent overseas check.
Applicants that have lived in the UK for the whole of the last 5 years will need to complete a DBS check which will be arranged through the University.
Applicants that have lived outside of the UK for 6 months or more in the last 5 years will still need to complete a satisfactory enhanced DBS check but will also have to provide relevant overseas checks to cover these periods of time and complete a self-declaration form.
Applicants who have not lived in the UK at all in the last 5 years will have to provide relevant overseas checks to cover these periods of time and complete a self-declaration form.
Overseas checks need to be obtained by the applicant, the University will not apply for overseas checks on the Students’ behalf.
Further guidance on overseas checks can be found on the Government website.
Applicants will be responsible for paying the costs of DBS and/or criminal record checks.
Minor misdemeanours will not necessarily prevent you from entering the medical profession but you should declare these in your UCAS application and you will be sent the relevant forms to complete if you are offered a place.
More details can be found on the University's Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) webpage and on the Faculty of Biology website.
Your health
Doctors, even as students and trainees, have a responsibility to be honest and open about their own health and all successful applicants are required to complete a confidential occupational health assessment. A questionnaire will be included with your offer letter and, once completed, should be returned directly to the Occhealth@admin.cam.ac.uk.
Your answers to the health questionnaire help to ensure that your medical training will not place your own or others' health at risk and determine, in terms of fitness to fulfil the requirements of the General Medical Council (GMC), your suitability to work as a doctor. Further information from the General Medical Council (GMC) can be found on the GMC website.
The assessment is also to identify any long-term health conditions or disabilities that you may have, which require specific support. Where necessary, you will be contacted by Occupational Health for further information in order for support to be appropriately considered and implemented.
Vaccinations for medical school
The University requires all prospective medical students be immunised against certain infectious diseases in order to comply with national guidelines. You will be sent details of the vaccination programme with your offer.
Blood-borne infections
In accordance with Department of Health guidelines and NHS requirements, you will be offered blood tests to check that you are not infected with Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV infection before you can be cleared to participate in certain surgical procedures, known as exposure prone procedures (EPPs). Additional information can be found on the government website.
In the event that any test shows infection, following discussion with OH, you will be able to continue with the course but your practice may be restricted for EPPs unless the infection can be eradicated or satisfactorily suppressed. It will not prevent you from qualifying or practising as a doctor, except for a restriction on EPPs.
Disability, neurodiversity and long-term health conditions
A disability, specific learning difficulty (SpLD) or long-term health condition needn't prevent you from becoming a doctor if you can satisfy the professional fitness to practise requirements.
In these circumstances, please contact a College Admissions Tutor as early as possible to discuss your needs and the course requirements. Such disclosures are considered independently of academic qualifications and the interview process.
The University's Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre (ADRC) can provide general advice and guidance to prospective and current disabled students including those with a SpLD or long-term health condition.
All undergraduate admissions decisions are the responsibility of the Cambridge Colleges. Please contact the relevant College admissions office if you have any queries.
Typical Medicine entrants (A Level and IB)
For 2017, 2018 and 2019 entry, the majority of entrants from an A Level background achieved at least grades A*A*A* (77% of entrants). All of these successful applicants took Chemistry, 98% took Mathematics and 97% took Biology. For the same period, the majority of IB entrants achieved at least 44 points overall and/or grades 777 at Higher Level.
This information is intended to give you a sense of the academic standard of our typical A Level entrants. We welcome applicants from a range of qualification backgrounds.