Medicine admissions
This page relates to 2025 entry for MBChB Medicine (A100) and MBChB Graduate Entry Medicine (A101).
The information below is supported by our admissions policies:
MBChB Graduate Entry Medicine (A101)
If you are planning to start your degree in a later year, please note that our admissions policies and selection processes may change for your year of entry.
On this page:
- Applying
- Selection process
- Deferred entry
- Mature students
- International students
- Students with a disability
- After your degree
Applying
At the University of Sheffield we offer two undergraduate Medicine programmes – the five-year MBChB Medicine course (UCAS code: A100) and the four-year MBChB Graduate Entry Medicine course (UCAS code: A101).
The A100 course currently has 273 places for home students and 18 places for international students. The A101 course has 24 places for home students that meet our widening participation criteria and no places for international students.
Minimum entry requirements, including the A101 widening participation criteria, and information about fees and funding, can be found on each course’s webpage in the online prospectus.
You can apply for either course through the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). If you wish to be considered for both courses, you will need to apply for both. The deadline to apply for 2025 entry is 15 October 2024.
For entry in 2024, we received approximately 1,400 applications for 306 places across both courses. We are unable to consider any late applications.
We provide a range of support and opportunities for students from backgrounds that are under-represented in higher education and want to study Medicine.
If you've applied to study Medicine and have experienced issues of a personal, social or domestic nature that have affected your studies, or your ability to meet our published entry requirements, we'd encourage you to let us know by completing our Disrupted Studies form.
Medicine disrupted studies policy (PDF)
Selection process
We use a three-stage selection process to decide which applicants will receive an offer to study Medicine at the University of Sheffield: academic entry requirements, the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) and multiple mini interviews (MMIs).
Stage 1: Academic entry requirements
After the UCAS application deadline in October, we will look at the results of all your previous qualifications and your predicted grades for any qualifications you are currently studying for. We will use this information to determine whether or not you meet our minimum academic entry requirements. We do not rank applicants at this stage, so there is no advantage for students who exceed our minimum academic entry requirements.
Applicants for MBChB Graduate Entry Medicine (A101) will be asked to complete a form to demonstrate that they also meet the course’s widening participation criteria.
We do not read or score applicants' UCAS personal statements as part of the selection process.
Stage 2: University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)
Before you apply, you must take the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) in the year that you are applying, and meet or exceed our minimum UCAT score threshold, which is 2430/3600 for 2025 entry. This threshold has been determined by calculating the 40th centile score attained by everyone who took the test for 2022, 2023 and 2024 entry.
Some applicants for MBChB Medicine (A100) will progress immediately to the next stage of the selection process if they meet our minimum UCAT score threshold, as well as the relevant academic entry requirements and widening participation criteria. This applies to students who:
- Have participated in the Access to Sheffield (Medicine) or Realising Opportunities programme – find out more
- Are applying from a recognised University of Bradford or Sheffield Hallam University pathway – find out more
All other applications will be ranked according to their UCAT scores and only those with the highest UCAT scores will progress to the next stage of the selection process. The score required to progress changes each year based on the scores that all applicants achieve, but the following table shows the scores that were required in recent years. Home applicants for A100, international applicants for A100, and A101 applicants are all ranked separately.
| Admissions cycle | Minimum UCAT threshold | A100 Home UCAT ranking cutpoint* | A100 Overseas UCAT ranking cutpoint* | A101 Home UCAT ranking cutpoint* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 2420/3600 | 2660/3600 | 2700/3600 | 2550/3600 |
| 2020-21 | 2420/3600 | 2740/3600 | 2760/3600 | 2700/3600 |
| 2021-22 | 2430/3600 | 2780/3600 | 2710/3600 | 2610/3600 |
| 2022-23 | 2430/3600 | 2850/3600 | 2840/3600 | 2580/3600 |
| 2023-24 | 2440/3600 | 2440/3600 | 2870/3600 | 2640/3600 |
Stage 3: Multiple mini-interviews (MMIs)
If you meet our minimum academic entry requirements (and, where relevant, our widening participation criteria) and you have the required UCAT score, you will be invited to interview.
