Elective Placement in Clinical Medicine

Key Information

Course Overview

The GKT School of Medical Education runs an Elective Programme offering 4-week clinical elective placements for medical students who are in their penultimate or final year of clinical study at an institution external to King's.

Placements are available in a variety of specialties and are offered at our Teaching Campus Hospitals and their associated sites - Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, King's College Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospital Lewisham, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, and Princess Royal University Hospital.

King's Apply Application Windows 2026/7

• Please read the information in the Making an Application section below for specific details about how to apply.
• NB Please note: our Elective Placement start dates are fixed and cannot be altered.

What Does This Course Cover?

Specialties Available

We offer 4-week long placements in one specialty (we cannot accommodate 'split electives' over two or more areas unless pre-arranged). Specialties available vary from month to month based on Supervisor availability, as such we cannot guarantee that all specialties will be consistently available.

Examples of specialties available in 2026/27 are as follows: Neurosurgery, General Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, Transplant Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Upper GI/Colorectal Surgery, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Emergency General Surgery, Paediatric Surgery, Neonatal Surgery, Paediatrics, PICU, Emergency Medicine, Critical Care, Women's Health, Occupational Medicine, Sexual Health, Anaesthetics, Ophthalmology, Respiratory Medicine, Orthopaedics, Nephrology, Radiology, Rheumatology, Geriatrics, Gastroenterology, Haematology, Endocrinology, Neurology, ENT, Hepatology, Cardiology, Urology, Oncology, Interventional Radiology, PET Imaging, Toxicology, Histopathology, Microbiology.

Please note: if you are interested in Psychiatry then please apply through the IOPPN Elective programme, unless you are a Twin Link student.

Applicants are advised to list four preferences for a certain start date. We will do our best to match successful applicants to either their preferred specialties or the closest match, however we cannot guarantee you will receive an offer which exactly matches your preferences. It is your choice whether to accept the offered placement - please note that due to the extremely competitive nature of the selection process, applicants that do not formally accept their offer within the deadline mentioned in their offer letter will lose their place as this will be offered to a wait-listed applicant instead. 

Please note: Our most popular specialties are paediatrics, women's health, cardiology and emergency medicine. If you are applying for at least two of these, please consider adding something different as your other choices, and please also consider putting 5 options instead of the standard 4.

Pre-arranged Placements

If you have been in touch with a supervisor at either Guys and St Thomas’ Hospitals or King's College Hospital and they have agreed to supervise you, you must advise the supervisor that they must email details of the agreement to electives@kcl.ac.uk. You must also indicate the name of your Supervisor and site as part of your application. The start date of a pre-arranged placement must align with the start dates listed. If the KCL Electives team are not informed of the agreement and the details are not included in your application we cannot guarantee that the placement can be arranged. Please be aware that we are not able to consider any supervisory pre-arrangements in our selection process once applications have been submitted, so make sure to include this in your application (instruction below).

All pre-arranged placements must adhere to all programme requirements such as English language and overall originality and quality of your application. Failure to do so will lead to your application being rejected.

Who Is This For?

Elective Placements are open to medical students who are in their penultimate or final year of clinical study. You must be studying at an institution listed on the World Directory of Medical Schools.

You will need to complete the online application form within the application window indicated of your desired start date and upload a number of important documents to undertake an elective at King's College London. Due to the large number of applications that we receive for a small number of places any incomplete applications will be automatically rejected.

PLEASE READ ALL THE INFORMATION BELOW CAREFULLY.

