Medical school guide · 2027 entry
Anglia Ruskin Medicine
School of Medicine, Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)
An integrated MBChB in Chelmsford that ranks for interview on UCAT, with regional uplifts, and makes offers on MMI performance alone.
Lord Ashcroft Building, ARU Chelmsford campus
- Course
- A100 · 5 yearsMBChB
- Typical offer
- AAA
- Interview
- MMI
- Halls from
- £155/wk
- Local private rent
- £1,439/mo
- Location
- Chelmsford
Preparing for Anglia Ruskin
What matters most at Anglia Ruskin.
- 01
Once you are interviewed, offers depend solely on your MMI ranking, so your grades and UCAT no longer separate you from other candidates.
- 02
Each station is marked on answer quality, personal qualities and communication; practise all three, not just content.
- 03
Applicants from Essex and the wider East of England receive a UCAT uplift; check whether it applies to you before judging your chances.
Notes by Dr S Farooq, MBChB, BSc (Hons). Checked October 2026.
The interview
The Anglia Ruskin medicine interview.
MMI
Format
MMI (2027 entry).
Stations and timing
For 2027 entry: 6 stations of 7 minutes each plus 2 minutes of reading time; about 1 hour in total.
In person or online
For 2027 entry: in person at the School of Medicine, Chelmsford.
Dates
For 2027 entry: MBChB interviews 7-11 December 2026 and 7-13 January 2027; Gateway Year: 14 January 2027. Decisions by the end of March 2027.
How it counts
Offers are based solely on MMI ranking. Each station is marked out of 5 in three domains (answer quality, skills and qualities, communication), giving a total out of 90.
What Anglia Ruskin assesses
- Interpersonal and communication skills, including empathy
- Teamwork and leadership
- Preparation and motivation
- Critical thinking
- Ethical and moral reasoning
- Integrity
What the tasks involve
- Scenario to read and respond to
- Discussion or role play with an actor
Preparation advice from Anglia Ruskin
Applicants are advised to practise with friends and family and use online resources. A notepad is provided. The personal statement is not scored but may be drawn on.
Six complimentary mock MMIs with reading time, timed answers and marking points, written by a doctor.
Entry and UCAT
Getting an interview at Anglia Ruskin.
Typical requirements for school leavers. Always check the full requirements on the Anglia Ruskin website.
Typical A-level offer
AAA
Required subjects
Chemistry or Biology plus one of Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Physics or Psychology, and any third subject except General Studies or Critical Thinking. Science practical passes are required. Grades must be within three academic years of applying; resit applicants need at least AAB at first sitting (BBB for WAMS).
How the UCAT is used
For 2027 entry: no standard cut-off. Applicants who meet the academic requirements are ranked by UCAT score (including uplifts) and a set number are invited to interview.
Situational judgement (SJT)
For 2027 entry: SJT Band 4 applicants are not invited to interview; guaranteed-interview applicants need Band 1-3.
Published UCAT scores
2026 entry data: the non-graduate main cut-off was 2010 (no uplift). For example, Essex applicants 1920 and Essex plus WAMS applicants 1830 (raw scores before uplift).
GCSEs
Minimum of four GCSEs at grade 5/B, including Maths, English Language and two sciences.
Other qualifications
IB 36 with HL 666 in Biology and/or Chemistry plus another science and Maths or English; T Level Distinction in Health or Healthcare Science. BTEC is not accepted. Home fee status only, and applicants must be 18 at the start of the course.
Contextual offers
Widening Access to Medicine Scheme (WAMS): ABB (or T Level Merit) plus a 5% UCAT uplift; graduates, internal transfers and Access applicants are not eligible. Interviews are guaranteed, regardless of UCAT score, for applicants who had free school meals in the last five years, care leavers and care-experienced applicants, and those who complete ARU's Amplify Your Summer school or NextMedic in the year of application, provided academic requirements are met and SJT Band is 1–3.
The course
Studying medicine at Anglia Ruskin.
At a glance
- Teaching
- Integrated, three phases, spiral curriculum
- Anatomy
- Dissection room in Anatomy Centre, plus virtual dissector
- Intercalation
- No intercalation route set out
- Main campus
- School of Medicine, Chelmsford campus
League tables weight different things, so the same school can sit in different places. Use them as one input, alongside the course, the selection method and where you would like to live.
Year by year
- Year 1Principles and body systems on campus. Weekly hospital afternoons for five weeks in each of three system blocks, five GP days and an end-of-year hospital block.
- Year 2Further systems teaching, five more GP days and an end-of-year block in general practice or mental health.
