Our Rankings and Reputation

 

 

The Queen Mary Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry programme, the same programme you will study in Malta, was ranked second in London in the Guardian University Guide 2020, the Complete University Guide 2020 and The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019. We were also ranked second in London for student satisfaction in the 2019 National Student Survey (first in Dentistry). QS World University Rankings 2019 placed us third in the world for research citations in medicine.

World Directory of Medical Schools

We are proud to be listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools, developed through a partnership between the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) and the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER). These organisations collaborate to identify new schools for inclusion in the directory and to update existing school records.

General Medical Council

The course is accredited by the General Medical Council (GMC).  The GMC helps protect patients and improve medical education and practice in the UK by setting standards for students and doctors. Visits by the GMC monitor organisations in their compliance with the standards and requirements as set out in Promoting Excellence: Standards for medical education and training.

At the end of the undergraduate course, you will receive your MBBS degree, which is a primary medical qualification (PMQ). Holding a PMQ entitles you to provisional registration with the General Medical Council, subject only to its acceptance that there are no Fitness to Practise concerns that need consideration.  Provisional registration is time-limited to a maximum of three years and 30 days (1125 days in total). After this time period, your provisional registration will normally expire.

Provisionally registered doctors can only practise in approved Foundation Year 1 posts: the law does not allow provisionally registered doctors to undertake any other type of work. To apply for a Foundation Year 1 post in the UK you will need to apply during the final year of your undergraduate course through the UK Foundation Programme Office selection scheme, which allocates these posts to graduates on a competitive basis.

To date, suitably qualified MBBS Malta graduates have been extremely successful in securing places with the Foundation Programme, but that is no indication for future years.  Queen Mary does not administer the UK Foundation Programme, and cannot control whether, or on what basis, applicants are accepted into the Programme.   

The UK Government announced emergency legislation that prioritises UK medical graduates over International Medical Graduates (IMGs) in the allocation of jobs for the UK Foundation Programme FP and speciality training on 13 January 2026 and it became law in early March. Following the introduction of this legislation, QMUL Malta graduates are now designated as IMGs despite the fact that they undertake an identical course to that taken by QMUL London students, take the same examinations, including UK national qualifying exams, and are regulated by the UK General Medical Council (GMC).

The Government was not prepared to accept any amendment to the primary legislation. We have been told that they are very sympathetic to our students’ cause and that there may be scope for some subsequent modification of this position. However, we do not yet know what that will mean in practice. The Act contains provision for the Secretary of State to include additional groups of students in the prioritised category and we continue to press the case for our graduates.

Our graduates remain eligible to apply for the UK Foundation Programme and we are hopeful they will secure posts as they become available in subsequent allocation rounds. The experience of previous years of declined offers means that this is indeed a reasonable expectation. However, the time frame over which this will happen has not be clarified.

The Maltese Government have confirmed flexibility in the allocation of its Foundation Programme jobs this year. We are working closely with them on how this process is operationalised. Completion of the Malta Foundation Programme is recognised as an equivalent academic experience to completing the UK FP including full registration with the GMC at the successful completion of the two-year programme, but it will not give a doctor the same prioritisation status for UK Speciality Training.

We recognise that the situation is unsettling for our current students and we understand that this will be a concern to people considering applying to the QMUL Malta course. There are still many issues that require clarification and we are pursuing these. We will continue to provide updates on the situation throughout the summer, so that applicants are informed of the most up-to-date information before they are required to make a final decision about accepting their offer to study on the MBBS Programme in Malta.

Separate to the UK Foundation Programme, Malta Foundation Programme posts are also available.

Successful completion of the Foundation Year 1 programme is normally achieved within 12 months (in the UK, although the Foundation Programme lasts two years), and is marked by the award of a Certificate of Experience (the Malta Foundation Programme, also two years long, awards its certificate at the end of the two year programme).  You will then be eligible to apply for full registration with the General Medical Council. You need full registration with a licence to practise for unsupervised medical practice in the NHS or private practice in the UK.

Although this information was currently correct at the time of writing, students need to be aware that regulations in this area may change from time to time.

Recognition

The Medicine MBBS Malta currently has recognition in the countries listed below. This is not an exhaustive list as we are obtaining additional recognition often. Please use this as a reference list and do contact us for the most up-to-date version of this list.

• The National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE) (Malta)
• The Medical Council of India
• Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP)
• Medical Council of China
• General Medical Council (GMC) (UK)
• French Medical Council - Ordre National des Médecins (CNOM)
• The Medical Council of Canada
• Australian Medical Council (AMC)
• American Medical Association (AMA) 
• Accreditation Agency in Health and Social Sciences (AHPGS) (Germany)
• Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR)
• Italian Medical Association
• The Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT)

Please do contact us if you have any questions about recognition in your home country.