General Application Information

• You can only undertake your placement in one specialty for the full duration of your placement. No 'split' placements will be allowed.
• You may not specify hospital choice, only your three chosen specialties in preference order.
• The start date and length of our elective placements are fixed and cannot be negotiated. This is to ensure parity of experience for all accepted students.
• You must be in your penultimate or final year of Undergraduate Medical study at the time you undertake your placement.
• You will need a transcript of your results from your medical degree to date, authenticated by the Dean or Registrar of your medical school.
• We require permission from your medical school for you to undertake an elective. This must include confirmation you have had a DBS (criminal record check) or equivalent at your medical school. Since we are aware that it may be challenging at times for your university to provide you with suitable documents regarding this, a confirmation of good conduct will be sufficient at application stage - please see below for statutory pre-enrolment checks.
• If you are not a citizen of a Majority English-speaking country (see list below), you are required to provide proof of your English Language Proficiency as part of your application.
  Majority English-speaking Countries: Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; The Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Canada; Dominica; Grenada; Guyana; Ireland; Jamaica; New Zealand; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; St Vincent and the Grenadines; Trinidad and Tobago; United States of America; United Kingdom.
  

  We accept two pieces of evidence to meet our English Language Requirement:

  • If your current medical degree is taught and examined in English, we will accept this as proof of your proficiency. As part of your application, you must include a Letter from your school certifying that you are a current student of their medical degree which is both taught and examined in English.

  • Or, you can provide us with an English language test. Currently, we only recognise and accept tests from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) (either Academic or General Training). The minimum score required to prove your proficiency is 6.5 overall and in each component and the test results must be within two years of your elective period in order to be valid. We will not accept any other English Language certification. If you have taken your test but not got your IELTS results or certificate by the time you submit your application, we will instead accept evidence of your test booking confirmation. You will still be required to submit to us the test certificate as soon as you receive it, and you must still meet the minimum score of 6.5 overall and in each component before an offer can be made.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS WITH RESIDENCY HISTORY IN THE UK 

As we require DBS and/or overseas police checks to be completed ahead of the start of your Elective, we are not able to accommodate those applicants that previously lived in the UK for at least 6 months over the past 5 years or since the age of 18 (whichever is shorter) AND no longer have a UK address. As you would require an Enhanced UK DBS check (with Barred Lists) if you have lived in the UK, you would not have the sufficient time upon your arrival to the UK to complete this specific check.

Current UK residents or those that, despite living abroad have retained a UK address, are eligible to apply as well as those with no residency history in the UK (of at least 6 months over the past 5 years or since the age of 18 (whichever is shorter).

Visa Information for International Students

Elective placements may now be undertaken under the Visit Visa (Study) route rather than the Student route. You will receive a visa support offer letter if you receive an offer.

Fees

A non-refundable application fee of £270 will be taken as part of the application process. If you are offered and accept a place, you are required to pay a placement fee in advance of commencement. The fee for a four-week placement will total £480 (£120 per week). Payment of the fee should not be made until you have received confirmation that your application has been successful and you have received an offer. Placement fees payment can only be made using our secure e-store.

Occupational Health Clearance

All students much have clearance from our Occupational Health team in order to undertake an elective placement. Full details of requirements can be found here.

Please note: We do not require submission of occupational health clearance documents at point of application. You will be required to provide these through our occupational health provider after you have accepted an offer. You will receive instructions on how to do this after you have accepted your offer.

You will need to demonstrate:

TB: You are symptomatic. Immunisation status and some students will need to provide a copy of a chest x-ray.

Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR): Blood test for measles antibody and rubella antibody or having received 2 doses of the combined MMR vaccine.

Varicella (checken pox): Evidence of history of the disease or blood test for Varicella antibody or having received t doses of the varicella vaccine.

Hepatitis B: It is strongly recommended that all elective students complete a course of Hepatitis B vaccine prior to starting their elective.

Please read this document. IF you do not think you will be able to meet these requirements and supply the correct evidence at time of application please do not apply. There is no capacity to undertake blood tests or immunizations on arrival in the UK (this is not the case for UK-domiciled offer-holders, who will be able to use these services).

Please note standard Occupational Health clearance does not include clearance for exposure prone procedures (EPP) (that is the worker's gloved hands, may be in contact with sharp instruments, needles tips or sharp tissues inside a patient's open body cavity, would or confined anatomical space where the hands or fingertips may not be completely visible at all times). You will be able to undertake procedures and scrubs into theatre for most procedures. Your supervisor will be aware of your clearance status.

What Is the Teaching Schedule?

