Intercalated degrees

An intercalated degree provides an opportunity to acquire a better understanding of fundamental biomedical sciences, medical humanities, research methodologies and to pursue an additional qualification in a medicine-related subject that interests you. This may help you make informed choices about specialisation later on in your career and increase your chances of successfully gaining employment within the healthcare system, particularly if you wish to pursue a medical academic career.

Other benefits could include the improvement of long-term career prospects, including Foundation Year application ranking, as you will have had the opportunity to gain key research skills, publish scientific papers and make presentations at scientific conferences.

The two main potential drawbacks are time and money. An intercalated degree will add a further year to your undergraduate and postgraduate medical training.

If you are paying your own fees you will be expected to do so for the intercalated year. Fees will be set by each specific course. Some support may be available through the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and clinical departments and students are currently eligible for NHS support for the fifth year of study. These details will be made available to students during the application procedure.

A small number of bursaries are also available for internal students and students will be selected on the basis of academic merit and/or financial hardship. Such decisions are made by an internal Hardship Fund Steering Group led by Dr Carol Gray from Student Support.  

Students should not approach any organisations offering intercalated degree bursaries directly. Applications will be made as appropriate on the student's behalf by the School of Medicine.  

Candidates staying at Keele to undertake their intercalated degree will be preferred for funding support.
Queries about NHS bursaries should be directed to medicine.nhsbursaries@keele.ac.uk.
Queries regarding Keele bursaries, including the Hardship Fund, should be directed to Dr Carol Gray at c.a.m.gray@keele.ac.uk.