Cardiff University looks for the following qualities in your personal statement, academic referee's statement and at interview:
This information can be found at the following links:
GCSE grades and the interview are the main elements used to rank applications at Cardiff University. Saying this, your personal statement is read by the application team, to look for the appropriate qualities mentioned above. However, this is not factored into the formal processes of ranking applicants for interview places.
Cardiff receives ~3000 applications per year, interviewing ~1200 applicants for ~300 places on the course. This means that ranking highly from your GCSE results is crucial for obtaining an interview. Once the interview stage is in progress, offers are made exclusively based on your performance in the interview.
Admissions test results are less important. UCAT is the entrance exam that applicants are required to sit to apply to Cardiff University School of Medicine. UCAT is only used to discriminate between 2 equal candidates at the time of giving out offers when all other attributes between them are equal. Otherwise, it is not used! Therefore, Cardiff accepts people with a range of UCAT scores.
UCAT is the entrance exam that applicants are required to sit to apply to Cardiff University School of Medicine. The BMAT exam is not required in your application.
As mentioned above, very little importance is placed on your UCAT at Cardiff University School of Medicine. There is no minimum UCAT score that must be achieved: in both the main sections and the SJT.
The average score of a successful applicant in 2020 was 2589. The average score of interviewed applicants was 2620.
But, as mentioned previously, the UCAT will be used to discriminate between 2 equal candidates at the time of giving out offers, when all other attributes between them are equal.
Your predicted grades for your courses are not included in the ranking process for an interview, as only qualifications already achieved (e.g. GCSE, completed A levels, etc.) are included.
For admission onto the course, the following grades must be achieved:
A Levels: AAA
GCSEs: 8 GCSEs at grade B/6 including Maths, English Language, Biology, Chemistry, and Maths
Welsh Baccalaureate: Welsh Baccalaureate accepted in place of 3rd A Level
International Baccalaureate: 36 points
Highers:
BTEC: Distinction overall and distinction in all modules in the Higher National Diploma
For graduate applicants, you must have achieved BBB/ABC at A-level, 32 points overall in the IB or other equivalent scores and be working towards a 2:1 in your degree.
Cardiff University School of Medicine does not admit students who have not achieved the conditions of their offer (e.g. AAA at A level) and does not accept qualifications that were resat. There are some alternative courses alongside the A100 5-year course:
A104 (6-year course with a preliminary year) - for applicants with high academic performance but who have not taken science-related subjects at A-level (or equivalent qualifications) or who only took 1 of either Biology or Chemistry. A104 is not intended for applicants who have taken science subjects at A level (or equivalent) but failed to achieve the grade requirements of their offer. After 1 year of science teaching, these students enter Year 1 of the A100 (traditional) medicine course.
A101/A102 (Graduate-entry 4 year course) - the graduate-entry medical course at Cardiff University School of Medicine is only available to applicants enrolled on 1 of the 4 'feeder stream' courses. Other graduates can apply to the A100 5-year course or A104 6-year course. The 4 'Feeder' courses are:
The Cardiff University School of Medicine application process relies heavily on your GCSE grades when ranking applicants for the interview! You will be given points for your achieved qualifications. Points are awarded for your 9 highest graded GCSE subjects. Biology, Chemistry, English Language, and Maths are 4 GCSEs that will always be included in this total. Achieved A-level grades and honours degrees can give you additional points.
GCSEs:
A Levels:
The maximum number of points you can achieve is 27, and the cut off for an interview varies each year.
You must also have 8 GCSEs at grade B/6 or above including Maths, English Language, Biology, Chemistry, and Maths (or 66 (BB) in Double Science or 66 (BB) in Biology and Chemistry)
Cardiff University School of Medicine does not use UCAS points to rank applicants for an interview unless it includes achieved qualifications. Predicted grades do not factor into the application, as long as you are expected to meet the minimum requirements of the course (e.g. AAA at A level, including Biology and Chemistry).
