The Medicine MBChB (with Gateway Year) is designed to widen access to medicine study. On successful completion students will automatically progress to the Medicine MBChB. The programme aims to develop students into practising medical doctors. Upon graduation, students will be eligible to register provisionally with the General Medical Council (GMC) and begin work as a doctor within the UK Foundation Programme (subject to successful application to the UK Foundation Programme Office). Alongside traditional medical training, the programme will also encourage students to develop wider skills in research, leadership, and an understanding of public health in a rural and coastal context.
We aim to ensure that our doctors learn from experience and the course offers a varied placement experience, providing the opportunity to gain hands-on clinical experience through excellent links with local Lincolnshire NHS trusts and placements across primary and community care. Placements will also include non-traditional community settings, such as care homes, health charities, and social prescribing settings.
This programme is subject to approval by the UK General Medical Council. The University of Nottingham is the contingency School as part of this process. Medicine at Lincoln Medical School is undergoing accreditation by the General Medical Council (GMC). The GMC will make a final decision relating to the University of Lincoln being added to the list of approved providers in the final year of the course. Should the approval not be received, students will graduate with a University of Nottingham BMBS degree, which entitles graduates to provisionally register with the GMC and apply to the UK Foundation Programme.
Gain hands-on clinical experience
Placements across Lincolnshire
Learn in custom-built specialist facilities
Case-based learning which makes use of real patient scenarios
Underpinned by key themes in modern healthcare
Links with the NHS and healthcare providers
In the first two years of the main programme following the Gateway, most learning will be campus-based, with some early clinical experience visits and teaching in clinical and communication skills. During years three to five, the majority of learning will be through placements with local education providers, but with regular campus-based teaching to deliver theoretical elements of the course. During the final year of study, students will undertake their final assessments (including the UK Medical Licensing Assessment) and prepare to take up the role of a Foundation Year One resident doctor in the UK, gaining provisional registration and a licence to practise medicine from the GMC.
A comprehensive programme of clinical communication and examination skills will also be a strong feature of the programme. Students will build upon early development of these competencies as they work towards the completion of the degree. Students' skills in life support will be developed and assessed in a skills lab during each year of the programme, with increasing complexity throughout the course.
Several themes lie at the heart of the programme, including clinical and communication skills; clinical reasoning; health equity; health education; public health; medical and healthcare leadership; medical ethics and law; and research and quality improvement.
The Gateway Year of the programme aims to develop the foundational knowledge, skills, and behavioural attributes needed for later stages of the programme. The delivery of content will take place across the year and will be assessed in three modules: Gateway Knowledge, Gateway Skills and Gateway Values and Behaviour.
The curriculum will follow a theme/system-based learning approach organised into blocks of teaching across the two semesters. Teaching will consist of one-two weeks of induction activities, then one-two week long themes based around different body systems. These systems will include all of those covered in the first year of the full medicine programme.
From year one of the full programme, course content will be delivered and assessed in three common modules: Professional Knowledge, Professional Skills and Professional Values and Behaviour.
Year one of the programme will aim to provide students with foundational knowledge, skills, and behavioural attributes for later stages of the programme. Semester A may consist of one or two weeks of induction activities, four weeks of 'foundational' cases, and six weeks of cases designed to allow students to learn about the normal function and most common disease presentations in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Semester B will consist of cases designed to allow students to learn about the normal function and most common disease presentations in the gastrointestinal system and reproductive and endocrine systems.
Year two of the programme will aim to develop further knowledge, skills, and behavioural attributes for later stages of the programme.
Semester A will consist of cases designed to allow students to learn about the normal function and most common disease presentations in the renal/urinary system (including fluid and electrolyte balance and metabolic control), the central nervous system and head and neck (to include some ENT content).
Semester B will consist of cases designed to allow students to learn about the normal function and most common disease presentations in the musculoskeletal system, and will conclude with cases with a focus on multimorbidity, frailty, and end-of-life considerations.
Cross-system subjects such as cancer, imaging, dermatology and mental health will be interspersed across this phase, with appropriate reference to these in the clinical case scenarios.
