Choosing where to spend the next chapter of your life can be a big decision. You may only have one offer, in which case the decision has been made for you. Or, you may have gotten into all 4 Universities on your UCAS application, and are thus tasked with sitting down and deciding where to go!

 

At the end of the day, if you pass your medical school finals you are able to register with the General Medical Council (GMC) and are guaranteed a job within the NHS for your first 2 years of training. The rankings for such jobs are now partially random and partially preference informed, meaning even grades don’t matter, so long as you are deemed competent to progress. All medicine programmes must hold certain standards of teaching so that students meet a safe, standard level of practice, again as set by the GMC. 

 

That being said, each medical school has unique selling points that may draw some students in, or deter them! You should consider what matters to you most and definitely take the opportunity of open days of post offer visits! Here are some points we think you may ponder…

 

• Location:

  • Do you want/need to be close to home?

  • Do you want/need to be in a city that is affordable to rent in?

  • Can placements be remote and rural? Does this suit your circumstances (for example, do you have a car)?

• Length:

  • Edinburgh and St. Andrews are both 6 years long, while Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow are only 5 years. An additional year at university can be costly and may deter some applicants.

• Support:

  • Are there good wellbeing/student support services?

  • What financial support is available? Are you able to apply for certain funding/scholarships?

• Clinical exposure:

  • Aberdeen and Dundee are known for having early clinical placements from year 1, while Edinburgh for example, has most clinical activity in years 4-6. Depending on your style of learning, you may prefer to have earlier patient contact.

 

Here are some other unique aspects of each medical school:​

Aberdeen:

• “Finals” exams are sat in year 4, meaning year 5 is dedicated to placement and your elective

 

Dundee:

• Students learn anatomy via full body dissection of thiel-embalmed cadavers

 

Edinburgh:

• Intercalation is compulsory (unless you have already completed an undergraduate degree), meaning you earn another Hons. degree and get an extra graduation!

 

Glasgow:

• Medics get 2 electives here! 

 

St. Andrews:

• You change locations, with the first 3 years being at St. Andrews and the next 3 years being at either Edinburgh or Glasgow - this again means 2 graduations!