Medicine, MB BCh

At Swansea, you will benefit from a high-quality, research-informed education that combines a range of effective and inclusive teaching methods, carefully tailored to suit the needs of your course. Most courses are taught in person, on campus, giving you the opportunity to actively engage with other students, academic staff, and the wider university community.

You can expect a mix of lectures, seminars, workshops, and practical sessions - including laboratory work, skills training, or studio-based teaching where relevant to your discipline. These sessions are designed to encourage active participation, collaboration, and the development of both subject-specific and transferable skills.

Digital learning tools are also used to enhance your learning experience. These may include:

• Recorded lectures to support flexible study and revision.
• Virtual labs or simulated environments, particularly in science, healthcare, and technical disciplines.
• Online resources on the university’s virtual learning environment (Canvas), including videos, reading materials, quizzes, and discussion forums.

This approach enables you to engage with and review content at your own pace while benefiting from the structure and support of in-person teaching.

This course may offer some modules taught through the medium of Welsh or bilingually for students who consider themselves to be fluent Welsh speakers. For more details on the provision available see the Welsh Provision expander below.

N.B If you are an international student studying with a Student Route Visa, please note that your timetabled activity, along with any additional supervisory activity (with Swansea University staff present) will take place on campus. In line with UKVI protocol, these sessions will be monitored and data made available on request.

At least 40 credits per year

There are opportunities for Welsh speakers to study at least 40 credits of this course through the medium of Welsh. Academi Hywel Teifi is here to support you throughout your time at Swansea University. We can offer you:

• Access to generous Welsh-language study scholarships or bursaries.
• Access to modules taught wholly or partly in Welsh.
• A Welsh-speaking Personal Tutor.
• One-to-one support through the medium of Welsh to improve your academic skills.
• An opportunity to gain an additional free qualification that serves as evidence of your Welsh language ability for future employers, namely the WJEC and Coleg Cymraeg’s Welsh Language Certificate.
• Opportunity to be a member of the Swansea University Branch of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

To learn more about the above and all the opportunities available to you through the medium of Welsh, visit Academi Hywel Teifi's undergraduate pages.

Accredited by the General Medical Council (GMC)

Our degrees are taught by experts, who have a wealth of knowledge to pass on to you.

You can find out more about our academic expertise on our staff profiles.

Fees for full time undergraduate UK students may increase in subsequent years of study in line with the maximum regulated fee level set by the Welsh Government

You can find further information of your fee costs on our tuition fees page.

You may be eligible for funding to help support your study. To find out about scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities that are available please visit the University's scholarships and bursaries page.

Current students: You can find further information of your fee costs on our tuition fees page.

You may be eligible for funding to help support your study.

To find out about scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities that are available please visit the University's scholarships and bursaries page.

Academi Hywel Teifi at Swansea University and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol offer a number of generous scholarships and bursaries for students who wish to study through the medium of Welsh or bilingually. For further information about the opportunities available to you, visit the Academi Hywel Teifi Scholarships and Bursaries page.

Access to your own digital device/the appropriate IT kit will be essential during your time studying at Swansea University. Access to wifi in your accommodation will also be essential to allow you to fully engage with your programme. See our dedicated webpages for further guidance on suitable devices to purchase, and for a full guide on getting your device set up.

You may face additional costs while at university, including (but not limited to):

• Travel to and from campus
• Printing, photocopying, binding, stationery and equipment costs (e.g. USB sticks)
• Purchase of books or texts
• Gowns for graduation ceremonies

As well as subject specific support by college teaching staff and your personal tutor, the Centre for Academic Success provides courses, workshops and one-to-one support in areas such as:

• Academic writing
• Maths and statistics
• Critical thinking
• Time management
• Digital skills
• Presentation skills
• Note taking
• Revision, memory and exam techniques
• English language skills (if English is not your first language).

In addition, if you have a Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD), disability, mental health or medical condition, the Centre for Academic Success have Specialist Tutors to support your learning, working alongside the Disability Office and Wellbeing Service to support all your needs and requirements whilst studying at Swansea University.

To learn more about study abroad, visit our Go Global webpages.

International summer programmes are open to students from all schools. Programmes typically range from 2 to 6 weeks, across destinations such as Sri Lanka, South Korea, Fiji, Bali, the USA and across Europe. For more information about programmes and eligibility visit our Summer Abroad webpages.

Apply now – UK, EU and international students.

For further guidance please visit our how to apply pages.

EU students - visa and immigration information is available and will be regularly updated on our information for EU students page.

We recommend that you submit your application to our courses as early as you can in advance of our application deadlines. Courses will close earlier than the application deadlines listed if all available places are filled. You can find further information on our Application Deadlines webpage.

All applicants must take an admissions test prior to submitting an application to study MB BCh Medicine with us. For our undergraduate medicine route, we accept the UCAT test only. We will receive your UCAT scores automatically alongside your UCAS application.

Please note that whilst we will accept applications with pending results from tests sat before the application deadline (UCAS October deadline), we cannot consider applications from candidates planning to sit an admissions test after this date. 

Following selection for interview, the results of any admissions tests will be considered no further.  Any offer of a place to study MB BCh Medicine at Swansea will be based solely on performance at interview. 