In year three of the programme, students will make the transition from a largely university-based learning experience to a largely clinically-based learning experience, although regular central teaching days on campus will take place during years three to five.
Students will undertake three 10-week clinical placements in medicine, surgery, and primary and community care. Students will take these 10-week blocks in rotation before the knowledge and skills exams for this year. After the summative exam, students will then undertake a four-week Student Selected Component (SSC) and a four-week Integrated Clinical Experience (ICE) placement. During the ICE placement, students will be embedded within a clinical team and will start to apply their knowledge and skills gained within the first three placements of the year. The ICE placement will provide additional opportunities for students to learn from and about other healthcare professionals within multidisciplinary teams and to work with more senior students in the clinical environment.
During year four of the programme, students will have made a successful transition to clinically-based learning.
Students will undertake four seven-week clinical placements in child health, women's health, mental health and long-term conditions. Students will be randomised to undertake each of these seven-week blocks in rotation before the knowledge and skills exam for this year. After the summative exam, students will then undertake two four-week Student Selected Components (SSCs). One of these SSCs must be a clinical SSC.
In the final year of the programme, students are expected to develop from proto-professionals to become the doctors of the future.
Students will undertake three six-week clinical placements in acute medicine, surgery and perioperative medicine, and primary care. Students will be randomised to undertake each of these six-week blocks in rotation before the knowledge and skills exams for this year. After the summative exams, students will then undertake two six-week rotations (an elective and an assistantship).
Students can benefit from established links with the NHS and healthcare sites across Lincolnshire. Students have the opportunity to interact with patients from the first year, through regular visits to general practices and hospitals. Students will also have the opportunity to ask scientists and qualified doctors details of clinical outcomes, and hear more about their working environment. Currently placements include the following hospitals: Lincoln County Hospital, Lincoln,Grantham and District Hospital, Grantham, and Pilgrim Hospital, Boston.
Lincoln Medical School was established in 2018 with the specific aim of improving the recruitment and retention of doctors to Lincolnshire. Our first students started their studies in September 2019, and the University of Lincoln is now working towards providing medical courses independently from the University of Nottingham.
Our Medicine Open Day on Wednesday 21 May is designed for students interested in studying Medicine at Lincoln Medical School in September 2026. You can visit our Brayford Pool Campus, find out more about our programmes, and speak to our staff and students.
In years one and two of the main programme, assessment will include written assignments, skills sign-offs and integrated structured clinical exams (ISCEs), multiple-choice exams, and a range of methods to assess professional attitudes and behaviours, such as portfolio work and assessment of engagement and conscientiousness.
In years three to five, assessments will test students' professional knowledge through Applied Knowledge Tests (culminating in the Medical Licensing Assessment Applied Knowledge Test), their professional skills through workplace-based assessments and ISCEs (culminating in the Medical Licensing Assessment Clinical and Professional Skills Assessment), and their professional values and behaviour through a range of methods including portfolio work and engagement with placement activities.
The purpose-built Ross Lucas Medical Sciences Building comprises lecture theatres, laboratories, a clinical skills suite with consultation rooms, a prosection anatomy suite, and a bio-medical and health sciences library. It is the most sustainable building on the University Estate and features both solar panels and a living wall.
This course is only open to students who are living in the UK and have UK home status, indefinite leave to remain, or refugee status (with a letter from the home office as evidence) at the time you make your application. Additional criteria must also be met:
- Applicants must meet one of the University of Lincoln's contextual requirements.
- Applicants must not have already studied a Higher Education programme.
Transfers onto this programme are not permitted.
GCE Advanced Levels: BBB. We do not use predicted A Level grades and do not score A Levels, AS levels, or equivalent as part of our selection process. However, any offers made will be conditional on meeting the A Level grades or equivalent required.
A Level Offer: BBB, which must include a B in Biology (or Human Biology). We will not accept citizenship studies, critical thinking, general studies, or global perspectives. A Level resits are permitted. Resits must achieve BBB and must include Biology. Resits are usually expected to have been completed within two years of the initial sit.
