Student reviews
What is studying medicine at University of Leicester actually like?
The interview gets you a place; these reports are about the five or six years after that. Gathered from current student and recent graduate forums, weighted by how many independent sources agree. These are unverified community reports, not official university information.
7 reports · 2 widely reported
Leicester is one of a handful of UK schools still doing true whole-body cadaveric dissection, in groups of about eight sharing one body across years 1 and 2, with drop-in sessions on top. Students rave about it: one called their first session an absolutely incredible experience and said finding the anatomy themselves made it stick in a way prosection would not have. If dissection matters to you, this is Leicester's signature draw.
Widely reported · 3 sources(spans several cycles)
Leicester is one of a handful of UK schools still doing true whole-body cadaveric dissection, in groups of about eight sharing one body across years 1 and 2, with drop-in sessions on top. Students rave about it: one called their first session an absolutely incredible experience and said finding the anatomy themselves made it stick in a way prosection would not have. If dissection matters to you, this is Leicester's signature draw.
"An absolutely incredible experience ... working together with their team to actually perform a dissection and find the anatomy themselves made the learning stick in a way they weren't sure prosection would have done (snippet paraphrase)"
TSR Medicine schools that still do whole-body dissection thread, Leicester student post (snippet paraphrase)"Leicester hosts their own full-body dissection room and with your group, you will be allocated a body to dissect and learn anatomy"
Life of a Medic blog, Mashuda, 3rd year Leicester medic, July 2020 (fetched directly)"full-body cadaveric dissection as part of the teaching ... regular drop-in sessions throughout the year"
Medics&Me student account, Kelley Chen, July 2024 (fetched directly)Leicester is not a PBL school. Students describe Phase 1 as daily facilitated group work roughly 1:1 with lectures, with clinical teaching fellows sitting in each group room to guide you, but answers to the group-work questions are not handed out. Contact time can run 4 to 8 hours a day, so it is structured rather than spoon-fed, and suits people who like working through cases with the same small group every day.
Widely reported · 3 sources(spans several cycles)
Leicester is not a PBL school. Students describe Phase 1 as daily facilitated group work roughly 1:1 with lectures, with clinical teaching fellows sitting in each group room to guide you, but answers to the group-work questions are not handed out. Contact time can run 4 to 8 hours a day, so it is structured rather than spoon-fed, and suits people who like working through cases with the same small group every day.
"for Phase 1, you have daily group-work accompanied by a couple of one-hour long lectures"
Life of a Medic blog, Mashuda, 3rd year Leicester medic, July 2020 (fetched directly)"1:1 split between lectures and facilitated group work ... anywhere from 4 to 8 hours of teaching per day"
Medics&Me student account, Kelley Chen, July 2024 (fetched directly)"Leicester does not offer PBL but there is a lot of group work supervised by clinical teaching fellows and academics; answers to group work questions are not specifically provided but fellows guide students through cases (snippet paraphrase)"
TSR Leicester medicine course-type discussions (snippet paraphrase)Patient contact starts immediately but the real clinical years bring outblocks: students report 7-week rotations at hospitals like Kettering, Northampton, Peterborough and Burton, sometimes two in a row meaning 14 weeks based away from Leicester. The sweetener is that accommodation for these blocks is provided free, and students say weekends back in Leicester are doable. Factor the away-blocks in if you want to stay rooted in one city.
Several reports · 3 sources(spans several cycles)
Patient contact starts immediately but the real clinical years bring outblocks: students report 7-week rotations at hospitals like Kettering, Northampton, Peterborough and Burton, sometimes two in a row meaning 14 weeks based away from Leicester. The sweetener is that accommodation for these blocks is provided free, and students say weekends back in Leicester are doable. Factor the away-blocks in if you want to stay rooted in one city.
"On junior rotation (known as outblock) you can be in hospitals in Kettering, Northampton, Peterborough, and Burton. Each block lasts 7 weeks and there is a good chance you will get two in a row, meaning 14 weeks away from Leicester, though you can come back on weekends. Accommodation is provided for the 7 week blocks for free (snippet paraphrase)"
TSR Leicester Medicine 3rd year accommodation thread (snippet paraphrase, older thread so details may have shifted)"your first taste of a mini 1 or 2 week placement usually at a GP or hospital [in Year 1] ... [Phase 2] involves 3 years of clinical rotations/attachments"
Life of a Medic blog, Mashuda, 3rd year Leicester medic, July 2020 (fetched directly)"early patient contact from the first year ... 2-day hospital shift towards the end of year 1"
Medics&Me student account, Kelley Chen, July 2024 (fetched directly)Leicester's assessment culture is tougher than the average med school on paper: students report a pass mark around 60 percent versus roughly 40 percent elsewhere, and exams are cumulative, so first-year material can resurface in second-year papers and beyond. End-of-year results also sort the cohort into deciles, which one student admitted can be disheartening if you underperform. On the flip side, a failed resit no longer automatically ends your course since repeating the year is now possible in rare cases.
