Where are Bristol and King's College London (KCL) located, and how does that affect cost?

Bristol is in Bristol, UK. King's College London (KCL) is in London, UK. Tuition is £9,250/year at both for UK home applicants; the main cost difference is accommodation (London accommodation typically runs 30-50% above the national average).

When does each school release decisions?

Bristol typically releases dentistry decisions March onwards. King's College London (KCL) releases dentistry decisions March onwards. If one is earlier than the other, you may need to hold a decision while waiting for the second school — be ready to compare in real time.

Dental school comparison

Bristol vs King's College London (KCL)

Bristol and King's College London (KCL) are both UK dental schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Bristol is based in Bristol (England) while King's College London (KCL) sits in London (London), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Their A-Level requirements (AAA vs A*AA) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Bristol and King's College London (KCL).
Comparison field	BristolBristol	King's College London (KCL)London
Quick comparison
Location	Bristol, UK	London, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Chemistry and one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics / Further Mathematics	AAA at A-level — A in Biology or Chemistry, plus A in another of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics / Psychology
TrueScore	Bristol TrueScore 2280	King's College London (KCL) TrueScore 2050
UCAT home cut-off	~2280+/2700	No threshold published. King's does not release its dentistry UCAT cut-off, and its published admissions statistics run on the retired /3600 scale, so they cannot be restated on the current /2700 one.
Interview format	Structured panel-style interview (Zoom, remote)	Two-interviewer panel, remote (no longer 6-station MMI)
Post-interview chance	UK applicants: 89/169 = 53% (2025).	Non-contextual home students without degree: 98/171 = 57% (2025). Overall 2025: 175/350 = 50%.
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Chemistry and one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics / Further Mathematics	AAA at A-level — A in Biology or Chemistry, plus A in another of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics / Psychology
Contextual A-Level offer	ABB at A-level including A in Chemistry and B in one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics / Further Mathematics (for Next Step Bristol contextual applicants)	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry required, plus one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics / Further Mathematics	Biology or Chemistry at grade A*, plus another of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics / Psychology at grade A
A-Level resit policy	Resits considered	Resits accepted for applicants resitting their Level 3 qualifications for the first time. Second resits only with mitigating circumstances.
GCSE requirements	Mathematics at grade 7/A or higher. English Language or English Literature at grade 4/C or higher.	Minimum grade 6/B (National 5 grade B or Intermediate 2 / Standard Credit Grade 1 or 2) in Mathematics and English Language. 8+ grade 8/9s typically required to be competitive.
GCSE scoring methodology	Used as minimum threshold only — Bristol BDS is wholly UCAT-based for shortlisting once academic minimums met	GCSE = ~40% of pre-interview score: 8+ grade 8/9s = 40/40, 7s = 30, 6s = 20, 5s = 10. A grades may be counted as A* for applicants from lower-performing schools.
Scottish Highers	AAAAB at Higher including Chemistry and one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics	Three Scottish Highers in combination with two Advanced Highers (no subject counted at both Higher and Advanced Higher levels)
Scottish Advanced Highers	AA at Advanced Higher in Chemistry and one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics	A at Advanced Higher Biology or Chemistry, plus A at an additional Advanced Higher in one of Biology / Chemistry / Mathematics / Physics / Psychology
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, 666 at Higher Level including Chemistry (Biology recommended)	38 points overall (including TOK/EE), with HL 6 in Chemistry or Biology, plus HL 6 in one of Biology / Chemistry / Mathematics / Physics / Psychology. Either Maths Analysis & Approaches or Applications & Interpretation accepted.
Graduate-entry degree requirement	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in a related/core science subject. UCAT still required.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above. An accelerated 4-year Graduate/Professional Entry Dentistry programme is available. The lowest UCAT invited that King's has published for this route (2,330 for 2024 entry) was measured on the retired /3600 four-subtest test and has no equivalent on the current /2700 scale.
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	~2260+/2700	A target of around 15 overseas places.
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	No use of SJT in selection	Band 1 ideal; band 4 appears to be automatically rejected. SJT contributes ~5% of scoring.
UCAT notes	Personal statement and reference only used to distinguish borderline academic profiles. No SJT use.	King's has declined to publish the exact weightings it applies. Any precise UCAT/GCSE/SJT formula quoted for King's dentistry is inferred from Freedom of Information responses rather than published po…