Qualities to demonstrate in your personal statement:
Applicants need to demonstrate 'experience and reflection in a clinical environment'. Cardiff University School of Medicine recognises that opportunities for certain types of work experience (e.g. in a hospital or GP practice) vary between individuals' social circumstances. No specified amount of work experience hours must be completed. Use all experiences in clinical environments to reflect upon in your personal statement and at the interview (e.g. care homes, residential homes, volunteering groups, etc.).
It is important to include extra-curricular activities in your personal statement and have some examples for theinterview as Cardiff University School of Medicine likes to see that their applicants have a 'balanced approach to life' and have interests other than Medicine! These do not need to be competitive sports or national achievements (although do mention these if they apply to you!), you can mention anything you enjoy outside of your studies that helps you to relax and take time away from your studies!
The interview invitations are sent in November of the application cycle. Interviews take place between December-February of the application cycle. The interview is MMI-style, consisting of 9 stations, each lasting 6 minutes with 2 minute reading time between. There is 1 interviewer at each station - this could be anyone from a student, lecturer, tutor, etc.
Here is an overview of what to expect on interview day:
Qualities to demonstrate at the interview:
Common Question Topics at Interview:
Cardiff receives ~3000 applications per year, with 1200 applicants interviewed (40%) for ~300 places on the course. About 500-700 offers are made.
Overall offer rate of applicants: 1 in 4 / 1 in 6.
Overall success rate: 1 in 10 / 1 in 11.
A100 (Undergraduate 5 year course) - split into 3 phases:
Phase 1 (Years 1 & 2) - learn the core science of medicine.
Phase 2 (Year 3 & 4) - clinical placements.
Phase 3 (Year 5) - harmonisation year (consolidating knowledge and skills to prepare you for work as a doctor in the NHS, ensuring your smooth transition from student to Foundation Doctor).
A104 (6-year course with preliminary year) - for applicants with high academic performance but who have not taken science-related subject at A-level (or equivalent qualifications) or who only took 1 of either Biology or Chemistry. A104 is not intended for applicants who have taken science subjects at A level (or equivalent) but failed to achieve the grade requirements of their offer. After 1 year of science teaching, these student enter Year 1 of the A100 (traditional) medicine course and follow the same structure.
A101/A102 (Graduate-entry 4 year course) - the graduate-entry medical course at Cardiff University School of Medicine is only available to applicants enrolled on 1 of the 4 'feeder stream' courses. Other graduates can apply to the A100 5-year course or A104 6-year course. These students enter the Year 2 cohort of the Undergraduate 5 year course, and remain with this year group for the rest of their studies. These students complete a 'summer school' the August before beginning this course, and then follow an identical course structure to the Undergraduate 5 year degree. The 4 'feeder' courses are:
For more information check out the following links:
An extra (optional) intercalated BSc can be undertaken between the following years of each of the above courses, and adds 1 year to the course length:
The course structure is integrated.
Years 1 and 2 are the pre-clinical years. Patient Contact begins in Phase 1b (January of Year 1), with placement 1 day/week. In years 3 and 4 you progress to the clinical years. Year 5 is the harmonisation year. This is a year spent consolidating knowledge and skills to prepare you for work as a doctor in the NHS, ensuring your smooth transition from student to Foundation Doctor.
The teaching style is case-based learning (CBL).
Phase 1 (Years 1 and 2) Teaching:
Cardiff University School of Medicine has a spiral curriculum, so almost everything you learn about in Year 1, will continue to be visited multiple of times during the degree. Platform for Clinical Sciences (Phase 1a, aka PCS) can be very content-heavy and busy with teaching sessions, but you will be taught most of it again during Phase 1b of the course to consolidate this knowledge, and you will apply the information clinically in Phase 2 of the course.
