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Dental school comparison

Cardiff vs Plymouth

Cardiff and Plymouth are both UK dental schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Cardiff is based in Cardiff (Wales) while Plymouth sits in Plymouth (England), 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. Cardiff is the older institution (founded 1883); the other (founded 2007) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Cardiff

Cardiff

Quick comparison

Location
Cardiff, UK
A-Level offer
AAA at A-level (offer only — no prediction requirement) including Biology and Chemistry. Practical pass required for any science A-level taken.
TrueScore
1510
UCAT home cut-off
~2080+/2700 for non-contextual RUK (interview-receiver minimum ~1510+/2700); average interviewee ~2030+/2700
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI), in person (overseas online)
Post-interview chance
Total: 128/319 = 40% (2025). Home: 117/298 = 39%. International: 11/21 = 52%.
Decision date
Spring

Plymouth

Plymouth

Quick comparison

Location
Plymouth, UK
A-Level offer
A*AA – AAB at A-level (offer depends on cohort strength) including grade A in Biology and grade A in a second science from Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics / Psychology
TrueScore
1990
UCAT home cut-off
~1990+/2700
Interview format
Five-station MMI (online), ~55 minutes
Post-interview chance
Home: 132/499 = 26% (2025). Overseas: 8/28 = 29%. Home Foundation Year: 17/104 = 16%.
Decision date
Spring
Compare different schools

Cardiff vs Plymouth - in detail

UCAT thresholds compared

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.

A-Level and academic profile

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+.

Interview formats

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.

Curriculum and teaching style

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.

Post-interview offer rate

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.

What makes each distinctive

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.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, Cardiff is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Cardiff feeds into the Wales foundation programme network; Plymouth into the England network. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Cardiff; if you prefer lecture-led foundations, the other suits better. 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

Cardiff's typical home cut-off is around 2080, while Plymouth sits at approximately 1990 — a 90-point spread. The spread is small enough that other factors (GCSE weighting, interview score, contextual flags) usually dominate the firm/insurance decision. Cut-offs change year on year and vary by tier — check each school's latest published threshold before submitting your UCAS form.

Cardiff uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI), in person (overseas online). Plymouth uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Five-station MMI (online), ~55 minutes. 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: February (Cardiff); February – April (Plymouth).

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).. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Cardiff — Resits considered case-by-case.. Plymouth — Resits accepted..

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

Cardiff's selection methodology: GCSE points + A-Level achievement points + UCAT. MMI interview format. Plymouth's selection methodology: UCAT + academic + MMI. Strong South-West focus. 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.

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 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%.

Cardiff is in Cardiff, UK. Plymouth is in Plymouth, 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).

Cardiff typically releases dentistry decisions Spring. Plymouth releases dentistry decisions Spring. 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.

Cardiff runs a Case-based curriculum. Plymouth runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Cardiff specifics: Five-year BDS with case-based learning. Clinical placements at Cardiff University Dental Hospital and South Wales community sites. Plymouth specifics: Five-year BDS with PBL. Plymouth Peninsula Dental School - clinical placements across South-West community sites.

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.