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University of Plymouth

UCAS Code: A100 | Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery - BMBS

Entry requirements

A level

A,A,B-A*,A,A

The typical offer is GCE A level grades A*AA-AAB which must include Biology and one further science from Chemistry, Maths, Physics and Psychology. Your third GCE A level can be from any subject area including humanities, languages, music, sport, science and social sciences. General Studies at A level is not included within any offer. The University of Plymouth are committed to widening participation and ensuring that all students with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply with us. The additional information gained through contextual data enables our admissions advisory panel to recognise a student’s achievements and identify their potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. The contextual data we may consult when determining to issue an AAB offer include: Living in a low participation neighbourhood as determined by your postcode (POLAR4 quintiles 1 & 2). Attending a low performing school/college e.g. 16-18 performance in the ‘below’ or ‘well below average’ classifications. Significant engagement in either our Peninsula Pathways programme or another widening access intervention. Being in receipt of free school meals. Please note that the typical offer is not necessarily the threshold for selection for interview, which may vary depending on the number and quality of applications received by the faculty.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

36-38

Must include 6 and 6 at the Higher Level in Biology and one further science from Chemistry, Maths, Physics, and Psychology. Other subjects can be from any area including humanities, languages, music, sport, science and social sciences. General Studies is not included within any offer.T he University of Plymouth are committed to widening participation and ensuring that all students with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply with us. The additional information gained through contextual data enables our admissions advisory panel to recognise a student’s achievements and identify their potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. The contextual data we may consult when determining to issue an 36 point offer include: Living in a low participation neighbourhood as determined by your postcode (POLAR4 quintiles 1 & 2). Attending a low performing school/college e.g. 16-18 performance in the ‘below’ or ‘well below average’ classifications. Significant engagement in either our Peninsula Pathways programme or another widening access intervention. Being in receipt of free school meals. Please note that the typical offer is not necessarily the threshold for selection for interview, which may vary depending on the number and quality of applications received by the faculty.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H1,H1,H2,H2,H2,H2

Higher level including Biology and one further science from Chemistry, Maths, Physics and Psychology. Your third Higher can be from any subject area including humanities, languages, music, sport, science and social sciences. General Studies is not included within any offer.

Scottish Advanced Higher

A,A,A-A,A,B

The typical offer is SQA Advanced Higher grades AAA-AAB which must include Biology and one further science from Chemistry, Maths, Physics, and Psychology. Your third Advanced Higher can be from any subject area including humanities, languages, music, sport, science and social sciences. General Studies is not included within any offer. The University of Plymouth are committed to widening participation and ensuring that all students with the potential to succeed, regardless of their background, are encouraged to apply with us. The additional information gained through contextual data enables our admissions advisory panel to recognise a student’s achievements and identify their potential to succeed in the context of their background and experience. The contextual data we may consult when determining to issue an AAB offer include: Living in a low participation neighbourhood as determined by your postcode (POLAR4 quintiles 1 & 2). Attending a low performing school/college e.g. 16-18 performance in the ‘below’ or ‘well below average’ classifications. Significant engagement in either our Peninsula Pathways programme or another widening access intervention. Being in receipt of free school meals. Please note that the typical offer is not necessarily the threshold for selection for interview, which may vary depending on the number and quality of applications received by the faculty.

UCAS Tariff

136-168

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About this course

Course option

5years

Full-time | 2025

Subject

Pre-clinical medicine

Do you want to make a difference? With patient experience and student satisfaction at its heart, this hands-on, forward-thinking degree will give you the knowledge, skills and confidence to become an outstanding doctor primed for tomorrow’s healthcare needs. Nurturing critical thinking and a caring approach to your medical practice, we’ll help you develop the clinical and communication, teamwork and leadership skills for a top career in medicine.

- Gain meaningful and immediate clinical experience with placements starting at the beginning of Year 1.

- Benefit from close relationships with our principal NHS hospital partners.

- Develop communication, teamwork, leadership and management skills essential for modern medical careers and high-quality, empathic patient care.

