What percentage of medicine applicants get an offer?

34% of medicine and dentistry applications received an offer in the 2025 UCAS cycle, the lowest of any subject area (16,355 offers from 48,845 applications).

Which medical school is hardest to get into?

Among universities with at least 200 applications, London South Bank University (2%), Brunel University of London (10%), University of Dundee (10%), Keele University (12%) had the lowest offer rates in 2025.

What grades do you need for medicine?

Almost always AAA or A*AA, including Chemistry and usually Biology, plus a UCAT score and an interview.

How many medicine choices can I make on UCAS?

Up to four. The fifth choice can be a non-medicine course, often biomedical science.

Medicine offer rates by university

In the 2025 UCAS cycle, 34% of medicine applications got an offer (16,355 offers from 48,845 applications). That average hides a huge spread: 2% at London South Bank University, the most selective, against almost every applicant at 1 universities. Rates for 50 universities are below.

Data: UCAS End of Cycle 2025 and university course pages, updated November 2026. Methodology

UCAS reports medicine together with dentistry (CAH01). Each university's figure therefore covers all of its courses in that area, which can include dentistry, graduate-entry medicine and foundation years.

How the medicine offer rate has changed

Nationally the rate was 37% in 2019, fell to 17% in 2022, and stood at 34% in 2025. Applications went from 39,680 to 48,845 over the same period.

UK, all universities, medicine and dentistry (UCAS End of Cycle, English 18-year-olds where available)
Cycle	Offer rate	Applications
2019	37%	39,680
2020	35%	41,035
2021	26%	47,090
2022	17%	49,970
2023	21%	51,180
2024	28%	50,015
2025	34%	48,845

Most selective universities for medicine

37 of the 50 universities we list made offers to fewer than half of applicants. These are the lowest rates among universities with at least 200 applications, so a single small year does not distort the list.

Medicine and dentistry subject-area offer rate, UCAS 2025
University	Offer rate	Applications	Example course
London South Bank University	2%	290	–
Brunel University of London	10%	305	Medicine (AAA)
University of Dundee	10%	800	–
Keele University	12%	1,930	Bioengineering (Regenerative Medicine) (BBB)
University of Surrey	13%	800	–
University of Chester	14%	735	–
University of Worcester	16%	955	–
Cardiff University	16%	1,895	Medicine (AAA)
University of Glasgow	20%	465	Medicine (AAA)
University of Liverpool	21%	3,115	Medicine (AAA)
University of Plymouth	21%	2,465	Medicine and Surgery (A*AA)
King's College London	23%	3,390	Medicine (A*AA)
University of Oxford	24%	615	–
University of Leeds	25%	4,300	Medicine and Surgery (AAA)
University of Lancashire	26%	575	Medicine (BBB)

Where most applicants get an offer

1 of 50 universities made offers to at least 90% of applicants, and the median university sat at 33%. A high rate does not mean any grades will do: offers still come with conditions, and missing them on results day is where most applicants lose a place.

What grades medicine courses ask for

Across the 41 courses with an A-level typical offer, the most common offers are AAA (22 courses), A*AA (7 courses), BBB (5 courses), AAB (3 courses). The highest offers below belong to the most selective courses.

Highest typical A-level offers; the rate is the university's subject-area rate, not the course's
Course	Typical offer	Subject-area rate
MedicineAston University	A*AA	31%
MedicineImperial College London	A*AA	38%
MedicineKing's College London	A*AA	23%
MedicineQueen Mary University of London	A*AA	48%
MedicineUniversity College London	A*AA	59%
MedicineUniversity of Exeter	A*AA	51%
Medicine and SurgeryUniversity of Plymouth	A*AA	21%
MedicineAnglia Ruskin University	AAA	78%
MedicineBrunel University of London	AAA	10%
MedicineCardiff University	AAA	16%
Bachelor Of Medicine Bachelor Of SurgeryEdge Hill University	AAA	62%
MedicineHull York Medical School	AAA	54%
Medicine and SurgeryLancaster University	AAA	33%
Medicine and SurgeryNewcastle University	AAA	33%
MedicineUniversity of Aberdeen	AAA	22%

Why medicine is different

You can choose at most four medicine courses out of your five UCAS choices, and the deadline is 15 October, three months before most other courses. Almost every UK medical school asks for the UCAT, and most offers follow an interview, usually multiple mini interviews (MMIs).

The rate has moved a lot. It fell from 37% in 2019 to a low in 2022 as applications rose and places stayed capped, then recovered. A handful of universities show unusually high rates: these usually reflect graduate-entry courses, small intakes or other courses in the subject area, not easy undergraduate medicine.

Turning a rate into your own odds

The offer rate is the starting point, not the answer. Two things move your chances far more than the average: how your predicted grades compare with the typical offer, and how strong the rest of the field is at that university. At a university where 33% of applicants get an offer, predicted grades at or above the typical offer usually mean an offer. At a university under 30%, almost everyone applying already meets the typical offer, so predicted grades only get you into the pile; the personal statement, reference, admissions test and interview decide the rest.

A sensible medicine list has at most one or two choices from the most selective table above, two where your predictions match the typical offer and one where you are a grade or two above it. That spread is what keeps the chance of ending up with no offers low. OfferCheck tracks 41 medicine courses with a typical offer or offer-rate figure, each with its own page.

How to use these numbers

An offer rate describes everyone who applied, not you. Compare your predicted grades with each course's typical offer first.
Spread your five choices: one or two ambitious, two that match your predictions and one where you are comfortably above the typical offer.
See which offer to firm once decisions arrive, and when universities send offers if you are still waiting.

See the odds for your own five choices

Add your predicted grades and courses. OfferCheck compares each one to its typical offer and offer rate, and flags the chance of ending up with no offers.

Check your 5 UCAS choices

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of medicine applicants get an offer?: 34% of medicine and dentistry applications received an offer in the 2025 UCAS cycle, the lowest of any subject area (16,355 offers from 48,845 applications).
Which medical school is hardest to get into?: Among universities with at least 200 applications, London South Bank University (2%), Brunel University of London (10%), University of Dundee (10%), Keele University (12%) had the lowest offer rates in 2025.
What grades do you need for medicine?: Almost always AAA or A*AA, including Chemistry and usually Biology, plus a UCAT score and an interview.
How many medicine choices can I make on UCAS?: Up to four. The fifth choice can be a non-medicine course, often biomedical science.