Entry requirements for Medicine A100

Keele University is committed to graduating excellent clinicians. The admissions process is designed to select students with abilities and characteristics that indicate their potential to become excellent doctors.

PLEASE NOTE Our full entry requirements and application process for Medicine A100 September 2025 entry will be published in due course. Please see our 2024 Medicine course pages for last year's entry requirements. 

How to apply for Medicine A100

Keele University is committed to graduating excellent clinicians. The admissions process is designed to select students with abilities and characteristics that indicate their potential to become an excellent doctor. 

On this page you will find information about:

Selection Process

We advise all applicants who are considering applying to check these web pages thoroughly.  It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that you meet academic and other requirements before applying. 

All applications must be submitted via the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). We do not accept direct applications.

The UCAS deadline for submissions is 15 October 2024 for entry in September 2025 or deferred entry in September 2026.  

Applications should include the institution code for Keele University (K12) plus the appropriate course code -  

  • A100 for the Medicine 5-year MBChB degree
  • A104 for the Health Foundation Year route

Applicants will be considered for the route you have applied for. This cannot be changed after the UCAS deadline date for submissions. 

The university primarily communicates with applicants via the email address that has been used on the UCAS application. It is the applicant's responsibility to regularly check this email account and to ensure that university communications are not diverted to a spam/junk folder. Details of the admissions process and updates on the application are also provided in the Applicant Portal. It is the applicant's responsibility to check here for regular updates too. 

All applications are checked to ensure that you meet the minimum academic and aptitude test requirements. 

Applicants must be currently registered for any qualifications that are needed to meet the entry requirements for the course if these have not already been completed at the required standard.

You must declare all qualifications you have completed and any courses you are currently enrolled on within your UCAS application. Withholding information that is relevant to consideration of your application is unacceptable. 

We do not use predicted grades at any point in our selection process for medicine. 

All GCSE or equivalent requirements must be met before you apply. The only exception to this is Access to HE applicants, who may complete GCSE English Language and Maths during the academic year in which they apply. 

UCAT scores will contribute in various ways to selection for interview (see Shortlisting, below) and may be used as a tie-breaker at any stage in the selection process, for example where multiple applicants are tied on the same interview score and a limited number of offers is available. 

International applicants are ranked for interview based on UCAT score. The cut-off score for this test is not set in advance. 

Applicants with a Home fee status: shortlisting for interview is based on a combination of UCAT scores and the UCAS personal statement. The UCAT grade and personal statement grade will be calculated as shown below and combined to give a total on a scale of 1 to 25. This total mark will be used to rank A100 applicants for interview. 

All A104 applicants who meet the eligibility criteria (see Health Foundation Year page) will usually be interviewed. In the event that excessive numbers of applicants are eligible, the shortlisting score will be used to select the strongest applicants. 

UCAT grade calculation

A score between 1 and 10 is calculated from the UCAT scores as follows: 

UCAT quintile Points UCAT SJT band Points
1st (top 20%) 5 1 2
2nd 4 2 1
3rd 3 3 0
4th 2    
5th (scores between 2,280 and 20th percentile, if any) 1    

 

Applicant in receipt of a UCAT bursary: +1 point 

Applicant meeting criteria for contextual offer (see Alternative offers page): +1 point 

Applicant attending school within the Keele region (see Alternative offers page): +1 point 

Personal statement grade calculation

UCAS personal statements will be assessed against the person specification for a Keele medical student (see below) to give a score on a scale of 0 to 15. Your personal statement must provide examples of ways in which you have demonstrated the characteristics listed in the person specification. Please see the guidance notes accompanying the person specification to help you with writing your personal statement. If you are applying directly from school/college, please make sure your head of sixth form, UCAS adviser and any other relevant member of staff is aware of the need to address these requirements. 

Other

Some interviews will be allocated to applicants who demonstrate evidence of having overcome significant social, economic and/or educational disadvantage. See our Widening Participation pages. In particular, A100 applicants who have successfully completed a Widening Participation in Medicine programme that is part of the UKWPMED scheme will automatically qualify for interview, subject to meeting our minimum GCSE and UCAT requirements and being due to complete the required A-Levels or equivalent qualifications in the current academic year or having completed them in the previous academic year. UKWPMED programme completion will not be taken into account for applications made after the year following year 13/S6.  

