North Wales Medical School Entry Requirements 2027

North Wales Medical School is Bangor University's medical school, and its five-year A100 Medicine BMBS asks for AAA at A level for 2027 entry, including Biology or Chemistry. Bangor's FAQ, read on 17 October 2026, says there will be approximately 90 places for 2027. Applicants need permanent UK residency and Home Fee status on the day they apply, must sit the UCAT, which Bangor uses without a minimum threshold score, and are selected at a multiple mini interview.

Who can apply to Bangor medicine, and by when?

Bangor's 2027-entry A100 course page sets its residency rule ahead of the academic requirements: "All candidates must have permanent UK residency and have been granted Home Fee status on the day of application. We will not consider those who are awaiting approval of permanent UK residency." The same page, and the A101 graduate-entry page, list the course as not available for international students. Bangor's FAQ adds that applicants who were born, live or hold a nationality outside the UK and Ireland "will be required to provide proof of their permanent UK residency".

The course page's list of important information then sets four further limits:

• applicants "must be 18 years old at the start of the course";
• applicants "can only apply to Bangor University for a maximum of two cycles";
• Level 3 qualifications "should not be more than five years old at the start of the course", unless the applicant has continued in health-related education or a healthcare-related role since leaving Level 3 education, with "limited or no gaps";
• the final Level 3 profile must be achieved "in no more than two academic years", apart from the extenuating circumstances Bangor describes.

Two more rules close the door on timing. On deferral, the course page says: "We do not accept deferred applications." On the deadline, the FAQ says that "if you do not apply before the UCAS deadline for medicine, we cannot consider an application from you." Predicted grades are treated as firmly: "To be considered, applicant's predicted grades must meet our entry requirements."

The two-cycle limit matters to reapplicants. An applicant who applied to Bangor for 2026 entry and applies again for 2027 entry has used both of the cycles the course page allows, so a third application to Bangor medicine is ruled out whatever the grades.

A100, A103 or A101: which Bangor route fits?

Bangor offers three routes to the same BMBS degree. Each 2027-entry course page gives Wrexham and Bangor as the course location, and each carries the same admissions-test rule: the UCAT, sat in the year of application, with no minimum threshold score. The UCAT Consortium's list of member universities records Bangor University against all three codes.

A103 Gateway to Medicine

Bangor describes A103 as a programme "to support Wales-domiciled students who have the talent, drive, and potential to become doctors, but circumstances have prevented direct entry into the five-year Medicine degree". Its entry rules are explicit: "Applicants for A103 must be Wales domiciled. Priority will be given to those meeting BU contextual admissions criteria." The A level offer is BBB including two sciences from Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Economics, or Maths, Further Maths or Statistics, and the International Baccalaureate offer is 32 points with grades of 5, 5 and 5 at Higher Level. Passing the Gateway year brings "automatic progression onto the five-year BMBS Medicine".

The route also has a ceiling. Bangor warns that "applicants with or predicted AAB or higher may not be eligible for this course and should instead consider Medicine (A100) depending on contextual eligibility." The A103 page's own highlights still describe the course as being for Wales-domiciled widening-participation students "for September 26 entry", while its course details give a September 2027 start, so applicants should confirm the current wording with Bangor's medicine admissions team.

A101 Medicine (Graduate Entry)

A101 is a four-year course open to students completing one of four recognised feeder degrees who are due to graduate with at least an upper second: Bangor's BMedSci Medical Sciences (B100), Cardiff University's BSc Medical Pharmacology (B210) and BSc Biomedical Sciences (BC97), where Bangor says students "are required to have completed the anatomy module", and the University of South Wales' BSc Medical Sciences (B901). Bangor will also consider applicants who have graduated in degrees relevant to medicine, dentistry included, if they hold at least an upper second and normally start within 3 years of graduating. They must arrange a Recognition of Prior Education and Learning (RPEL) assessment before submitting a UCAS application, and "Applicants with approved RPEL assessments will also be required to pass an entrance exam should they be invited to interview."

That exam is taken at Bangor on the MSCAA assessment platform, after the MMI, and Bangor says it does not apply to applicants from the recognised feeder streams or to dentists with further training in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS). Bangor's own pages give different lengths for the exam, and its 2026-entry interviews page says all candidates required to take it "will be notified in advance", so candidates should confirm the length with Bangor's medicine admissions team. A101 applicants are normally also expected to hold BBB/ABC at A level including Biology or Chemistry and an additional science, English Language or Welsh First Language at GCSE grade B/6, and seven GCSEs including B/6 in Maths, Biology and Chemistry with C/4 in all others. Every A101 student attends a three-week summer school, in person, in August before the course starts.

What grades does A100 need for 2027 entry?