- Year 3Clinical induction and block hospital placements in specialties, with five GP days.
- Years 4–5Almost all time on placement in core specialties, student selected components, and a Foundation Assistantship shadowing foundation doctors.
How it is taught
Integrated course combining basic science and clinical medicine in three phases, using lectures, laboratories, skills labs, an anatomy centre and placements.
Patient contact
Placements from the first term: five GP days plus weekly hospital afternoons for five weeks in Year 1.
Intercalation
ARU's course pages describe a five-year MBChB, or six years with the Gateway Year, with no built-in intercalated year, and they do not set out an intercalation route. Check with the school directly before applying if intercalating matters to you.
Placements
Essex: Broomfield, Colchester, Basildon, Harlow (Princess Alexandra) and Southend hospitals, plus St Andrew's Centre (burns and plastics) and Essex Cardiothoracic Centre.
Distinctive features
- Essex's first medical school, with an Anatomy Centre and dissection room
- Placements in all five years across Essex hospitals, primary care and mental health
- Foundation Assistantship in Phase 3 and Student Selected Components
- UCAT uplifts for Essex (5%) and East of England (2.5%) residents
How you are assessed
End-of-year exams using single best answer papers, OSCEs and anatomy spot tests, plus a portfolio across the course. Students also sit the national MLA and the Prescribing Safety Assessment.
Main teaching hospitals
- Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford
- Colchester Hospital
- Basildon Hospital
- Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow
- Southend Hospital
- St Andrew's Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns
Placements and travel
All placements are in Essex, across five acute hospitals, GP practices and mental health services. For some placements students arrange and pay for their own travel, and ARU lists placement travel as an additional course cost.
Student life
Living in Chelmsford as a medic.
Where you will live, the societies and sport on offer, and how you will get around. Prices and dates change, so check the linked pages.
The city
Chelmsford is a compact Essex city about 35 minutes from London Liverpool Street by train. The campus sits beside the River Chelmer, about a 10–15 minute walk from the city centre.
Accommodation
ARU does not state a first-year guarantee; rooms are normally allocated at your study campus. Chelmsford Student Village has 517 rooms (498 en-suite) about two minutes' walk from the Lord Ashcroft Building, at £155.68–£221.34 a week (2026/27, bills included).
Medical society
Students' union
Medic societies and clubs
- Emergency Medicine Society
- General Surgery Society
- Pre-Hospital Emergency and Wilderness Medicine Society
- Neonatology and Paediatrics Society (NAPS)
- Anatomy and Physiology Society
- Peer Learning Society (PLS)
- Medics Football
- Medics Netball
Sport and gyms
The Old Factory gym sits across the road from the Chelmsford campus, with Mildmay Sports Hall and a floodlit pitch on site. Membership is £32.99 a month (plus £10 joining) or £360 a year; medics' football, netball and tennis clubs run through the union.
Getting around
Chelmsford station is about 10 minutes' walk from campus, with up to six trains an hour to London Liverpool Street (about 35 minutes). The Chelmer Valley Park and Ride runs through campus, and the X30 bus links Stansted Airport.
Support for medics
The Peer Learning Society runs student-led teaching, and ARU's Study Support and Money Advice services are open to medics.
Cars and parking
Chelmsford Student Village tenants generally may not keep a car, but students on certain Medicine placements (and Blue Badge holders) can apply for a residential permit at £120 for the tenancy, subject to limited spaces. For Years 1 and 2, ARU has tendered a School of Medicine coach service taking about 240 students to placements at Basildon, Broomfield, Southend, Colchester and Harlow hospitals, so a car is not essential early on.
Food and essentials
On campus, The Central in the Lord Ashcroft Building serves breakfast and lunch and Hoffmanns in the Marconi Building serves coffee and sandwiches. ARU College's city guide lists an on-campus Spa shop and a large Tesco in the city centre, with an SU shuttle from the Student Village on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in term.
Going out
The ARU Students' Union has a lounge on the Chelmsford campus, and most of the city's bars, pubs and clubs are a short walk away; Chelmsford has held Purple Flag status for its evening economy for 11 years running.
Costs and living
Anglia Ruskin medicine fees and living costs.
Fees, university accommodation and local private rents, from official sources.
University halls
From £155/wk£155.68–£221.34 per week (2026/27, Chelmsford Student Village, bills included); academic-year contract 40 weeks 3 nights, or 50-week trimester contract. ARU says 2027 rents will rise
Accommodation pricesLocal rent, whole homes (ONS)
£1,439/mo£1,439 per month, Chelmsford, ONS Price Index of Private Rents (September 2026 data, released 21 October 2026)
Average for a whole home of any size; a room in a shared house costs much less.
