Aston University Medical School

UCAS code: A100 Length: 5 years Location: Aston University, Birmingham Entry cycle: 2027

Course overview

Aston Medical School offers a five-year, patient-focused MBChB based in central Birmingham. The curriculum is split into two phases, with Years 1–2 primarily building scientific and clinical foundations and Years 3–5 becoming substantially more placement based. Students meet patients from the beginning of the course and undertake clinical placements every year.

Aston Medical School is approved by the General Medical Council (GMC) and its first cohort graduated in 2023.

GCSE requirements

Applicants need at least:

Six GCSEs at grade 6/B or above

These must include:

• English Language
• Mathematics
• Chemistry
• Biology

Alternatively, Double Science can satisfy the science requirement.

However, this minimum requirement does not tell the full story.

Aston scores GCSEs

For a typical school-leaver who has completed GCSEs but has not yet achieved their A-levels, Aston scores six GCSEs:

• English Language
• Mathematics
• Chemistry + Biology or Double Science counted as two subjects
• Best two other GCSE subjects

The currently published scoring system is:

Maximum GCSE score:

24 points

Aston explicitly warns applicants that although the minimum is six grade 6s, its ranking system favours applicants with higher GCSE grades because of the competitiveness of Medicine.

The Med Step note

This is a major thing to understand about Aston.

It is not simply:

"Get six grade 6s and then UCAT decides everything."

For most Year 13 applicants, GCSE performance forms the academic component used alongside UCAT to determine who is invited to interview.

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A-level requirements

For 2027 entry, the standard requirement is:

A*AA

Applicants must take:

• Chemistry
• Biology
• A third A-level

The A* must be in either Chemistry or Biology.

Applicants must also pass the practical elements of Biology and Chemistry where applicable.

General Studies and Critical Thinking are not accepted as the third subject.

This is important because older Aston Medicine information may still show AAA. For 2027 entry, Aston's official course page now states A*AA.

Predicted grades

Aston states that A-level predicted grades are not used in its scoring and are not considered as part of its selection ranking.

However, applicants who are currently studying qualifications still need to provide verified predicted grades within their UCAS application.

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Contextual A-level requirements

Applicants who meet Aston's Medicine widening-participation criteria may receive a reduced offer of:

AAB

with:

AA in Chemistry and Biology

Contextual applicants are also placed into a separate Home Widening Participation ranking group, rather than being directly ranked against standard Home applicants.

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UCAT requirements and selection

All applicants must take the UCAT in 2026 for 2027 entry.

Aston does not publish a fixed minimum UCAT cut-off.

For the current UCAT:

• Verbal Reasoning
• Decision Making
• Quantitative Reasoning

are combined to produce the cognitive score out of 2700.

What about SJT?

Aston states that:

The Situational Judgement Test band is not scored.

This means there is currently no published automatic rejection rule for SJT Band 4, unlike at some other medical schools.

How is UCAT used?

For Home applicants, Aston ranks applicants for interview using:

Academic achievement + total UCAT score

Applicants are split into separate groups:

• Home non-Widening Participation
• Home Widening Participation
• International

and ranked within their respective group.

Aston does not currently publish a simple percentage weighting such as "50% GCSE and 50% UCAT", so we would not invent one.

How applicants are selected

For a typical Home school-leaver:

Stage 1: Minimum requirements

You must satisfy Aston's academic and other eligibility requirements.

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Stage 2: Academic scoring

For applicants who have not yet completed A-levels, Aston scores six GCSEs out of:

24 points

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Stage 3: UCAT

Your cognitive UCAT score is considered alongside your academic performance.

SJT is not scored.

↓

Stage 4: Ranking

Home, WP and international applicants are ranked separately.

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Stage 5: MMI

The highest-ranked applicants are invited to interview.

What happens after interview?

There is a slight ambiguity in Aston's own current admissions information worth knowing about.

Its general FAQ summary says applicants are re-ranked using their total MMI score following interview. However, the more detailed scoring section states that offers are based on academic achievement, UCAT and MMI scores.

