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Medical student practicing clinical skills at Castle Hill Hospital, Hull

Selection procedure

Find out how applicants who meet our minimum academic requirements are ranked for interview and offers to study Medicine.

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Key facts

Applicant and offer numbers

Applications received

The number of applications we receive varies each year. For 2022 entry, we received:

  • 2047 applications for Medicine
  • 354 applications for Medicine with a Gateway Year
Interviews

The number of applications selected for interview varies each year. For 2022 entry, we invited:

  • 684 interview candidates for Medicine
  • 76 interview candidates for Medicine with a Gateway Year
Offers

The number of offers varies each year. For 2022 entry, we made:

  • 284 offers for Medicine
  • 51 offers for Medicine with a Gateway Year

Introduction

Selection procedure

Our aim is to produce not just doctors, but brilliant doctors who will deliver outstanding care to their patients.

Our selection procedure has been designed to enable us to assess not only academic ability, but also those skills and qualities that we feel are critical for doctors now and in the future.

We believe fairness and transparency is of utmost importance when selecting applicants and aim to share as much information as possible about our selection policy and provide support for applicants throughout the process.

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1. Entry requirements

All applications are screened to meet they meet our academic entry requirements and eligibility criteria. Please see our Medicine entry requirements and Medicine with a Gateway Year entry requirements.

If your application does not meet these criteria, it will be rejected at this stage.

2. Selection for interview

Applications are considered within the context of the applicants to the same programme as you (Medicine or Medicine with a Gateway Year), in the same application cohort as you.

We do not look for a specific score to be achieved, but instead rank you in numerical order and invite the top scoring applicants to interview.

GCSE results (30 points) - Applications will be given an academic score based upon the best six achieved grades at GCSE for Medicine, or best five GCSEs for Medicine with a Gateway Year, or equivalent Year 11 qualifications.

UCAT score (40 points) - We award a number of points based upon your total UCAT decile, up to a maximum of 40 points. We do this once UCAT results are released to universities in November.

UCAT Situational Judgement Test (15 points) - Points are allocated depending on the SJT Band achieved, up to a maximum of 15 points. We do not accept Band 4.

Contextual admissions points (up to 15 points) - We recognise that an applicant's educational and socio-economic background may impact their achievements and potential. We use contextual information alongside your UCAS application so we can build a complete picture of you as an applicant, your characteristics and potential. Due to the availability and comparability of data, the use of contextual information will apply to UK school leaver applicants only. Find out more about contextual admissions and widening participation.

Personal statement - We do not score your personal statement; however, it is an important part of your application to Hull York Medical School as it allows you to talk about your interests, achievements and ambitions.

We carefully examine all the information submitted on the UCAS form when making decisions about candidates who are borderline at the selection for interview or selection for offer stage.

If you are invited for interview, your statement is likely to prove useful preparation for interview questions. It is important that your statement is honest and accurate; we may check the claims that you made on your statement, and discovery of fabricated or exaggerated material may lead to the withdrawal of a future offer of a place.

References - Applications must also include an academic reference. Any application submitted without a completed academic reference will be rejected.

If it is a while since you were studying, and you have been in a full-time job for more than one year, we will also require a reference from your latest employer who will be asked to comment upon your suitability to study Medicine.

Interview fast track

We offer a fast track to interview to applicants to our A100 Medicine programme who have met all of the essential entry requirements, have achieved a UCAT Decile 4 or above, and who also meet one of the following criteria (Please note, there is no fast track to interview available for our A108 Medicine with a Gateway Year programme):

  • Care experienced (visit the University of York website for a definition of what is a care leaver)
  • Refugee status
  • Students from a military background (visit the University of York website for a definition of what is a military background)
  • Students from a Gypsy, Roma or Traveller background
  • Completion of one of the following widening participation programmes within the year of application:
    • Hull York Medical School Year 12 Summer School / Residential
    • York Experience Summer School
    • UKWPMED programmes
      • Birmingham Medical School – Routes to the Professions: Medicine
      • Brighton and Sussex Medical School – BrightMed
      • Keele University School of Medicine – Steps2Medicine
      • University of Leicester – AccessLeicester: Medicine
      • Manchester Medical School – Manchester Access Programme and Preston Widening Access Programme (medicine route)
      • Peninsula Medical School – Peninsula Pathways PLUS
  • Completion of one of the following widening participation programmes within two years of application:
    • Hull York Medical School Pathways to Medicine programme
    • Realising Opportunities programme
    • University of York Black Access programme
    • University of York Next Step York programme
    • University of York Yorway programme
  • Graduate / Final Year Student from BSc Biomedical Science at University of Hull
  • Graduate / Final Year Student from BSc Biomedical Science at University of York

Applicants will be asked to confirm eligibility for interview fast track via an online form sent shortly after the October UCAS application deadline.

