Cardiff University School of Medicine offers a spiral curriculum, which is delivered within the following:
The curriculum also incorporates case-based learning (CBL) which focuses on the patient being at the centre of your learning and “integrate[s] science, social science and clinical practice”.
Whilst at Cardiff School of Medicine, you will undertake the following clinical placements:
More information about the course structure and the learning and assessment can be found here.
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If you have an interest in scientific research, Cardiff University offers the optional opportunity to contribute to research being carried out, allowing you to work with researchers and develop your skills.
The opportunity to explore areas of medicine which are of interest to you is available during all years of the programme through student selected components (SSC). Within Year 5, you’ll also have the opportunity to undertake an elective, either at home or abroad, within an area of interest to you.
Through the elective programme and some choices within the SSC, you will have opportunities to study medicine in different locations across the world.
Outside of the curriculum, Cardiff University has a large medical society (MedSoc), offering a wide choice of medical sports teams, research opportunities, and charity and volunteering work to get involved in, among other things.
You will undertake clinical attachments across the whole of Wales, giving you experience in “everything from inner-city deprivation to farm-related illnesses” and allowing you to practice medicine in “holiday resorts, quiet country communities and post-industrial towns”.
As well as standard entry Medicine (MBBCh), Cardiff University School of Medicine offers the following routes:
More information about each of Cardiff University’s medical degrees is available here.
Cardiff University School of Medicine uses the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format for its interview. These 'short, carefully timed interview stations' will focus on the 'personal qualities and attributes that are important to your future career development'.
As outlined on their website, the MMI will help to determine that you:
The information above refers to 2025 entry.
You can find more information about the interview process at Cardiff Medical School here.
Most medical schools require you to pass an admissions exam before you’ll be invited for interview.
Admissions exam for Cardiff: University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)
The UCAT aims to assess the characteristics, attitudes and professional behaviours required for medical school. The exam includes 5 subtests: Abstract Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, Situational Judgement (SJT) and Verbal Reasoning.
There’s no minimum threshold for Cardiff Medical School; however, your UCAT score may be used as part of the selection process. Therefore, it’s important to achieve the best possible score you can.
The free Medibuddy UCAT question bank makes it easy to prepare well for the exam. Using our artificial intelligence algorithm, questions are selected for you individually, based on your strengths and weaknesses within the syllabus, so you can focus on the areas which you need to improve.
You can also easily see which sections of the syllabus you’ve “mastered” and which you need to work on more, using the question bank dashboard (below).
As you can see, you’re given your calculated skill level, response time, total number of questions answered and the number of questions answered correctly, for each section of the UCAT.
For more UCAT advice, see our complete guide and our preparing for the UCAT blog.