For home applicants, we use a multiple mini-interview (MMI) format, which applicants attend in person. International applicants will be invited to an online panel interview.
Multiple mini-interviews are typically divided into eight sections that cover the following areas:
- Knowledge of Sheffield
- Medicine in a wider context
- Good medical practice
- Attitudes and values
- The candidate as a person
- Communication skills
- Ethics
- Information processing
Interview panels are made up of medical educators, senior staff with medical qualifications, biomedical scientists, senior hospital doctors, general practitioners, junior hospital doctors, senior nurses, senior pharmacists, medical students and lay people.
You will be scored on your performance in each section of the MMIs out of five, as follows:
| Interview score | Description |
|---|---|
| 5 | Excellent |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Satisfactory |
| 2 | Borderline |
| 1 | Unsatisfactory |
In addition, your score in the UCAT Situational Judgement Test (SJT) will be converted into a score out of five, as follows:
| Interview score | SJT quartile | Desctiption |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1st | Excellent |
| 4 | 2nd | Good |
| 3 | 3rd | Satisfactory |
| 2 | 4th | Borderline |
| 1 | Not applicable | Unsatisfactory |
Your MMI and Situational Judgement Test scores will be added together for a total score out of 45. You will then be ranked alongside all other applicants based on this score. Applicants who achieve a score of three or better in every MMI section and the SJT will be prioritised in the ranking process.
Multiple mini-interviews for 2025 entry will take place in December 2024 and January 2025, and online panel interviews will be held on 28-30 January 2025. We expect to invite approximately 1,100 home applicants and 100 international applicants for MBChB Medicine (A100), and 40-60 applicants for MBChB Graduate Entry Medicine (A101).
Interview advice
Your interviewers will not have read your UCAS personal statement, but you can expect to be asked questions about the kind of topics that applicants often write about in personal statements.
You are encouraged to prepare by reading the NHS constitution, NHS values, and ‘Achieving good medical practice: guidance for medical students’ by the General Medical Council. You should also keep up-to-date with medical breakthroughs, topical controversies, ethical debates and NHS politics.
We do not set a dress code for interviews but your appearance is important. You should dress appropriately and professionally – your conduct will be assessed from the moment you arrive for your interview.
The Medical Schools Council has more advice on preparing for interviews. Note that the interview format used at the University of Sheffield may differ from any format described by the Medical Schools Council.
Medical Schools Council – interviews
Work experience
Medical schools normally expect applicants to have a range of work experience. You can expect to be asked about this at your interview. Work experience can help you understand the reality of working as a doctor and demonstrate that you have the skills and qualities that make a good doctor, such as:
- the ability to overcome setbacks
- the ability to work independently
- a sense of responsibility
- a sense of service to the community
- experience working with diverse groups
- communication
- enthusiasm
- perseverance
- self-insight
We recognise that it is not always possible for applications to obtain work experience with a doctor in a medical setting. Many applicants work or volunteer as a Healthcare Assistant in the NHS. Other areas to explore, whether paid or voluntary, can include:
- a residential care home, hospice or similar
- working in a youth centre or with young children
- participating in community volunteering schemes
- roles that involve interacting with a diverse range of people
Roles that involve participating in the work rather than simply observing are particularly useful. We recommend that applicants keep a journal of their work experience so that, at interview, they are prepared to reflect on what they learned, what they found interesting, what they were inspired to find out more about, and how their experience can be applied to their future medical career.
Medical Schools Council – Work and voluntary experience
After your interview
After all interviews have been completed, we will use your MMI/SJT scores and ranking to determine whether you will be offered a place to study Medicine at the University of Sheffield. If you are successful, you will be notified via UCAS.