A typical Phase 1a (Year 1) timetable can be found below. The key is as follows:
In Phase 1b (Year 1/2), you have a 2 week case based upon a system / presentation. This is a typical fortnight of CBL sessions:
A typical Phase 2 (Years 3/4) timetable can be found below:
During Phase 2 you undertake 4 x 8 week placement blocks. In Year 3 the placements are as follows: Hospital Front Door, Chronic Disease 1, Oncology/Surgery and a Student Selected Component (SSC, a self-directed project). You will also cover Applied Clinical Sciences this year. This consists of 6 weeks throughout the calendar, between the placement blocks, covering basic clinical knowledge, e.g. Evidence-Based Medicine, Blood bottles, etc. In Year 4 the placements are as follows: Chronic Disease 2, Women Child and Family, Psychological Medicine/Clinical Neurology/Ophthalmology and a Student Selected Component (SSC, a self-directed project). The placements in your designated ward/hospital take place Monday-Friday from 9am-5pm (but this can change based upon your speciality rotation and how 'busy' the area is with pathologies you need to see).
Phase 1a (PCS) is very busy, with 9am-5pm schedules on most days. This can be very tiring, and has less time allocated for self-study.
Phase 1b (CBL) has fewer timetabled sessions than PCS but requires more self-study between CBL sessions on a Monday and 2nd Friday.
Phase 2 is mainly filled by your placement blocks, which can be very tiring, and leave the evenings only for self-study. However, the timetable is more flexible in Phase 2, with it being your responsibility to attend placement and know when in the day there are no more patients for you to see, and self-study at home would be more useful for you.
Intercalated BScs (iBSc) are offered to students between Years 3 and 4 or Years 4 and 5 of the 5-year undergraduate course (years 4 and 5 or years 5 and 6 of the 6-year course with preliminary year). At Cardiff University they are an optional part of the medicine courses; you can choose to do it at Cardiff University or at another university.
The iBSc courses available at Cardiff University School of Medicine / School of Biosciences are as follows:
The average year group cohort size is ~300. Numbers do not change substantially as you progress through the course (as students who fail to progress the year and students who enter your year due to intercalation in the previous year often balance out).
In Phase 1b, placements take place at 1 of 5 locations in South Wales:
Cardiff
Abergavenny - Nevill Hall Hospital (45 mins drive from Cathays campus)
Bridgend - Princess of Wales Hospital (35 mins drive from Cathays campus)
Merthyr Tydfil - Prince Charles Hospital (40 mins drive from Cathays campus)
Newport - Royal Gwent Hospital (20 mins drive from Cathays campus)
Transport to Abergavenny, Brigend, Merthyr Tydfil and Newport placements in Phase 1 are organised by the medical school (a bus takes you to and from placement each week).
Transport to the 2 hospitals linked to placements in Cardiff must be organised by the student (UHW is walkable as it is on Heath Park campus and UHL is easily accessible on bus routes).
As a student at Cardiff University School of Medicine, our placements in Phase 2 are across Wales (ranging from 0 to 5 hours away from the Cardiff campus), and for each placement block, you will be placed in a different hospital / GP practice. This is amazing as it allows you to see a diverse variety of medical practice (rural vs urban, older vs younger populations, etc.).
In placement blocks outside of South Wales, students will live away from Cardiff in accommodation provided by the medical school (free). This is usually for 1-2 placement blocks per year. You can request to not have placement blocks outside of South Wales, and the best effort will be made to honour this.
Cardiff University School of Medicine is located in the heart of the capital city of Wales, Cardiff - a quieter and friendlier capital city! Cardiff is a beautiful, vibrant city, with a wide range of activities on offer within the city or close by. These range from hiking trails in the Brecon Beacons just north of Cardiff to pretty coastlines and beaches on the south of the city. The city itself contains everything you could ever need, with thousands of shops, numerous parks and open spaces, sports stadiums, museums, restaurants, coffee shops and other things to see and do! Cardiff also has great transport connections to other parts of the UK via buses, trains and planes. This is a "city-based" university, meaning there is no central campus that contains every university building, and the university buildings are located across the city.
