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This profile of Aston highlights this medical school's entry requirements, typical offers, student numbers, competition ratios, teaching and learning methods, course structure, demographics and history. Is Aston one of your target medical schools? This medical school can be added to or removed from your personal shortlist |
Aston University, based in the centre of Birmingham, is home to another new medical school. With their first medical students starting in 2018, this initial cohort will graduate in 2023. Aston’s medical programme is five years, emphasising compassionate patient care and working in multi-disciplinary teams. Medical students learn through lectures, group work, workshops, independent study, with increasing amounts of patient contact as the course progresses. Course highlights include a student selected component, with the option to obtain a postgraduate qualification from Aston Business school.
Key information dashboard
For convenience, here is an at-a-glance summary of key information related to Aston medical school.
Links in this dashboard can help you check which other UK medical schools are similar to Aston with regard to points listed here.
Be sure to check our notes in sections below for more details about each of these points.
Aston medical school establishment date: 2018
Years of course: 5
Total medical students: 310
Average year cohort: 103.3
Region: West Midlands
Subject prerequisites:
Biology (strictly required)Chemistry (strictly required)
Interview format:MMI
Admissions test:UCAT
A Level typical offer:AAA
Advanced Higher typical offer:AAA
IB typical offer:36 points
General teaching method:
Integrated, PBL
Anatomy teaching:
Dissection
Intercalation mode:Optional intercalation
Typical offers
A Levels must include Chemistry and Biology, with a pass in the practical elements
Advanced Highers must include Biology and Chemistry
National 5 requirements not specified
IB applicants must achieve 6,6,6 in three subjects, which must include Chemistry (HL6) and Biology (HL6).
As explained in discussion of 'Widening participation' on its website, "In keeping with our vision of being a socially inclusive medical school, we aim to offer 40% of our UK/EU places each year to students who meet specified widening participation criteria. Preference will be given to our local students including those who are on the Sir Doug Ellis Pathway to Healthcare Programme."
Total students and cohort sizes at UK medical schools
For uniform comparison of medical student admissions each year across all UK medical schools, we rely on annual reports from the Office for Students (OfS) entitled 'Medical and dental intakes'.
Aston is a recently established medical school, where complete data on student numbers over five years is not yet available.
| Admission year | Total students admitted this year | Home places | International places |
|---|---|---|---|
2020-21 |
120 students in this cohort | 100 Home students | 20 International students |
2019-20 |
120 students in this cohort | 100 Home students | 20 International students |
2018-19 |
70 students in this cohort | 20 Home students | 50 International students |
Competition data
Competition ratio data reported here is from the 2019-20 admissions cycle, as confirmed by MedSchoolGenie Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from this period.
Please note: Due to ongoing impact of Covid-19 since March 2020, UK medical schools have not yet released competition ratio data for the 2020-21 admissions cycle. Applicants should keep in mind that coronavirus-related lockdowns and other restrictions affected the entire UK education sector, so competition ratios were most likely distorted during 2020-21. MedSchoolGenie will update here when further competition data becomes available.
Applicant percentages of success
From reported competition ratios, it's possible to calculate percentages of success at various stages of the application process.
Numbers of applicants competing in latest admissions cycle
Based on reported numbers of applicants securing places, we can use competition ratios to estimate how many applicants have been competing at each stage of the most recent admissions cycle.
Please note: Estimates of competition factors from 2020 onwards may be less reliable than in previous years because UK medical schools have not yet reported competition ratios for the 2020-21 admissions cycle. MedSchoolGenie will update here when more recent data on competition ratios becomes available.
Teaching and learning
Integrated, systems-based course
Early clinical experience.
As explained in its overview of teaching, "at Aston Medical School you will be taught by medical professionals from a wide range of practice, industry and research backgrounds. During your time on campus, you will encounter a variety of learning and teaching methods, including: face to face and online lectures,group work and problem-based learning,seminars,clinical skills training,independent study,practical sessions,interactive workshops and tutorials,online resources. In addition to these learning methods, you will also spend time each year on a series of placements."
As explained in discussion of intercalation on this medical school's website: "Intercalated degree programmes are one-year courses for students who have completed two or three years of a medical degree. At Aston University this enables you to learn about a new area of biological science or cognitive neuroscience. After successfully completing two or more years of your medical degree, the following programme is available: BSc Biological Sciences.... After successfully completing three or more years of your medical degree,the following programmes are available: MSc Cognitive Neuroscience MSc Health Psychology MSc Pharmaceutical Sciences MSc Drug Delivery MSc Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine."
Phase One (Years One and Two):
Students learn clinical skills early at Aston, with specialised placements helping development of consultation skills and clinical reasoning. Emphasis is placed on patient-centred care from the start.
Phase Two (Years Three, Four, and Five):
The majority of learning occurs in clinical attachments in phase two, where medical students work alongside practising doctors and allied health professionals. Medical students can also undertake research at Aston Medical Research Institute, with major themes including: regenerative medicine, maternal health, mental health, and cardiovascular medicine. Before graduating, students undertake a six week foundation assistantship to develop diagnostic and management skills.
Reported demographics
This chart highlights gender and disability data reported by Aston to the General Medical Council (GMC), which has compiled this information into spreadsheets as part of its medical school annual return (MSAR) data sets.
Please note this data is retrospective, and that future numbers can vary from preceding years.
As a new medical school, Aston has not yet reported demographics data.
Medical school history
Originally planned as an independent private medical school, mainly for international students, Aston since 2018 has received Government funding for Home / UK students. The first undergraduate MBChB students commenced studies in September 2018, following approval of its programme by the UK General Medical Council. In 2019, 'Widening Access' students were allocated 40% of places.