How do interviews differ between Aberdeen and Aston University?

Aberdeen uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Aston University uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). 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: December - March (Aberdeen); December - March (Aston University).

Where are Aberdeen and Aston University located, and how does that affect cost?

Aberdeen is in Aberdeen, UK. Aston University is in Birmingham, UK. Scottish-domiciled applicants funded by SAAS pay no tuition fees at Scottish medical schools — a substantial funding advantage worth tens of thousands of pounds over the degree. Rest-of-UK applicants still pay £9,250/year.

When does each school release decisions?

Aberdeen typically releases medicine decisions March/April. Aston University releases medicine decisions March onwards. 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.

Medical school comparison

Aberdeen vs Aston University

Aberdeen and Aston University are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Aberdeen is based in Aberdeen (Scotland) while Aston University sits in Birmingham (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.

Aberdeen is the older institution (founded 1495); the other (founded 2018) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Aberdeen and Aston University.
Comparison field	AberdeenAberdeen	Aston UniversityBirmingham
Quick comparison
Location	Aberdeen, UK	Birmingham, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level	AAA at A-level (A must be in Chemistry or Biology)
TrueScore	Aberdeen TrueScore 1700	Aston University TrueScore 1950
UCAT home cut-off	-	No cut-off at all. Aston states it does not set score requirements for the UCAT and has no lower cut-off for either the UCAT or the SJT.
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	RUK 74/165 = 45% (2025); Scottish 736/863 = 85%; International 101/140 = 72%	All Applicants: 306/363 = 84% (2025); Non-Contextual: 182/214 = 85%
Decision date	March/April	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level	AAA at A-level (A must be in Chemistry or Biology)
Contextual A-Level offer	-	AAB at A-level for Aston Ready (WP) applicants, with AA in Chemistry + Biology
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry required, plus one of Biology / Human Biology / Mathematics / Physics, plus one other subject	Chemistry + Biology compulsory, plus one other subject. If 4 A-levels taken, Chemistry, Biology and the next-best grade are considered.
A-Level resit policy	Resits only accepted with serious extenuating circumstances or personal difficulties	Final qualification profile must normally be achieved in no more than three academic years - one resit attempt only
GCSE requirements	English Language and Mathematics at grade 6/B or above. A combination of grade 6–9 GCSEs expected, especially in sciences. National 5 (Scottish): English and Maths at B/6 minimum.	Minimum 6 GCSEs/IGCSEs at grade 6/B or above including English Language, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology (or Double Science)
GCSE scoring methodology	GCSEs are not used in scoring - minimum threshold only (2025 entry onwards)	GCSEs scored /24 (or /12 if A-levels completed) as part of the academic score: 9/8/A* = 4 (or 2) pts, 7/A = 3 (or 2) pts, 6/B = 2 (or 1) pts, 5/4/C = 1 (or 0) pt
Scottish Highers	AAAAB at one sitting including Chemistry plus two of Biology / Human Biology / Mathematics / Physics. AAAB for widening-access applicants.	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	AAA at Advanced Higher including Chemistry and Biology
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, including HL 6,6,6 with HL Chemistry plus HL Maths / Biology / Physics, and one other HL subject	37 points overall, 7,6,6 at Higher Level including Chemistry and Biology - one of Chem/Bio must be grade 7 HL
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	Upper-second-class (2:1) Honours degree in any discipline + ABB A-levels including Chemistry and Biology (one of which at grade A). Five-year programme - no accelerated graduate route.
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	SIMD20 and care-experienced school leavers receive a 10% uplift on their UCAT score; SIMD40 school leavers receive 5%.	Aston Ready contextual applicants are ranked in their own Home Widening Participation group rather than against other home applicants.
Scottish (where applicable)	No cut-off. Scotland-domiciled applicants are guaranteed an interview if they meet the minimum academic requirements and their UCAT sits within the top 75% of scores from Aberdeen applicants.	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	-
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	No use of SJT - band 4 accepted	Not scored - good for band 4
UCAT notes	Aberdeen does not use a minimum UCAT cut-off at all. Your score is converted into points relative to every other Aberdeen applicant that year, and feeds a total of academic attainment 30%, UCAT 20% an…	Aston ranks applicants on their ACHIEVED qualifications - normally GCSEs - together with the total UCAT score. A-level predicted grades are not used in scoring and are not considered at any stage. Hom…