Offers are subject to satisfactory UCAS references, health clearance and an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check (or equivalent). You will receive information about the processes for health clearance and DBS checks if you make the University of Sheffield your firm choice in UCAS. You will also be required to sign a student entry agreement before starting the course, based on standards laid out by the General Medical Council in the following documents:
Achieving good medical practice: guidance for medical students
Professional behaviour and fitness to practise
Some unsuccessful applicants may be placed on a reserve list and notified of this via email. How this works is explained in our reserve list policy.
Medicine reserve list policy (PDF)
Unsuccessful applicants may also be considered for the University of Sheffield’s Biomedical Science and Orthoptics courses. This process can take up to three weeks. Unsuccessful applicants are notified via UCAS.
- Application timeline
-
14 May 2024: UCAT registration and bursary scheme opens
18 June 2024: UCAT booking opens
8 July 2024: UCAT testing begins
19 September 2024: UCAT registration and online booking deadline
26 September 2024: Last UCAT testing date
15 October 2024: UCAS application deadline
15 October - 15 November 2024: Applications reviewed for minimum entry requirements
1 November 2024: Deadline for submitting widening participation forms to the University (A101 applicants only)
Early November 2024: University receives UCAT test scores; UCAT scores reviewed and ranked
2 - 6 December 2024, 13 - 21 January 2025: Multiple mini-interviews
28 - 30 January 2025: Online panel interviews for international applicants
Early March 2025: Decisions shared with applicants via UCAS and the University's Admissions Service
Deferred entry
We welcome deferred entry applications. If you intend to defer, please state this on your UCAS application form. If you are applying in a year that means you will not be aged 18 before the first day of the course, you will be required to defer.
At interview, you may be asked to summarise your plans for the year before you start your course. This is an opportunity for you to demonstrate how any plans you are making for the year ahead will enable you to become a good doctor. For example:
- Travelling to different countries and meeting people from other cultures will help you develop the cultural awareness clinicians need
- Relevant work or volunteering experience can reinforce your commitment to and understanding of caring professions
- Earning money to help fund your studies can help you demonstrate your understanding of social responsibility
- Many activities outside of education can provide an opportunity to improve your confidence, maturity and self-awareness
If you decide to defer part-way through the application/selection process, you will need to request this in writing, explaining your reasons, and submit this to our admissions team via email or post. In most cases, we are able to fulfil these requests, but this cannot be guaranteed
Mature students
We welcome applications from mature students and do not have an upper age limit for students who want to study Medicine at the University of Sheffield. However, typically, we will only offer places to students who can provide a reasonable period of service in healthcare after graduation.
International students
The University of Sheffield has welcomed Medicine students from more than 100 countries.
International applicants can sit the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) through our South East Asia office in Kuala Lumpur. As this is the only UCAT centre in Kuala Lumpur, you are encouraged to book early if you intend to take the assessment there. You can find information about other UCAT centres around the world on the UCAT website.
Students with a disability
We welcome applications from people with a disability. Your personal experience of disability can give you greater insight into the lives of patients and make you better equipped to assist them as a doctor. We would encourage applicants with a disability to consider that medical training covers every aspect of healthcare and includes a challenging Foundation Programme. If you have a disability that would make it impossible for you to practise medicine, we would be unable to accept you onto an MBChB course.
After your degree
At the end of your Medicine course, you will be awarded an MBChB degree, which is a primary medical qualification (PMQ). Holding a PMQ from a UK university means you can provisionally register with the General Medical Council (GMC), as long as there are no concerns over fitness to practise and you can pay the required fee. Your provisional registration will normally expire after three years and 30 days, or 1,125 days in total.
As a provisionally registered doctor, you will only be able to practise in an approved Year 1 post as part of the UK’s Foundation Programme. You can apply for these posts during the final year of your Medicine course. In previous years, all suitably qualified UK graduates have secured a Foundation Programme place, but this cannot be guaranteed.
Foundation Year 1 is normally completed in 12 months. At this point, you will receive a Certificate of Experience and be able to apply for full registration with the GMC. To undertake unsupervised medical practice in the UK, either in the NHS or privately, or join an approved Foundation Year 2 programme, you must be registered with a licence.