There are 2 main collections of university buildings in 2 different areas of the city.
Medical students in Phase 1 will spend the majority of their time on the Heath Park campus, with some teaching sessions taking place in the School of Biosciences buildings in the centre of the Cathays campus.
Cardiff Students' Union (the #3 Student's Union in the UK!!) has over 200+ societies for students to join and over 65 sports clubs. With so much variety, there is something for everyone, and students are encouraged to take part in the societies throughout their time at medical school!
Across the Students Union, the societies are mainly based around activities, appreciation groups, culture, discussion/campaigning/awareness, political/ideological and performance groups. There are some societies that are course-based (usually at least 1 society for each course at the university), but these do not make up the majority of the societies on offer. Students have a wide range of societies to explore and join which are unrelated to their studies!
Currently, there are 44 societies specifically for School of Medicine students surrounding different specialities in medicine, wellbeing and revision teaching!
Benefits of separate societies for medical students:
Drawbacks of separate societies for medical students:
It is easy for medical students to integrate with non-medical students through societies, sports clubs and volunteering. Most societies are open to all students across the university, and these provide a great opportunity to meet a wide variety of students, who have similar interests to you! Also, the accommodation in 1st year is not split between medics and non-medical students, which allows you to meet with students outside of your course.
Examples of general societies at Cardiff Students' Union:
Examples of medical societies at Cardiff Students' Union:
The Student Satisfaction Score, obtained from the National Student Survey results, was found to be 82%.
Examples of positive comments received from students:
Examples of negative comments received from students:
At Cardiff University School of Medicine, there are many international students from a wide range of countries.
The demographics in 2017/18 were as follows:
There are several bursaries available from Cardiff University:
Other bursaries exclusively available to medical students, but not exclusive to Cardiff University, include the NHS Bursary Scheme. From Year 5 of the course onwards, the NHS will take over as the main funding provider for your course (funding any preliminary year, intercalated years and Year 5). It does not need to be repaid and there is no contract with the NHS after you finish your course. A means-tested NHS bursary is available to help with living costs. This is assessed against household income and ranges from £0-£2,643.
The Bursaries, Scholarships and Money Team at Cardiff University offers free, impartial, confidential and practical advice on funding.
More information on funding and bursaries at Cardiff University can be found at these links:
'MyMedic' is a support service for all medical students at Cardiff University. This service accepts self-referrals and referrals from staff members in the School of Medicine. They support students with a wide range of queries including:
Other university support services include:
Attendance of all students is monitored for progression through the course. However, if you need to take time off for health or personal reasons, this is accommodated for if you speak to your Head of Year or Personal Tutor.
The university is very supportive of students who require mitigating services for exams and helps students ensure any necessary adjustments are applied.
More information on the support services available at Cardiff University can be found here: https://intranet.cardiff.ac.uk/students/health-and-wellbeing/support-for-medicine-students.
Amazing Restaurants in Cardiff are easy to find, here are a few of my favourites:
Cardiff University has 17 sites for student accommodation linked to the university dotted around the city.
Talybont (Gate, North, South and Court) is the largest and main site for accommodation, where the majority of students stay in their 1st year. This is ~25 mins walk to the Heath Park Campus, ~25 mins to Cathays Campus / Students Union and ~35 mins walk to Cardiff City Centre.
Senghennydd Hall and Senghennydd Court is another major accommodation site in the South of Cardiff.
The accommodation fees are as follows:
More information about the 17 accommodation sites can be found at these links:
Other accommodation is available across Cardiff that is not linked to the university. These are available for 1st year students and beyond. A popular location for medical students is a private accommodation block called 'Unite Students - Clodien House' as it is only 5 mins walk from the Heath Park Campus!
In later years of the course, many medical students live in private rented accommodation in Heath, Maindy or around Cathays Terrace as these locations are about ~15-20 mins from Heath Park Campus and the Students Union/City Centre.