Aston does not currently publish a clear 2027 percentage formula showing how these components are combined after interview.

The Med Step approach: we would therefore not tell applicants that Aston is definitely "MMI-only after interview". The official material indicates that the MMI is central, but Aston's detailed policy also states that academic and UCAT scores are involved in offer selection.

Interview format

Aston uses Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs).

The current Aston Medicine interviews are:

Online

and normally take place between:

December and March

Applicants encounter several stations assessing different attributes. Some may involve:

• Scenarios
• Discussion
• Interaction with actors

Aston says applicants are not tested on medical knowledge.

Areas assessed include

• Oral and written communication
• Listening
• Empathy
• Compassion
• Respect and dignity
• Emotional intelligence
• Problem-solving
• Motivation
• Teamwork
• Leadership and following others
• Recognising your limitations
• Knowing when to ask for help

Aston's course information also highlights:

• Understanding studying and practising medicine
• Professionalism
• Motivation for medicine
• Communication
• Teamwork

Number of stations

Aston's latest publicly available 2025-entry statistics show an MMI marked out of 50, with a maximum of 10 points at each station, implying five scored stations in that cycle.

However, Aston's current interview page does not guarantee that exact number for 2027, so applicants should use the interview information provided with their invitation rather than assuming the 2025 format will be identical.

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Contextual admissions

Aston aims to admit a substantial proportion of its Home Medicine cohort through widening participation and ranks WP applicants separately from standard Home applicants.

For Medicine, Aston's currently published widening-participation criteria include applicants who meet criteria such as:

• Eligibility for a UCAT bursary
• Eligibility for Free School Meals by the end of Key Stage 4 within the relevant period
• A declared disability
• Completion of an eligible Aston Pathways programme
• Attendance at one of Aston's specified partner schools
• Care experience
• Refugee status
• Living in a POLAR4 Quintile 1 or 2 area

Home applicants are generally assessed for Medicine widening-participation status automatically, although some Pathway applicants need to ensure Aston is informed of their participation.

Important exclusions

Aston states that applicants who:

• are already graduates
• are in the final year of a degree
• attended an independent school

are excluded from its normal Medicine widening-participation consideration.

Important 2027 caveat

Aston's dedicated contextual webpage is currently headed 2026 Aston Contextual Offer, even though the 2027 Medicine course page links applicants to Aston's widening-participation information.

The AAB contextual Medicine offer is explicitly confirmed on the 2027 course page, but applicants should recheck the individual WP eligibility criteria before submitting their 2027 application in case Aston updates them.

Resit policy

Aston accepts applicants who have resat or are resitting qualifications.

This includes:

• GCSEs
• A-levels
• Accepted equivalent qualifications

Applicants can also have repeated an academic year.

However, Aston states that applicants must normally achieve their final qualification profile within no more than:

Three academic years

which effectively allows one resit-year attempt.

How resitters are scored

This is an easily missed detail.

For applicants currently resitting A-levels or equivalent examinations, Aston states:

Only GCSEs are scored academically for interview selection.

Extenuating circumstances

Aston explicitly states that it does not consider extenuating circumstances when scoring and ranking applicants.

Work experience expectations

Aston considers work experience useful because it helps applicants understand:

• what studying Medicine involves
• what working as a doctor involves
• healthcare environments
• qualities required of doctors

However, Aston recognises that not everyone can obtain formal hospital or GP work experience.

Relevant experiences can include:

• Hospital or GP experience
• Care environments
• Non-clinical healthcare roles
• Volunteering
• Employment
• Caring for an ill or elderly family member
• Other experiences demonstrating relevant skills

Aston specifically encourages applicants to reflect on qualities including:

• Teamwork
• Compassion
• Knowing your limitations
• Communication
• Understanding different patients' needs

The Med Step note: Aston appears much more interested in what you learnt and can reflect on than whether you secured prestigious hospital shadowing.

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Personal statement

The personal statement is mandatory, but it is not scored during the initial selection stage.

