Admissions

Entry requirements and contextual data

We would expect to see at least three As at A Level, including Biology and Chemistry. While some students are advised by their institutions to study either Maths or Physics as their third A Level, we encourage applications from students studying arts, humanities or social sciences as we recognise their value in broadening academic horizons.

For students studying the International Baccalaureate, we would expect to see an overall score of 36 including at least a grade 6 in both Biology and Chemistry at Higher Level.

In addition to this, we also expect a grade 6 or B in an applicant’s GCSE English (Literature, Language or both) and Maths.

For guidance on the different qualifications we accept, please visit our entry requirements page.  

If you are an international student, you can see an A-Z of international qualifications here. For further queries about entry requirements, you can take a look at the FAQ page. 

Read our FAQs here >

BSMS is firmly and passionately committed to ensuring the medical workforce is reflective of the patient population. We therefore carefully consider a number of contextual data flags to promote the widening of participation and access to medicine. These contextual data criteria are:  

• Living in a neighbourhood with low participation in higher education or in an area within the bottom 20% of the Index of Mass Deprivation* 
• Attending an 11-16 state school performing below the national average per Attainment 8* 
• Applicant, parent or guardian in receipt of a means-tested benefit** 
• Applicant is, or has been, in receipt of 16 to 19 bursary** 
• Applicant is, or has been, eligible for free school meals between years 9 and 13** 
• Applicant has an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP)** 

Further to this, applicants who are (or have been) in local authority care for more than three months will be invited directly to interview, subject to academic criteria. 

*Determined from information provided on UCAS application 
**Applicant will be invited via email to upload evidence of these criteria following the submissions of their UCAS application. 

Applicants satisfying two or more of the above criteria will be accepted with grades of AAB at A Level (including Biology and Chemistry) as well as GCSE grade C or 5 in English (Literature, Language or both) and Maths. For International Baccalaureate, we would accept an overall score of 35.   

Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT)

The vast majority of medical schools require applicants to sit an admissions test before being considered for entry. For BSMS, this is the Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT). To find out how we score the BMAT and previous cut off scores, please click on the link below.

Learn more about BMAT >

We believe the BMAT is a fair and transparent method for selecting for interview. It is not only a test of thinking skills, but also of knowledge and reasoning. It is important that applicants are able to demonstrate their ability to construct a clear argument and present it using a good level of written English; this can be evidenced in Section 3.

You can find BMAT resources, past papers and FAQs via the Cambridge Assessment webpage below, and watch videos on preparing for BMAT and on the test day, also below.

Visit the Cambridge Assessment website >

For more information about how we use the BMAT in our admissions process please visit the FAQ page. 

View our FAQs page here >

What happens next

We interview around 600 candidates and roughly half will receive an offer.

This will be based on the strength of their interview score. Those who score very highly will be contacted sooner rather than later, with the remaining offers being allocated after the Admissions Board have met in March each year.  

After receiving and accepting an offer of study, applicants will then need to meet the conditions of their offer in order to guarantee themselves a place at BSMS.  

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