Medical school guide · 2027 entry

St Andrews Medicine

School of Medicine, University of St Andrews

A three-year science-focused BSc (Hons) in St Andrews, followed by clinical training at a partner medical school.

The interview Compare all schools

School of Medicine building, University of St Andrews

Course: A100 · 6 yearsBSc (Hons) Medicine (3 years at St Andrews), then MBChB/MBBS at a partner school (3 years)
Typical offer: AAA
Interview: MMI
Halls from: £154/wk
Local private rent: £847/mo
Location: St Andrews

Preparing for St Andrews

What matters most at St Andrews.

01
Applicants are ranked on UCAT, with a 10% uplift for widening access applicants.
02
The MMI is usually four stations of about six minutes.
03
The degree is completed at a partner school, so research the partner route as part of your choice.

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

The interview

The St Andrews medicine interview.

MMI

Format

MMI (2026 entry format; 2027 not yet published).

Stations and timing

For 2026 entry: usually four stations of about six minutes each.

In person or online

For 2026 entry: in person in St Andrews for Home-funded applicants; online for all other fee statuses.

Dates

For 2026 entry: invitations from November to March; interviews in early December, January, February and March.

How it counts

Offers are based on interview score and route, with the UCAT global score breaking ties.

What St Andrews assesses

Communication and interpersonal skills
Understanding of medicine as a career
Appreciation of a caring profession
Critical thinking
Reflection
Ethical reasoning

What the tasks involve

At least one role play with an actor

Preparation advice from St Andrews

Selection information

Practise for the St Andrews 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 St Andrews.

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

Typical A-level offer

AAA standard; AAB minimum.

Required subjects

Chemistry plus one of Biology, Maths or Physics. GCSE/AS grade 5/B is required in Biology, Maths and English if not taken at A-level.

How the UCAT is used

For 2026 entry: applicants meeting academic, reference and work-experience requirements are ranked on UCAT global score, and the top 650 or so are invited to interview.

Situational judgement (SJT)

St Andrews publishes no SJT band requirement: eligible applicants are ranked for interview on their UCAT global score, which is also used to break ties on interview score (2026 entry).

Published UCAT scores

2026 entry minimum scores for interview selection: 1500 (Home Funded/Scottish), 1640 (UK domicile), 1710 (A100 Overseas).

GCSEs

Five at grade 7/A at one sitting (this may be relaxed for A-level holders).

Other qualifications

SQA Highers AAAAB in S5 plus at least BBB in S6 (standard), or AAABB plus at least BB in S6 (minimum); IB 38 (HL 666, SL 666) standard or 36 (HL 665, SL 665) minimum, with HL Chemistry plus HL Biology, Maths or Physics. BTEC and Access to Medicine/Science courses are not accepted.

Contextual offers

Minimum offers (for example AAB, AAABB at Higher) apply to widening access applicants: lowest 40% most deprived areas, care-experienced, registered young carer, estranged or refugee. Eligible widening access applicants also get a 10% uplift to their UCAT score for interview ranking.

The course

Studying medicine at St Andrews.

At a glance

Intake: 131 A100 entrants in 2025/26 (all fee statuses)
Teaching: Science-led lectures, labs and tutorials
Anatomy: Full-body cadaveric dissection, Years 1–3
Intercalation: Built in: BSc (Hons) after Year 3
Main campus: School of Medicine, St Andrews town

Complete University Guide 2027

14th

of 40 for Medicine · table

Guardian University Guide 2027

13th

of 40 for Medicine · table

National Student Survey 2025

94.3%

positive about teaching on the course (149 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 1Foundations of Medicine: microbiology, public health, psychology, ethics and musculoskeletal anatomy, with a community clinical placement.
Year 2Cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, gastrointestinal and reproductive systems, with primary care attachments.
Year 3Nervous and endocrine systems, a research project, then clinical reasoning taught mainly by clinicians, with hospital attachments.
Years 4–6Clinical training for the MBChB or MBBS at a partner school in Scotland (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow) or England (Manchester, Queen Mary).

How it is taught

A pre-clinical, science-focused phase (lectures, labs and small-group tutorials) followed by a clinical phase at a partner school.

Patient contact

Year 1 community-based clinical placement; Year 2 primary-care attachments; Year 3 hospital attachments.

Intercalation

Not applicable, as the BSc (Hons) is built into the first three years.

Placements

Clinical phase at partner schools: Scotland route (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow) or England route (Manchester, Queen Mary/Barts). Overseas students go to Manchester.

Distinctive features

Full-body cadaveric dissection across all three years
Year 3 research project
Clinical years at Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow (Scotland route) or Manchester/Barts QMUL (England route)
Small intake

How you are assessed

Written exams (multiple choice and short answer), anatomy practicals, clinical exams and a professional development portfolio, plus a Year 3 dissertation and oral presentation.

Placements and travel

Clinical attachments in Years 1–3 are in local community and hospital settings. Partner allocation depends on Year 2 first-semester results and preference, and Manchester students are then randomly allocated a clinical campus.

Student life

Living in St Andrews 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

A small, walkable coastal town where the University dominates daily life.