Several reports · 3 sources(spans several cycles)
Leicester's assessment culture is tougher than the average med school on paper: students report a pass mark around 60 percent versus roughly 40 percent elsewhere, and exams are cumulative, so first-year material can resurface in second-year papers and beyond. End-of-year results also sort the cohort into deciles, which one student admitted can be disheartening if you underperform. On the flip side, a failed resit no longer automatically ends your course since repeating the year is now possible in rare cases.
"Leicester's pass mark is 60%, and exams are cumulative, so things from first year can come up in 2nd year etc ... around 40% being the pass mark at some other universities (snippet paraphrase)"
TSR Leicester medical school resit thread (snippet paraphrase)"Previously you could only retake the year after failing the resit with mitigating circumstances via a panel, but now they think you can resit a year automatically if you fail the resit, though this happens very rarely (snippet paraphrase)"
TSR Leicester resit discussions (snippet paraphrase)"At the end of each year, following exams, you are put into deciles depending on your result ... can be disheartening if you don't do as well as you would have wanted"
Life of a Medic blog, Mashuda, 3rd year Leicester medic, July 2020 (fetched directly)On the city: students call Leicester diverse, cheap and conveniently compact, with the campus central and student housing costing a fraction of what friends pay in other cities. The honest caveat is the nightlife, which is decent but limited, with not that many clubs, Thursday as the main student night, and the O2 Academy in the Students Union doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Great for cost of living, average for going out.
Several reports · 3 sources(spans several cycles)
On the city: students call Leicester diverse, cheap and conveniently compact, with the campus central and student housing costing a fraction of what friends pay in other cities. The honest caveat is the nightlife, which is decent but limited, with not that many clubs, Thursday as the main student night, and the O2 Academy in the Students Union doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Great for cost of living, average for going out.
"Leicester isn't bad for nightlife, but there aren't that many clubs ... Thursday being student night ... students paying a fraction of what friends in other towns pay [for housing] (snippet paraphrase)"
TSR Leicester nightlife and student life threads (snippet paraphrase)"Leicester is an incredibly diverse city and the campus is conveniently located at its heart"
Life of a Medic blog, Mashuda, 3rd year Leicester medic, July 2020 (fetched directly)"big enough...but not too big that it becomes overwhelming ... convenient place, with a train station nearby"
Medics&Me student account, Kelley Chen, July 2024 (fetched directly)Workload honesty from students: the first two years are described as quite laid back by design, with every Wednesday afternoon off and the school actively encouraging extracurriculars, and students juggling sport, research and society leadership say it is manageable if organised. Balance that against the 4 to 8 hour teaching days when group work stacks up; it is a full-time timetable, just a predictable one.
Several reports · 2 sources(spans several cycles)
Workload honesty from students: the first two years are described as quite laid back by design, with every Wednesday afternoon off and the school actively encouraging extracurriculars, and students juggling sport, research and society leadership say it is manageable if organised. Balance that against the 4 to 8 hour teaching days when group work stacks up; it is a full-time timetable, just a predictable one.
"The timetable for the first two years is quite laid back because they like us to get the extra-curricular experience ... every Wednesday afternoon is given off"
Life of a Medic blog, Mashuda, 3rd year Leicester medic, July 2020 (fetched directly)"by being organised, there is definitely still time for you to take part [in research, regional leadership, and sports]"
Medics&Me student account, Kelley Chen, July 2024 (fetched directly)Current and final-year medics consistently describe the school itself as unusually supportive and sociable, with strong pastoral care, a state-of-the-art simulation suite for practising emergencies, and finalists saying they feel well prepared for the wards. A final-year medic's advice thread also confirms the culture: concepts get revisited repeatedly so early confusion is normal, and the school leaves room for a life outside medicine.
Several reports · 2 sources(2026 entry)
Current and final-year medics consistently describe the school itself as unusually supportive and sociable, with strong pastoral care, a state-of-the-art simulation suite for practising emergencies, and finalists saying they feel well prepared for the wards. A final-year medic's advice thread also confirms the culture: concepts get revisited repeatedly so early confusion is normal, and the school leaves room for a life outside medicine.
"Leicester is a very supportive, friendly and sociable university ... teaching from Leicester's simulation team in a state-of-the-art simulation suite where students practice managing emergencies in a supported setting ... feels Leicester has prepared them well for starting work on the wards (snippet paraphrase)"
TSR Ask a current medical student thread, Frankie, final year Leicester medic (snippet paraphrase)"Concepts get revisited a lot and things make more sense once you see them clinically ... med school is intense, but it doesn't have to be your entire personality (snippet paraphrase)"
TSR Things I wish I'd known before starting med school thread, final-year Leicester medic (snippet paraphrase)Get into University of Leicester
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