Medical school guide · 2027 entry

Cardiff Medicine

School of Medicine, Cardiff University

A five-year MBBCh with case-centred team-based learning, using a points system of UCAT deciles and GCSEs to shortlist about 1,000 interviewees.

The interview Compare all schools

Main Building, Cardiff University, Cathays Park

Course: A100 · 5 yearsMBBCh
Typical offer: AAA
Interview: MMI
Halls from: £131/wk
Local private rent: £1,179/mo
Location: Cardiff

Preparing for Cardiff

What matters most at Cardiff.

01
GCSE results carry real weight in Cardiff's shortlisting points, alongside UCAT deciles.
02
No offers are made without interview; roughly 600 offers follow about 1,000 interviews.
03
Home applicants interview in person for 2027 entry, so plan travel and practise in a face-to-face setting.

Notes by Dr S Farooq, MBChB, BSc (Hons). Checked October 2026.

The interview

The Cardiff medicine interview.

MMI

Format

Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) (2027 entry).

Stations and timing

Several stations of 8 minutes each (2025-entry brochure; not yet confirmed for 2027).

In person or online

For 2027 entry, in person for home applicants and online for overseas applicants.

Dates

For 2027 entry, Cardiff aims to contact all applicants by mid-December 2026. Interviews were held in January and February in the 2025-entry cycle.

How it counts

No offers are made without an interview. Offers go to interviewed applicants, with about 600 offers made after about 1,000 interviews.

What Cardiff assesses

Thinking on your feet
Awareness of professional issues
Critical appraisal
Communication
Personal qualities
Self-directed learning
Motivation and empathy
Resilience

What the tasks involve

Ethics
Motivation and understanding of a medical career
NHS awareness
Teamwork
Knowledge of the Cardiff course

Preparation advice from Cardiff

Admissions information for studying Medicine at Cardiff (2027 entry, web page). Welsh-language interview slots are available on request.

Practise for the Cardiff MMI under timed conditions.

Six complimentary mock MMIs with reading time, timed answers and marking points, written by a doctor.

Start a mock MMI

Entry and UCAT

Getting an interview at Cardiff.

Typical requirements for school leavers. Always check the full requirements on the Cardiff website.

Typical A-level offer

AAA

Required subjects

Biology or Chemistry plus a second science (Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Physics or Psychology). The science practical must be passed. Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales is accepted as the third subject.

How the UCAT is used

For 2027 entry, a points system converts UCAT deciles to points (deciles 9-7 = 3, 6-4 = 2, 3-1 = 1) and combines them with GCSE points, with 1 extra point for further or higher education achievement. A UCAT cut-off is applied only if needed to shortlist about 1,000 applicants for interview, and it may differ between groups. The 2025-entry policy also allowed UCAT to separate applicants on the same score. There is no minimum score.

Situational judgement (SJT)

The SJT band is not mentioned in Cardiff's 2027-entry admissions information. UCAT decile points (3 for deciles 7–9, 2 for 4–6, 1 for 1–3) are combined with GCSE points.

Published UCAT scores

Cardiff's 2027-entry admissions information says the UCAT cut-off is not predetermined and is unrelated to the previous year's. A cut-off may be applied to shortlist when more applicants have strong academic scores than the roughly 1,000 interview places; it may differ between applicant groups.

GCSEs

English Language 6/B, Maths 6/B, Double Science 77/AA or grade 7 in Biology and Chemistry, plus four other GCSEs at 6/B. Achieved GCSEs are scored across 8 subjects: grades 9-8 earn 3 points, grade 7 earns 2 and grade 6 earns 1.

Other qualifications

IB 36 (excluding TOK and the Extended Essay) including 18 at HL, with HL6 in Biology or Chemistry and HL6 in a second science. BTEC and T Levels are not accepted.

Contextual offers

Contextual applicants (Home only, for example care-experienced, free school meals, carers, refugees and estranged students) receive additional consideration in scoring for interview, as do Welsh-domiciled applicants and High Performance Sports Programme participants (one category only). Participants in Step-Up to University, the Sutton Trust Cardiff summer school, Doctoriaid Yfory (Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol) and the Agored Cymru Access to HE (Medicine) diploma are guaranteed an interview if they meet minimum requirements in the year of application (2027 entry).

The course

Studying medicine at Cardiff.