The academic profile on Bangor's 2027-entry A100 page is set out below. Every line applies on top of the residency rules above.

Two details in the A level rule change real subject choices. Only one of Biology or Chemistry is compulsory, so a student taking Biology, Physics and Maths meets the subject rule as Bangor states it. And Bangor lists Economics among the qualifying additional sciences, alongside Physics and the maths subjects. The science practical must be passed where it is part of the course, and the compulsory sciences must be at grade A or above. Critical Thinking, General Studies, Key Skills and Citizenship Studies do not count towards the offer.

The GCSE line is a profile rather than a points score: every listed grade has to be at B/6 or above, with Welsh First Language accepted in place of English Language. Bangor also asks every applicant to "demonstrate an awareness of the healthcare system in the UK and the nature of the medical training" in the personal statement, and says that while work experience is valuable, "we do not have a minimum work experience requirement".

Resits, extenuating circumstances and how old your grades can be

On A100 and A103, Bangor's course pages accept GCSE resits only if they were completed within 12 months of the original sitting and before the application, with one resit per Level 2 qualification. English Language or Welsh First Language has no time limit for a resit on those two pages, but it must appear on the application as achieved or pending. The A101 course page words its rule as "We will accept Level 2 (e.g. GCSE) resits completed prior to application", while the FAQ's graduate-entry section gives the 12-month limit.

At A level Bangor says: "We do not accept Level 3 (e.g. A Level) resits." Bangor does not treat exams taken after centre assessed grades as resits, and it will consider resits of A level module units only where the final exam has not already been taken and graded. Taken together with the rule that the final Level 3 profile must be achieved within two academic years, an applicant who misses AAA cannot use a resat A level to meet the A100 offer at Bangor.

Extenuating circumstances do not move the bar either. Bangor says that "we will not reduce the academic thresholds for medicine courses", considers only very serious life events at an important stage of education, and gives one example of flexibility: following discussion and with independent evidence, "it may be possible that we consider applicants who study A Levels over 3 years". Evidence has to reach Bangor before the UCAS deadline; evidence submitted after the medicine deadline will not be considered.

How does Bangor use the UCAT?

All three 2027-entry course pages give the same rule: "You must achieve UCAT prior to submitting your application. You must sit the UCAT in the year of application. We do not have a minimum threshold score; however, we will use UCAT scores as part of our selection process."

Bangor's medicine FAQ, read on 17 October 2026, explains what that means in practice: "Applicants who meet our entry requirements are pooled together and ranked by UCAT score highest to lowest. Interviews are offered to those with the highest UCAT scores within the pool until slots are filled." The grades and residency rules decide who enters the pool. Inside it, the FAQ describes the order for interview as a UCAT ranking.

The FAQ gives no UCAT figure to aim at. Asked for an average UCAT score, the FAQ answers: "It is not possible to provide this information as this can fluctuate from year to year, depending on the pool of applicants." The same FAQ, read on 17 October 2026, says situational judgement scores "are not considered, but this is subject to change", and states: "We do not currently consider GAMSAT."

For 2027 entry the test is finished. The UCAT Consortium's dates page gives 13 July 2026 as the first test day and 24 September 2026 as the last, with results delivered to universities in early November. Applicants for 2028 entry will sit the UCAT in 2027, the year they apply. Because Bangor ranks rather than sets a threshold, a higher score moves an applicant up the interview order rather than simply clearing a bar.

What happens at the Bangor MMI?

Once applicants are interviewed, the UCAT ranking gives way to an interview ranking. Bangor's FAQ, read on 17 October 2026, says: "Interviewed applicants are pooled and ranked by Multi Mini Interview (MMI) score, highest to lowest. Offers are made to those with the highest scores." It says interviews "are held in person in Bangor" and that "For fairness and consistency to the experience of all applicants, interviews will be held in-person only." The A103 page adds that video interviews "will only be offered in exceptional circumstances".

The FAQ's description of the format names no entry year, and the same station count and timings appear on the 2026-entry interviews page below: "The interview should last around one hour. The interview involves rotating around six verbal stations with two questions per verbal station. You will be given three minutes to answer each question. There will also be three minutes between each station to read the next set of two questions and to consider your answers." Pen and paper are not allowed. Bangor asks for at least two weeks' notice of any reasonable adjustment, and says "we are not able to offer extra time for interviews owing to interviews being timed, rotating stations with other applicants."