As entry to the Medicine programme is competitive, Swansea University does not accept applications for deferred entry for this course. Deferral requests from offer holders will only be considered on a case-by-case basis under exceptional circumstances, such as:

• Bereavement of an immediate family member or close friend
• Ill-health of an immediate family member requiring the offer-holder to become the sole carer for more than 3 months after start of the course
• Personal ill-health of the offer-holder that is unlikely to be recovered from within 3 months of the start of the course*
• Other exceptional circumstances deemed suitable by the admission leads

To apply for deferred entry, you should apply in writing with proof of the exceptional circumstance, which will be considered by the course Admissions Leads. Any deferral request may only apply to the following academic year and subsequent requests are not permitted.  For more information, please contact the Admissions Team. 

If your deferral is authorised, you must confirm your place 3 months prior to the start of the course in the deferred year (typically 1^st June for a 1^st September start date) otherwise your offer may be withdrawn.  You would be required to submit a new UCAS application to be considered for the following year.  Please note that this may also entail a new UCAT result if the previous result has expired. 

If you do not enrol on your original or agreed deferred date, your application will be considered to have been withdrawn.

For more information, please contact the Admissions Team.

*Any personal ill-health will be automatically referred to the fitness to practise panel (FTP) prior to joining the course and your deferred offer will be subject to clearance by the FTP panel.

Your assessment will consist of 3 x 20/30 minute face-to-face stations and may take the form of interviews, presentations or role play scenarios. You may also be questioned on the content of your personal statement within one or more of the stations. Further details on the format of the day, and anything you need to prepare, will be confirmed within your invitation to interview. We reserve the right to change the format of stations and the competencies assessed between admissions cycles, without notice.

Assessment stations will be conducted by our trained panel of clinicians, academics, medical students and members of the public and are designed to take account of the personal and academic qualities needed as a doctor, as set out in ‘Good Medical Practice’, and the capacity to meet the outcomes of ‘Outcomes for Graduates’. These are:

• Communication skills
• Problem solving skills
• Coping with pressure
• Insight and integrity
• Passion for medicine and resilience to succeed
• Organisation and research
• Ethics and values

For more information on what we are looking for at interview please see our interview tips page:

Medicine Interview Tips

Once the interviews are completed, we will assess the overall performance of each candidate. Due to the very competitive nature of the selection process, only candidates who scored highest will be offered a place at Swansea.

Year 4 students will undertake the Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA), which ensures that all graduates seeking registration with a licence to practise medicine in the UK meet a common threshold for safe practice, as set by the General Medical Council (GMC).
 
To obtain registration with a licence to practise, all medical students must pass both components of the MLA, successfully complete their university finals, and demonstrate their fitness to practise. This requirement applies to all UK medical students.

Candidates with Disabilities

Medical schools have to consider the impact of health conditions and disabilities on students’ fitness to practise as a doctor. This is because they have a responsibility to ensure that students are eligible to be registered by the General Medical Council.   All offers are subject to occupational health and fitness to practise clearance. The details you provide will also help us consider what reasonable adjustments are possible in order to assist with specific health challenges and disabilities.

If you have a disability, ensure you declare it on the UCAS form by ticking the relevant box.  Disclosure will not affect screening of your application. If an offer is made you will be contacted by the Occupational Health Department to discuss your situation.

If you are unsure of how a disability will fit in to the application process or you need more information, contact occupational health team. You should also inform the admissions team if you are eligible for any special considerations during the written tests or interviews on the basis of your disability.

Code of Professional Practice Declaration

You will be required to complete a Code of Professional Practice declaration after we receive your application. We must assess the suitability of applicants who have previous criminal, disciplinary or adverse academic records. In many cases, there are no simple suitability criteria, and each case is assessed individually. This declaration ensures that the programme has access to the information required to make a decision about an applicant’s suitability. If you report that you are under ongoing police, academic misconduct or disciplinary investigation, your application may be placed on hold until that investigation has concluded.

Health Screening and DBS Checks

All successful applicants accepting a place will be required to complete health declaration and immunisation forms. Your General Practitioner will have access to details of your immunisation history and should be able to share with you on request. These will be screened by our Occupational Health Department. Some students will be contacted by an Occupational Health Physician for further information where appropriate. Occupational health review could involve blood tests and immunisations to ensure your safety as well as safety of patients.

Students will be required to complete a successful Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check before admission to the course.  The offer of a place is dependent on successful check of the Medical Schools’ Council Excluded Students Database.

In the interests of patient and public safety, and to prevent fraudulent applications to courses which lead to entry to a registered profession in the UK, Swansea University Medical School will share some of the information provided in your application form with the Medical Schools Council in order to verify your fitness to practise.

If a fitness to practise outcome is made against you in the future, your information and a copy of the decision against you will also be stored on a central database which is accessible only to other schools with courses leading to entry to a registered profession in the UK. It is used only for proper fitness to practise purposes to protect patients and the public, and to prevent fraudulent applications. Any offer of a place on the programme is conditional on you having disclosed any previous fitness to practise outcomes against you, and your consent being given to this use of information. You have a right of access to any information held about you on the database and to correct any errors.

Swansea University is an equal opportunities institution and actively encourages applications from persons of all ability. For Medicine, each application is assessed on an individual basis, on the candidate’s ability to fulfil the learning outcomes and skills and competencies required to complete the MB BCh programme and as required by the GMCs Outcomes for Graduates. The GMC requires all medical schools to ensure that the applicant is able to complete in full the medical curriculum, and when considering applicants with disabilities, the School follows the advisory guidelines set out by the GMC in their document ‘Gateways to the Professions’ (this can be accessed on the GMC website). The University monitors carefully the selection process, in order to ensure that no applicants are disadvantaged.