Abstract: Self-directed learning is increasingly used in higher education and has special importance in the context of healthcare education. In this single-center cross-sectional study, we aimed to study self-directed learning readiness among medical students at Umm Al-Qura University. Eight hundred medical students from the Faculty of Medicine at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, participated in the study. Participants were from all academic years (1st year to 6th year) and included both genders. They completed a self-administered questionnaire that identified demographic characteristics and also contained Fisher’s Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS). Among these students, 99 (12.4%) scored below average on the SDLRS, 293 (36.6%) obtained an average score, and 408 (51%) scored above average. The highest SDLRS mean score was 4.41 for the item “I want to learn new information,” and the lowest SDLRS mean score was 2.94 for the item “I set strict time frames.”About half of the medical students scored above average (i.e., were high achievers), which is encouraging. Implementing time management skills into different teaching modules might improve the teaching outcomes.