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Intercalated Medical Education

Entry Year: 2025

Key information

Degree
BSc (Intercal)
Duration
1 years
Start
September 2025
UCAS code
B9MD
Institution code
Q50
Entry Requirements
Full entry requirements (including contextual admissions)
Home fees
£9,250
Overseas fees
£29,950
Funding information
Paying your fees

Overview

Develop a sound theoretical and practical basis for good clinical teaching practice and educational research.

Our intercalated BSc in Medical Education gives current medical students the opportunity to achieve an additional degree in this specialist field.

You’ll gain skills in education which you’ll later apply with patients and colleagues in your practice. You’ll develop practical teaching skills and gain a solid understanding of educational theory: how memory works, how groups learn, what factors affect success, how professionalism develops, and how to assess knowledge and skills.

As well as turning you into a confident teacher, the programme will prepare you to design and run modules and assessments, and to understand mechanisms of quality assurance.

You’ll undertake a year-long module in research methods which includes attendance at the Researching Medical Education conference. A supervised individual research project puts into practice what you’ve learnt.

All students submit poster abstracts to the Association for Medical Education in Europe summer conference, with around two-thirds of these accepted each year.

Apply now for intercalated degrees

Apply by 1 February 12 noon to start your intercalated degree in September.

Intercalated degrees

Structure

You can start your one-year intercalated Medical Education BSc after the second, third or fourth years of your MBBS or BDS degree.

Year 1

  • Assessment, Evaluation, Curriculum and Quality
  • Fundamentals of Education
  • Issues and Methods in Educational Research (including an individual research project)
  • Teaching Methods, Teaching Skills
  • Theories Behind Teaching and Learning

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Intercalated degrees

An intercalated degree will broaden your studies as you gain an additional qualification.

It will also:

  • strengthen your application if you wish to take the highly competitive academic Foundation Year route into clinical research or education and teaching
  • help you to progress into postgraduate training within your chosen speciality
  • develop your scientific awareness, with an opportunity to carry out original research
  • allow you to experience your chosen field and be sure it’s right for you.

Find out more about intercalated degrees

Teaching

Teaching and learning

You'll learn through a combination of lectures, self-directed learning, seminars and practical development of your teaching skills. Much of the course is taught through problem-based learning, where small groups of students and a facilitator work together to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios.

Students are encouraged to submit their research to national and international medical education conferences.

Assessment

Assessments take place throughout the year, with one formal examination in the winter. Your final research project is submitted in May.

Resources and facilities

You’ll learn across three Queen Mary campuses, benefitting from the excellent resources of each to aid your studies:

  • extensive library facilities – the Queen Mary Library at Mile End, large medical archives at the Royal London and Barts hospitals, and access to the University of London library
  • a purpose-built Clinical and Communications Centre
  • a dedicated medical teaching room equipped with anatomical specimens, medical images, videos and specialised computer imaging.

Entry requirements

Intercalated degrees are for undergraduate students currently enrolled in the MBBS or BDS programmes at Queen Mary, or at another medical or dental school.

Medical students
You must have completed 2, 3 or 4 years of the MBBS course (1 or 2 years of a graduate entry programme) and passed all years to date.

Dental students
You must have completed 2, 3 or 4 years of the BDS course and passed all years to date. You must also have completed all continuous assessment and have satisfactory annual progress reviews.

Veterinary students
This programme is not available to veterinary students.

All students
Satisfactory performance in, and completion of, all student-selected components (SSCs).

Selection
Students who meet the criteria will be asked to attend an interview.

Where there is competition for places, students will be ranked on their exam results to date and their interview performance.

How to apply
See full information on how to apply for intercalated degrees.

Non-UK students

Students from the UK and overseas are welcome to apply for our intercalated degrees.

English language

Find out more about our English language entry requirements, including the types of test we accept and the scores needed for entry to the programme.

You may also be able to meet the English language requirement for your programme by joining a summer pre-sessional programme before starting your degree.

Further information

Find out more about our intercalated degrees.

Funding

Loans and grants

UK students accepted onto this course are eligible to apply for from Student Finance England or other government bodies.

Bursaries

Medical and dental students from Barts and The London will be considered for various bursaries based on research interests, financial need or academic merit.

These bursaries are not available to students from other medical schools, or to Barts and The London students who choose to intercalate externally.

Support from Queen Mary

We offer specialist support on all financial and welfare issues through our Advice and Counselling Service, which you can access as soon as you have applied for a place at Queen Mary.

Take a look at our Student Advice Guides which cover ways to finance your degree, including:

  • additional sources of funding
  • planning your budget and cutting costs
  • part-time and vacation work
  • money for lone parents.

Careers

This programme prepares graduates to become tomorrow’s medical educators – skilled and reflective teachers who will become more deeply involved with medical schools, their courses and their curricula. Equally, these skills can be applied to interactions with patients, especially in exploring and explaining medication and diagnoses.

About the School

The Institute of Health Science Education is an academic grouping within the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry that focuses primarily on medical education.

We are at the cutting edge of education research and faculty development, frequently collaborating with academic and NHS colleagues. You’ll learn from our expert staff, who lead on curriculum design, delivery and assessment and provide the best in modern medical training.

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