Pathologist | Explore Careers - National Careers Service

You can take either a medical doctor route or clinical scientist route to become a pathologist.

Medical doctor route

To become a pathologist through the medical doctor route, you'll need to complete:

• a degree in medicine, recognised by the General Medical Council which takes 5 years
• a foundation course of general training which takes 2 years
• a specialist training programme in pathology which can take between 5 to 6 years

There's a lot of competition for places on medical degrees. Most universities will expect you to have done some paid or voluntary work experience in healthcare.

Science degrees

If you already have a first class or 2:1 (upper second class) science degree, you could take the graduate entry route into medicine instead. Some universities will also accept non-science graduates, but you might need to a do a foundation year.

Entry tests

When you apply for a course in medicine, you may be asked to take the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT).

It tests the skills you'll need on the course, like critical thinking, problem solving, data analysis, communication and scientific knowledge.

Clinical scientist route

To become a pathologist through the clinical scientist route, you'll need to complete:

• a degree or master's in a science subject like biology, chemistry, clinical or biomedical science which takes 3 to 4 years
• the Scientist Training Programme which is work based, takes 3 years and leads to a master's degree
• the pathology speciality of the Higher Specialist Scientist Training Programme which takes 5 years

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English, maths and science
• 3 A levels, or equivalent, including biology and chemistry

More Information

• equivalent entry requirements
• university courses and entry requirements
• student finance for fees and living costs
• University Clinical Aptitude Test