Lincoln Medical School: The Complete Applicant's Guide

A Cambridge Clinical admissions guide

Lincoln Medical School runs the Medicine MBChB (A100), a five-year course based at the purpose-built Ross Lucas Medical Sciences Building on the Brayford Pool campus, with clinical placements across Lincolnshire NHS trusts including Lincoln County Hospital, Grantham and District Hospital, and Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, plus non-traditional community settings such as care homes, health charities and social prescribing services. Established in 2018 specifically to improve doctor recruitment and retention in Lincolnshire, the school is currently working towards GMC accreditation as an independent provider, having taught its first cohort in partnership with the University of Nottingham.

Lincoln publishes one of the most detailed, numerically explicit selection formulas of any UK medical school — down to the exact points awarded for each GCSE grade and each UCAT score band — which makes it genuinely possible to estimate your own position before applying. This guide covers entry requirements, the published points-based Combined Academic Score, the seven-station MMI, and the GMC accreditation status every applicant should understand.

Quick facts

Why applicants consider Lincoln

Lincoln's curriculum is built around case-based learning: each year is organised into blocks of exemplar clinical cases with biological, psychological and sociological components woven together, rather than teaching disciplines like anatomy and physiology in isolation. Clinical exposure starts in Year 1 through GP and hospital visits, and from Year 3 onward, most learning shifts to placement-based teaching, including a research project in Year 4 that can lead to an intercalated BMedSci degree without needing to take an extra year out. The Ross Lucas Medical Sciences Building is the most sustainable building on the University estate, with solar panels and a living wall, and houses a clinical skills suite, a prosection anatomy facility, and a dedicated biomedical library. Lincoln's programme also carries a distinct regional mission — building rural and coastal healthcare skills and community placement experience specifically aimed at doctors who go on to work in underserved areas.

GMC accreditation and the University of Nottingham partnership

Lincoln's MBChB is subject to GMC approval, with the University of Nottingham acting as contingency school during the accreditation process. The GMC makes its final decision on adding Lincoln to its list of approved providers during students' final year — if approval isn't received by then, students would instead graduate with a University of Nottingham BMBS degree, which still confers provisional GMC registration and eligibility for the UK Foundation Programme. This is a broadly similar arrangement to other newly established UK medical schools, but worth factoring into how you weigh Lincoln against longer-established options, particularly since Lincoln does not currently accept international applications while this process is ongoing.

Entry requirements

A-level: AAA, which must include Biology (or Human Biology), or AAB for a contextual offer (with one A required in Biology). General Studies, Critical Thinking, Global Perspectives, Citizenship Studies and EPQs are not accepted. A pass is normally required in separately assessed science practical components. Genuinely distinctively, Lincoln states plainly that it does not use A-levels or predicted grades in its selection scoring at all — any offer made is simply conditional on meeting the stated grades once you're already through interview.

A-level resits: Permitted, and must achieve AAA (or AAB for a contextual offer, with an A in Biology), usually expected to have been completed within two years of the initial sitting.

GCSE: At least six GCSEs at grade 7 or above, including Biology and Chemistry (or Double Science), plus a minimum of grade 6 in both English Language and Mathematics. For 2027 entry, applicants who've already completed A-levels to the required standard only need GCSE English Language, Mathematics and Chemistry (or double science) at grade 6, unless taken at A-level. GCSE resits are permitted but must already be awarded by the point of application.

International Baccalaureate: 36 points overall with Higher Level Biology at grade 6, plus at least six subjects at Grade AS in IB Middle Years or GCSE, including Biology and Chemistry at grade 6 (A) and English Language and Maths at grade 5 (B).

Scottish qualifications: Grade A in Biology at Advanced Higher, plus AAABB at Higher including Biology, Chemistry, Maths and English Language (with an A specifically required in Biology), plus at least six subjects at Grade AS in National 5 (or GCSE) including Biology, Chemistry, and a minimum grade B in Maths and English Language.

Graduate applicants: Two distinct routes for 2027 entry — a 2:1 in a relevant UK Honours degree (Lincoln's accepted list includes Biomedical Science, Biochemistry, Biology, Bioveterinary Science, Zoology and Pharmacy) plus GCSEs in Maths, English Language and Chemistry (or double science) at grade 5, unless already reflected in your degree transcript or A-levels; or a 2:1 in any Honours degree combined with meeting the full standard/contextual A-level and GCSE requirements. Degrees need to be conferred by 7 August 2027, and if you're still studying, you can apply during any year of your current degree without withdrawing, with your Medicine offer made conditional on your final result.

English language: Minimum GCSE English Language grade 6 (B).