What Bangor published for the 2026-entry interviews

Bangor's medicine interview page still described the 2026-entry round when read on 17 October 2026, so treat these details from it and from Bangor's interview-day page, which names no entry year, as the 2026 arrangements until Bangor publishes its 2027 ones:

• interviews were held at the Reichel Building, applicants were asked to arrive 15 minutes before their slot, and arrival to the end of the MMI "usually takes around 1 hour and 40 minutes";
• "Each station is marked separately and independently", and Bangor's "What happens after I apply" page says the final score combines the scores from each station;
• students who needed "a bilingual or Welsh language interview" could book one in designated slots;
• applicants could bring up to two guests, who were not allowed into the venue during the MMI;
• failing to attend a booked interview "without exceptional reasons will result in the application being rejected".

The 2026-entry briefing also lists what interviewers consider: the ability to communicate effectively, suitability for the course, and understanding across six areas:

• North Wales Medical School and insight into a career in medicine;
• ethics, professionalism, teamwork and empathy;
• NHS/NHS Wales;
• resilience;
• reasoning and self-directedness;
• Wales.

Two of those areas, NHS Wales and Wales, belong to this school's setting. Bangor's own course pages give applicants material to work from: a Year 3 placement embedded in one GP practice for the whole year, a Year 2 Rural Health simulation day run with Mountain Rescue and the Welsh Ambulance Service, and teaching delivered with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. After the round, the 2026-entry briefing says, the Admissions Group meets "to determine the threshold for offers based on interview score", and offers are made only once every interview has been held. When clearing places exist, the FAQ says clearing interviews "will be held via Zoom". Our page on which UK medical schools use the MMI compares how the interview format differs between the medical schools it covers for 2026 entry.

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Who qualifies for Bangor's contextual offer of AAB?

Bangor's 2027-entry A100 page says it considers contextual data "in the offers that are made, which may be lower than advertised", and names the figure: "A contextual offer of AAB may be made to those who meet our contextual offer requirements." The two compulsory sciences, Biology or Chemistry and the additional science, must still be at grade A or above, so the B has to fall in the third subject.

The same page opens that offer to Welsh speakers: "First- or Second-Language Welsh speakers may also be eligible for a contextual offer of AAB" if they have Welsh, first or second language, at GCSE or at A level, or, for graduate applicants only, degree-level qualifications completed through the medium of Welsh. Bangor's FAQ, read on 17 October 2026, puts it in one line: "Applicants who can demonstrate a Welsh First or Second Language GCSE may be made a contextual offer of AAB with compulsory sciences at A grade."

This is a route to a lower offer, not a reserved allocation. Asked whether it prioritises or allocates a specific number of places to Welsh applicants over those from other UK nations, the FAQ answers: "We do not allocate a quota for Welsh applicants." Bangor's medicine applicant hub tells applicants who do not speak Welsh that "All content is available in English".

Bangor's general contextual admissions page is written for the 2025/26 cycle and September 2026 entry, and Bangor says it reviews the policy "at the end of each admissions cycle". It names postcode data first: applicants from higher-education low-participation neighbourhoods, "including Communities First areas in Wales", may receive a contextual offer, with postcodes classed on the POLAR4 system's 5 tiers. UCAS indicators follow: free school meals, estrangement from parents, a parent or carer in the UK Armed Forces, the applicant's own service in them, caring responsibilities, a physical or mental health condition, long-term illness or learning difference, time in care, and being first in the family to attend university. The page says the process incorporates Bangor's partnership with Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), that "no offers will be based solely on contextual data", and that school performance data "might be used at confirmation" where applicants "have not quite met the terms of their offer".

2027 entry: what happens between the deadline and an offer?

The 2027-entry deadline passed at 6pm on 15 October 2026. Bangor's pages set out the steps that follow, though two of them word the timing of the invitation to interview differently:

For comparison, the 2026-entry interview booking form closed at 6pm on 26 November 2025, and 2026-entry applicants were told to expect UCAS notification by the end of March 2026. An invitation first appears in UCAS as a dummy date, which Bangor says "is NOT your interview date". An email from Bangor should follow the next day with a link to book a slot. Applicants who have not received it within 48 hours of the UCAS invitation must contact the admissions team by email, and Bangor says that for anyone who does not book before the booking closing date, "we cannot make alternative arrangements."

If the answer is no

Applicants who are not shortlisted may still hear from Bangor: its "What happens after I apply" page says "we may offer you a place on an alternative course of study". For A100 applicants who are interviewed and unsuccessful, the FAQ, read on 17 October 2026, says the alternative "will usually be BMedSci (Hons) Medical Sciences (B100)", one of the feeder degrees for A101 Graduate Entry Medicine. Bangor expects those students to achieve a 2.1 and meet the other entry requirements, and says completing a feeder degree "does not guarantee" an interview or a place. For applicants unsuccessful at an A101 interview, the FAQ's graduate-entry section says: "All unsuccessful applicants will receive a reject decision via UCAS."