At a glance

Intake: About 300 a year, up to 25 overseas (2027 entry)
Teaching: Spiral curriculum, case-centred team-based learning
Intercalation: Optional, between Years 3–4 or 4–5
Main campus: Heath Park Campus (University Hospital of Wales)

Complete University Guide 2027

9th

of 40 for Medicine · table

Guardian University Guide 2027

17th

of 40 for Medicine · table

National Student Survey 2025

87.7%

positive about teaching on the course (214 responses) · OfS

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 1Core sciences in the first 12 weeks, then cTBL cases along a life-course theme, with most weeks including a day with patients in south-east Wales.
Year 2Community clinical learning, a simulated road traffic accident and student-selected components.
Year 3Three clinical placements across Wales, applied clinical sciences and an oncology project; optional year-long rural GP placement.
Year 4Specialty placements: women, children and family; neuroscience, psychiatry and ophthalmology; chronic disease.
Year 5Early finals, hospital and GP placements, an eight-week elective and a seven-week senior student assistantship.

How it is taught

C21 spiral curriculum. Years 1-2 use case-centred team-based learning (cTBL) in small and medium groups.

Patient contact

From Year 1, with most weeks spent seeing patients in hospitals, GP practices and community services in south-east Wales.

Intercalation

Optional intercalated BSc or MSc between Years 3-4 or 4-5. About 120 students intercalate each year (2025 brochure).

Placements

Hospitals and over 230 general practices across Wales.

Distinctive features

Up to 73% of the course can be studied in Welsh; bilingual interviews are available
Year 3 option of a longitudinal rural or semi-rural GP placement
Placements across Wales, including small rural GP practices and cottage hospitals
Modules are indicative and under review, with final 2027/28 modules due by September 2027

How you are assessed

Progress tests (single best answer), short answer papers, anatomy exams, coursework, placement feedback and OSCEs/ISCEs. The MLA is built into the Year 4 ISCE and a Year 5 progress test, and the Prescribing Safety Assessment must be passed.

Elective

Eight weeks in Year 5, at a destination of the student's choice.

Main teaching hospitals

University Hospital of Wales (Heath Park)
University Hospital Llandough

Placements and travel

Years 1–2 are in south-east Wales and Years 3–4 across Wales. Students fund travel to some local placements, and accommodation is provided for placements far from south Wales; NHS placement travel help is available from Year 5.

Student life

Living in Cardiff 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

Cardiff is the Welsh capital. The main university campus is Cathays Park, and Heath Park, home to medicine, dentistry and healthcare, is just over 10 minutes away by public transport.

Accommodation

First-year undergraduates are guaranteed university accommodation if they meet the deadlines. Some residences offer extended contracts for healthcare students; rents were £131.81–£186.76 a week (2026/27).

Medical society

MedSoc, the Medical Society of Cardiff University

Students' union

Cardiff University Students' Union

Medic societies and clubs

Surgical Society
Wilderness and Expedition Medicine
Teddy Bear Hospital
Cardiff Pre-hospital and Emergency Medicine Society
Cardiff University Research Society (CUReS)
Cardiff Medicals Rugby
Medics Football, Hockey, Netball and Basketball clubs
Clwb y Mynydd Bychan (Welsh-language)

Sport and gyms

Cardiff University Sport runs the Fitness and Conditioning Centre, Sports Training Village and sports fields; student membership is £230 a year (listed October 2026). Medics have their own rugby, football, hockey, netball, basketball and squash clubs.

Shops and essentials

Heath Park has its own students' union and a Health Library open 24 hours a day; the main Students' Union at Cathays has shops, cafés and a Post Office.

Getting around

Cardiff Bus covers the city, including Heath Park to Cathays. Cardiff Central station has most rail routes, and coaches leave from the Students' Union and Sophia Gardens.

Support for medics

MedSoc runs a welfare team with welfare cafés and signposting, plus student-led revision sessions.

Cars and parking

Residence parking permits are requested with your accommodation application and allocated only if space allows (some halls offer them to disabled students only); without one the University advises not bringing a car. Parking at Welsh NHS hospitals is free, and a 2023/24 Students' Union survey of 176 medics found 63.6% drove or car-shared to South East Wales placements, with GP placements in and around Cardiff not reimbursed.

Food and essentials

In Cathays, a Lidl on Salisbury Road sits on the main student route between University buildings and residences; the main Students' Union building has shops, cafés and a Post Office.