Aston reads the statement and academic reference to check for issues including:

• Fitness to practise concerns
• Exceptional circumstances
• Disability information
• Concerns about behaviour
• Whether further information is required

Therefore, a strong personal statement does not appear to compensate numerically for weaker GCSE or UCAT performance during initial ranking.

Applicants should still reflect meaningfully on their experiences because the qualities demonstrated through these experiences overlap significantly with those assessed at interview.

Course structure

Aston's curriculum is divided into:

Phase 1: Years 1–2

Phase 2: Years 3–5

Years 1 and 2

The first phase develops scientific knowledge alongside clinical skills.

Areas include:

• Cell biology and genetics
• Anatomy/body structure
• Physiology
• Pharmacology
• Cardiovascular medicine
• Musculoskeletal medicine
• Infection
• Metabolism
• Endocrinology
• Haematology
• Pathological processes
• Public and global health
• Psychological and sociological aspects of health

Students begin meeting patients early.

In Year 1, students currently undertake two one-week primary-care placements, with the first taking place early in Term 1.

Teaching methods include:

• Lectures

• Team-based/group learning

• Seminars

• Clinical skills sessions

• Simulation

• Practical sessions

• Workshops

• Tutorials

• Independent study

Year 3

Students undertake:

Three 12-week clinical blocks

comprising:

• One primary-care block
• Two hospital-based blocks covering medical and surgical specialties

Year 4

Students rotate through specialist areas including:

• Cancer care
• Child health
• Integrated care
• Psychiatry
• Reproductive health
• Neurology
• Dermatology
• ENT
• Ophthalmology

The current structure includes six six-week specialty placements.

Year 5

Before finals, students undertake three six-week blocks:

• Primary care
• Two hospital-based integrated medicine/surgery blocks

After finals, students complete:

• Six-week Foundation Assistantship
• Six-week elective

The elective can be undertaken in the UK or abroad.

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Assessment

Aston uses a range of assessment methods including:

• Computer-based knowledge examinations
• Practical clinical skills assessments
• In-course assignments
• Continuous assessment of professional behaviour

Clinical placements

Clinical placements occur throughout the five-year programme, with much of Years 3–5 taking place in real healthcare environments.

Students may train in:

• Hospitals
• General Practice
• Community healthcare settings
• Clinics

across Aston's network of NHS and primary-care partners.

Aston places a particular emphasis on primary care, and placements expose students to inner-city, town and rural populations.

Intercalation

Aston now offers optional intercalation opportunities.

Medical students can normally apply to intercalate after:

• Year 3, or
• Year 4

with intercalation normally taking place after Year 3.

Places are limited and competitive.

Selection considers factors including:

• Academic performance
• Interest in research
• Interest in medical education
• Potential interest in a clinical-academic career

Graduate applicants

Aston does not offer an accelerated four-year Graduate Entry Medicine course.

Graduates enter the same five-year A100 programme.

Applicants need at least:

2:1 honours degree in any discipline

plus:

ABB at A-level

including:

• Chemistry
• Biology

with an A in either Chemistry or Biology.

The standard GCSE requirements also apply.

Aston expects applicants to apply either:

• in the final year of their degree, or
• after successfully completing it

Graduate academic scoring

For graduate applicants, Aston's current scoring system includes:

• GCSEs: maximum 10 points
• A-levels: maximum 6 points
• Degree: maximum 8 points

A First receives 8 degree points and a 2:1 receives 7.

Aston does not accept applicants attempting to transfer part-way through another degree, and there are restrictions for applicants who have previously withdrawn from Medicine or another university degree.

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International applicants

Aston accepts international applicants.

The current 2027 course page still states the most recently published cohort allocation as:

• 110 Home places
• 30 international places

but labels these figures as the 2026 cohort, so they should not be treated as confirmed 2027 numbers.

International shortlisting is different

Applicants classified as Overseas or Overseas Unknown are:

ranked for MMI using UCAT total score only.

They must still meet Aston's academic entry requirements, but an academic score is not used in the same way for pre-interview ranking.

This is a major difference from the selection process for Home applicants.