General Medical Council – Registration and licensing
Please note that the registration process and requirements for newly qualified doctors in the UK are subject to change.
Frequently asked questions
- I applied to Sheffield Medical School but have not received an acknowledgement to say that you have received my application.
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Providing that you have been issued with a UCAS number after submitting your application to UCAS rest assured that we will have received your application in the office. The University sends out central acknowledgments of receipt, if you have not received this, please contact the Admissions Service.
- I submitted my application to UCAS before the closing date but have still not heard the outcome of my application. When might I expect to hear?
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We start processing applications once the application deadline has passed in mid-October. Applicants that are to be invited to interview will be notified directly by email in November 2022. Applicants who are not going to be invited to interview will be notified via UCAS that their application has been unsuccessful in December 2022. Our selection process will run to the timetable shown earlier on the page.
- Can I send you any additional information to go with my application form?
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The Medical School will not normally consider additional information not included in the UCAS form when deciding which candidates to invite to attend Multiple Mini-Interviews. However, if you have any extenuating circumstances or health problems that we need to be aware of when assessing your application you may send additional information about this directly to us. We will then ensure that it is matched with your application. If you have extenuating circumstances or health problems that we need to be aware of, you are encouraged to submit a Disrupted Studies form. How we deal with Disrupted Studies is set out in our Disrupted Studies Policy.
- Do you score the UCAS Personal Statement?
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We do not normally read or score UCAS Personal Statements as part of the selection process. However, the activities, interests and values that candidates express in their Personal Statements are commonly explored during the Multiple Mini-Interviews. We will read the UCAS Personal Statement in the event that UCAS flags it to us as being potentially plagiarised. In the event that we agree that the any part of the UCAS Personal Statement has been plagiarised we will deem the application to be unsuccessful, regardless of whether the academic or UCAT minimum thresholds have been met.
- I want to take a gap year. What should I do during that year?
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We do not specify exactly what you should do during your gap year except that you should do something constructive. This may not necessarily mean that you have to do something that is medically related but, for example, you may plan to work for a year to help finance you during your medical studies.
- What sort of work experience should I do?
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We do not specify the exact sort of work experience you should do or how much work experience you should have because it depends on what is available where you live. It should however be something within a caring environment. Some applicants may have experience of shadowing hospital staff or GPs but if this is not available to you try doing some voluntary work in a local hospice or working with children or adults with disabilities. We want to see what you have gained from your work experience - that you are able to communicate with people, have a caring nature and are able to work as part of a team. Your work experience does not have to have been undertaken with a doctor. We recommend that your work experience should have been undertaken within two years of your application.
- I just missed getting the necessary grades can I still apply?
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Applicants who do not meet our minimum academic requirements are normally unsuccessful in our selection process. Application to Medicine is extremely competitive and most of the people who apply meet or exceed the minimum academic requirements. If you do not meet the A Level requirements, you may wish to resit the relevant qualification. Alternatively, you may consider studying an alternative degree with a view to applying to Medicine after you graduate (please note that we require graduate applicants to have achieved at least BBB at A Level, including Chemistry or Biology).
- I took my Level 3 Extended Project Qualification whilst studying for my GCSEs. Will my EPQ count towards meeting the academic entry requirement?
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No. In determining whether an applicant has met our academic entry requirements we only consider Level 3 Extended Projects that are taken alongside A Levels. We do not consider other qualifications.
- Can I compensate for a low University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) score with a higher level of academic attainment?
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No. Applicants must meet both the minimum academic and the minimum UCAT entry requirements. You cannot compensate for a UCAT score that is below the minimum accepted level with higher academic attainment, or vice versa. Applicants who meet the thresholds for academic performance and UCAT performance are ranked on their UCAT performance to determine who is invited to attend a Multiple Mini-Interview. The cut point at and above which an applicant's UCAT score will be sufficient to merit an invitation to attend a Multiple Mini-Interview cannot be known until after the application deadline, as applicants are in competition with each other at this stage.
