Frequently asked questions (MBBS and BDS)

We receive a large number of applications for Medicine & Dentistry. As we assess applications throughout the cycle, some applicants will hear from us quite early in the process, while others will be contacted later. If you do not hear from us for some time, it does not automatically mean that your application has been unsuccessful as we invite some applicants to interview as late as February.

Yes - If you were studying in a country that does not offer GCSEs or iGCSEs, we would not require them from you and we would assess your application purely on the basis of your further education (A levels, IB, APs etc.).  You would, however, be still required to provide an acceptable English Language qualification.

You can only re-sit the GCSE subjects up to the end of your AS or A-level year. Graduates are not required to provide GCSE qualifications, nor do we consider applicants who have taken GCSE resits after further education.

Details of any available scholarships or bursaries can be found on our website.

Further information regarding our contextual criteria for Medicine & Dentistry can be found on our website.

No, you must be in your final year of a degree course, or have completed a first degree, before we will consider your application.

No. it is very difficult for transfers to be carried out effectively, as there are so many differences between programmes in content, sequence and teaching methods. Subjects are examined in different ways and at different points in different programmes making the appropriate placement of a transferring student difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, we unfortunately do not accept transfers from other Medical Schools either in the UK or abroad.

Home Transfers

Dental Schools do not accept transfers of students from other schools. This is because the requirements for graduation defined by the GDC are not taught and assessed in a similar order.  Government capped places would also be disrupted by student transfers.

Schools may consider transfers for students in unforeseen exceptional circumstances with approval of both the sending and receiving programmes. In most cases the student would need to re-start from year one for the reasons described previously.

DSC encourages prospective students to consider the intensity of oral healthcare courses and their potential geographical distance from their support networks, when applying for Dental School.

International Transfers

Students from a Dental School outside the UK are unable to transfer into a programme in a UK Dental School. This is because international programmes follow their local regulatory requirements which are likely to differ from those in the UK.

If you were previously enrolled on a Medical or Dental degree programme and were deregistered due to not progressing to the following year, we would be unable to consider you for a place on our Medical and Dental degree programmes.

All students for the undergraduate Medical and Dental degree programmes must be 18 years old or over by the start of the course (mid-September). Applicants who will be under the age of 18 by the start of the course can apply for deferred entry so that they will meet the minimum age requirement by the start of the course.

Yes. We consider applicants who are either on a gap year or wish to take one before they join the course. We would expect time in the gap year to be used constructively to gain more work experience, either paid or unpaid, but we don’t have any specific requirements.

No, all applicants must take the UCAT in the year of application.

Circumstances relating to illness, injury or other personal circumstances affecting performance will not be considered. Please refer to the UCAT 'fit to test' policy for further information.

It may be possible for you to withdraw from an additional examination you may be taking (i.e. a 4th A Level) if this does not impact the tariff score you would have received for selection at interview. This will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, so please provide us with the reason and details of the subject you no longer wish to continue with, to smdadmissions@qmul.ac.uk, and we will let you know if we can approve your request. 

When admitting students to study and practise on healthcare courses, the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry has an obligation to provide a safe environment for both the patients that you will encounter and to you as a student.

You can register for an in-person campus tour around our Mile End campus and view our Whitechapel campus video.

You can find out more about the programmes on offer, chat to our students and staff and discover student life at our open day

All our interviews take place online in January and February.

The pre-interview screening process conducted by the admissions team will already have ensured that all candidates called to interview appear to have sufficient academic potential. The purpose of the interview is to take a wider view of the applicant.

The interview itself is a formal, though friendly, process. The majority of the interviewers are drawn from both the University and clinical environments, and all have undergone specific training for interviewing applicants including issues relating to equality and diversity. In addition, we also draw on the expertise of lay selectors and current students.

Out of fairness to all applicants, all applications follow the same selection process. We receive an extremely high standard of applications; so many candidates will be rejected before the interview stage.

Here are some key reasons why your application may have been rejected at this stage:

• In the first shortlisting, you did not meet the minimum academic entry requirements
• In the first shortlisting, your UCAT was below the 4th decile, or you scored Band 4 in the UCAT SJT
• In the second shortlisting, your weighted score was not above the threshold determined by the strength of the cohort in the year you applied in
• You did not meet the minimum age requirement
• You are registered on a degree programme but are not in your final year

Whilst we are aware that it is very disappointing for your application to be rejected at this stage, we would like to reassure you that this decision is undertaken according to a process designed to judge all candidates equally. Our interviewers are trained members of staff and are chosen for their experience in selecting candidates as well as representing many different areas of the University.

If your application was rejected without interview, it is likely that this was due to one of the factors outlined in the ‘Why have I been rejected before interview?' question.  We are unable to provide written feedback to applicants who are rejected prior to interview.

We are able to provide brief feedback to applicants who were unsuccessful after the interview stage, but this will not be personal feedback. Please be aware that we need this request in writing to smdadmissions@qmul.ac.uk, and that due to the busy nature of the admissions office it can take up to 10 working days for us to respond.

Candidates who are just below our interview cut off score will be placed on our Waiting List and will be notified by a separate email. The Waiting List is still to be viewed as an official rejection by UCAS. There is no need to send us any further supporting documents and we will contact you if we have places available. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to offer you a place on the course, so if you receive an offer from any other University, you should accept it.

This refers to your fee status, as International and Home students pay different fees. Please see the tuition fee guidance for more information.

You must meet the conditions of your offer by 31 August. If you receive a remark on or before this date that meets the academic conditions of your offer and you meet all other non-academic conditions, your place will be confirmed for your year of entry. Any remarks that are received after this date that meet the academic conditions of your offer, you will be offered entry for the following year.