Alphabetical list of medical schools in the UK (2024-2025)

Alphabetical list of medical schools in the UK (2024-2025)

There are currently 47 medical schools in the UK, registered with the GMC. Three are in the planning stage, so there will be 50 medical schools.

Of the current forty-seven medical schools, there are thirty-seven medical schools in England, five in Scotland, three in Wales and two in Northern Ireland. The three in planning stage are all in England.

The University of Edinburgh Medical School is the oldest in the UK, and was founded in 1726.

Here are the medical schools, listed alphabetically. The year of founding below is the year of the first intake of students started (if known).

1. Aberdeen (Scotland) – founded in 1787. Medicine has been taught at the university since the founding of King’s College in 1495. The formal establishment of a medical school was in 1787.
2. Anglia Ruskin (Chelmsford) – 2018.
3. Aston (Birmingham) – 2018. Offers 40% of its places to students from disadvantaged communities.
4. Bangor (Wales) – 2024. North Wales Medical School.
5. Barts and London (part of Queen Mary University of London) – 1995. It was formed in 1995 by the merger of the London Hospital Medical College (founded in 1785) and the Medical College of St Bartholomew’s Hospital (established in 1843, with medical teaching dating back to the founding of the hospital in 1123); to become Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry (BLSMD). Has a satellite campus on the island of Gozo (near Malta) which opened in 2017.
6. Birmingham – 1825. Medical teaching began in Birmingham in 1767, with formal medical education beginning in 1825. Merged with Mason Science College in 1900.
7. Brighton and Sussex – 2003. Affiliated with both the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex.
8. Bristol – 1833. Merged with the University College, Bristol (now University of Bristol) in 1893.
9. Brunel (Uxbridge, London) – 2021. Open to International students only.
10. Buckingham (Milton Keynes) – 2015. Only private medical school in the UK. 4.5 year course (starting in January each year). Open to International and UK students. Associated hospitals are: Milton Keynes University Hospital; Warwick Hospital (South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust) and Stoke Mandeville Hospital (Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust); St Andrews Hospital Northampton.
11. Cambridge – 1976. Teaching of medicine began in 1540, but lay dormant for many years. An abortive attempt to put medicine on a proper footing was undertaken in the 1840s, but eventually petered out by the 1860s. It was not until 1976 that a complete medical course was re-established at Cambridge through partnership with Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. Before 2017, approximately half of medical students left Cambridge after the pre-clinical course as there were not enough places on the clinical course for them all; common destinations included medical schools based in Oxford, London and Manchester. From 2017, all medical students continue to study in Cambridge for the full six years provided they pass the pre-clinical component of the course.
12. Cardiff (Wales) – 1893. Founded in 1893 and previously known as the Welsh National School of Medicine and the University of Wales College of Medicine, it was re-amalgamated into Cardiff University in 2004.
13. Chester – 2024. A four-year, graduate-entry course.
14. Dundee (Scotland) – 1967. From 1883 to 1897, University College Dundee was independent. From 1893 to 1967 medicine was taught in Dundee as part of the University of St Andrews. After 1967, medical teaching was under the auspices of the University of Dundee.
15. Edge Hill (Ormskirk, Lancashire) – 2020.
16. Edinburgh (Scotland) – 1726. The University of Edinburgh was the first in the UK to provide formal medical training beginning in 1726.
17. Exeter – 2013 (2000, as Peninsula College). Established after the split of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (Plymouth). Now part of University of Exeter.
18. Glasgow (Scotland) – 1751. Medicine first taught in 1637, however the current medical school can be said to have been established with the appointment of Dr William Cullen in 1751.
19. Hull York – 2003. Affiliated with both the University of Hull and the University of York.
20. Imperial College London – 1997 (Charing Cross Hospital, 1818). Formed in 1997 by merger of St Mary’s (founded 1854), Charing Cross (1821) and Westminster Medical Schools (1834); and the National Heart and Lung Institute, the Royal Postgraduate Medical School. In 1984 Charing Cross and Westminster Medical Schools merged.
21. Keele (Stoke) – 2003. Founded as the Department of Postgraduate Medicine in 1978; began teaching undergraduate clinical medicine in 2003 using the Manchester curriculum. As such, the MBChB degree was awarded by the University of Manchester until 2011. From 2012 (2007 intake) the MBChB degree was awarded by Keele University itself.
22. Kent and Medway (Canterbury) – 2020. The medical school has been formed as a collaboration between the University of Kent and Canterbury and Christchurch University. The first cohort consisted of 150 students was being supervised by Brighton and Sussex Medical School.
23. Kings College London – 1998. Formed by merger between King’s College London (Kings College Medical School founded 1909) and United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals (1550) in 1998. Known as GKT School of Medicine until 2005. United medical schools merged in 1982.
24. Lancaster – 2006. Part of Lancaster University. LMS admitted its first cohort of students in 2006 and, from September 2006 to July 2013, it delivered the University of Liverpool School of Medicine course. Students beginning their studies from September 2013 are registered as Lancaster University students and are awarded a Lancaster University degree.
25. Leeds – 1831. Every year around half of all Leeds students take a year out to study another related degree (BSc) in a process called intercalating.
26. Leicester -1975. Between 2000 and 2007 it was part of the joint Leicester-Warwick Medical School. Students intercalate a Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMedSci) degree within the 5 years of their course.
27. Lincoln – 2018. In 2018, the University of Lincoln and the University of Nottingham partnered to establish Lincoln Medical School. The first students began their studies in September 2019.
28. Liverpool – 1834. In 1903, it became one of the first medical schools to be incorporated into a university.
29. Manchester – 1824. Medical teaching began in 1752 when Charles White founded the first modern hospital in the Manchester area, the Manchester Royal Infirmary. The medical school was founded in 1824.
30. Newcastle – 1834. Durham University College of Medicine (1851–1937); Medical School of King’s College, University of Durham (1937–1963). Absorbed Durham University School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health (est. 2001) in 2017.
31. Norwich – 2002. Part of University of East Anglia.
32. Nottingham – 1970. Students intercalate a Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMedSci) degree within the 5 years of their course. Has an associated graduate school, the University of Nottingham Medical School at Derby.
33. Oxford -1946. Medicine has been taught at the University of Oxford sporadically since the 13th century but lay dormant through the 19th century. The current medical school, teaching both clinical and undergraduate students, was established in 1946.
34. Plymouth – 2013 (Peninsula College, 2000). Established after the split of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry.
35. Queens University Belfast (Northern Ireland) – 1835. In 1821 the first medical student was admitted as a pupil to a Belfast Hospital. His name was William Bingham and he came from the village of Dundonald. William paid a fee of one guinea to see “the practice and act as dresser” in the Fever Hospital, Belfast. The medical school was founded in 1835. The College could not award diplomas or degrees and, until the year 1849, students were compelled to sit final examinations and graduate from either the University of Glasgow or the University of Edinburgh. It is the only United Kingdom medical school to award graduates Bachelor of Obstetrics (BAO) degree.
36. Sheffield – 1828. It operated independently until its merger with Firth College and Sheffield Technical School in 1897, and is now an integral part of the University of Sheffield.
37. Southampton – 1971. Students intercalate a Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMedSci) degree within the 5 years of their course.
38. St Andrews (Scotland) – 1413. 1897, Bute Medical School founded. It only offers an undergraduate pre-clinical course, with students proceeding to another medical school for clinical studies.
39. St George’s (London)
40. Sunderland
41. Surrey (Guildford)
42. Swansea (Wales)
43. UCL (University College London)
44. UCLAN (University of Lancaster)
45. Ulster (Derry, Northern Ireland). Magee School of Medicine.
46. Warwick
47. Worcester. Also known as ‘Three Counties Medical School’.

