Choosing a medical school
Scotland's 5 medical schools all qualify you to work as a doctor across the UK. Choosing isn't about which is best, but what works for you. Consider location, teaching styles, and entry route options.
Scottish medical schools at a glance
You can apply to 4 of them. The quick summary below gives you an overview of locations, placements, and available entry routes. If you'd like to compare programme lengths and course structures, head over to the standard entry page.
| Medical school | Where you'll be based | Placement areas | Routes in |
| Aberdeen | Foresterhill, a large health campus in a coastal city. | The north of Scotland, including remote and island communities. | Standard entry, gateway year. |
| Dundee | Ninewells Hospital, on the edge of a compact city. | Tayside and Fife. | Standard entry, gateway year, ScotGEM. |
| Edinburgh | Edinburgh BioQuarter and central campus. | The Lothians and south east Scotland. | Standard entry (6 years), HCP-Med. |
| Glasgow | Wolfson Medical School Building, on the main university campus. | The west of Scotland. | Standard entry, gateway year. |
| St Andrews | A small coastal town, with later years elsewhere if you choose the BSc route. | Fife, Tayside, and rural Scotland on ScotCOM and ScotGEM. | ScotCOM, BSc route to a partner school, gateway year, ScotGEM. |
Which medical school is right for you?
Beyond the degree programme itself, these are the things applicants tell us made the difference:
- Where you'll actually be based: You might spend long periods on placement away from the main campus. Ask where they are and for how long.
- City or small town: Glasgow and Edinburgh are big cities, while St Andrews is a town of around 17,000.
- Cost of living and accommodation: Rents vary a lot between Scottish cities. Placement periods can also mean paying for 2 places at once.
- Getting home: How far is it, and how often would you want to go back?
- Support and reasonable adjustments: Every medical school has a disability service. If you need adjustments, contact them before you apply so they can tell you what's possible on a clinical programme.
- How you learn best: All 5 Scottish medical schools mix lectures, small groups, anatomy, and clinical placements. The balance differs, and open days are the fastest way to get a feel for it.
- Which routes are open to you: Graduates can apply to standard entry programmes anywhere in Scotland plus dedicated graduate routes. If you're looking at a gateway year, that'll narrow your list down to the 4 universities that offer them.
Using your UCAS choices
You can apply to a maximum of 4 medicine courses. Most applicants use all 4.
Your 5th choice can be a non-medicine course as a backup, or you can leave it blank. A backup protects you if no medical school makes an offer, while leaving it empty keeps you eligible for UCAS Extra. Medical schools only see the courses you applied for at their own institution, so a 5th choice won't count against you.