Approval of new institutions

The GMC is responsible for determining whether the undergraduate medical education delivered by medical schools meets our standards as set out in Tomorrow’s Doctors so that the medical school or parent University can be added to the list of bodies able to award UK medical degrees. The list of bodies that can currently award UK medical degrees is available on our website.

The quality assurance process is tailored for new medical schools and medical schools that are delivering new programmes.

New medical schools must submit proposals to the GMC before places for students are advertised and an annual quality assurance programme is undertaken until the first cohort of students has graduated. This process will also generally apply for medical schools that have delivered undergraduate medical programmes jointly with other medical schools but wish to deliver a programme independently.

Medical schools intending to deliver new programmes must also submit information on the programme in advance of delivery. The quality assurance process for new programmes will depend on the proposal.

Medical schools that are considering developing programmes to be delivered outside the UK should read our guidance on Overseas Provision of Medical Education, which was developed with the Medical Schools Council.

Please contact us by emailing quality@gmc-uk.org for further information.