Dundee vs Queen Mary (QMUL)

Dundee's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 1830, while Queen Mary (QMUL) sits at approximately 2070.

The 240-point spread matters: Dundee offers slightly more headroom for an average-strong UCAT, while Queen Mary (QMUL) expects performance closer to the national 75th-90th percentile.

Dundee requires AAA including chemistry and biology, all in the same sitting. Ideally 1–2 A* predicted. Resits not accepted.

Queen Mary (QMUL) requires A*AA in single sitting, no more than 2 years. Must include biology or chemistry + second science from chemistry/biology/physics/maths. Resit only with extenuating circumstances under Equality and Diversity Act 2010.

Queen Mary (QMUL) 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.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Dundee: AAA at A-Level. National 5 / GCSE Biology, English, Maths at grade 6+ if not at A-Level. Queen Mary (QMUL): AAA at A-Level including Chemistry and Biology. Min 6 GCSEs at grade 6+.

Dundee uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)); Queen Mary (QMUL) uses Panel (Two-interviewer panel, online (January–February)). These two formats reward different skills — MMI emphasises breadth, station-recovery and structured answers under time pressure, while Panel rewards depth and consistency.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, Queen Mary (QMUL) may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, Dundee is the better fit.

Interview windows: Dundee interviews in December – February; Queen Mary (QMUL) in January – February.

Dundee runs a Spiral curriculum; Queen Mary (QMUL) runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Dundee delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Queen Mary (QMUL) uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year BDS with spiral curriculum. Clinical placements at Dundee Dental Hospital and Tayside community sites. Five-year BDS at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Clinical placements at Royal London Dental Hospital and East London community

Intake size: Dundee — ~75 places per year (predominantly Scottish + RUK + small international).; Queen Mary (QMUL) — ~80 home + ~20 international places per year for BDS Dentistry (Barts and The London).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Dundee: Scottish: 71/149 = 48%. RUK: 17/127 = 13%. Overseas: 28/58 = 48%. Queen Mary (QMUL): 2025 - All applicants: 182/267 = 68%. Overseas: 13/22 = 59%.

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.

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.

Queen Mary (QMUL): QMUL-specific 4th decile minimum (2361 for 2024 + 2025). Anyone exceeding the UCAT cut-off gets an interview - higher predictions don't change anything. SJT band 4 automatically rejected.