International applicants: shortlisting for interview is based on ranking by UCAT score. Applicants must have an SJT result in band 3 or better to be considered. Eligible applicants will be ranked on total score from the four cognitive subtests. In the event of a tie, the Verbal Reasoning subtest score will be used as a tie-breaker. International applicants are not eligible for A104. 

The cut-off score for this test is not set in advance as it depends on the scores achieved by other applicants. 

Keele University seeks to recruit medical students who are committed to the values of the NHS (see NHS Constitution for England). To achieve this, we have developed a person specification for a Keele medical student. This will form the basis of our assessment of personal statements and will also define the content of our interviews. You will be required to provide examples of ways in which you have demonstrated the essential characteristics.  

The essential characteristics are:

a) Awareness of the roles of a doctor within the healthcare team, community and society

b) Ability to engage meaningfully with people who have some need of care, support and/or help

c) Ability to communicate effectively with a variety of people

d) Willingness to take on responsibility and fulfil it to the best of your ability

e) Ability to maintain one or more significant activities alongside your academic studies over a prolonged period

f) Evidence of having made a positive difference to another person’s life 

 

Please see the guidance notes for further details of how to approach writing the personal statement.  Guidance notes for writing the personal statement (2024 entry).

Interviews will be conducted online using Microsoft Teams. Instructions for accessing online interviews will be provided but it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure you have access to the necessary technology to complete the interview. Please ask for help from your school/college if you are not confident that your own technology is adequate. Advice on online interviews is offered by the Medical Schools Council.  

Interviewers are drawn from the university, local healthcare settings (hospital and community) and the wider local community. All interviewers have undergone specific training for interviewing prospective medical students and avoiding discrimination. 

The interview will address the attributes listed in the person specification, with additional emphasis on the broader roles and responsibilities of doctors. It will take the form of two separate 15-minute interviews, usually 2 hours apart.

Please note that you will be asked to read some text in advance of your interview. You will be given details in the interview invitations, but the information is also given here for general advice. For one interview you should have visited the General Medical Council’s web site Achieving Good Medical Practice: Guidance for Medical Students and read the section on professionalism – key areas of concern. For the other interview, you will be sent a short case along with your interview invitation. You are not expected to memorise anything from these texts: they are provided in advance so that you don’t have to spend time reading them in the interview.

Interviews are likely to take place during the period December 2024 to March 2025. 

The decision on the offer of a place will be based on an applicant’s performance at interview. 

We anticipate that the earliest date we will be able to confirm a decision is January/February 2025. Some candidates may be placed on a reserve list if their performance at interview was close to our offer threshold. Applicants will be informed if we wish to add you to the reserve list, and you will be asked to consent so we can contact you at a later stage. We will endeavour to make all final decisions (offer, reserve or reject) by April 2025.

Candidates whose interview scores are tied at the final threshold for an offer will be ranked on their aptitude test score to determine who receives an offer.

Successful applicants will be informed of their offer through the UCAS Hub. All offers will include requirements to complete occupational health checks and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearances. 

The Occupational Health team will contact all applicants who accept their offer regarding the health checks. 

The Admissions team will contact all applicants who accept their offer regarding their DBS clearance.  

Successful applicants will be invited to attend an Applicant Visit Day. 

Applicants holding offers who narrowly miss achieving the required grades in A-Levels (or equivalent level-3 qualification) may receive further consideration if there are places available. In these circumstances, the factors taken into consideration in allocating remaining places will include interview score and UCAT score/bursary. 

Summary of places available

This table shows a summary of the places available and applications received for 2023 entry.

 

 

Applications 2023 entry

 

Places available 2023

Total applications

Home applications

Overseas applications

A100

164
(154 Home +
10 Overseas)

2452

2030

422

A104 (Health Foundation Year)

up to 20

305

251

(54 - not eligible)

Typically, we receive 2,000 or more applications each year. For 2024 entry we intend to interview approximately 600 applicants in total.

Admissions Policy

The information within this section supplements our University admissions criteria and policies and apply to all applications to our MBChB programme. 

