The University of Buckingham is a non-profit private university in Buckingham, England and the oldest of the country's five private universities. If you're considering studying in England and pursuing medicine at the university's Medical School, here is all you need to know.
The University of Buckingham Medical School is small enough for students to be part of a coherent and supportive community, but also large enough to provide all the experience needed to become a medical practitioner.
The Medical School is suited to both UK and international students.
On offer is a 4.5 year MB ChB programme, derived from a well-established curriculum. Its every aspect is engineered to help medical students develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to become a professional and ethical doctor.
About the 4.5 year MB ChB programme
The Medical School's MB ChB Medicine 4.5-year degree programme is designed to train highly ethical, honest and compassionate doctors who will put the patient first.
The course is divided into Phases 1 and 2.
Phase 1 consists of a series of integrated and interdisciplinary units mostly based around the systems of the body and presented in a clinical context. By the end of Phase 1, students should be able to communicate effectively with patients, examine them clinically, and have a sufficient understanding of how the body works in health and disease to embark on full-time clinical work.
Phase 2 is about building on the foundations of Phase 1 through intensive work with patients and doctors in the clinical environment. Over a series of themed blocks, students will be given a structured exposure to all aspects of medicine in both the hospital and the community.
The placements take place in hospitals and general practices.
In keeping with the Buckingham ethos, the ratio of students to clinical teachers and patients are kept low so that students have the best chance to interact with a wide variety of patients and doctors.
Partner hospitals near Buckingham are Milton Keynes University Hospital, St Andrews Hospital in Northampton, South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust and Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
Entry requirements for this course are as follows:
In the case of applicants offering UK A-levels, they should have (or be likely to obtain before the medical course begins) a minimum of grades ABB, including Chemistry or Biology.
In the specific case of the International Baccalaureate, they should be expected to achieve or to have achieved a total score of at least 34 points with Higher Level 6 in Chemistry & Biology. Please note that the overall point score does not include theory of knowledge or extended essay.
For applicants offering a degree – they should have a Bachelor Degree in a subject cognate to Medicine, and have or be predicted a minimum classification of 2.1.
Medical students whose native language is not English must hold an IELTS UKVI or IELTS Academic certificate with a minimum overall score of 7 and no less than 6.5 in each component (IELTS General Training is not suitable for this level).
Alternatively, they can provide a Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) Certificate of an overall average score of 185, with a minimum of 176 in each paper.
Students whose native language is not English will be exempt from providing an English Test Certificate only if they have successfully completed a UK Bachelor degree, or are a national of one of the following countries:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- The Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Canada
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Guyana
- Jamaica
- New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia, St Vincent
- The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago
- USA.
When a student is offered a place at the University, they will be notified of the student contract between the University and students on the courses of study.
When a place is offered and accepted on the course at the University, a legal contract is formed between you and the University on the basis of the student contract in the offer letter.
The offer letter and the student contract contain important information which students should read carefully before accepting an offer.
Throughout a student's first two years as a University of Buckingham Medical School student, they will be based at an allocated campus, Buckingham or Crewe. From Year 3 of the Medicine programme onwards, students will be mainly off-site at their placement locations.