Applicants who do not complete this form by the November response deadline will not be considered under the fast track scheme.

Participation on the listed Widening Participation Programmes will be confirmed with the programme providers.

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3. Interview

We run Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs), where applicants rotate around a series of short stations.

Please visit our interviews page which explains what happens during our Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs), as well as helpful tips and experiences from our current Medicine students.

You will be asked about your experience in your interview. We advise applicants to have a range of relevant work experiences in health or social care settings or in areas that provide person facing interactions.

Your experience will help you to demonstrate in your application and interview that you understand, and are committed to, teamwork and the social context of healthcare.

It will help you to develop some of the values, attitudes and behaviours essential to being a doctor.

Please visit our work experience page for more information.

In-person interviews scoring (Home/EU candidates)

In-person interviews are scored as follows:

  • Group exercise - up to 22 points
  • Mini interview 1 - up to 17 points
  • Mini interview 2 - up to 17 points
  • Scenario station - up to 17 points
  • Student station - up to 17 points
Online interviews scoring (overseas fee status candidates)

Online interviews are only available for international applicants and therefore do not include contextual data points.

Online interviews are scored as follows:

  • Mini interview 1 - up to 15 points
  • Mini interview 2 - up to 15 points
  • Mini interview 3 - up to 15 points
  • Student station - up to 15 points
  • Individual scenario station - up to 15 points
  • Group scenario station - up to 15 points

4. Selection for offer

Scores are collated as follows:

  • Overall interview score
  • Contextual admissions points - up to 10 points (scores are factored on interview performance)

Contextual data is scored as follows: 

  • Up to 5 points if you meet one of the following markers, or up to up to 10 points if you meet two of the following markers:
    • In receipt of UCAT bursary
    • Resident in POLAR 4 Young Participation Area Quintile 1 (you can check your postcode on the Office for Students website)
    • Resident in POLAR 4 Young Participation Area Quintile 2 (you can check your postcode on the Office for Students website)
    • First in family to attend University
    • Attended a school with a Progress 8 score* below the national average for GCSE (or equivalent) study – 3 points
  • Up to 10 points if you meet one of the following markers:
    • Care experienced (visit the University of York website for a definition of what is a care leaver)
    • Refugee status
    • Students from a military background (visit the University of York website for a definition of what is a military background)
    • Students from a Gypsy, Roma or Traveller background
    • Successful completion of one of the following Widening Participation Programmes within the year of application:
      • Hull York Medical School Year 12 Summer School / Residential
      • York Experience Summer School
      • UKWPMED programmes
        • Birmingham Medical School – Routes to the Professions: Medicine
        • Brighton and Sussex Medical School – BrightMed
        • Keele University School of Medicine – Steps2Medicine
        • University of Leicester – AccessLeicester: Medicine
        • Manchester Medical School – Manchester Access Programme and Preston Widening Access Programme (medicine route)
        • Peninsula Medical School – Peninsula Pathways PLUS
    • Successful completion of one of the following Widening Participation Programmes within two years of application:
      • Hull York Medical School Pathways to Medicine programme
      • Realising Opportunities programme
      • University of York Black Access programme
      • University of York Next Step York programme
      • University of York Yorway programme

 We then rank applicants in order of total score and make offers. We make offers after all the interviews are completed. Find out more about our offers.

Because we rank applicants according to their individual total score, the cut-off score for offer changes each year and we therefore cannot define a minimum score that will be acceptable.

Selection procedure

Criteria

During our selection process, the following criteria are considered:

  • Academic ability, judged by prior academic performance and, where appropriate, predicted academic results
  • Evidence of motivation and reasons for working in healthcare
  • Evidence of a realistic understanding of healthcare issues and practice
  • Written and oral communication skills, and suitability for an enquiry-based learning course
  • Evidence of conscientiousness, self-motivation, responsibility and appropriate maturity and confidence

We reserve the right to alter our process if considered necessary.

Our admission policy follows the Guiding Principles for the Admission of Medical Students agreed by the Council of Heads of Medical Schools (revised March 2010).