Age on entry

Due to the off-campus clinical placements that students will be involved in from an early stage in the course, applicants must be at least 18 by the start of year 1 (i.e. 1 October) of the MBChB programme. If you will not be 18 by that date in the year following application, you should apply for deferred entry. 

Behaviour / misconduct

Applicants must be aware that your behaviour outside the clinical environment, including in your personal life, may have an impact on your fitness to practise. Applicants’ behaviour at all times must justify the trust the public places in the medical profession. You are advised to consider all evidence of your conduct that exists in the public domain, including social media. Applicants are expected to behave courteously throughout the application and selection process. Abusive or aggressive behaviour towards university staff, students or other applicants will not be tolerated and may result in the cancellation of your application. Applicants who are found to be abusing, insulting or deliberately misleading other applicants in social media and other online settings may also have applications cancelled. Applicants must not share details of the content of interviews with anyone else. If you are put under pressure to do so by your school, college, adviser or agent, please inform us immediately.  

Applicants who have been excluded or withdrawn from another HE course on grounds of academic performance (i.e. failing assessments), misconduct (e.g. cheating) or failure to meet financial or other contractual commitments (e.g. non-payment of tuition or accommodation fees, breach of behaviour rules) will not be considered. 

Communication

The university communicates with applicants via the email address that they provided on their UCAS application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to regularly check this email account and ensure that university communications are not diverted to a spam/junk folder.

Deferral requests

Requests to defer after an application form has been submitted must be sent to medicine@keele.ac.uk by 31 May 2024 stating the reasons for the deferral.

Exam results and remarks

We will make our confirmation decisions based on the A-Level results published in August 2024. All conditions must be met by 31st August 2024.  
If applicants don’t meet the academic conditions of the offer and subsequently decide to appeal to the exam board, we must be advised of this immediately by email to medicine@keele.ac.uk. We may defer applicants to the 2025 intake who do not initially meet the conditions of the offer, but who do so after appeal.  


Any dispute over grades must be conducted between applicants, the school or college, and the relevant exam board or accrediting body. We will not respond to requests for special consideration from students or schools/colleges who feel that grades have been awarded inappropriately. 

Extenuating circumstances

All requests to consider extenuating circumstances should be sent to medicine@keele.ac.uk at the time of application submission and no later than 31 October 2023.

Incomplete applications

We reserve the right to reject applications if they are incomplete or incorrectly completed:  

  • applicants are required to declare all qualifications that have been completed, including those with a failed or low grade, and any courses on which you are currently enrolled
  • if a qualification that is required for entry is not declared, we shall assume it has not been taken or is not being taken; this may lead to the application being rejected
  • if applicants declare incorrect details that do not match the corresponding certificates, this will be taken as evidence of dishonesty and the application will be rejected
  • all applications must include a reference from your current or most recent educational establishment unless you have been out of full-time education for more than 2 years, in which case a reference from a current or recent employer may be accepted; if you have not been in employment because you have spent time pursuing other activities (e.g. looking after children or other relatives, travelling, undertaking creative projects, etc.), you should approach your most recent educational establishment to request a reference 

Reapplication

Applicants who have previously commenced study of medicine, dentistry or veterinary medicine elsewhere will not be considered. 

Transfers from other medical schools will not be considered. There is no mechanism to transfer to medicine from any other courses at Keele, or to transfer to the Health Foundation Year for Medicine from other foundation years or degree programmes. 

You may not apply for medicine at Keele (any route) while enrolled on another higher education programme that will not be completed within the current academic year. 

Applicants can only reapply to Keele once. Any further applications will not be considered. 

Resits

Applicants who have taken more than two years to complete three A-Levels or equivalent must apply after completion of these qualifications with the required achieved grades. We will not consider applications from students currently in their third year of A-Level study unless they have already achieved the required grades and are taking additional subjects to meet the subject requirements (see entry requirements).  

Anyone who has not achieved the required A-Levels within three years will not be considered. 

UCAS Similarity Detection Service

UCAS operates a similarity detection service for personal statements. If we see evidence that parts of a personal statement have been copied, shared with other applicants or provided by a third party we shall cancel the application.