Cardiff vs Plymouth

Cardiff's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 2080, while Plymouth sits at approximately 1990.

The 90-point spread is within year-on-year noise — for most applicants the two thresholds are effectively interchangeable, and other selection factors (GCSE weighting, interview score) will dominate.

Cardiff requires AAA including biology or chemistry. No prediction requirement. A-level resits not considered except for firm offer-holders who miss offers.

Plymouth requires A*AA – AAA offer (AAB widening access - A in biology + second science). Including biology and a second science from chemistry/physics/maths/psychology. Resit (with predicted grades): minimum ABB on first sitting (or ABC WP).

Plymouth is the stricter A-Level offer; Cardiff is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Cardiff carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Cardiff: AAA including Chemistry and Biology. Strong GCSE profile. Plymouth: AAA at A-Level including Chemistry and Biology. GCSE Maths + English at grade 6+.

Both Cardiff and Plymouth 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.

That said, the specifics differ slightly: Cardiff runs multiple mini interviews (mmi), in person (overseas online); Plymouth runs five-station mmi (online), ~55 minutes. Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: Cardiff interviews in February; Plymouth in February – April.

Cardiff runs a Case-based curriculum; Plymouth runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Cardiff leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Plymouth centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: Five-year BDS with case-based learning. Clinical placements at Cardiff University Dental Hospital and South Wales community sites. Five-year BDS with PBL. Plymouth Peninsula Dental School - clinical placements across South-West community sites.

Intake size: Cardiff — ~70 home + ~10 international places per year for BDS Dentistry.; Plymouth — ~75 home places per year for BDS Dentistry (smaller cohort, regional focus).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Cardiff: Total: 128/319 = 40% (2025). Home: 117/298 = 39%. International: 11/21 = 52%. Plymouth: Home: 132/499 = 26% (2025). Overseas: 8/28 = 29%. Home Foundation Year: 17/104 = 16%.

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.

Cardiff: Application score calculated /28 from 7 GCSEs (8/9/A* = 4 pts, etc.) - must include biology and chemistry. Welsh-domiciled and contextually eligible applicants get extra consideration.

Plymouth: Interview-score-based offer making. Personal statements and work experience are NOT considered for interview selection - UCAT and academic minimums alone determine who reaches interview.