- Use the latest in inclusive anatomy models, enhanced visualisation tools and Anatomage tables in our Life Sciences Resource Centre.

- Make a difference to community health through hands-on, real world advocacy and quality improvement projects.

- Explore medicine in different social and cultural contexts through a medical elective and unique Special Study Units such as ‘Medicine in Society’.

- Practise your clinical and communication skills in specially designed, high-specification replicas of hospital wards, emergency rooms and simulated patients in our Clinical Skills Resource Centre.

- Your learning will follow best practice at the cutting edge of medical knowledge, delivered by internationally renowned teachers and researchers.

- Take part in expert and student-led discussions integrating clinical case studies, medical science breakthroughs and ethical issues.

- Share knowledge, experience and support with your peers through a variety of small group teaching approaches and a host of vibrant student societies.

- Acquire skills from other disciplines through our Intercalated degrees programme.

- All students spend years 1 and 2 in Plymouth. In years 3-5, students will normally spend at least one year in either Taunton or Torbay in addition to Plymouth, also travelling to GP practices from these main hospital sites. This provides you with diverse placement opportunities and learning experiences across our NHS partners.

- Equip yourself for success in postgraduate Foundation training and beyond. We consistently excel in the General Medical Council survey of Foundation Doctors’ Preparedness for Practice.

Modules

In the first two years, you’ll learn the core scientific foundations of medicine within a clinical context. We’ve structured our curriculum around the human life cycle, so in the first year you’ll study human physical and psychological development from conception to old age. You’ll learn from real-life clinical case studies and experience healthcare in a range of community settings, meeting patients and service users, and learning from health and social care professionals.

In the second year, you’ll revisit the human life cycle, this time with an emphasis on disease, pathological processes, and the human and social impact of illness and disease. You’ll do a series of placements in a single general practice, enabling you to learn about long-term health issues and see teamwork in action.

In your third and fourth years, you’ll learn more about clinical practice and spend more time in a patient-centred learning environment. Completing a series of hospital and general practice-based community placements, you’ll gain valuable experience in a wide range of clinical settings and see first hand how the NHS works as a team to deliver patient care. Year three focuses on three ‘Pathways of Care’: Acute Care, Ward Care and Integrated Ambulatory Care.

You’ll continue working and learning in hospital and general practice settings, further developing your communication, clinical, problem-solving and analytical skills. The three ‘Pathways of Care’ continue in year four with a focus on: Acute Care, Palliative Care/ Oncology and Continuing Care.

You’ll now be all set to apply the knowledge, skills and confidence you’ve acquired over the first four years by working ‘on the job’, as part of a healthcare team in action, based in either Derriford or Torbay hospital. You’ll become more assured when dealing with clinical situations, and develop an in-depth understanding of the principles of practice in the NHS. Supplementing your independent learning with a portfolio of indicative presentations, you’ll also have the opportunity to do an elective in a different social or cultural context.

The modules shown for this course or programme are those being studied by current students, or expected new modules. Modules are subject to change depending on year of entry.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni

Course location:

University of Plymouth

Department:

Peninsula Medical School

Read full university profile

What students say

We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

81%
Pre-clinical medicine

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Medicine (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

87%
Staff make the subject interesting
88%
Staff are good at explaining things
85%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
95%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

87%
Library resources
82%
IT resources
88%
Course specific equipment and facilities
57%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

92%
UK students
8%
International students
38%
Male students
62%
Female students

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
A
A

After graduation

The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Medicine (non-specific)

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£30,000
med
Average annual salary
100%
med
Employed or in further education
100%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

99%
Health professionals
1%
Other elementary services occupations

Medical degrees are some of the most difficult courses to enter, but very nearly all graduates go on to good, well-paid and secure careers in health. If you're taking a shorter pre-clinical course, you'll need to continue on to further medical training to complete an accredited qualification, which explains why a high proportion of those grads are 'in further study' six months later. And at the moment, the UK is short of doctors and we have upped the number of places available, so demand remains high.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Medicine (non-specific)

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£39k

£39k

£49k

£49k

£53k

£53k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here