Future Doc students achieve a 93% success rate. Our programme includes UCAT preparation, personal statement review, interview practice, and university selection guidance — all led by doctors who have been through the process themselves.
Learn About Our Programme See How We Can Support Your Application →New medical school at the Royal Bolton Hospital site — currently open to international applicants only
HOW WE BUILT THIS
We compile these profiles from each university's own published admissions pages and review them monthly. Entry requirements do change mid-cycle, and universities sometimes publish updates without announcing them.
Use this page to get oriented quickly, build your shortlist, and work out which questions to ask — then confirm the specifics that your application depends on (grades, admissions test, fees, eligibility) directly with the university before you apply. If you spot something that looks out of date, tell us and we will check it.
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Entry year covered: 2027
IF YOU ARE A UK APPLICANT, READ THIS FIRST (October 2026)
The University of Greater Manchester's own 2027-28 course page states: "Home applications are not possible for this course at present" and "This course is only available to International students." Its entry requirements section adds that "for September 2026 and September 2027 entry, the University of Greater Manchester is only able to offer this course to International applicants."
In plain terms: if you are a UK home-fee applicant, you cannot currently apply to this course, and there is no widening participation route into it. EU nationals without settled or pre-settled status count as international. Check the current position before you commit a UCAS choice: schoolofmedicine@greatermanchester.ac.uk or +44 (0) 1204 903239.
Name change: The University of Bolton is now the University of Greater Manchester. The medical school sits at medicine.greatermanchester.ac.uk, and bolton.ac.uk now redirects to greatermanchester.ac.uk. We have kept "Bolton" in the title because applicants still search for it.
Considering Bolton Medicine? Here's a complete breakdown of entry requirements, admissions criteria, and the application process for 2027 entry — starting with the fact that matters most, which is that UK applicants cannot currently apply.
The University of Greater Manchester (formerly the University of Bolton) runs a five-year MBChB from the Institute of Medical Sciences, a purpose-built facility within the grounds of the Royal Bolton NHS Foundation Trust hospital. The programme was set up to help address the shortage of doctors in the Greater Manchester region. For September 2026 and September 2027 entry, however, its places are allocated to international students only.
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester with good transport links to Manchester city centre. The medical school will have links with Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and other Greater Manchester healthcare providers.
| Route | UCAS Code | Length | Start |
|---|---|---|---|
| MBChB Medicine | A100 | 5 years | 7 September 2027 |
There is no gateway year, foundation year or separate graduate-entry UCAS route. A graduate route into A100 exists for applicants holding a 2:1 honours degree.
| Qualification | Requirement |
|---|---|
| A-Level Grades | AAB minimum across three A-levels, grades in any order |
| Required Subjects | Chemistry or Biology, plus one of Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Maths. The third subject can be anything. |
| Not Accepted | General Studies, Critical Thinking, Citizenship Studies, Global Perspectives |
| UCAS Points | 136 |
| International Baccalaureate | 34 points overall with 6,6,5 at Higher Level, including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Maths |
If you do not achieve the required grades at the first sitting, your application "will only be considered with resits if there is substantial mitigation that has previously been agreed with the admissions tutor". Mitigation requests go to mbchbadmissions@greatermanchester.ac.uk with formal supporting evidence.
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Test Required (2027 entry) | None — the university states the UCAT becomes a requirement "for our September 2028 cohort" |
| Cut-off Score | Not published |
| How Shortlisting Works Instead | Your personal statement is assessed during shortlisting, alongside predicted or achieved grades and your academic reference |
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Online/virtual — "a series of mini-interviews and tests" |
| Number of Stations | Not published |
| What's Assessed | Values, behaviours, communication and problem-solving skills |
| Offers | "Offers will be made based on your performance in these interviews and will be either conditional or unconditional." No offers are made without an interview. |
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Annual places | Not published |
| Applications per place | Not published |
| Interview invitations | Not published |
| Admissions test cut-off | Not published (no test required for 2027 entry) |
"Greater Manchester is a region with significant healthcare needs. A new medical school in Bolton would expand training capacity and hopefully train doctors who stay to serve the local community. As details emerge, this could be an interesting option for students committed to the North West."
— Dr. Ash, Future Doc
Bolton is a large town in Greater Manchester, approximately 10 miles north-west of Manchester city centre. It offers affordable living compared to Manchester itself while maintaining good transport links via rail and road.
Clinical placements are expected to be primarily within:
A contextual offer is an adjustment a university makes for applicants whose circumstances have made their education harder than the grades alone suggest. Universities use them because they recognise that two students with the same predicted grades have not always had the same run at them. They are a formal, published part of the admissions process — not a favour, and not something you have to argue for.
What the adjustment actually is varies by school, and it matters more than most applicants realise. Depending on where you apply, qualifying can mean: a lower grade offer; being ranked against other widening participation applicants rather than the whole field; a guaranteed or prioritised interview; a lower admissions test threshold or extra shortlisting points; relaxed GCSE or subject requirements; or access to a separate gateway or foundation year route.
The University of Greater Manchester publishes no contextual offer, no grade reduction, no guaranteed interview, no separate widening participation pool and no gateway route for its MBChB Medicine course.
The reason is structural rather than philosophical. For September 2026 and September 2027 entry, the course is open to international applicants only: "Home applications are not possible for this course at present." A UK widening participation route cannot exist on a course that UK applicants cannot apply to. The School of Medicine's Selection and Admissions Policy does commit to widening participation and to "recruiting local students" among its aims, but that commitment is not yet attached to any published admissions concession.
| How it helps | What that means for you |
|---|---|
| Nothing published | If you are a UK applicant from a widening participation background, there is currently no route into this course at all — not a reduced one, none. Spend your UCAS choices elsewhere. |
| Worth re-checking later | If and when home-fee places are allocated to this course, a widening participation scheme is the most likely thing to appear alongside them. This page is reviewed monthly; you can also ask the School of Medicine directly. |
Every school does this differently, and the differences are worth knowing before you build your shortlist — see every UK medical and dental school's widening participation scheme.
| Fee Status | Annual Tuition |
|---|---|
| Home (UK) | Not applicable — "Home applications are not possible for this course at present" |
| International | 2027/28: Not published. The course page says "No fee information is currently available" and directs applicants to the Academic Fees team. |
Both lines above are quoted from the university's own 2027-28 MBChB course page. For an international fee quote, email AcademicFees@greatermanchester.ac.uk. The university reserves the right to amend tuition fees for all years of study by no more than the maximum increase permitted under UK Government and Office for Students guidance.
Applying to medical school requires more than meeting the minimum entry requirements. Here are practical steps to strengthen your application:
For an overview of all UK medical schools and how they compare, see the UK Medical Schools hub page.
Most applicants treat the medical school application as a series of separate hurdles: the UCAT, personal statement, work experience, university selection, and interviews. They try to solve each one independently. This creates a fragmented approach where the pieces never add up.
Future Doc works differently. Through the Predictable Offer Protocol, a dedicated coach who knows your complete profile coordinates every element of your application as one interconnected system. Every decision is made with the full picture in mind.
The result: 93% of our students receive at least one offer. If they don't, they come back next year for free.
Find Out How It Works
Last updated: February 2026. Programme details are subject to change - verify directly with the university.
Stay ahead of the competition with our application updates
Copyright Future Doc 2025
