UCAS deadlines and timeline for Medicine, 2027 entry, and how to plan 2028

2. What each deadline means for you

• The medicine deadline is an equal-consideration deadline. Applications received by it must be considered; later applications may be considered only at a school's discretion, and in practice medicine courses fill their interview lists from on-time applicants. Treat it as absolute.
• The UCAT must be complete before it. Results reach universities in early November, after the deadline, so you apply knowing your score but the schools receive it directly; you do not enter it in UCAS.
• The January main deadline does not apply to medicine, except to your fifth, non-medicine choice if you add one.
• Extra and Clearing rarely offer medicine places to international applicants. They exist; do not plan around them.
• Deferred entry. Some schools allow a 2027 applicant to defer to 2028 with a 2026 UCAT score; each school's policy differs and is on its page where published.

3. Your document timeline alongside the dates

1. Before UCAS opens (spring): confirm your route on the requirements hub; book an English test if your shortlist needs one, allowing for a second sitting.
2. May to June: register for the UCAT the day registration opens and book a Lagos or Abuja slot the day booking opens.
3. July to September: sit the UCAT early in the window; agree your referee; gather certificates, transcripts and translations for upload.
4. September to mid-October: finalise four medicine choices against each school's published UCAT use, write the three statement answers, submit with the fee, and allow your referee time (how to apply).

4. What happens after you apply

1. December–March: interviews, mostly multiple mini-interviews, often online for international applicants.
2. By May: most decisions; you reply to offers by the UCAS deadline for your decision date, choosing a firm and an insurance choice.
3. June–August: meet conditions (final grades, English test), pay the university's international deposit, receive your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS).
4. From up to six months before the course: apply for the Student visa with CAS, maintenance evidence and a TB test certificate; attend biometrics; receive the decision; travel for the September start.

TB test

Being verified against the official source.

Verification pending Official source ↗

Maintenance funds to show (outside London, per month)

Being verified against the official source.

Source changed Official source ↗

Maintenance funds to show (London, per month)

Being verified against the official source.

Source changed Official source ↗

The tightest stretch for an applicant in Nigeria is the gap between CAS issue and course start: maintenance funds must usually be held for a set period before the application, TB clinic and biometric appointments need booking, and a refusal leaves no time to reapply. Start the money and documents early; the total cost page lists every fee in the sequence.

5. Planning 2028 entry from Nigeria

• Now: confirm your qualification route, shortlist schools that accept international applicants, book an English test if needed, and start work experience or shadowing you can reflect on.
• May–June 2027: UCAT registration opens; register on day one and book a Lagos or Abuja slot as soon as booking opens.
• July–September 2027: sit the UCAT early in the window.
• September to mid-October 2027: submit UCAS with up to four medicine choices.
• If the UCAS route is closed to you for 2027: the direct-application schools run their own calendars; check each school's page.

2028-cycle dates are published by UCAS and the UCAT Consortium in spring 2027; we will add them with sources when they appear, and this page's address will roll over with a redirect.