King's College London

If considering applying to study medicine, we advise you check details in this website - GMC Outcomes for Graduates – that sets out the skills, procedures and levels of competence newly qualified doctors must have, so they can practise safely when they start work.

Eligibility for the EMDP

To be eligible to apply, you must meet the following criteria:

• You must have attended only non-selective state education since the age of 11. Please list all the schools that you have attended since the age of 11 on your UCAS application, even if some previously attended schools were not in the UK. A non-selective state school is a school that does not charge fees for attendance, and does not require you to pass an exam and / or undertake an interview to be considered for entry.
• You cannot have started or completed a degree before submitting your application.
• You must have sat the UCAT prior to submitting your application
• You must have a Home fee status.
• At least one of the following criteria must apply to you
  • Eligible for Free School Meals
  • Home postcode in an area of ‘high deprivation’ as determined by ACORN (categories 5/6) IMD (deciles 1 and 2)
  • Successfully completed the King’s K+ programme
  • Applicants who are care-experienced or estranged

Priority will also be given to applicants from schools with low attainment as defined by Progress 8 score

Information for Overseas Applicants

Please note that students with Overseas fee status are ineligible to apply for this programme, irrespective of the criteria above. UKCISA has a number of resources to advise you of which fee status category you may fall into dependent on your circumstances, so we would recommend reviewing these prior to making an application.

Academic achievement

You should carefully check that you will meet the programme's academic standards before making an application. Please note that many applicants meet the minimum requirements and so all applications are considered within a competitive environment.

Contextual consideration

As part of the assessment process, we take into account contextual information to gain a more complete picture of each application, including the educational context of an applicant's formal achievement. More information can be found on the Contextualised admissions website. 

Personal statement and reference

Your personal statement is one of the many factors in the overall assessment of your application. We are looking particularly for evidence of appropriate commitment to, and realistic appreciation of, the academic, physical and emotional demands of a medicine degree programme and career as a health professional. We would normally expect that you will have undertaken some voluntary work experience in a caring/health environment and/or observation in a medical clinical setting. Any voluntary contribution to your community is taken into account, e.g. volunteer in a care home. If this is not possible, we look for evidence that you have worked in a setting where you can interact with the general public, e.g. in a pharmacy or restaurant.

Communication skills and the ability to work successfully in a team are of great importance. We look for applicants who have participated as fully as possible in school, college or community life, making the most of the opportunities available to them and also demonstrated some experience of society beyond their immediate environment.

Your interests, achievements and contribution to your community are taken into account in addition to academic ability and scholastic activities. We look for applicants who not only have interests but may have also achieved in those areas. We aim to ensure that all of our students can cope with the heavy academic workload of the programme and display those professional qualities, skills and attitudes that help to make competent and caring medical professional.

We would expect your application to be strongly supported by your referee both in terms of academic achievements/potential and in terms of your character and suitability for medicine.

Shortlisting 

When considering applicants which will be shortlisted for interview we consider the following; GCSE (or equivalent performance), predicted or achieved A-level grades (or equivalent), the personal statement, the reference and the score in the UCAT. These contribute to the shortlisting of applicants, and we do assess for this programme holistically, taking in to account all these factors and your performance in the context of your educational background. Examination results and the UCAT score are perhaps the most important factors when considering applications. These are highlighted as they provide us with the fairest and most consistent method of assessing applicants.

The interview

No offers are made without an interview. Interviews are usually held between November to May and you must be available for interview in order to be considered for admission. If you are invited to an interview, you will be provided with further details about the expected interview format and guidance through the King’s Apply portal. A large number of applications are received for EMDP and although we recognise that this is an anxious time for you, all applications are carefully considered and therefore you should not expect a decision post-interview until the cycle has completed in May. 

During the current Admissions cycle, interviews will be conducted remotely. Further information regarding interviews will be detailed in the information communicated via King's Apply to those who are invited to an interview. Interviewers will assess a range of values and personality based attributes, knowledge on topical medical issues and ethical reasoning. Communication skills will also be assessed during the interview. Interviewers have no prior knowledge of candidates before they meet them and will complete standardised interviewer assessment score sheets.

We operate a “fit-to-sit” policy for interviews, therefore, we are unable to take into account mitigating circumstances for the interview performance. If there are any issues within the interview which you consider affected your performance, you should ensure these are raised with the Admissions team.

Receiving a decision

Applications each year for our undergraduate medical programmes are around 5500 for a total of 410 places. Nearly 800 of these applications are for EMDP. Around 1200 – 1400 applicants are selected for interview across all medicine programmes and there are around 80 places available on A101. We aim to notify all applicants of final decisions by the end of May at the latest.

Resits

In a standard admissions cycle, we are able to consider applicants who have retaken their qualifications, however, you should bear in mind that your application for this programme will be reviewed alongside other strong applicants who might be viewed more favourably if they achieved the required grades within a standard timeframe, for example, a two year period for A-levels. We will only consider second resits if there are significant mitigating circumstances. In these situations we still cannot guarantee that your application will be considered, but you should submit a Mitigating Circumstances form so that this can be considered alongside your application. Please note, we consider taking the same subject again at the same level, even within a different qualification, to be a resit.

We consider applicants who have recently achieved grades which are below the entry criteria, and have subsequently studied/are studying another qualification to seek entry, such as an Access to HE Diploma or a Foundation programme, to be resit applicants.

Transfers

Transfers into this programme are not permitted.

UCAS Choices

A maximum of four choices on the UCAS form may be made for programmes which lead to a professional qualification in medicine. You may add one of the following alternative non-health programmes to your UCAS application: Anatomy, Developmental and Human Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Genetics, Pharmacology, Physiology, Neuroscience, and Biomedical Science. Please be assured that you will be considered as having a full commitment to medicine whether you include a non-health programme choice or not.