Ask a Buckingham University Student!

No worries. Just do your research and check which universities will accept the bucks 'pre-med' course.

All the best in your application to med school and I hope you get in

Hi, After completing the medicine degree is this enough to survive in medical profession or it is necessary to do a speciality training. How about the passing rate in Bucks? Will all international students will get FY1 or it works based on grades.Can you give approx amount of living cost in buck? I heard from my Medic friends that without specialization we cannot earn in UK, Is it true?

Hi, At any medical university in the UK, once you complete the MBChB or MBBS course, you will apply for a foundation year 1 doctor job which will allow you to commence your clinical training at an assigned hospital.
The passing rate is pretty good and the university has stringent measures along the course to pick up students that might need some extra support early on.
You apply for FY1 jobs in your final year at medical school and 50% comes from your medical school performance and the other 50% from the situational judgement test which is a national exam. You are then ranked nationally and are given the opportunity to apply for a hospital and job of choice.
Living costs in Buckingham vary depending on your accomodation, your lifestyle. You can find out more from the university website

Just to clarify, once you qualify from medical school and are allocated a job for fy1 you start earning the basic junior doctor salary which is approximately 28000 pounds gross according to the new junior doctor contract. This goes up in FY2 to about 31000.
After you finish FY2 you can either take an FY3 post or apply straight into speciality training but you will need to accumulate points based on the individual speciality portfolios.

Hi there,


I will be attending uclan in sept. If you don’t mind can you elaborate on Buckingham curriculum ? Do they teach USMLE based curriculum like UCLAN does. Dis anyone of your colleague applied for residency in countries like USA, Canada etc ?

Hello. Buckingham's curriculum can be found here https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/1.1-MBChB-Programme-Specification.pdf

Every medical school will have their own curriculum. Buckinghams curriculum is adapted from Leicester university as are most other university curriculums. The USMLE requires far more in depth knowledge of basic biomedical sciences. Congrats on your medical school offer but you'll realise that in Medicine you will have to self learn quite a lot of concepts and read around the topic. For USMLE, the first aid book is one of the top books as a revision resource.
I had a friend in my year who wants to apply to the US and he put the work in, studied hard and scored 260+ on the STEP 1 exam. Shame that its now Pass/Fail.
Bucks appears on the list of approved medical schools globally so you can apply to most if not all countries for residency on completion of the country's specific entrance exams.

Hope this helps! All the best with medical school

Hi how have the first batches placements been for Foundation year. Did students from buckingham get into sought after deannaries like London, etc.
Also can one do intercalation in Buckingham med course? If yes when can it be done and is it only in Buckingham or any other university also one can apply?
Lot of queries

Hey, In my cohort (i.e the most recent graduates) we were about 60 and I think all of us got placed in 1 of our top 5 deaneries. Remember, London might seem sought after by some applicants who maybe dont have ties such as international grads or maybe those with family in london. Candidates who scored highly may choose to move to a northern deanery or even wales not because they're 'low entry' but simply because its their choice or they may have family there. I am an international graduate and chose South Thames because I wanted to work in the outskirts of London (my EPM would have allowed me to work at a central london hosp for FY1/2) but I opted for Surrey because i have cousins nearby and transport is better. Its all about weighing your priorities when it comes to the application process.

I did not intercalate but I know a colleague who integrated in Surgical anatomy bsc at Bristol. So this means you can intercalate at other universities even the London ones if you are deemed satisfactory to cope with the additional workload of a Bsc.

Hope these answer your questions

Hi I’m interested so apply to study medicine at Buckingham university. I was wondering what the interview is like? What kind of questions do they ask what king and activities do they make you do?

Hi, At any medical university in the UK, once you complete the MBChB or MBBS course, you will apply for a foundation year 1 doctor job which will allow you to commence your clinical training at an assigned hospital.
The passing rate is pretty good and the university has stringent measures along the course to pick up students that might need some extra support early on.
You apply for FY1 jobs in your final year at medical school and 50% comes from your medical school performance and the other 50% from the situational judgement test which is a national exam. You are then ranked nationally and are given the opportunity to apply for a hospital and job of choice.
Living costs in Buckingham vary depending on your accomodation, your lifestyle. You can find out more from the university website

Just to clarify, once you qualify from medical school and are allocated a job for fy1 you start earning the basic junior doctor salary which is approximately 28000 pounds gross according to the new junior doctor contract. This goes up in FY2 to about 31000.
After you finish FY2 you can either take an FY3 post or apply straight into speciality training but you will need to accumulate points based on the individual speciality portfolios.

Hi, Thanks for your reply. Kindly give us details regarding FY3 and speciality training. I can afford for my daughter only for MBChB after then how can she lead to work in UK. Does she have chances for getting PR in UK. Please advice. How much will the total cost of 4.5 years of MBChB in Buckingham including tuition cost of 37.5K, Books, shared accommodation, other expenses so that i can prepare myself.Thanks.

Hi was reading an article where I realised recently the Vice Chancellor of the univ is leaving and there are some financial audit issues. Do u have any idea about this I hope this will not impact the med school bit worried

Hi was reading an article where I realised recently the Vice Chancellor of the univ is leaving and there are some financial audit issues. Do u have any idea about this I hope this will not impact the med school bit worried

Hello, the VC is leaving only because his term has ended, not for any other reason. As far as these financial audit issues, I am not aware of anything like this. Do you have some links to this info?

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/thatchers-dream-university-buckingham-in-turmoil-as-vice-chancellor-quits-suddenly-9b5ww0g0x

this is the article in The Times

interesting read but I am 100 percent sure that if this was really a big impact on the university as a whole, they would have released a public statement to clarify these details.

I think the article is coming from this perspective because while Sir Anthony Seldon was vice chancellor, the University expanded its numbers by over 30%.
They also said the university had:
- raised more money in donations than in the previous 40 years;
-it has erected major new buildings in Buckingham and at Milton Keynes Hospital;
-it has brought in an entirely new senior leadership team and a new team of academic deans
-it has seen its image and profile transformed;
-it has forged close links with government and stakeholders at local, regional and national levels


I really wouldn't worry about the article too much because it would have been addressed by now. Doubt bucks would put the entire 5 years of medical students at risk if they knew there was something wrong.

Hope this provides some reassurance. Another option is to contact the university and ask them directly. I'm sure they would be happy to elaborate and help