Skip to main content
NextGen MedPrep logoNextGenMedPrep
Back to Dental School Compare
Dental school comparison

Aston Dental School vs Dundee

Aston Dental School and Dundee are both UK dental schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Aston Dental School is based in Birmingham (England) while Dundee sits in Dundee (Scotland), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination. Their A-Level requirements (A*AA vs AAA) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers. Dundee is the older institution (founded 1916); the other (founded 2022) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Aston Dental School

Birmingham

Quick comparison

Location
Birmingham, UK
A-Level offer
A*AA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (A* in Chemistry or Biology)
TrueScore
-
UCAT home cut-off
UCAT cognitive subtests used for shortlisting; no fixed cut-off published
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
-
Decision date
February - April

Dundee

Dundee

Quick comparison

Location
Dundee, UK
A-Level offer
AAA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology — all three subjects in the same sitting. Ideally 1–2 A* predicted.
TrueScore
1500
UCAT home cut-off
~1830+ RUK lowest; Scottish average ≈ 1880+
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
Scottish: 71/149 = 48%. RUK: 17/127 = 13%. Overseas: 28/58 = 48%.
Decision date
March onwards
Compare different schools

Aston Dental School vs Dundee - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Aston Dental School requires A*AA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology. Dundee requires AAA including chemistry and biology, all in the same sitting. Ideally 1–2 A* predicted. Resits not accepted.. Aston Dental School is the stricter A-Level offer; Dundee is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Dundee carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

Interview formats

Both Aston Dental School and Dundee use MMI interviews, so the underlying prep approach is the same — practise ethics frameworks, NHS hot-topic answers and (for MMI) structured station responses against a timer. Interview windows: Aston Dental School interviews in December - February; Dundee in December – February.

What makes each distinctive

Aston Dental School: One of the newest UK dental schools, with a small cohort and a distinctive dexterity-reflection station rare among UK BDS interviews. UCAT cognitive subtests primary shortlisting tool. Dundee: Non-graduate weighting: 60% academic / 40% UCAT. Graduate weighting: 40% academic / 60% UCAT. Both A-level predictions and GCSEs feed the academic score, so consistent strong grades matter.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, Dundee is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Aston Dental School feeds into the England foundation programme network; Dundee into the Scotland network. Your firm/insurance choice should ultimately weight: where your UCAT and predicted grades sit relative to each school's threshold, which interview format you can prepare for most credibly, and where you'd actually want to live for five years.

Common questions