- I have been exempted from the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) on geographic grounds. Can I apply?
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Applicants who have been exempted from the UCAT on geographical grounds will not normally be considered.
- I have been exempted from the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) on medical/health grounds. Can I apply?
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Applicants who have been exempted from the UCAT on medical/health grounds or who have not been able to obtain sufficient reasonable adjustment for a disability from UCAT should submit their UCAS application with a Disrupted Studies application. Where it is agreed that the applicant has experienced a significant disruption or that appropriate reasonable adjustments had not been made they will be invited to attend a Multiple Mini-Interview, provided that they meet the academic requirements. In the event that the Disrupted Studies are not accepted, the application will be deemed unsuccessful.
- Are University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) scores adjusted if I have mitigating circumstances?
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We normally make no adjustment to the UCAT (or UCATSEN, UCATSA, UCATSENSA, UCATSEN50) scores for applicants who have mitigating circumstances.
- How was the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) minimum threshold determined?
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We determine the UCAT minimum threshold by considering the performance of test takers in previous years. Typically we set the minimum threshold at around the 40th centile. We have set the UCAT minimum threshold by considering the 40th centile in the UCATs from 2018, 2019 and 2020. In the event that the 40th centile in the 2021 UCAT is higher or lower than this we will not amend the minimum threshold.
- What evidence will I have to supply if I take the UCATSEN, UCATSENSA OR UCATSEN50?
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The UCATSEN,UCATSENSA and UCATSEN50 are extended versions of the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) for applicants who have special educational needs. If you wish to sit the UCATSEN, UCATSENSA or UCATSEN50 you will need to apply directly to the UCAT office for approval. They may ask you to provide information to confirm your eligibility for the test.
If you are currently in education, you may be asked to provide UCAT with an official letter from your school, college or university stating that on the basis of a diagnosis from a qualified medical practitioner, educational psychologist or specialist teacher that you are currently entitled to additional time in public examinations (or that you have had additional time in public examinations in the last two years).
If you are no longer in education you may be asked to provide UCAT with a post-16 year's diagnosis or report from a qualified medical practitioner or educational psychologist that explicitly recommends additional time in public examinations.
Reports should not be authored by family members.
- What happens if UCAT annotates my results?
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UCAT will annotate a candidate's results if they have experienced a significant issue that may have affected their test performance but which does not warrant a resit (e.g. where small amounts of time have been lost from a particular subset). The annotation will be factual and will refer to specifics such as the amount of time lost and the subset affected. In the event that your UCAT result is annotated, the Medical School Admissions Team will consider this annotation in the same way that it considers applications for Disrupted Studies.
- I would like to come to Sheffield and have a look at the Medical School Can I arrange this?
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Whilst we are unable to arrange individual visits there are a number of general University Open Days that allow you to have a look around the campus and there is a talk at the Medical School.
- Do you accept transfers from other Medical Schools?
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Transfer to, or between, UK universities is not a straightforward process due to the differences in curricula and regulatory requirements to practise medicine in the UK. In addition, places at Medical Schools in the UK are capped by the Government.
As we are at the limit of our numbers under this system, we are not able to accept any transfer requests.
- Do you accept transfers from other degree programmes at the University of Sheffield?
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No. The University of Sheffield Medical School does not usually accept students wishing to transfer from another degree course at the University of Sheffield.
- I am in the first two years of a non-medical degree programme. Can I apply to study Medicine at the University of Sheffield?
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No. With the exception of students from widening participation backgrounds the B990 BSc Clinical Sciences degree at the University of Bradford, or the B960 BSc Biomedical Science at Sheffield Hallam University, we do not usually consider applications from people who are currently reading a degree but who have not yet reached their final year. We will be delighted to receive an application from you once you are in the final year of study for your current degree.
- I have had an A Level certificated after one year of study. If I take it again the following year, does this count as a resit?
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Yes. The Medical School considers an A Level taken after 2 years study to be a resit examination if the applicant has already completed that A Level and received a certificate after one year of study.