Age requirement

Applicants must be:

18 or older by 1 October in the year they enter

because Aston's clinical placement providers generally require students to be at least 18.

Aston states that applicants who will not meet this requirement cannot simply defer that application and should instead apply in a later admissions cycle.

Fees and funding

For 2027/28, Aston currently lists:

Home students

£10,050 for Year 1

subject to parliamentary approval.

Aston states that fees may subsequently rise annually in line with inflation and government rules.

International students

£47,000 per year for 2027/28

Aston states that overseas fees can increase in subsequent years, although annual increases will not exceed 6%.

Medicine students may also face costs associated with clinical training and electives, so applicants should consider more than tuition fees alone when budgeting.

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Previous admissions statistics

Aston currently publishes detailed statistics for 2025 entry.

These should be interpreted carefully because the UCAT was then scored out of 3600, whereas the current cognitive UCAT is out of 2700.

Academic performance of interviewees

For 2025 entry:

Home interviewees

• Minimum academic score: 22/24
• Average: 23.87/24

WP interviewees

• Minimum: 22/24
• Average: 23.76/24

That illustrates an important point:

Applicants who reached interview typically had very strong academic scores.

Historical UCAT

For 2025 entry, the lowest cognitive UCAT among interviewed applicants was:

• Home: 2460/3600
• WP: 2320/3600
• International: 2430/3600

These are not valid 2027 UCAT cut-offs because:

1. Aston does not publish a fixed cut-off.
2. Applicant competition changes each year.
3. The UCAT scoring scale has changed.

Do not convert these mechanically into a score out of 2700 and treat the result as an Aston threshold.

Application considerations

GCSEs matter more than the minimum requirements suggest

Aston explicitly scores GCSEs for most school-leaver applicants.

Someone seeing only "six grade 6s" could therefore seriously misunderstand the admissions process.

Grades 8 and 9 receive maximum GCSE points

For school-leavers whose A-levels are still pending:

9/8 = 4 points

while:

7 = 3 points 6 = 2 points

So the exact GCSE profile matters.

Both Biology and Chemistry are compulsory

Unlike several UK medical schools where one science plus another approved science is sufficient, Aston requires both Biology and Chemistry at A-level for standard school-leaver entry.

The standard offer is now A*AA

Applicants should ignore older Aston guides quoting AAA.

For 2027 entry:

AAA, with the A in Biology or Chemistry.

Predicted A-level grades do not improve your ranking

Aston explicitly says predicted A-level grades are not used in its scoring.

Therefore, being predicted AAA* does not appear to produce extra pre-interview points for a typical Year 13 applicant.

UCAT remains important

Academic scoring does not replace UCAT.

Interview shortlisting uses academic achievement alongside the cognitive UCAT score.

SJT is not scored

Aston currently does not score SJT and does not publish an SJT minimum threshold.

Contextual applicants compete separately

WP applicants are ranked separately from standard Home applicants and can receive a reduced AAB offer.

This can materially affect how applicants should interpret historic Aston statistics.

International selection is very different

International applicants are ranked for interview based on UCAT alone, after meeting the academic requirements.

Resits are accepted

Aston is relatively accommodating compared with medical schools that automatically exclude most resitters, although applicants normally have only one additional academic year in which to obtain their final qualification profile.

The personal statement is not numerically scored initially

Its role is primarily screening rather than adding points to the initial ranking.

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The Med Step summary

For a typical Home Year 13 applicant, think of Aston as:

Meet minimum requirements

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GCSE score + cognitive UCAT

↓

Ranked against your applicant group

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Online MMI

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Offer selection

The biggest Aston-specific points to remember are:

A*AA for 2027

Both Biology AND Chemistry required

GCSEs are scored

UCAT is used alongside academic performance

SJT is not scored

Predicted A-level grades are not used in ranking

WP applicants are ranked separately and may receive AAB

International applicants are shortlisted by UCAT rather than the Home academic-scoring system

Last checked: 16 September 2026
Entry cycle: 2027 entry
Primary sources: Aston University and Aston Medical School official admissions information.