GCSEs: At least five GCSEs at Grade 6 (or equivalent where A*-C grades are awarded) to include Biology and Chemistry or Double Science, Mathematics, and English Language. GCSE resits are permitted but must be awarded by the time of application.
UCAT: All applicants must sit the UCAT in the same year as the application is made for the course. Applicants who achieve a UCAT SJT grade of Band 4 will not be considered for this course. We do not publish our UCAT cut off scores to applicants. For more information about the UCAT, please visit: https://www.ucat.ac.uk/.
30 points overall or 5,5,5 with Higher Level Biology grade 5.
At least five grade Bs in IB Middle Years or GCSE to include Biology, Chemistry, English Language, and Maths at grade 5 (B).
Grades of B in Biology at Advanced Highers, and:
If you would like more information about entry requirements, or would like to discuss whether the qualifications you are studying are acceptable, please contact our enquiries team at enquiries@lincoln.ac.uk or call +44 (0)1522 886644.
Minimum of Grade 6 (B) GCSE English Language.
Full English Language requirements for the Medicine programme can be found at on our English Language requirements page.
Interviews for the MBChB Medicine with Gateway Year programme will be in the format of Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs). These will take place in person on campus at the University of Lincoln. All successful applicants will be required to interview.
Interviews are offered to candidate based on scores as calculated by our selection process. There is no set threshold for interview, and this varies year by year.
By awarding a medical degree (subject to GMC approval), the University is confirming that a graduate is fit to practise to the high standards laid down by the General Medical Council (GMC) in its guidance: Achieving good medical practice: guidance for medical students (2016) and Good Medical Practice (2024). It is therefore important that those applicants who may have fitness to practise issues, criminal or health related, disclose this information to the Lead for Admissions as soon as possible.
All offers are subject to satisfactory occupational health clearance. Applicants who accept our offer as their firm choice will be asked to complete and return the relevant required information to our occupational health provider by a deadline to ensure they are deemed as fit to study by the course start date. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that they complete the occupational health process to be cleared as fit to study before enrolling on the Medicine course. All Occupational Health checks must be completed satisfactorily in order for an applicant to enrol as a student on the Medicine course.
We welcome applications from all students with disabilities or any ongoing physical, mental health, or educational needs. Applicants with a disability, special needs, or medical conditions are encouraged to notify the Lead for Admissions so that appropriate adjustments can be made, for example, during interview.
Firm and insurance offer holders may be asked to provide additional information relating to a disability, special needs requirements, or chronic medical conditions indicated on an application, which will be considered by the Lead for Admissions and the Director of Student Support. All firm offer holders will be assessed by the University of Lincoln Occupational Health provider to ensure applicants are fit to train and that appropriate support is available throughout the course as outlined in GMC guidance Welcomed and Valued (2019).
Going to university is a life-changing step and it's important to understand the costs involved and the funding options available before you start. A full breakdown of the fees associated with this programme can be found below.
| 2026/27 | UK | International |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time | £9,535 per level* | £TBC |
The full-time tuition fees displayed above are for each year (level) of the course.
†Please note that not all courses are available as a part-time option.
* UK: The University undergraduate tuition fee may increase year on year in line with government policy. This will enable us to continue to provide the best possible educational facilities and student experience.
** International: The fees quoted are for one year of study. For continuing students fees are subject to an increase of 2% each year and rounded to the nearest £100.
Tuition fees for additional activity are payable by the student/sponsor and charged at the equivalent £ per credit point rate for each module. Additional activity includes:
Exceptionally, tuition fees may not be payable where a student has been granted a retake with approved extenuating circumstances.
At the end of this course successful students will receive their MBChB degree, which is a primary medical qualification (PMQ). Holding a PMQ entitles students to provisional registration with the General Medical Council, subject only to its acceptance that there are no Fitness to Practise concerns that need consideration. Graduates are required to undergo a further two years of foundation doctor training. Full registration is granted by the GMC at the end of the first year of this training.
The best way to find out what it is really like to live and learn at Lincoln is to visit us in person. We offer a range of opportunities across the year to help you to get a real feel for what it might be like to study here.