- I took an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)with my first attempt at A Levels but am now resitting one or more A Levels. Will the EPQ alter my A Level entry criteria?
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Our requirement for applicants offering an EPQ with their first sitting A Levels is AAB at A Level, including an A grade in Biology or Chemistry A Level, another science and any third subject other than General Studies, Critical Thinking or Further Mathematics, plus an A Grade in an EPQ.
The EPQ must be taken alongside the A Levels. Therefore, where an applicant is resitting one or more A Levels, the standard entry requirements of AAA will apply, and the attained EPQ will not modify this to AAB. Applicants with an EPQ who are resitting A Levels must therefore resit sufficient A Levels to attain AAA grades.
- Do you accept applicants through UCAS Extra/Clearing?
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The only applications that we process through UCAS Extra are those for the University of Bradford and Sheffield Hallam University Widening participation entry routes. The Medical School does not usually process applications through UCAS Clearing.
- I have been invited to attend an interview but am unable to attend on any of the interview dates. What should I do?
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Applicants are required to be available throughout the interview period. All applicants invited to interview will be notified on the same day, and the interview slots are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The Medical School is not able to offer interviews outside of the interview period, and any applicant who is unable to attend during that period will have their application deemed unsuccessful.
- I have been invited to attend an interview and have received confirmation of my selected interview date and time. Can I now change my interview date/time?
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No. Once you have booked your interview date and time and received confirmation of these you will not be able to change them. You should therefore be sure that you will be able to attend at your chosen time before you make your booking.
- I think I have booked my interview date and time, but I have not received a confirmation. What should I do?
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When you book your interview slot you will be sent a confirmation email that confirms the date and time of your interview. If you have not received such an email within an hour of your booking attempt (check that it has not gone into your Spam folder) then you have not completed your booking, and should try booking again!
- What happens if I am late for my interview?
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You are advised to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the start time of your interview. (For example, if your interview starts at 0930hrs you must arrive no later than 0900hrs.) Applicants who arrive after the start time for their interview will not be permitted to join their interview, and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to reschedule the interview.
- Am I allowed to bring notes into the interview?
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You will not be permitted to use notes/crib sheets etc. during the interview. The interviewers are interested to know what you have to say, rather than what you can read to them. Whilst you are encouraged to be prepared for your interview, you are strongly discouraged from reciting answers to the interviewer.
- My application to the University of Sheffield Medical School has been successful. Can I obtain feedback on my interview performance?
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Congratulations on receiving an offer of a place to read Medicine with us! Receiving an offer of a place indicates that your interview performance was strong across all eight stations. We do not provide additional feedback to offer holders. We do not release scores attained for the interview or its component stations.
- My application to the University of Sheffield Medical School has been rejected. How can I obtain feedback?
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If your application is rejected you may request feedback by contacting the Medical Admissions Office. This feedback will generally be limited to indicating those stations of the interview in which your performance was less than satisfactory. We do not release scores attained for the interview or its component stations. Please email your request to: medadmissions@sheffield.ac.uk. We aim to answer such requests within three weeks.
- My application to the University of Sheffield Medical School has been rejected and I have been placed on a Reserve List. What does this mean?
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The number of places available to study medicine is regulated by the Government and controlled through intake targets. We make a number of offers each year with the aim of meeting our target quota. We would not receive central funding and indeed could be fined for any student that is registered over the quota figure. This results us being slightly conservative with the number of offers that we make. We recognise that there is a group of applicants to whom we would have made offers if we had unlimited places. For this reason, we operate reserve lists for our Medicine and Graduate Entry Medicine programmes. Our Reserve List Policy explains when and how we place applicants on the Reserve list, when we remove applicants from the list and what actions applicants on the reserve list should take. You can read the policy below.
- My application to the University of Sheffield Medical School has been rejected. May I apply again next year?
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Applicants who are unsuccessful are welcome to apply again next year if they wish. You should take steps to address any issues that resulted in your application being rejected.