UCAS and the Personal Statement (AMS Advice Zone)

UCAS stands for the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. It is an organisation whose main role is to operate the application process for British universities. Your application is submitted to UCAS, who then pass it on to the university (or universities) of your choice. The process is all online. You can find out much more on the UCAS website.

Applications to study medicine in UK medical schools open on the UCAS website at the beginning of September. The deadline date for equal consideration for medical applications is normally 15th/16th October in the year before you wish to start your studies. Always check the application deadline on the UCAS website. For example, if you wanted to attend Aston Medical School in September 2024 you would submit your UCAS application between the beginning of September 2023 and 16th October 2023. You can start filling out your application around a month prior to applications opening.

The online application requires the following information: 

• Personal details – your name, contact details and similar information. 
• Your academic profile – the school that you attend, what qualifications you are currently studying (e.g. A Levels or the IB) and what you have already achieved (e.g. GCSEs). Remember to check all of our entry requirements on our course page before applying.
• A personal statement – a section about you and why you should be accepted onto the course. 
• An academic reference – your current teacher will complete this section. If you are applying independently, you will need to contact your referee separately.  . 
• Work experience – details of any work experience or voluntary work that you have completed (paid or unpaid) and is relevant to your chosen course.

You can apply to up to five courses through UCAS, although only four may be for Medicine. These could be at multiple institutions or more than one relevant course at the same institution. However, you are only able to submit one Personal Statement. If your personal statement is not focused on Medicine, you may be asked to submit a new personal statement via email.

There are over 37,000 courses on UCAS. Research is important – look carefully at the websites of all the different universities that you are interested in. Remember that even a course like Medicine can vary between universities. 

You should also ensure that you check the entry requirements to ensure that you have a chance of being accepted. You can see the entry requirements for the Aston Medical School MBChB here.

The cost is approximately £27.50 (subject to change by UCAS). Your school or college may fund this cost for you.

This section is written by your teacher/tutor. They will write about you as a student and will also include what grades they think you will achieve. Make sure that you talk to your teacher/tutor in advance, so they know which course you are applying for and can tailor the reference. If you are retaking qualifications, please ensure your referee covers any reasons as to why you are retaking.

We strongly advise that you seek to obtain an academic referee however where this is not possible your reference must come from your current/previous employer. 

The personal statement is a short piece of writing, no more than 4,000 characters in length (including spaces). It is your opportunity to demonstrate to the Admissions team that you are passionate about studying Medicine and that you should be accepted on to the course. Your voice should shine through.

Below is rough outline of what we would expect to find in your statement. This is not set in stone and should be used more as a guide.

• Paragraph one: should be about you, why you want to study the course and perhaps what has inspired you.
• Paragraphs two and three: should expand on your academic achievements and how they relate back to the course. If appropriate, you could also mention any work experience or something that you have read that has inspired you to want to progress your studies in this area. 
• Paragraph four: should relate to your extra-curricular activities. 
• Paragraph five: is your closing paragraph. 

Paragraphs do not need to be of equal length, however we do recommend/suggest  that paragraphs two and three should be the largest.

Make sure your personal statement shows us why you want to study medicine and why we should take you onto this course. Things that can make you stand out include:

• Identifying a gap in your skills and working on it.
• Being a prefect at school or a peer mentor supporting younger pupils.
• Volunteering.

It is important to show us what you have learnt from your experiences and how this will be relevant for your course in the future.

Check spelling, grammar and punctuation – this is very important. Proofread as many times as you can, and get someone else to check your application too.

Use an appropriate email address that features your name and surname, not something like hotpinkfluffy101@hotmail.com.

In addition to the UCAS application form, applying to Aston Medical School involves the UCAT test and the MMI.

Visit the UCAS website for lots more information: www.ucas.com.