Degree awarded	BDS	BDS
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Integrated + Spiral	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 2	-
Placement geography	Bristol and the surrounding area	London and Portsmouth
Named placement sites	Bristol Dental School (1 Trinity Quay), University of Bristol Dental Hospital (UHBW), University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, North Bristol NHS Trust	Guy's Hospital, King's College Hospital Dental Institute, Denmark Hill, Gillies Unit, Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, West Norwood Dental Outreach Centre, University of Portsmouth Dental Academy
Intercalation	Optional one-year intercalation after year 3, for a BSc, BA, MRes or MSc. Dental students can also intercalate in an LLM in Health, Law and Society.	Opportunity to intercalate a BSc.
Course highlight	The Bristol Dental School building opened in 2023, a £36 million facility in Bristol city centre.	Simulation facilities include high-fidelity augmented reality haptic simulation.

Interview window	December – February	January – February
Interview details	30–45 minute structured interview with four assessors over Zoom. Bristol often sets unusual pre-interview tasks - e.g. building a 3-dimensional pasta model of an animal that represents your personalit…	Two-interviewer panel format conducted remotely. Tests communication skills while exploring general health-related social and ethical issues. Many questions overlap with the SJT-style scenarios. Build…

Specialities	Dentistry (BDS)	Dentistry (BDS), Graduate Entry Dentistry (4-year), Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (3-year, post-FY2)
Established	1828	1829
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Entirely UCAT-based shortlisting (work experience encouraged, not required). No SJT use. No significant personal-statement scoring - medical applicants often get offers with a medical statement.	Combined scoring: ~45% UCAT + 5% SJT + 40% GCSE + 10% contextual factors (FOI-derived; subject to change). 8+ grade 8/9s at GCSE typically required. SJT band 4 appears to be automatically rejected. Al…
Official course page	https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2026/dentistry/	https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/dentistry-bds

Bristol

Quick comparison

Location: Bristol, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Chemistry and one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics / Further Mathematics
TrueScore: Bristol TrueScore 2280
UCAT home cut-off: ~2280+/2700
Interview format: Structured panel-style interview (Zoom, remote)
Post-interview chance: UK applicants: 89/169 = 53% (2025).
Decision date: March onwards

King's College London (KCL)

London

Quick comparison

Location: London, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA at A-level — A* in Biology or Chemistry, plus A in another of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics / Psychology
TrueScore: King's College London (KCL) TrueScore 2050
UCAT home cut-off: No threshold published. King's does not release its dentistry UCAT cut-off, and its published admissions statistics run on the retired /3600 scale, so they cannot be restated on the current /2700 one.
Interview format: Two-interviewer panel, remote (no longer 6-station MMI)
Post-interview chance: Non-contextual home students without degree: 98/171 = 57% (2025). Overall 2025: 175/350 = 50%.
Decision date: March onwards

Bristol vs King's College London (KCL) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Bristol requires AAA at A-level including Chemistry and one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics / Further Mathematics.

King's College London (KCL) requires A*AA at A-level — A* in Biology or Chemistry, plus A in another of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics / Psychology.

King's College London (KCL) is the stricter A-Level offer; Bristol is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Bristol carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Bristol: Mathematics at grade 7/A or higher. English Language or English Literature at grade 4/C or higher.

Used as minimum threshold only — Bristol BDS is wholly UCAT-based for shortlisting once academic… King's College London (KCL): Minimum grade 6/B (National 5 grade B or Intermediate 2 / Standard Credit Grade 1 or 2) in Mathematics and English Language. 8+ grade 8/9s typically required to be competitive. GCSE = ~40% of…

Interview formats

Both Bristol and King's College London (KCL) use Panel 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.

That said, the specifics differ slightly: Bristol runs structured panel-style interview (zoom, remote); King's College London (KCL) runs two-interviewer panel, remote (no longer 6-station mmi). Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: Bristol interviews in December – February; King's College London (KCL) in January – February.

