King's College London (KCL) vs Queen Mary (QMUL)

King's College London (KCL)'s published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 2050, while Queen Mary (QMUL) sits at approximately 2070.

Their UCAT bars are statistically indistinguishable (within 20 points), so the UCAT is unlikely to be your differentiator between them.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — King's College London (KCL): Lower thresholds for POLAR/ACORN/IMD-flagged, care-experienced, or KCL WP scheme attendees.; Queen Mary (QMUL): not separately disclosed. Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

King's College London (KCL) requires A*AA - A* in biology or chemistry, plus A in another of biology/chemistry/physics/maths/psychology. Resit considered for first-time L3 resitters. Second resits only with mitigating circumstances.

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.

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.

Both King's College London (KCL) and Queen Mary (QMUL) 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: King's College London (KCL) runs two-interviewer panel, remote (no longer 6-station mmi); Queen Mary (QMUL) runs two-interviewer panel, online (january–february). Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: King's College London (KCL) interviews in January – February; Queen Mary (QMUL) in January – February.

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

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).

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.