At some universities the course is “intercalated” and lasts for 6 years. In these courses, an extra degree is earned alongside the medical degree – usually a BSc. This gives the student an opportunity to gain a further qualification and also broadens their research and individual study skills. Usually applicants gain this qualification after 3 years of the pre-clinical medical course. Some universities give the applicant a choice of speciality, some have a common curriculum, and some offer the intercalated part of the course as an option. Medical schools with compulsory intercalated courses are: Imperial, Cambridge, Oxford, UCL and Bute (St. Andrews). Applicants may choose an intercalated course to extend their knowledge of a specific subject and it may confer an advantage in some competitive fields of medicine; it does, however, lengthen an already long degree course.