Partner schools
The Medical Pathways Programme: free for schools, colleges and their students in and around Portsmouth.
A free two-year programme for sixth formers who want to study medicine
Too few doctors come from Portsmouth. The Medical Pathways Programme helps students in and around the city who are thinking about medicine to find out what it involves, prepare well and apply with confidence, so that we build a local group of future doctors who give back to the area. It runs across Year 12 and Year 13 and sits alongside universities’ own widening-access work.
The programme is free to students and to schools. It is open to students at any school or college in and around Portsmouth, and every partner school or college is an equal partner.
Six pillars
Inspire
Talks and panels with local doctors and medical students, so students can see people like them doing the job.
Explore
What medicine is really like: careers information, the different medical schools and courses, and in-person and virtual work experience.
Develop
Clinical and scientific workshops, simulated clinical skills, ethics, communication and teamwork, and writing for the Future Doctors Journal.
Prepare
UCAT guidance, personal statement support and practice interviews, including multiple mini interviews (MMIs) run by doctors.
Apply
Help through the UCAS application: choosing medical schools, timelines and checklists, and interview practice before the real thing.
Progress
Mentoring from medical students, support through offers and results, and staying in touch so former students can come back and help the next group.
What we ask of partner schools
- A named contact, such as the head of sixth form or careers lead, who passes on information to interested students.
- Handing out student login cards we print, so students can join without giving us their name or email.
- Helping with parent and carer permission, including collecting paper forms where families prefer them.
- Letting students take part in sessions, and where you can, hosting a session in a room at your school or college.
- Encouraging students to tell us, later, whether they applied and got a place, so we can see what works. We report this only as totals.
What the Trust provides
- The whole programme free of charge: events, workshops, practice interviews and materials.
- Volunteer doctors and medical students who give their time, with DBS checks where activities need them.
- Online resources and a student area that collects as little personal information as possible.
- Permission forms, a privacy notice and safeguarding arrangements, including no direct messaging between adults and students.
- Termly updates for your school or college contact.
No admissions advantage
The Medical Pathways Programme is educational. Taking part does not give any advantage in admissions to any university or medical school, and the Trust has no say in admissions decisions. What it gives students is knowledge, practice and confidence, and experiences they can reflect on in their own words.
From time to time the Trust may also offer an intensive UCAT course run by an outside provider, which may have a cost. When it does, bursaries or funded places are available so that a student’s ability to pay never decides whether they can take part.
Register your interest
If your school or college would like to join the programme, leave your details and we will be in touch. There is no commitment at this stage.