Elective placement start on Mondays (except where there are a public holidays on a Monday).

Successful applicants will be required to attend an in-person enrolment session at the Guy's campus in London Bridge which will be held on the Friday prior to the placement start date unless otherwise stated in your offer letter.

Further Information

Making An Application:

Applications will only be accepted via the King's online application portal, King's Apply. Applications must be made during the advertised application window. The name of the programme to apply for is 'Medical Elective - Certificate of Attendance.'

Before applying, please ensure you can commence the placement on the advertised start date, and that you are available to attend an in-person enrolment session 2-3 days beforehand (usually on the Friday preceding the start of the placement).

Please note that applications that do not include all of the below documents will be considered incomplete. Late/incomplete applications may not be considered if information has been requested and not provided within the mentioned timeframe, at the discretion of the Admissions Team.

Twin Link Nominated Students Only: All nominated applicants from our Twin Link partner institutions must contact the Deanery of their home institution before submitting an application via King's Apply. Applications received without notification from our Twin Link partner institutions' Deanery will be treated as normal fee-paying applications.

Twin Link nominated students will be offered a Waiver Letter by their home institution to demonstrate that they meet the below requirements. You will also be required to provide a personal statement and a transcript upon application. Please ensure you select the specific Twin Link application route: 'Medical Elective (Certificate of Attendance) for Twin Link Institutions' when you submit your application through King's Apply.

Our current Twin Link institution partners are as follows:

• Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
• National University of Singapore
• Hong Kong University
• Chinese University of Hong Kong
• University of the West Indies
• Seoul National University
• University of Auckland
• Keio University
• Monash University
• Tecnologico de Monterrey
• Jikei University School of Medicine
• Nara Medical University
• University of Sydney
• University of Sao Paolo, Brazil
• Mahidol University, Thailand
• Shanghai Sixth's People Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China
• University of North Carolina (Cardiology only)

Your application must include:

• A Personal Statement, in which you will need to answer the following 3 questions, limited to 1800 characters (with spaces) each:
  • Question 1: Why are you applying for this specific programme, and how does it fit in with your future plans?
  • Question 2: How does your experience and education make you a suitable candidate for this programme?
  • Question 3: Please copy and paste the following template and fill out:
    • Intake applied for: [month]
    • Specialty preferences: [first preference], [second preference], [third preference], [fourth preference]
    • Preliminary compliance with Occupational Health requirements: [met/not met]
    • List of countries of ordinary residence for a cumulative period of at least 6 months each since the age of 18 or over the past 5 years (whichever is shorter): * [country 1], [country 2+ if applicable etc]
    • Pre-arranged supervision: [no/yes, [name if 'yes']. If 'yes' please provide email screenshots to 'Additional Information' under the Personal Statement section]
    • I declare that I have provided my transcript under the 'Education' section, permission letter and other documents (with all associated checks such as good conduct or English language mentioned) attached under 'Additional Information' below and have provided details of 2 referees (1 academic, 1 clinical) from my current institution, using their institutional email. I also confirm that I have provided a full list of countries of my ordinary residence above. [yes/no]

• *Note: By primary residency, we will consider place(s) where you have lived for at least 6 months or more for purposes of family, school, or long-term employment, or other form of permanent residency not tied to work, education or family.

• Two references. You need to submit details of 2 referees, of which one must be academic (focused on your academic abilities and performance) and one clinical (of someone who has gained significant exposure to your work during clinical placements.

  • Upon submission of the application, your referees will receive emails inviting them to submit their reference. We do not accept references supplied directly by applicants

  • You must supply details of referees that either work at the university you currently study at or work at a teaching hospital directly associated with your university. References cannot be coming from junior members of staff or trainees. We will not accept references from teaching or clinical staff that no longer work at your institution and associated sites. As it is your responsibility to ensure your references are adequate, we will not be asking for new referee details and your application will be disadvantaged in the application process

