Liverpool vs Queen Mary (QMUL)

Liverpool's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 1980, while Queen Mary (QMUL) sits at approximately 2070.

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.

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.

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; Liverpool is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Liverpool carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Liverpool: AAA at A-Level including Chemistry and Biology. Top 9 GCSE subjects scored (similar to Liverpool medicine). Queen Mary (QMUL): AAA at A-Level including Chemistry and Biology. Min 6 GCSEs at grade 6+.

Liverpool uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI), online); 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, Liverpool is the better fit.

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

Both schools deliver a Integrated-style curriculum, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar across years 1-3.

Specifics: Five-year BDS. Clinical placements at Liverpool University Dental Hospital and Cheshire & Merseyside 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: Liverpool — ~75 home + ~15 international places per year for BDS Dentistry.; 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.

Liverpool: Non-widening participation (2024): 89/402 = 22%. 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.

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.

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.