If you are wondering what the minimum age requirements are to study Medicine in the UK, then you have come to the right place.
The age requirements to study Medicine differ from university to university as they have different policies. If you will be under the age of 18 when you start the course, then you must check with the medical school before applying. We’ll go through why medical schools have age requirements, what to do if you don’t meet them and what the requirements are for each UK medical school.
Why Do Medical Schools Have Minimum Age Requirements?
This age requirement is usually in place due to early clinical/patient contact. Medical students are often expected to work and study in hospitals and clinical locations. Many courses have early patient contact, allowing students to assist and perform procedures. From a purely practical and operational standpoint, these are very difficult to organise if a student is under 18 years old due to legal reasons.
Therefore, any student under the age of 18 could not partake in any clinical elements of the course which would seriously hamper their progress.
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What If You Are Too Young To Study Medicine?
Ordinarily, if a candidate has got all the entry requirements to apply to study Medicine, the applicant would be old enough to apply. However, if an applicant is under 18 and wishes to apply there are options:
- 1. Many universities accept applications for deferred entry from younger applicants. Deferred entry means an applicant can secure their place for the next academic year once they are old enough.
- 2. Apply exclusively to medical schools which accept students under 18 years old (see table below).
- 3. Wait until the applicant comes of age.
It is important to note that, while some medical schools do accept younger candidates, they do so after stating the applicant should consider the commitment to the medical field and their personal maturity.
UK Medical School Age Requirements
With over 40 medical schools in the UK, each with a different stance on the minimum age to study Medicine, we have made life easier for you by putting together a table of requirements for every medical school in the UK.
| Medical School | Age Requirement Policy |
|---|---|
| Aberdeen | There is no minimum age requirement for Aberdeen medical school. |
| Anglia Ruskin | Due to the early clinical contact in the first months of the course, students must be a minimum of 18 years of age by 1 November, in the year their course starts. |
| Aston | Aston permits applicants under the age of 18 to apply to study and enrol onto its programmes. |
| East Anglia | UEA has significant patient contact throughout the first year meaning that students who are not 18 in their first year should consider deferred entry. |
| Barts | All students for the A100/A200 programmes must be 18 years old or over by the end of course enrolment. |
| Birmingham | No minimum age is listed. |
| Brighton And Sussex | Brighton and Sussex Medical School have accepted applicants aged 17 to study their Medicine course. They will not accept applicants who are 16 at the time of entry. |
| Bristol | Students must be 18 years of age (or above) by registration, which takes place in September, in their year of entry to undertake the clinical experiential learning. |
| Buckingham | No minimum age is listed. |
| Brunel | Normally require applicants to be 18 years old by the start of first year. |
| Cambridge | Medical students are required to be 18 years of age by the start of the second term of Year 1. |
| Cardiff | Applicants need to be 18 years of age or older by the beginning of the academic year. |
| Central Lancashire | There is no minimum age requirement specified. |
| Dundee | There is no minimum age requirement specified to study Medicine at Dundee. |
| Edge Hill | You must be aged 18 or above on the first day of the course. |
| Edinburgh | They do not specify a minimum or maximum age requirement to study there, however, applications from Scottish S5 (15-17 years old) applicants will not normally be considered. |
| Exeter | Applicants must be over the age of 17 to study. |
| Glasgow | There is no minimum age requirement specified. |
| Hull York | You must be 17 or over on 1 October in the year you enrol. |
| Imperial College London | You must be 18 years of age by the time you would start this course. |
| Keele | Students should have reached the age of 18 before commencing the A100 course or by 1 October of the year in which they start the course. |
| Kent And Medway | All applicants must be 18 years old or above when they undertake their first clinical placement in week seven of the first term of Year One. |
| King’s College London | King’s is only able to accept applicants who will turn 18 years of age before commencing the second year of the Medicine degree. |
| Lancaster | There is no minimum age requirement specified. |
| Leeds | Candidates must be a minimum of 17 years old at the beginning of the course. |
| Leicester | Applicants need to be 18 years of age or older by the beginning of the academic year. |
| Liverpool | There is no minimum age requirement specified. |
| Lincoln | You must be 17 or older on 1 September of the year you will begin your course to be considered. |
| Manchester | They accept students who are 17 years old and above onto their medicine course. |
| Newcastle | There is no minimum age requirement specified. |
| Nottingham | You must be 17 or older on 1 September of the year you will begin your course to be considered. |
| Oxford | Requires all applicants to be at least 18 years of age by 1st November in the year they intend to start the degree course. |
| Plymouth | Early patient contact means that students must be at least 18 years old at or before the 1st of September to study at Plymouth medical school. |
| Queen’s Belfast | Queen’s do not accept any medical applicants under the age of 16. |
| Sheffield | Applicants to Sheffield medical school must be 18 years of age when they start the course. |
| Southampton | Students must be a minimum of 18 years of age when they start the Medical Degree programmes. |
| St Andrews | Accept any candidate who meets their minimum requirements, however, they do advise applicants to consider their experience and maturity prior to applying. |
| St George’s | Students under the age of eighteen are not able to attend placement, interact with patients or undertake certain other activities, so it might be worth waiting until you can start your studies at the age of 18. |
| Sunderland | Students must be 18 years of age (or above) in first year so they can be involved in clinical placements. |
| Swansea | Graduate entry. |
| University College London | Students must be 18 years of age at the time they start the medical degree programme. Applicants who apply but would be under 18 at the start of that year’s programme will be considered for a deferred place. |
| Warwick | Graduate entry. |
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