  • Both references must be submitted using institutional email addresses (your university or public healthcare email domains) - we will not be able to accept generic email domains (gmail, yahoo etc) or those associated with private medical practices
  • As a guide, you should advise your referees to refer to your course performance to date as well as experience and suitability for the elective placement. Please note that you should encourage your referees to write an original reference to you as we will not accept standardised references that may be given to various students at once
• An official transcript, authenticated by the Dean or Registrar of your medical school, detailing results from your medical degree to date. (We may also use this to determine that you are in your penultimate or final year of study).
• Written permission from your medical school to undertake an Elective at King's during the dates you have applied for. This must include confirmation that your Medical School has carried out a police record check and this has not returned any concerns, and that your conduct at Medical School has not given any cause for concern, AND confirmation that you are in your final or penultimate year of undergraduate medical study. Please note that this may be different from a police check or other international equivalent to the Disclosure Barring Services (DBS), which you will be required to submit before enrolment.
• Evidence of your English language 

• If you happen to have pre-arranged supervision, this must be mentioned at point of application. The Personal Statement section will ask you for supervisor details, which you must fill out for them to be considered. Additionally, you must attach a screenshot of the emails confirming this arrangement between yourself and the supervisor within the 'Additional Information' section under the Personal Statement section of your application form. Failure to do this, or to apply within the application window specified for your pre-arranged intake, could result in us not being able to accommodate your pre-arranged supervision.

  The start date of a pre-arranged placement must align with the start dates listed on our website as these are centrally coordinated. Before applying, you must advise the supervisor that they need to email/forward details of the agreement to the Programme team at electives@kcl.ac.uk

   

Your Application Outcome and Post-Offer Information

All applications submitted by the closing deadline are processed after the closing deadline. Processing the applications can take up to two months after the closing deadline. We request that you do not contact Admissions asking for the outcome of your application during this time. We will notify you as soon as possible after the application deadline whether or not your application has been successful. There may be a chance that you may be placed on a wait-list; if this is the case, we shall inform you of the final decision timelines.

If you have to withdraw your application for any reason, please notify us via King's Apply at the earliest opportunity, so we can consider another applicant in your place.

Should you be made an offer, 2 months before your start date you will be sent your supervisors contact information. At this point you should get in touch with them to confirm the exact location of your placement within the hospital, and to confirm your first day plan and meeting location.

Accommodation & Finance

King's student accommodation is only usually available for full-time year round study, therefore visiting medical elective students are required to make their own accommodation arrangements and are liable for the associated costs. Short Stays (london.ac.uk) may be of use.

In July only, there MAY be vacancies which students can apply for by contacting the Accommodation Office, once in receipt of a confirmed elective placement offer: kingsresidences@kcl.ac.uk

Other Expenses
Visiting medical elective students are required to make their own travel arrangements and are liable for the associated costs.

It is not possible to offer any financial assistance towards the expenses of visiting medical elective students, and this includes daily travel costs during the elective placement.

It is advisable that students take the travel, accommodation and other general living expenses into consideration before applying for a medical elective placement.

Medical Indemnity/Malpractice Insurance

As your placement will be at an NHS site, the NHS site will provide medical indemnity as you will be working under the direct supervision of an NHS Supervisor.

However, please note the following:

• You are only covered whilst on your named placement at your named site.
• You are not covered in private practice or for ‘Good Samaritan‘ acts.

As such, we do not mandate additional malpractice insurance, but you should seek advice from your Institution as to what their recommendation is with regards to additional insurance.

Health Insurance

It is obligatory for all overseas elective students to obtain adequate health insurance to cover them during their stay. You are responsible for your own health insurance. You need to arrange the insurance before leaving your country. It is NOT possible for overseas students to purchase health insurance in the UK. You are responsible for paying any costs in case of illness or accident. It is also strongly recommended that you have insurance for your personal belongings during your stay in the UK.

Evaluation

We will ask students to complete an electronic feedback form at the end of their elective.

We will provide students with an Elective Completion Letter at the end of their elective, confirming the details of their placement.

If an evaluation form from your University/Medical School requires a KCL signature and stamp for the end of your elective, you can obtain this by arrangement with the Electives team towards the end of your stay.