Work experience: Usually expected, but Lincoln is explicit that there's no "correct" amount or type — care-related volunteering, work with disadvantaged groups, paid public-facing employment, or shadowing all count, and Lincoln states it won't view an application negatively if a candidate genuinely couldn't secure any of these. What matters is being able to speak to the realities of the profession at interview.

How the published Combined Academic Score works

Lincoln's Interviews and Selection Guide sets out the exact points system used to shortlist for interview, capped at a maximum Combined Academic Score of 60:

• GCSEs (up to 30 points): Your highest six relevant GCSEs (Biology, Chemistry/Double Science, Maths, English, plus your two highest others) are scored on a sliding scale — grade 9 scores 5 points, grade 8 scores 4, grade 7 scores 3, down to 0 points for a grade 4. If your most recent completed qualification isn't GCSEs (e.g. you've since completed A-levels or a degree), your GCSE score is dropped and your UCAT score is doubled instead to keep the total out of 60.
• UCAT cognitive subtests (up to 15 points): Scored against a banded scale aligned to national UCAT deciles — for example, a total UCAT score above 2300 scores the full 15 points, while a score below 1580 scores 0.
• UCAT Situational Judgement Test (up to 15 points): Band 1 scores 15, Band 2 scores 10, Band 3 scores 5 — and Band 4 results in automatic rejection at the point of application, before any further scoring takes place.
• Contextual score (up to 12 points, capped): Applicants eligible for a contextual offer can gain additional points for measures including UCAT bursary receipt, residing in a Lincolnshire local authority area, care-leaver or refugee status, or falling in the most disadvantaged quintiles of UCAS's Multiple Equality Measure (MEM2) dataset. Where several measures apply, points are summed but capped at 12.

There's no fixed cut-off for interview invitation — the threshold depends entirely on that year's applicant pool — and Lincoln explicitly does not score A-levels, AS-levels, predicted grades, or the personal statement anywhere in this pre-interview process.

The interview: seven-station MMI, and how it combines with your academic score for the final offer

Interviews are held in person on the Brayford Campus in a Multiple Mini Interview format — a circuit of seven stations, each scored across several domains, producing a total interview score out of 70. Photo ID is required at interview, and applicants who don't bring it won't usually be interviewed that day.

What happens after interview is worth understanding precisely, since it's another distinctively transparent piece of Lincoln's process: your interview score (out of 70) is added to your Combined Academic Score halved (out of 30), producing a final total out of 100. Offers go to the highest-ranked candidates on this combined total, with a higher interview score used as the tie-breaker where totals match. In effect, your pre-interview academic/UCAT score still counts for roughly 30% of the final offer decision — a different balance from schools like Manchester or Leeds where the final offer rests purely on interview performance.

Application process

Applications go through UCAS using course code A100 by the standard 15 October deadline; you cannot apply to both the standard A100 route and the A106 Gateway Year route in the same cycle. Transfers onto the programme aren't permitted. All offers are contingent on satisfactory DBS and occupational health clearance ahead of enrolment, and any fitness-to-practise concerns (criminal or health-related) should be disclosed to the Lead for Admissions as early as possible. UK tuition fees for 2026/27 are £9,535 per year, with international fees not yet confirmed given the current pause on international applications.

Tips

Lincoln's published scoring tables mean you can genuinely calculate an approximate Combined Academic Score for yourself before applying — work through your six best relevant GCSEs against the points table, add your UCAT bands, and you'll have a realistic sense of where you stand relative to Lincoln's historic thresholds, rather than guessing.

Because Lincoln doesn't score A-levels or predicted grades at all pre-interview, don't assume strong predicted A-level grades will help you get an interview here — your GCSEs and UCAT are doing all the pre-interview work, so it's worth weighting your preparation accordingly if Lincoln is a genuine priority choice.

Since your halved academic score still contributes up to 30 points to your final offer ranking after interview, a standout interview alone may not be enough to overcome a weak pre-interview score, unlike schools where the final decision rests entirely on interview day.

Given Lincoln's ongoing GMC accreditation process, it's worth reading the University of Nottingham contingency arrangement properly and deciding how much that risk profile matters to you relative to an already-accredited medical school.

How Cambridge Clinical can help

We help Lincoln applicants calculate and strengthen their Combined Academic Score ahead of application, alongside MMI coaching for Lincoln's specific seven-station format and the added strategic reality that your academic/UCAT score still carries weight into the final offer decision.

If you'd like a hand with any stage, visit cambridgeclinical.co.uk to find out more about our UCAT tuition and Lincoln-specific interview coaching.

Entry requirements, scoring bands, and GMC accreditation status can and do shift between application cycles — Lincoln revises its UCAT scoring bands most years to reflect the national score distribution. Always confirm current requirements against The University of Lincoln's official Medicine MBChB course page before finalising your application.