Going out

The Students' Union runs Y Plas, a students-only club (Wednesday YOLO society socials and Saturdays), and The Taf, its pub; Cathays has a cluster of student pubs such as The Woodville, Flora and The Mackintosh.

Costs and living

Cardiff medicine fees and living costs.

Fees, university accommodation and local private rents, from official sources.

University halls

From £131/wk

£131.81–£186.76 per week (2026/27). Most contracts 40 weeks (Clodien House 44 weeks).

Accommodation prices

Local rent, whole homes (ONS)

£1,179/mo

£1,179 per month, Cardiff, ONS Price Index of Private Rents (21 Oct 2026 release, Sept 2026 data)

Average for a whole home of any size; a room in a shared house costs much less.

Home tuition fee

£9,790 per year (2026/27 UK fee); 2027/28 fee awaiting confirmation (set at government maximum)

International tuition fee

£47,450 per year for each of the five years (2026 entry). The 2027/28 overseas fee is awaiting confirmation.

Fees source

Bursaries and funding

From Year 5 the NHS pays tuition fees for home students, with a means-tested NHS Bursary for living costs and a £1,000 non-means-tested grant; Welsh students apply through NHS Wales Student Awards Services and English students through the NHS Business Services Authority (2026/27 guidance).

Other routes in

Graduate, gateway and international routes.

Graduate entry

MBBCh Medicine Graduate Entry (C21) · A101 · 4 years. First or 2:1 from a recognised feeder degree only: Cardiff B210 or BC97, Bangor B100, USW B901. Test: UCAT (in year of application; no minimum). Places: Cardiff's four-year graduate entry route is open only to graduates of its recognised feeder degrees, and the school does not publish a separate number of places. Across its medicine programmes it has around 300 Year 1 places (2026 admissions information).

Gateway or foundation

No gateway programme is listed for A100. A101 is a graduate-entry route only for named feeder degrees at Cardiff, Bangor and the University of South Wales.

International applicants

Accepts international applicants. International places: 25 (2027 entry).

Cardiff has about 300 Year 1 places, with overseas places capped at 7.5% (about 25). Home applicants interview in person and overseas applicants online (2027 entry).

Places

About 300 Year 1 places, including about 25 overseas places (capped at 7.5%)

Applications, interviews and offers

Around 3,000 applications a year over the last two years, about 1,000 interviews and about 600 offers (2027-entry admissions information).

FAQs

Cardiff medicine FAQs.

What are the entry requirements for Cardiff medicine?

For 2027 entry, the typical offer is AAA with Biology or Chemistry plus a second science, and the science practical must be passed. GCSEs need English Language and Maths at 6/B, Double Science at 77/AA (or 7 in Biology and Chemistry), and four others at 6/B.

Does Cardiff have a UCAT cut-off for medicine?

For 2027 entry there is no minimum score. UCAT deciles are converted to points and combined with GCSE points, and a cut-off is applied only if needed to shortlist about 1,000 applicants; Cardiff says any cut-off is not predetermined and is unrelated to the previous year's.

What is the Cardiff MMI like?

Cardiff uses an MMI of several 8-minute stations (2025-entry brochure). For 2027 entry it is in person for home applicants and online for overseas applicants, and Cardiff aims to contact all applicants by mid-December 2026. Interviews were held in January and February in the 2025-entry cycle.

How does Cardiff decide medicine offers?

No offers are made without an interview. Cardiff's 2027-entry admissions information reports about 600 offers after about 1,000 interviews in the latest cycle, from around 3,000 applications a year.

How many places does Cardiff medicine have?

About 300 Year 1 places, including about 25 overseas places (capped at 7.5%), per Cardiff's 2027-entry admissions information.

Is accommodation guaranteed for first-year medics at Cardiff?

First-year undergraduates with a firm or insurance offer are guaranteed university accommodation if they meet the deadlines. Average weekly fees for 2026/27 ranged from about £144 to £187.

Sources

Official sources.

Checked in October 2026 for 2027 entry. Requirements and dates change each cycle, so always confirm on the Cardiff website before applying.

Official links

Open days: Summer 2026 open days (26–27 June) have passed; next dates are announced on the open days page, or email openday@cardiff.ac.uk. Check dates

Show 18 sources

Photo: Main Building, Cardiff University, Cathays Park, Jeremy Segrott, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Vetta Education is independent and not affiliated with Cardiff or any university. No offer, interview or admission outcome is guaranteed.

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