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This profile of UCLan highlights this medical school's entry requirements, typical offers, student numbers, competition ratios, teaching and learning methods, course structure, demographics and history. Is UCLan one of your target medical schools? This medical school can be added to or removed from your personal shortlist |
The University of Central Lancashire (UCLaN) offers a new five-year medical curriculum, with its first intake of medical students in 2014. Teaching is delivered through lectures, case-based learning workshops, and seminars, while anatomy is taught via prosection and Anatomage Table. UCLaN's uses a spiral curriculum, so core medical themes are revisited each year in further clinical detail.
It should be noted that UCLaN only accepts applications from residents in the North West of England and international students, so those applying from anywhere else in the UK are automatically rejected prior to interview.
Key information dashboard
For convenience, here is an at-a-glance summary of key information related to UCLan medical school.
Links in this dashboard can help you check which other UK medical schools are similar to UCLan with regard to points listed here.
Be sure to check our notes in sections below for more details about each of these points.
UCLan medical school establishment date: 2013
Years of course: 5
Total medical students: 535
Average year cohort: 133.8
Region: North West
Subject prerequisites:
Interview format:MMI
Admissions test:No admissions test required
A Level typical offer:AAB
Advanced Higher typical offer:Not specified
IB typical offer:36 points
General teaching method:
Integrated, PBL
Anatomy teaching:
Virtual dissection table
Intercalation mode:Optional intercalation
Typical offers
A Level subjects must include Chemistry, an additional Science, and a third academic subject.
GCSE results must include grade B (6) in English Language. Broad study of Science, Maths and English up to 16 years of age.
IB results must include Chemistry, an additional science subject and one other subject at Higher level.
3 subjects must be taken at Standard level, with at least 5 points each.
As explained on the website, UCLan Pathways to Medicine programme is designed for students who are from backgrounds that are under-represented at universities. Four regional UK scholarships offering full tuition fees and a maintenance grant are available.
Home applicants are invited to complete a widening participation form if they wish to be considered against these criteria.
Note: Home applicants must be residents in the North West of England.
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 |
210 students in this cohort | 15 Home students | 195 International students |
2019-20 |
130 students in this cohort | 15 Home students | 115 International students |
2018-19 |
115 students in this cohort | 15 Home students | 100 International students |
2017-18 |
80 students in this cohort | 0 Home students | 80 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
Opportunity to study curriculum aligned with USMLE.
Course undergoing quality assurance by the GMC, supported by University of Liverpool and St George’s medical school.
As explained in the medical school handbook, "The spiral nature of the curriculum progresses over the five years. The first two years uses a blended learning approach with a mixture of lectures, small group work, practical sessions and problem based learning. The Problem Based Learning sessions encourage you to set your own learning objectives based on a clinical scenario. These sessions will be in small groups and facilitated by a member of staff. In addition your PBL learning will be supplemented with weekly anatomy, biochemistry laboratory sessions, lectures and tutorials. In parallel you will begin to develop your professional communication and clinical skills."
As explained in discussion of intercalation on this medical school's website, "After Year 4, high performing students who have satisfactorily passed summative assessment at first sitting may be offered the opportunity to intercalate their studies and undertake an additional year of study to gain a master’s degree. This will be prior to completing their medical degree and could be in medical research or in a number of related subjects within the university or potentially elsewhere."
Years one and two:
During years one and two students are based at the Preston campus, engaging in early clinical placements to supplement teaching in clinical skills and history taking. Emphasis is placed on integration of scientific teaching with clinical practice, introducing students to fundamental concepts in Medicine. Students visit Liverpool to learn anatomy via prosection.
Years three and four:
Years three and four build on teaching from the first two years of the course through a series of hospital placements. Themes of evidence based Medicine and patient-centred care are revisited through the spiral curriculum.
Year five:
The fifth and final year at UCLaN begins with a six-week elective, enabling students to observe the practice of Medicine overseas. Following this, students rotate through a number of clinical specialties with an apprenticeship model in order to develop competency for foundation training. Prior to graduation, a Student Assistantship is undertaken to ease the transition to FY1.
Reported demographics
This chart highlights gender and disability data reported by UCLan 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 | 51.7% female students | 48.3% male students | 4.5% students with disability | 95.5% students without disability |
| 2016-17 | 60.0% female students | 40.0% male students | 0.0% students with disability | 100.0% students without disability |
Medical school history
In 2013 the School of Dentistry and the School of Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education merged to create the School of Medicine and Dentistry. The medical school recruited international students from 2015, sponsored UK students from 2017, and UK government-funded students from 2018 onwards.