Course overview
Our accelerated medicine and surgery programme enables you to complete the syllabus of years 1 and 2 of our five-year programme in one extended academic year (45 weeks).
Our programme uses a modern and innovative integrated case-led teaching approach, and you’ll be taught in a vibrant learning environment.
This course will prepare you to work as a doctor anywhere in the world, in both the clinical and academic arena.
Programme structure
Year 1
During Year 1, you learn through case-led teaching, with clinical cases used to ensure a problem-first, task-based focus.
You are allocated to a small study group, led by a clinical lecturer who provides support and guidance throughout the year.
You’ll be based primarily on campus in Newcastle with frequent visits to hospitals and general practices around the regional medical school. You’ll cover a series of twenty-four clinical cases to put your learning into context and provide you with the essentials of medical practice.
Following completion of the extended Year 1, you are integrated into a common pathway alongside undergraduate students on our five-year course.
Years 2 to 4
In years 2 to 4 you’ll gain clinical experience through placements in our clinical base units across the region. You’ll undergo a series of rotations, clerkships, assistantships and placements that cover all relevant areas of medicine and surgery. We’ll place further emphasis on professional development, student choice, and hospital- and community-based medicine. This develops your specialist knowledge, skills and professional behaviour, preparing you for your future career as a doctor.
Throughout the final three years of the programme there will be opportunities for student choice. This includes two four-week student selected components and an eight-week elective.
Teaching methods
At Newcastle, you’ll receive case-led teaching, which means using clinical cases to help you make the links between your new knowledge and clinical practice. For example a case of stroke can be used to learn and teach the nervous system, cardiovascular system, clinical skills, pharmacology, Public Health and communication skills.
Elective placement
At the end of Year 3 you undertake an eight-week elective placement. This gives you the opportunity to study medicine, either at home or abroad and gain hands-on experience of a different healthcare system.
Skills and experience
Research skills
We’re a Centre of Excellence in translational (so-called ‘bench-to-bedside’) research.
This means teaching on our programme is research led. Strong links with our research teams mean there are many opportunities for students to spend time in research labs and facilities as part of short projects or as part of intercalation onto a master’s degree.
Professional skills
To prepare you for your future profession we’ll help you develop the key skills of communication, information handling, reasoning, judgement, reflective practice and decision-making.
You will be prepared for ongoing professional development and, through this, you will be able to adapt to future developments in medicine.
Clinical skills
With our integrated case-led teaching approach you will meet patients and learn the relevant clinical skills from the very beginning of our programme. Our regional medical school provides cutting-edge teaching facilities combined with a diverse population and environment for you to develop into a doctor of the future.
Your course and study experience – disclaimers and terms and conditions
Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the programmes, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption, for example in response to Covid-19.
View our Academic experience page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2024-25.
See our terms and conditions and student complaints information, which gives details of circumstances that may lead to changes to programmes, modules or University services.
Quality and ranking
- 14th in the UK – The Guardian University Guide 2025 (Medicine category)
- Global Top 130 University – QS World University Rankings 2025
- Top 90 for Medicine – QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024
- 65% increase in research power since 2014 – Research Excellence Framework 2021
- 42% of our research is classified as 4* world-leading research – Research Excellence Framework 2021
- 20th in the UK – Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 (Medicine category)
- Top 25 in the UK and Top 100 in the world for sustainable development – Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024
- Top 90 for Medical and Health – Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2025
- Global Top 170 University – Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024
Professional accreditation and recognition
- General Medical Council (GMC)
This degree is professionally accredited by the General Medical Council (GMC).
All professional accreditations are reviewed regularly by their professional body.
Opportunities
Intercalated study
Enrich personal and professional development
Our medical students have the opportunity to enrich their personal and professional development further by taking time out of their medical studies to pursue an intercalated degree.
Intercalation provides an opportunity to study a subject that interests and excites you as well as develop new perspectives on healthcare delivery, research and education.
We offer a broad range of Biomedical Science BSc degrees and master’s degrees that cover all aspects of medical practice.
Develop skills for your future
We encourage you to develop skills that will be useful throughout your future career and offer options to undertake your own research project.
Newcastle is recognised as a leader in a number of areas of research including ageing research and applied stem cell biology.
We also have state-of-the-art facilities for clinical research, developed in partnership with NHS trusts.
Students who do not wish to take an additional year of study will still have opportunities to benefit from our research expertise through Student-Selected Components (SSCs) and the summer research scholarship scheme.
Facilities and environment
Facilities
Our School is part of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, which is home to Dentistry, Biomedical Sciences, Psychology and Pharmacy, encouraging inter-professional collaboration.
Our Medical School is a Regional Medical School and has partnerships with the Northern Region NHS. It gives you access to excellent clinical training opportunities offered by the large patient population (3.5 million) and the region-wide infrastructure of acute hospitals and general practices.
By training in one of the largest integrated teaching and hospital complexes in the country you’ll gain a true insight into your future profession.
You’ll have access to:
- an extensive specialist medical library
- a Clinical Skills and Anatomy Laboratory
- dedicated computer clusters with online study guides that include interactive assessment tools
- Anatomy and Clinical Skills Centres, in Newcastle and throughout the region, which include patient simulators, dissecting rooms and clinical skills laboratories
Support
To help support your transition to university life, we offer a peer-mentoring scheme that partners all new students with a student from Year 2.
