Glasgow vs Liverpool

Glasgow's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 1850, while Liverpool sits at approximately 1980.

The 130-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.

Glasgow requires AAA including chemistry and biology. Resit only with genuine extenuating circumstances.

Liverpool requires AAA prediction and offer. Must include biology and chemistry, all 3 subjects taken in one sitting. Contextual: ABB offer. A-level resits not normally accepted.

Both demand the same A-Level grade band, so academic prediction is unlikely to differentiate your application between them — provided you meet the required subject combination at each.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Glasgow: AAA including Chemistry. National 5 / GCSE English, Biology, Maths at grade 6+. Liverpool: AAA at A-Level including Chemistry and Biology. Top 9 GCSE subjects scored (similar to Liverpool medicine).

Both Glasgow and Liverpool 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: Glasgow runs multiple mini interview (mmi); Liverpool runs multiple mini interviews (mmi), online. Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: Glasgow interviews in December – February; Liverpool in December – February.

Glasgow runs a PBL curriculum; Liverpool runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Glasgow leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Liverpool uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year BDS built around problem-based learning. Clinical placements at Glasgow Dental Hospital and West-of-Scotland community sites. Five-year BDS. Clinical placements at Liverpool University Dental Hospital and Cheshire & Merseyside community sites.

Intake size: Glasgow — ~75 places per year (Scottish + RUK + small international).; Liverpool — ~75 home + ~15 international places per year for BDS Dentistry.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Glasgow: Scottish: 76/108 = 70%. RUK: 42/70 = 60%. International: 22/27 = 81%. Liverpool: Non-widening participation (2024): 89/402 = 22%.

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.

Glasgow: Wholly UCAT-based shortlisting once minimum PS and reference requirements are met. Personal statement is reviewed prior to offer-making but not formally scored.

Liverpool: No set UCAT cut-off - UCAT considered alongside non-academic information form (sent shortly after UCAS deadline, 2 weeks to complete). SJT band 4 is automatically rejected.