Bangor's medicine clearing page carries no date. Read on 17 October 2026, it says "Competition for spaces at medical schools is fierce and it is rare for spaces to become available for medicine courses through Clearing", lists "A limited number of Clearing places" for Medicine BMBS (A100), says graduate medicine is "now full for September 2026" and says applications "will soon open for September 2027 entry". The FAQ says availability cannot be known "until A Level result day". Our guide to how medicine and dentistry clearing places appear explains how that process runs across schools.

How new is North Wales Medical School?

Bangor's offer-holder newsletter describes "our first Bangor cohort starting in September 2024", and the A101 course page says: "The 2024 commencement date for the North Wales Medical School Medicine programme has been agreed with the GMC." On approval, the 2027-entry A100 page says: "The North Wales Medical School is progressing through the GMC approval process to award a Primary Medical Qualification. GMC accreditation is only completed when the first intake of students is due to graduate." The careers sections of the A100, A101 and A103 pages word the GMC position differently: "Our course is professionally accredited by the General Medical Council".

The A100 page also explains the safeguard that applies to new schools, which "must work with a 'contingency' partner, an established medical school able to provide support and willing, if GMC quality standards are not met for any reason, for students to transfer and graduate from the contingency school." Bangor names that partner: "The contingency partner school for the North Wales Medical School is Cardiff University School of Medicine."

Medicine was taught in North Wales before the school became independent. The A100 page says: "Since 2018 we have been successfully delivering the Cardiff University C21 North Wales Medicine programme." The A101 page records that the first cohort of medical students who studied in North Wales "graduated at Cardiff University on 17 July 2023".

Where will you study, and what do the five years involve?

Bangor's FAQ says the main campus is Bangor, but "your campus may change to Wrexham during year 3, 4 and 5 depending on placement". The course is delivered with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and primary care providers across North Wales, and several parts of it are built around that region:

• Year 2: a Rural Health simulation day "in the field", run with Mountain Rescue, the Welsh Ambulance Service, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and the RNLI;
• Year 3: a Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship, embedded "within a local community and its GP practice for an entire year";
• Year 4: a Hospital Front Door placement in the emergency department of "one of the three District General Hospitals in North Wales";
• Year 5: an eight-week elective and a seven-week senior student assistantship;
• throughout: Student Selected Components, which "form 15% of the undergraduate medical curriculum delivered at Bangor University".

Bangor's applicant hub says Welsh-speaking students can study some modules through the medium of Welsh and use their language on placements, and that Bangor will give students who do not speak Welsh the opportunity to learn basic language skills to communicate with Welsh patients on placement. The A100 page adds that students who choose to study part of the course in Welsh are given a Welsh-medium tutor.

What are the tuition fees for 2026/27 and 2027/28?

Bangor's 2027-entry A100 page shows a UK and Ireland full-time fee of £9,790, marked with an asterisk as provisional, and in the same section says: "Tuition fees for the 2027/28 academic year are still being finalised for all courses." Bangor's published fee documents separate the two years:

• 2026/27: the home fee table gives £9,790 a year for a full-time first degree for "New students commencing their studies in September 2026", and notes that home fees "may be increased in subsequent years" in line with the Welsh Government's maximum regulated fee;
• 2027/28: Bangor's fee limit statement says it will inform applicants of the regulated fee "as soon as confirmation of the maximum regulated fee is received from Welsh Government".

So £9,790 is the 2026/27 fee. The fee for students starting in September 2027 had not been confirmed on Bangor's pages when they were read on 17 October 2026.

How Leading Tuition helps with a Bangor medicine application

Our support follows the order in which Bangor decides. For 2027-entry applicants the UCAT is sat and the application is in, so the work that remains is the interview. Our expert medicine interview tutors run one-to-one MMI preparation tailored to the schools a student has been invited to; for Bangor that means, on the format its FAQ describes (read on 17 October 2026), answering two questions per station within three minutes each, and rehearsing the areas Bangor listed for its 2026-entry interviews, from NHS Wales to the North Wales setting itself. Our MMI interview coaching page explains how the sessions run, and medical school interview preparation covers both MMI and panel formats. A free consultation is where we set out a preparation plan for the stage a student has reached.

For 2028-entry applicants the order is different. Bangor ranks eligible applicants by UCAT score, so our UCAT tutors work with students ahead of the 2027 test. The personal statement carries one requirement Bangor states in terms: applicants "are expected to demonstrate an awareness of the healthcare system in the UK and the nature of the medical training". Our guide to writing a medicine personal statement covers how to show that, and the medicine preparation hub brings UCAT, interview and A level science support together.

Leading Tuition is rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews, read on 3 October 2026, and 91% of our students achieve their desired grades. For other schools, see our UK medical school entry requirements directory.

Frequently asked questions about North Wales Medical School entry