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Medicine with Foundation Year

  • Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery
  • 6 Years
  • Full-Time
  • September 2027
  • Undergraduate
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More about University of Plymouth

Course options

2027-2028
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Course summary

An exciting course offering an alternative entry route into medicine for able students whose education has been impacted by adversity. Using an Enquiry-Based Learning (EBL) approach, this course begins the journey towards the development of the academic, personal and professional skills needed for a career in medicine.
It aims to aid the transition to university through building a strong sense of belonging within the medical student community, as well as introducing you to our learning, teaching and assessment methods. Meeting the relevant entry requirements at the end of your foundation year will enable you to progress to Stage 1 of the standard 5 year BMBS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery programme with no further selection process.

  • Offers an alternative entry route to medicine for those whose academic potential has been adversely affected by educational and social factors.

  • Bursary available for each new entrant to the BMBS with Foundation 6 year course.

  • Teaching sessions are not timetabled on Fridays to allow time for other commitments such as caring duties, community work or part-time jobs.

  • A strong inter-professional study component which incorporates shared teaching with Foundation students from other programmes in the Faculty of Health.

  • Hands-on, experiential learning in community healthcare.

  • Provides supportive and encouraging learning to help students develop in all aspects required to thrive in their future medical study.

  • Direct enrolment onto Stage 1 of the standard BMBS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery programme without further assessment, subject to meeting the relevant entry requirements at the end of your Foundation year. Please note, we are unable to support transfer from our Foundation year to year 1 of other medical schools.

  • Responds to the University, government and GMC mission to ensure medicine is a career open to all and that doctors reflect the breadth of communities they serve.

Modules

Course Modules

Year 0
Teaching will be delivered across a mixture of shared and bespoke core modules. Shared modules are delivered in collaboration with the School of Biomedical Sciences.

This course is not accepting applications for deferred entry.

This course has restrictions on who can apply.

Ways to study this course

Campuses

  • Main Site

Study options

  • Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery • Full-Time • 6 Years

Start dates

  • September 2027

Apply by
15 October 2026

This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.

Application codes

Course code:
A102
Institution code:
P60
Campus name:
Main Site
Points of Entry:
Foundation

University of Plymouth has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

See why these ratings were awarded
What does this TEF outcome mean?

How to apply

This course has restrictions on who can apply.

This course is not accepting applications from students requiring a Student visa. For more information, please contact the course provider.

Apply by
15 October 2026

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Course code:
A102
Institution code:
P60
Campus name:
Main Site

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Foundation

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Entry requirements

Typical qualification requirements

A level
BBB

BBB to include Biology and a second science from Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, or Psychology.

The Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge is accepted in lieu of one A Level.

We have a re-sit policy for this course:
- We will consider one re-sit attempt, or a maximum sudy period of 3 years.
- Applicants who have previously made an exam attempt must have achieved grades minum grades in their first sitting for us to consider an application whilst their re-sit attempt is underway:
- Applicants must have achieved grades BCC in their first attempt, and be predicted to achieve grades BBB in their re-sit attempt.

UCAS Tariff
Not accepted

Scottish Higher
Not accepted

Access to HE Diploma
Distinction: 33 Merit: 12

Including a minimum of 15 credits in Biology

Scottish Advanced Higher
BBB

To include Biology and a second science from Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, or Psychology.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
28-32

Including grade 5 in Higher Level Biology and a second science subject from Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, or Psychology.

We have a re-sit policy for this course:
- We will consider one re-sit attempt, or a maximum sudy period of 3 years.
- Applicants who have previously made an exam attempt must have achieved grades minum grades in their first sitting for us to consider an application whilst their re-sit attempt is underway:
- Applicants must have achieved 26 overall, including HL5, HL4 in their first attempt, and be predicted to achieve 28 overall, including HL5, HL5 in their re-sit attempt.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
DDM

BTEC National Diploma in a predominantly science subject area.

We have a re-sit policy for this course:
- We will consider one re-sit attempt, or a maximum sudy period of 3 years.
- Applicants who have previously made an exam attempt must have achieved grades minum grades in their first sitting for us to consider an application whilst their re-sit attempt is underway:
- Applicants must have achieved grades MMM in their first attempt, and be predicted to achieve grades DDM in their re-sit attempt.

Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
M2M2M2

Including Biology and a second Science from Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, or Psychology.