From the beginning of your first year you will be allocated an academic mentor who will support you throughout the programme.
Your future
After completing your University programme, you’re currently eligible to apply for provisional registration with the General Medical Council (GMC) with a licence to practise, subject to demonstrating to the GMC that your fitness to practise is not impaired. However, the GMC are currently reviewing legislation and you should be aware this may be different in the future.
Find out more about provisional registration with the GMC
Currently, all UK medical graduates are required to complete a two-year Foundation Programme of general clinical training.
The majority of our students decide to apply to Foundation posts within the region. There are sufficient Foundation Programme places in the Northern Region for the majority of medical graduates.
International students are currently permitted to undertake the full Foundation Programme, ie the first two years following graduation, but you are normally required to return to your home country to complete further speciality training.
Once you have successfully completed the first year of the two year National Foundation Programme (FY1) and gained the certificate of experience you should gain full registration with the GMC. This is followed by a further year of generic training (F2). On successful completion of your second year, all doctors will have achieved the same basic competencies before going on to select their specialty of choice, either as a doctor in a hospital or as a GP.
Find out more about GMC registration and National Examinations
All doctors, regardless of their speciality, must continue learning throughout their career, and our programme has been designed with this long-term aim in mind.
Find out more about:
- the career options for Medicine and Surgery from Prospects: The UK’s Official Career Website
- careers in medicine and surgery within the North East
Industry links
We are a Regional Medical School and have partnerships with the Northern Region NHS. The large patient population (3.5 million) means you will have access to excellent training opportunities in hospitals, general practices and community based settings.
Careers support
We provide specialist careers advice from undergraduate level through to foundation training, to help you move confidently from student to doctor.
Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers. We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through our ncl+ initiative.
Visit our Careers Service website
Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK
From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK
Check the government’s website for more information.
Additional information
Medical Licensing Agreement
Medical Licensing Agreement The General Medical Council (GMC) has introduced a Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) which will set a common threshold for safe practice. Doctors who wish to work in the UK will need to show that they meet that threshold before the GMC grants a licence to practise.
To register with a licence to practise, all students graduating from the academic year 2024-25 onwards from UK medical schools will need to have passed a medical degree programme that includes the MLA.
The Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) will be a two-part assessment in the form of:
- an Applied Knowledge Test (AKT). This test will be the same for all UK students and international medical graduates. A GMC-appointed exam board will set each paper and the pass standard. For UK medical students, schools will set test dates. We will provide the test paper, to be delivered at the school. We will also deliver the test for international medical graduates. We’ll do this at a number of locations worldwide, possibly using delivery partners. The intention is that this will be a computer-based test
- a Clinical and Professional Skills Assessment (CPSA). For UK medical students, universities already run assessments of clinical and professional skills. We will set requirements that these assessments need to meet. If the medical school’s clinical assessment meets those requirements, students who pass it will have passed the CPSA element of the MLA
NUMed Malaysia
Newcastle University has an overseas campus in Malaysia.
International students who are interested in studying at NUMed can visit NUMed Malaysia’s website for more information.
The NUMed Malaysia MB BS undergraduate programme is equivalent to that delivered in the UK. It leads to the award of a Newcastle University MB BS (Bachelor of Medical Sciences) degree. The programme comes under the UK’s General Medical Council’s (GMC) robust approval and quality assurance framework.
Newcastle is the first UK university to develop an overseas campus offering full UK medical degrees in-country.
Find out more about NUMed Malaysia
Additional information
Entry requirements
All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements apply to 2025 entry.
This course is designed for graduates of any discipline, and for others who have relevant experience which includes a substantial amount of contact with patients gained as an established health care professional within the NHS or equivalent body (eg RGN, RMN, Physiotherapist) with a qualification recognised by a statutory body.
Applicants must:
- have achieved, or expect to achieve at least an upper second class Honours degree, or integrated master’s degree
or
- be a practising health care professional with five years post-registration experience in a role with significant patient contact
Please note: Following the screen for achieved or predicted academic results, the UCAT score will form the sole basis for ranking and selection for interview.
English Language requirements
Applicants whose first language is not English require a minimum score of IELTS 7.0 or equivalent including 7.0 in each of the four elements of the test.
Read more about UK visas and immigration requirements
International qualifications
If you are applying with an international degree please contact mbbs.admissions@newcastle.ac.uk to check that your qualification is accepted.
Admissions policy
This policy applies to all undergraduate and postgraduate admissions at Newcastle University. It is intended to provide information about our admissions policies and procedures to applicants and potential applicants, to their advisors and family members, and to staff of the University.
University Admissions Policy and related policies and procedures
School of Medicine Admissions Policy
Please download and read the School of Medicine Admissions Policy (PDF: 406KB) to find out more about:
- health assessment and disclosure
- Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks
- other academic achievements and admissions criteria
University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)
All applicants applying to study the 5 year A100 programme or the 4 year A101 Medicine programme at Newcastle University will be required to take the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT).
The UCAT threshold may differ in each admissions cycle as it is dependent on the scores achieved by those applicants who apply to our Medical School in the current cycle.
For further information:
- download the UCAT Thresholds (PDF:103 KB) and application numbers for previous years
- see the School of Medicine website for more information