Post-interview offer rate

Bristol: UK applicants: 89/169 = 53% (2025). King's College London (KCL): Non-contextual home students without degree: 98/171 = 57% (2025). Overall 2025: 175/350 = 50%.

Post-interview odds give you the clearest signal of how competitive each school is at the final stage — a school with a 60% post-interview success rate is structurally easier to convert than one at 25%, even if the interview thresholds look identical on paper.

What makes each distinctive

Bristol: Entirely UCAT-based shortlisting (work experience encouraged, not required). No SJT use. No significant personal-statement scoring - medical applicants often get offers with a medical statement.

King's College London (KCL): Combined scoring: ~45% UCAT + 5% SJT + 40% GCSE + 10% contextual factors (FOI-derived; subject to change). 8+ grade 8/9s at GCSE typically required. SJT band 4 appears to be automatically rejected. Also runs a 4-year and 3-year graduate-entry programme (see Graduate Entry section).

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, Bristol is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Bristol feeds into the England foundation programme network; King's College London (KCL) into the London 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

Bristol: home applicants — ~2280+/2700. King's College London (KCL): no threshold published. These are the figures on record for 2027-entry applicants. Schools without a fixed cut-off rank UCAT inside a composite shortlisting score, so thresholds move with each year's applicant pool — confirm the latest figure on each school's admissions page.

Bristol uses Panel interview: Structured panel-style interview (Zoom, remote). King's College London (KCL) uses Panel interview: Two-interviewer panel, remote (no longer 6-station MMI). The format is the same, so the same prep approach applies — practise ethics frameworks, NHS hot topics, and (for MMI) structured 5-7 minute station answers. Interview windows: December – February (Bristol); January – February (King's College London (KCL)).

Bristol — Mathematics at grade 7/A or higher. English Language or English Literature at grade 4/C or higher. Used as minimum threshold only — Bristol BDS is wholly UCAT-based for shortlisting once academic minimums met King's College London (KCL) — Minimum grade 6/B (National 5 grade B or Intermediate 2 / Standard Credit Grade 1 or 2) in Mathematics and English Language. 8+ grade 8/9s typically required to be competitive. GCSE = ~40% of pre-interview score: 8+ grade 8/9s = 40/40, 7s = 30, 6s = 20, 5s = 10. A grades may be counted as A* for applicants from lower-performing schools.

Bristol's selection methodology: Wholly UCAT-based shortlisting after academic minimums met. Multiple Mini Interview. Personal statement only used if borderline. King's College London (KCL)'s selection methodology: shortlisting weight not fully disclosed; check the official admissions page. Understanding each school's exact algorithm is the single highest-leverage piece of pre-application research — it tells you whether your profile is competitive before you spend an application choice.

Bristol: UK applicants: 89/169 = 53% (2025).. King's College London (KCL): Non-contextual home students without degree: 98/171 = 57% (2025). Overall 2025: 175/350 = 50%.. Post-interview odds tell you how competitive each school is at the final stage. Two schools with similar UCAT thresholds can have very different post-interview rates — a school with a 60% post-interview success rate is structurally easier to convert than one at 25%.

You can — UCAS allows 4 medicine/dentistry choices in total, so listing both is feasible if your profile fits each school's selection algorithm. Apply to both only if your UCAT, GCSE and predicted-grade profile is competitive against each school's published weighting. A common mistake is using two of your four slots on similar schools when a more spread-out portfolio (one safe + one stretch) would maximise overall offer probability.

Where to go next

BristolEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

King's College London (KCL)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other dental school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 14 August 2026.

Bristol vs King's College London (KCL)

Side-by-side comparison

Bristol vs King's College London (KCL) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Post-interview offer rate

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Bristol vs King's College London (KCL)?

How do interviews differ between Bristol and King's College London (KCL)?

What A-Level grades do Bristol and King's College London (KCL) require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Bristol vs King's College London (KCL)?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Which has a higher post-interview offer rate, Bristol or King's College London (KCL)?

Where are Bristol and King's College London (KCL) located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

Should I apply to both Bristol and King's College London (KCL)?

Where to go next

Other dental school comparisons