British Overseas Territories

1. Anguilla (St Vincent) – 2010. Saint James School of Medicine. Previously established in 1999 in Bonaire.
2. Grand Cayman (Cayman Islands) – 2002. St. Matthew’s University. Previously established in 1997 in Belize.
3. Olveston (Montserrat) – 2003. University of Science, Arts and Technology. It is an offshore private medical school. The university opened in 2003 with administrative headquarters in Colorado and its campus located in Montserrat.

Future medical schools

1. Carlisle – 2025. Pears Cumbria School of Medicine. A collaboration between the University of Cumbria and Imperial College London. A four-year, graduate-entry course, only for UK students.
2. Twickenham (London). School of Medicine, St Mary’s University. First intake of students expected in 2026.
3. Wolverhampton. Black Country Medical School. Planning stage.

When does a medical school start?

This is a simple question but quite hard to answer. It also involves how you define the start of a medical school, and what is a medical school. Therefore when one ‘starts’ could be:

1. When the first student started
2. When the medical school was registered by the GMC, and/or the course first approved by the GMC. Many predated the GMC
3. When the medical school was opened (say by a dignitary)
4. When the first complete intake started. If known, this is the year given above.
5. When the first complete intake qualified
6. When it split off a ‘founding medical school’
7. When it merged with another medical school.

This is why the years given above need to be interpreted with caution.

Previous medical schools

1. Durham Medical School was founded on Teesside in 2001 as a partner with the Newcastle University Medical School to educate medical students in the first phase of their medical education (Years 1 and 2). On 1 August 2017 it was transferred to Newcastle University, becoming part of Newcastle’s Faculty of Medical Sciences, and relocated to Newcastle.
2. London School of Medicine for Women was founded in 1874.
3. The Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women was founded by Sophia Jex-Blake in Edinburgh, Scotland, in October 1886. It closed in 1898.
4. Charing Cross – 1821.
5. Westminster – 1834.
6. St Mary’s – 1854.
7. St Thomas
8. Guys
9. Kings.

Notes

1. Although Oxford and Cambridge Universities offer both pre-clinical and clinical courses in medicine, students who study pre-clinical medicine at one of these universities may move to another university for clinical studies. At other universities students stay at the same university for both pre-clinical and clinical work.
2. Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM). Chester, Swansea, Ulster and Warwick Medical Schools only offer 4-year graduate entry courses.
3. Both the ‘official lists’ of UK medical schools – General Medical Council (GMC) and the Medical School Council – are wrong, the latter stating there are 44 medical schools in the UK.
4. Eight ‘provincial’ medical schools founded between 1824 and 1835: Belfast (1835), Birmingham (1825), Bristol (1833), Leeds (1831), Liverpool (1834), Manchester (1824), Newcastle (1834) and Sheffield (1828).
5. There have been long periods of lack of medical school development in the UK, due to poor planning from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and the GMC. This partly explains our inability to train enough doctors for the needs of the country. For example,
   • There were almost no new medical schools for 135 years from 1835 (Belfast) to 1970 (Nottingham); except for Oxford which started in 1946, and Dundee in 1967 (and both were not really new).
   • Four medical schools were founded in the 1970s: Cambridge (1976), Leicester (1975), Nottingham (1970) and Southampton (1971).
   • There were no new medical schools in the 1980s and 1990s (some mergers in 1990s).

Other resources

UKCAT list of medical schools
History of medical schools in the UK