Home tuition fee
£10,050 per year (UK students starting 2027/28)
International tuition fee
Not applicable: MBChB is open only to applicants with home fee status
Fees sourceBursaries and funding
Students funded by Student Finance England pay standard fees for Years 1–4; Year 5 tuition is currently covered by the NHS Bursary. ARU scholarships and bursaries are generally awarded automatically to eligible students.
Other routes in
Graduate, gateway and international routes.
Graduate entry
Anglia Ruskin does not run a separate graduate-entry course for 2027. Graduates can usually apply to the standard course. See graduate-entry courses
Gateway or foundation
Medicine with Gateway Year (A101, 6 years) for WAMS-eligible applicants. Entry requirements are BBC including Biology or Chemistry, and GCSE grade 4 in English, Maths and two sciences.
International applicants
Not open to international fee-paying applicants for 2027.
Entry requirements state applicants must have home fee status at the point of application.
Places
ARU does not publish a current annual intake figure. The school was allocated 100 publicly funded places when it launched (2018), and the course is open to UK applicants only.
Applications, interviews and offers
ARU publishes ratios rather than numbers: about 10 home applicants per place and 2 home applicants per interview (Medical Schools Council listing for 2027 entry). Offers are made solely on MMI ranking.
FAQs
Anglia Ruskin medicine FAQs.
What are the entry requirements for Anglia Ruskin medicine?
For 2027 entry, the typical offer is AAA, with Chemistry or Biology plus one of Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Physics or Psychology, and any third subject except General Studies or Critical Thinking. You also need four GCSEs at grade 5/B, including Maths, English Language and two sciences.
What UCAT score do you need for Anglia Ruskin medicine?
There is no standard cut-off: for 2027 entry, applicants who meet the academic requirements are ranked by UCAT and a set number are invited. For 2026 entry the main non-graduate cut-off was 2010, and SJT Band 4 applicants are not invited.
What is the Anglia Ruskin MMI like?
For 2027 entry, ARU runs an in-person MMI in Chelmsford with 6 stations of 7 minutes each plus 2 minutes of reading time, about an hour in total.
When are Anglia Ruskin medicine interviews for 2027 entry?
For 2027 entry, MBChB interviews run on 7-11 December 2026 and 7-13 January 2027, with decisions by the end of March 2027.
How does Anglia Ruskin decide medicine offers?
For 2027 entry, offers are based solely on MMI ranking. Each station is marked out of 5 in three domains (answer quality, skills and qualities, communication), giving a total out of 90.
Does Anglia Ruskin make contextual offers for medicine?
For 2027 entry, the Widening Access to Medicine Scheme (WAMS) offer is ABB (or T Level Merit) plus a 5% UCAT uplift. WAMS-eligible applicants can also apply to Medicine with Gateway Year (A101), a six-year course with entry at BBC.
Sources
Official sources.
Checked in October 2026 for 2027 entry. Requirements and dates change each cycle, so always confirm on the Anglia Ruskin website before applying.
Official links
Open days: Undergraduate open day at the Chelmsford campus on Saturday 14 November 2026, 10:00–14:00. A medicine taster day is listed for 9 December 2026. Check dates
Show 13 sources
- aru.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/medicine
- aru.ac.uk/study/admissions/interviews-auditions-and-portfolios/medicine-intervie
- aru.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/medicine/how-to-apply
- aru.ac.uk/news/first-medical-places-to-new-facility-in-12-years
- medschools.ac.uk
- aru.ac.uk/-/media/Files/student-life/accommodation/chelmsford-rent-prices.pdf
- arunion.co.uk/chelmsford/get-involved/societies
- aru.ac.uk/blogs/top-three-things-to-do-in-chelmsford
- aru.ac.uk/study/open-day/open-day-form-ug/undergraduate-chelmsford-14-november-2
- aru.ac.uk/study/open-day/tasterdays/booking-form/medicine-9-december-2026
- aru.ac.uk/-/media/Files/student-life/accommodation/chelmsford-rent-prices.pdf
- ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/datasets/priceindexofprivaterentsukm
- aru.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/medicine
Photo: Lord Ashcroft Building, ARU Chelmsford campus, Anglia Ruskin University, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Vetta Education is independent and not affiliated with Anglia Ruskin or any university. No offer, interview or admission outcome is guaranteed.
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