Accommodation

First-year undergraduates are guaranteed a University room if they apply by 30 June of their entry year and accept an unconditional offer by 31 August.

Medical society

Bute Medical Society

Students' union

University of St Andrews Students' Association

Medic societies and clubs

Bute FC
Bute Rugby
Bute Netball
Bute Hockey

Sport and gyms

Saints Sport at University Park. Saints Active student membership costs £221 for the academic year or £130 a semester (2026/27); Bute Medical Society runs medics' football, rugby, netball and hockey teams timed around the timetable.

Getting around

The nearest station is Leuchars, about 10 minutes by bus or taxi. The Jet 787 runs from Edinburgh Airport, students get 75% off Stagecoach buses, and under-22s can get free bus travel with a Young Scot card.

Cars and parking

Parking in St Andrews is scarce and mostly metered in the centre (free car parks are near the Petheram Bridge roundabout and along East and West Sands), and the University points residents to the Go St Andrews community car club and lift-sharing instead of bringing a car.

Food and essentials

Many first years choose catered halls: the 2026/27 plan is £3,166 for the year (19 meals a week, about £5.05 a meal), and the University estimates self-catering at roughly £44.50 to £96.94 a week.

Going out

The Students' Association runs Club 601, the only nightclub of its kind in town, the Beacon Bar on Market Street and The Red Gown pub (run with J D Wetherspoon, opened September 2026); St Andrews is a small town, so the Union is the centre of most nights out.

Costs and living

St Andrews medicine fees and living costs.

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

University halls

From £154/wk

About £154 to £305 per week, worked out from published contract fees: a shared David Russell Apartments studio at the low end and a single studio at the top. In catered halls, catering is included and compulsory.

Accommodation prices

Local rent, whole homes (ONS)

£847/mo

£847 per month, Fife, ONS PIPR (Sept 2026 data, 21 Oct 2026 release)

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

Home tuition fee

Scottish (SAAS-funded) students: £1,820 per year (2025/26; later years to be confirmed). Rest-of-UK students: £10,050 per year indicated for 2027/28.

International tuition fee

£41,600 per year (2027 entry); £39,620 (2026 entry)

Fees source

Bursaries and funding

Scottish (SAAS-funded) students pay £1,820 a year in tuition, covered by SAAS (2025/26). Rest-of-UK students pay an indicative £10,050 for 2027/28.

Other routes in

Graduate, gateway and international routes.

Graduate entry

MBChB Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) · A101 · 4 years. First or 2:1 Honours in any discipline; anyone who is or has been on a medicine course is excluded. Test: GAMSAT (ranking for interview; 2025 cut-off 50 overall, no subset below 42). Places: 70 places, with 144 applicants interviewed (2025 entry).

Gateway or foundation

Gateway to Medicine (LQV9) is a one-year course for Scottish widening-access applicants (SIMD20, low-progression school, care-experienced, Reach). The entry requirement is BBBB at Higher including Chemistry. Progression to A100 or ScotCOM requires module grades, a UCAT score and an MMI pass.

International applicants

Accepts international applicants. International places: St Andrews publishes entrant numbers rather than a fixed quota: 33 overseas fee-status students entered the A100 course in 2025/26, from 303 applications, 123 interviews and 105 offers (2027 entry).

Overseas A100 students complete their clinical years at the University of Manchester. Canadian residents classed as overseas can apply to the separate A990 route instead (27 entrants in 2025/26).

Places

2025/26 entrants: 51 Home, 47 rest of UK and 33 Overseas.

Applications, interviews and offers

2025/26 (applications/interviews/offers): Home 417/298/216; rest of UK 335/142/90; Overseas 303/123/105.

FAQs

St Andrews medicine FAQs.

What are the entry requirements for St Andrews medicine?

The typical offer is AAA (minimum AAB) with Chemistry plus one of Biology, Maths or Physics. You need five GCSEs at grade 7/A at one sitting (latest published, undated).

What UCAT score do you need for St Andrews medicine?

For 2026 entry, applicants were ranked on UCAT global score and the top 650 or so were invited. The minimum scores for interview were 1500 (Home Funded/Scottish), 1640 (UK domicile) and 1710 (overseas).

What is the St Andrews MMI like?

For 2026 entry, St Andrews ran four MMI stations of about six minutes each, in person for Home-funded applicants and online for all other fee statuses.

How does St Andrews decide medicine offers?

For 2026 entry, offers were based on interview score and route, with the UCAT global score breaking ties.

How does the St Andrews medicine course work?

For 2027 entry, you study a three-year BSc (Hons) Medicine at St Andrews, then complete three years of clinical training for an MBChB or MBBS at a partner medical school.

When are St Andrews medicine interviews for 2027 entry?

Dates for 2027 entry are not yet published. For 2026 entry, invitations went out from November to March, with interviews in early December, January, February and March.

Sources

Official sources.

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

Official links

Open days: Online undergraduate visiting day on 4 November 2026; further visiting days are listed on UCAS and the University's visit pages. Check dates

Show 18 sources

Photo: School of Medicine building, University of St Andrews, Rw362, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Vetta Education is independent and not affiliated with St Andrews or any university. No offer, interview or admission outcome is guaranteed.

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