University of Surrey Medicine: The Complete Applicant's Guide

A Cambridge Clinical admissions guide

The University of Surrey's School of Medicine runs the BMBS Medicine (Graduate Entry) course (A101), a four-year programme based at the purpose-built Kate Granger Building on the Surrey Research Park in Guildford. This is a genuinely important point to understand before anything else: Surrey does not offer a standard school-leaver medicine route at all — it's a graduate-entry-only medical school, open to graduates of any discipline, not just science subjects. It's also one of the UK's newest medical schools, still working through GMC accreditation, with the University of Exeter acting as contingency school in the meantime.

This guide covers entry requirements, the three-stage GAMSAT/UCAT selection process (including the genuinely unusual rule about which test you're allowed to sit), the virtual MMI format, and the practical realities of applying to a school that's still establishing itself.

Quick facts

Why applicants consider Surrey

Surrey's course is built around a "One Health, One Medicine" philosophy, explicitly connecting human, animal and plant health and drawing on the university's strength in veterinary medicine and interdisciplinary research alongside its new medical school. Teaching integrates AI tools into the curriculum from 2026 entry onward, and every student is issued an iPad for the duration of their studies. The Centre for Anatomical and Surgical Education (CASE) gives students access to virtual reality and other modern surgical training technologies, and clinical placements begin from Year 1, building toward substantial specialty rotations in Years 2–3 (covering areas from cancer and haematology to child health) and longer assistantship blocks — including a final-year elective that can be taken internationally — in Year 4.

GMC accreditation — read this before applying

Surrey's BMBS is currently recognised by the GMC as a new school under review, and is listed on the World Directory of Medical Schools. Surrey has completed several stages of the GMC's quality assurance process, with the GMC monitoring the programme on a rolling basis; final-stage assessment and approval only happens once the first cohort actually graduates. In the meantime, the University of Exeter acts as Surrey's contingency school, providing programme support and standing ready to award GMC-accredited medical degrees to Surrey's students should Surrey's own accreditation be delayed. This is a standard arrangement for a new UK medical school (similar to the position Hertfordshire and Lincoln are in), but it's genuinely worth weighing seriously given how new this specific programme is — Surrey only welcomed its second cohort in 2025.

Entry requirements

Degree: A minimum 2:1 UK Honours degree (or recognised equivalent) in any subject — Surrey states explicitly that all academic disciplines receive equal consideration in the admissions process, a genuinely more open position than most UK graduate-entry medicine courses, many of which favour or require a science background.

GCSE: Maths and English Language at grade C (5) or above.

English language (non-native speakers): IELTS Academic 7.0 overall, with at least 7.0 in every component — a comparatively high bar, since many schools accept 6.5 in individual components provided the overall score clears 7.0.

Currently studying applicants: You cannot apply if you're already partway through a medicine degree — either in the UK or overseas — at another institution.

Criminal convictions: This is a regulated course requiring declaration of any criminal convictions at the point of application; Surrey reviews these individually rather than applying an automatic exclusion.

Deferred entry: Not accepted through UCAS. If you already hold an offer and later need to defer, this can be requested and is considered individually — but Surrey is explicit that, given how limited the places are, it reserves the right to refuse deferral requests.

How the three-stage selection process works

Surrey publishes a detailed Admissions Process document each cycle, and the process runs in three clear stages:

Stage 1 — Preliminary shortlisting. Applications are reviewed against academic achievement and predicted/achieved grades; most that don't meet the minimum 2:1 requirement, or that are incomplete, are rejected at this point.

Stage 2 — Aptitude test. This is where Surrey does something genuinely distinctive among UK medical schools: every applicant must sit either GAMSAT or UCAT, but which test you're allowed to use depends on your degree. GAMSAT is required for all applicants by default; UCAT is only accepted as an alternative if you hold (or are studying) a degree in Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedical Science, Chemistry or Natural Sciences (joint honours degrees combining one of these with another subject still require GAMSAT). If you're eligible for and choose UCAT, your score is sent directly to Surrey by the UCAT consortium, and a missing score at this stage results in automatic rejection unless you can confirm you've sat the test. Whichever test applies to you, your result places you into one of three categories: invite to interview, hold on a waiting list, or reject. GAMSAT results are valid for two consecutive application cycles; UCAT results are valid for one year only.

Surrey requires a UCAT Situational Judgement Test band of 3 or better to be considered for interview — a comparatively lenient SJT bar compared with schools requiring Band 1–3 or excluding Band 4 outright, though it's worth confirming the current cycle's exact policy directly, since Surrey's SJT rules have been refined between cycles.

Stage 3 — Multiple Mini Interviews. Shortlisted applicants are invited to a virtual MMI cycle lasting under one hour. Each station is independently marked against agreed criteria, and your overall performance places you into one of three categories: offer, waiting list, or reject. All offers are made subject to satisfactory occupational health clearance and appropriate vaccinations, alongside a check against the Medical Schools Council's Excluded Students Database.

Surrey is candid that its places are extremely limited relative to demand: even very good applicants who clear every stage may not receive an interview or offer simply because of how few places are available each year, and international places specifically remain limited with meaningfully higher fees than the home rate.

Application process

Applications go through UCAS by the standard 15 October deadline — this applies to both home and overseas applicants for Surrey's Medicine course, unlike some schools with later international deadlines. UCAS allows up to four medicine or dentistry course choices; your fifth choice can be a different course entirely (Biomedical Sciences is a natural fit given the shared academic ground), and Surrey confirms that choosing something else for your fifth slot won't disadvantage your Surrey application. Fees for 2027 entry are yet to be confirmed at time of writing; for context, additional costs beyond tuition include an estimated maximum of £150 for uniform, PPE and equipment, one DBS check funded by the University at the start of your programme, and an ongoing DBS Update Service fee (around £16/year) that you're expected to cover yourself. A 20% international alumni discount and a University of Surrey Bursary of up to £3,000 are both available for eligible students.

Tips

Because Surrey is a graduate-entry-only school with no standard undergraduate route, don't approach it the way you would a five-year MBChB — every part of your preparation (personal statement, interview reflection, aptitude test choice) needs to draw on your degree and life experience as a graduate, not a school-leaver profile.

Check which aptitude test you're actually eligible to sit before committing to a preparation timeline — GAMSAT and UCAT reward genuinely different skills and preparation styles, and if your degree doesn't fall into Surrey's specific accepted science-subject list, GAMSAT is your only option regardless of which test you might personally prefer.

Given Surrey's still-developing GMC accreditation status and the University of Exeter contingency arrangement, read the accreditation section of Surrey's course page properly and weigh it against your risk tolerance, in the same way you would for any brand-new UK medical school.

Since Surrey states plainly that very strong applicants can still miss out purely due to how few places exist, don't treat a Surrey rejection (even after a strong GAMSAT/UCAT result) as necessarily reflecting a weakness in your application — competition for a genuinely small number of places is a real factor here.

How Cambridge Clinical can help

We help Surrey applicants decide between GAMSAT and UCAT based on their specific degree background, alongside virtual MMI coaching tailored to graduate-level reflection and Surrey's specific interview format.

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

Entry requirements, aptitude test rules, and GMC accreditation status can and do shift between application cycles — Surrey is still a genuinely new medical school. Always confirm current requirements against The University of Surrey's official Medicine (Graduate Entry) course page before finalising your application.