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This profile of Queen’s Belfast highlights this medical school's entry requirements, typical offers, student numbers, competition ratios, teaching and learning methods, course structure, demographics and history. Is Queen’s Belfast one of your target medical schools? This medical school can be added to or removed from your personal shortlist |
The only medical school in Northern Ireland, Queen's Belfast offers an integrated five-year curriculum. Case-based learning is used to integrate theory with clinical practice, complemented by very early patient contact. Course highlights include full-body cadaveric dissection, student selected components, and a world-class interprofessional simulation centre. As explained on the university website, "Queen’s is the only medical school in Northern Ireland and students are welcomed in all of the hospitals within the region and in over 150 general practices."
Key information dashboard
For convenience, here is an at-a-glance summary of key information related to Queen’s Belfast medical school.
Links in this dashboard can help you check which other UK medical schools are similar to Queen’s Belfast with regard to points listed here.
Be sure to check our notes in sections below for more details about each of these points.
Queen’s Belfast medical school establishment date: 1835
Years of course: 5
Total medical students: 1360
Average year cohort: 272.0
Region: Northern Ireland
Subject prerequisites:
Biology (strictly required)Chemistry (strictly required)Maths (acceptable option)Physics (acceptable option)
Interview format:MMI
Admissions test:UCAT
A Level typical offer:A*AA-AAA
Advanced Higher typical offer:AAA-AA
IB typical offer:36 points
General teaching method:
CBL, Integrated
Anatomy teaching:
Dissection
Intercalation mode:Optional intercalation
Typical offers
A Level results must include AAA and A in a fourth AS level subject including Chemistry, plus at least one other from Biology, Maths or Physics.
Alternatively: A*AA at A Level including Chemistry and Biology / Human Biology.
Alternatively: A*AA at A Level including Chemistry and either Maths or Physics and AS level Biology grade B.
GCSE results must include Maths and either Physics or Double Award Science.
Minimum grades C/4 and CC/44 are required if subjects are not offered at AS-level or A-level.
Advanced Higher results must include Chemistry plus a grade A in at least one from Physics, Biology and Maths.
National 5 subjects not specified
IB applicants must achieve 6,6,6 at Higher level. Higher Level Chemistry and Biology required.
If Physics is not offered as part of the IB then a pass in GCSE Physics or Double Award Science, or equivalent, is required.
As explained on the website, this medical school "has in place various pathways for those candidates who have taken their GCSEs at certain secondary schools in Northern Ireland." Applicants educated at a secondary school in Northern Ireland to at least Year 12 will be short-listed on the basis of AS level grades, UCAT and A level predictions, rather than GCSE performance.
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'.
| Admission year | Total students admitted this year | Home places | International places |
|---|---|---|---|
2020-21 |
290 students in this cohort | 260 Home students | 30 International students |
2019-20 |
270 students in this cohort | 235 Home students | 35 International students |
2018-19 |
265 students in this cohort | 230 Home students | 35 International students |
2017-18 |
265 students in this cohort | 230 Home students | 35 International students |
2016-17 |
270 students in this cohort | 235 Home students | 35 International students |
2015-16 |
275 students in this cohort | 235 Home students | 40 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 curriculum, with early clinical contact.
Case-based learning.
Whole body dissection in state-of-the-art facilities.
As explained in its overview of teaching, this medical school "Early clinical contact with patients in first year; whole body dissection in state of the art facilities; student selected components with a wide range of choices throughout the medical curriculum; Case-based learning in years 1-4 that integrates clinical, biomedical and behavioural science ; excellent clinical contact in primary and secondary care settings at all levels of the course"
As explained in discussion of intercalation on this medical school's website, "An intercalated degree is a degree taken between two years of a medical ... course. The year is equivalent to the final year of a degree in science or biomedical subjects and the degree awarded is a Bachelor of Science (Honours). ... Intercalated degrees are usually taken after the end of 2nd or 3rd year of the medical ... curriculum. Students are recommended not to do an intercalated degree between the fourth and fifth years, as this would break up the flow of the main clinical teaching."
Years one and two:
Years one and two at Queen's Belfast are entitled ‘Foundations for Practice'. They use a systems based approach to introduce students to biomedical science. Students learn clinical skills alongside the scientific curriculum, complemented by simulation exercises and early patient exposure. Disciplines of pathology, microbiology, and genetics are also taught.
Years three and four:
Teaching becomes more clinically oriented from year three onwards, taking place in medical and surgical specialties all over Northern Ireland. Students integrate clinical teaching with scientific study from the first two years of the course. After second or third year, students can undertake a research focused intercalation at the BSc or MSc level.
Year five:
Year five introduces students to more specialised clinical practice. Placements include child health, women's health, medicine of the elderly, and mental health. Students undertake assistantships before graduation, honing skills necessary for work as an FY1.
Reported demographics
This chart highlights gender and disability data reported by Queen’s Belfast 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.
For comparison, we also include below all demographic data reported by this medical school to General Medical Council.
| Reporting year | Female students | Male students | Students with declared disability | Students without declared disability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | 60.8% female students | 39.2% male students | 6.2% students with disability | 93.8% students without disability |
| 2016-17 | 58.6% female students | 41.4% male students | 5.5% students with disability | 94.5% students without disability |
Medical school history
As explained in University of Belfast websie, although the first medical student was admitted as a pupil to a Belfast Hospital in 1821, the Board of the Faculty of Medicine did not meet until October 1835 when the medical school was offically established.