The University of Oxford Medical School divides its programme into two sections: Year 1–3 is known as the ‘pre-clinical’ and Year 4–6 is the ‘clinical’.
During the ‘pre-clinical’ years, you’ll focus on developing core medical science knowledge, through lectures, practicals and tutorials, to prepare you for clinical medicine. You’ll also obtain a BA degree in Medical Science.
During Year 4–6, your ‘clinical’ years, the majority of your teaching will be delivered within hospitals and general practices, you’ll gain clinical experience, and you’ll achieve your BM, BCh qualification.
Your clinical experience will include:
Seven-week blocks undertaking speciality rotations, including:
You can find more information about the clinical placements you'll undertake on Oxford Medical School's website here.
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During your fourth year, you’ll undertake a four-week 'special study module', which allows you to explore interests outside of the core curriculum. Similarly, in your final year, you’ll have twelve weeks (spread throughout the year) in which you’ll complete ‘student selected clinical options’ and ‘special study modules’.
Within your final year, you’ll also complete a ten-week elective placement, which allows you to explore an area of medicine of your choice, within the UK or abroad.
Oxford Medical School offers an accelerated four-year programme for applied or experimental science graduates, with a degree class of 2:1 or above. You can find out more about their ‘Medicine (graduate-entry/ accelerated)’ programme here.
The selection process for Oxford Medical School includes two interviews, carried out by different colleges and on seperate days. The interviews will assess your personal characteristics which make you suitable for studying medicine, for example your empathy, your ethical awareness and your communication skills, as well as your academic potential, such as your problem solving skills and your intellectual curiosity. You can find more information here.
Oxford Medical School shares the expected interview dates for 2025 entry on their website here.
The majority of UK medical schools include an admissions test as part of their entry criteria, which you must pass before you’ll be considered for interview.
Admissions exam for Oxford: University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)
The UCAT is designed to assess the skills, characteristics and professional behaviours which are needed for medical school. The exam is divided into 5 subtests: Abstract Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, Situational Judgement (SJT) and Verbal Reasoning.
To achieve the best possible UCAT score you can, and increase your chance of being offered an interview at Oxford medical school, it’s essential that you prepare well. Our adaptive UCAT question bank will help you. Powered by artificial intelligence, it automatically assesses your strengths and weaknesses, and provides questions to specifically develop these areas. This adaptive, personalised learning makes more efficient use of your UCAT revision and avoids wasting time answering questions that won’t develop your learning.
You can also use the question bank dashboard to identify any areas which may bring down your total UCAT score and affect your chances of being selected for interview.
With your calculated skill level, the number of questions you’ve answered correctly, and your response time, you can clearly see which areas you’ve “mastered” and which you need to dedicate more time to.
For more general information about the UCAT, check out our complete guide, which includes UCAT exam dates, fees and a breakdown of the different subtests. And for more preparation help, there’s our step-by-step preparation guide.