We have a re-sit policy for this course:
- We will consider one re-sit attempt, or a maximum sudy period of 3 years.
- Applicants who have previously made an exam attempt must have achieved grades minum grades in their first sitting for us to consider an application whilst their re-sit attempt is underway:
- Applicants must have achieved grades M2, M3, M3 in their first attempt, and be predicted to achieve grades M2, M2, M2 in their re-sit attempt.

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
H2H2H3H3H3H3

Including H2 in Biology and H2 in a second Science from Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, or Psychology.

We have a re-sit policy for this course:
- We will consider one re-sit attempt, or a maximum sudy period of 3 years.
- Applicants who have previously made an exam attempt must have achieved grades minum grades in their first sitting for us to consider an application whilst their re-sit attempt is underway:
- Applicants must have achieved grades H2, H3, H3, h3, H3, H3 in their first attempt, and be predicted to achieve grades H2, H2, H3, H3, H3, H3 in their re-sit attempt.

In additional to a suitable Level 3 qualification profile, applicants must also evidence 5 GCSEs at grades C/4 or above, which must include English Language, Mathematics, and two science subjects from Science, Additional Science, Biology, Chemistry, or Physics. We will also accept a Dual Science or Combined Science award.

Applicants should also look to sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) ahead of submitting their application. We can only consider scores from the year of application, for example, if you are applying in October 2026 for September 2027 entry, we can only consider scores from a 2026 test date.

All applicants must have achieved the required A levels, or equivalent level 3 qualification, no more than five years prior to submitting a UCAS application.

Applicants for this course must not meet the entry requirements for the five-year BMBS Medicine (A100) course. This includes the BMBS Medicine (A100) re-sit policy.

This course is a widening participation course, and all applicants must meet our widening access policy to be considered for interview. Please see the University of Plymouth website for further information, linked in the contextual offer information below.

We welcome applications from Home/EU direct school leavers, students who have not achieved a first degree, and refugees currently residing in the UK who are eligible for a home tuition fee rate.

We are unable to consider international-fee-paying applicants for entry on to this course.

Please note that our typical requirements are not necessarily the threshold for interview selection. Other factors including the number of applications received may influence the threshold for interview selection.

Selection and Admissions Process:

  • Applications should be made through UCAS by the published deadline. This is typically the 15 October.
  • You can apply to no more than four of the same clinical course choice, so although you cannot apply for five medical courses, four medical courses and one dental course would be permitted. Further information is available through the UCAS website. You may also wish to consider an alternative course such as Biomedical Science or Medical Sciences as your fifth choice.

All decisions on applications are made by the Admissions Advisory Panel, which consists of academics, clinicians and senior members of the administrative team.
The University of Plymouth Medicine and Dentistry Admissions Team process applications as follows:
1. Shortlisting for interview– Applicants are considered for interview based on relevant academic qualifications alone. We do not consider personal statements or work experience when selecting for interview.
The Admissions Advisory Panel consider many factors when choosing who will be invited to attend an interview, including the number of places available on the course and the number of applications received, alongside the academic profiles of all our applicants.
2. Interview – Successful applicants are invited to attend an interview process. We use Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) as the format for our interviews.
Following interviews, candidates are ranked based on the score achieved and the top performing applicants are offered a place on the course
3. Offer – Offers are made via UCAS. Within all offers, candidates are required to complete a series of health and police checks, full details of which are communicated to firm offer holders by the Admissions Team.

Practising as a doctor requires the highest standards and we take seriously our commitment to only enrol and teach students with the integrity required of the profession. Full details of these requirements, support for health issues and inclusion of students with disabilities can be found on our Student Conduct and Fitness to Practise page on hte University of Plymouth website.

Additional entry requirements

Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) / Disclosure Scotland Check
Health Checks
Interview
University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)

Contextual admissions

Universities and colleges consider more than grades when assessing applications and may make offers based on a range of criteria. Learn more about contextual offers.

We use a points-based system. We assign either 1 or 2 points to our contextual markers, and we expect applicants to meet at least 5 points in total.
You must provide evidence of the contextual markers that are not related to your home postcode or school performance by sending documents to us via our applicant portal at the point of application.
Please review the Apply section and then the Contextual entry requirements sub-heading on our course page for further information.

Learn more on the University of Plymouth website

Historical entry grades data

This section shows the range of grades that students who received offers were previously accepted on to this course with (learn more).

It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place.

Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.

Not enough data available

We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

No fee information has been provided for this course

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.

Additional fee information

For all information about tuition fees, please visit our fees and funding pages at www.plymouth.ac.uk/study/fees

  • Fees are correct at the time of publication and may be subject to change.

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