Degree awarded	MBChB	MBChB
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Integrated	Problem-based learning
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	Grampian, the Highlands and the Scottish islands	The West Midlands
Named placement sites	Aberdeen Royal Infirmary	-
Intercalation	A one-year intercalated honours degree in Medical Science or Medical Humanities at the end of year 3 or 4.	-
Course highlight	The world’s first full-body MRI scanner was developed and built by researchers at Aberdeen.	-

Interview window	December - March	December - March
Interview details	Multiple Mini Interview format with applicants rotating through several stations. Each station has two interviewers and assesses a specific competency such as motivation, ethical reasoning, communicat…	MMI format with 7-10 stations of around 7 minutes each, plus 2 minutes' reading time. There are typically 2 acting/role-play stations testing how you handle difficult situations.

Specialities	Medicine, Medical Sciences, Rural Health	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	1495	2018
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Shortlisting weights academic 60% (A-level scores) / UCAT 40%. Scottish-domiciled applicants in the top 75% academically receive guaranteed interview. Care leavers and Quintile 1 postcode applicants r…	UCAT and GCSE used heavily post-interview (academic:UCAT:interview ratio = 2:1:1). Interview is just 25% of final scoring, so post-interview chances are excellent for high-stat applicants. SJT not use…
Official course page	https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/degree-programmes/796/A100/medicine-5-years/	https://www.aston.ac.uk/study/courses/medicine-mbchb

Aberdeen

Quick comparison

Location: Aberdeen, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level
TrueScore: Aberdeen TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: RUK 74/165 = 45% (2025); Scottish 736/863 = 85%; International 101/140 = 72%
Decision date: March/April

Aston University

Birmingham

Quick comparison

Location: Birmingham, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA at A-level (A* must be in Chemistry or Biology)
TrueScore: Aston University TrueScore 1950
UCAT home cut-off: No cut-off at all. Aston states it does not set score requirements for the UCAT and has no lower cut-off for either the UCAT or the SJT.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: All Applicants: 306/363 = 84% (2025); Non-Contextual: 182/214 = 85%
Decision date: March onwards

Aberdeen vs Aston University - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Aberdeen requires AAA at A-level.

Aston University requires A*AA at A-level (A* must be in Chemistry or Biology).

Aston University is the stricter A-Level offer; Aberdeen is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Aberdeen carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Aberdeen: English Language and Mathematics at grade 6/B or above. A combination of grade 6–9 GCSEs expected, especially in sciences. National 5 (Scottish): English and Maths at B/6 minimum. GCSEs are not used… Aston University: Minimum 6 GCSEs/IGCSEs at grade 6/B or above including English Language, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology (or Double Science).

GCSEs scored /24 (or /12 if A-levels completed) as part of the academic…

Interview formats

Both Aberdeen and Aston University 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.

Interview windows: Aberdeen interviews in December - March; Aston University in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Aberdeen runs a Integrated curriculum; Aston University runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Aberdeen delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Aston University centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: Five-year MBChB with early clinical exposure from Year 1. Distinctive remote/rural placement strand in Highlands and Western Isles. Five-year MBChB with PBL. Clinical placements across Birmingham NHS sites (UHB, Sandwell, Walsall, Heart of England).

Intake size: Aberdeen — ~257 Scottish + ~24 RUK + ~39 International per year (2025 entry data).; Aston University — ~110 places per year.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Aberdeen: RUK 74/165 = 45% (2025); Scottish 736/863 = 85%; International 101/140 = 72%. Aston University: All Applicants: 306/363 = 84% (2025); Non-Contextual: 182/214 = 85%.

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

Aberdeen: Shortlisting weights academic 60% (A-level scores) / UCAT 40%. Scottish-domiciled applicants in the top 75% academically receive guaranteed interview. Care leavers and Quintile 1 postcode applicants receive a 10% UCAT uplift; Quintile 2 receives 5%.

Aston University: UCAT and GCSE used heavily post-interview (academic:UCAT:interview ratio = 2:1:1). Interview is just 25% of final scoring, so post-interview chances are excellent for high-stat applicants. SJT not used - band 4 is fine.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, Aberdeen is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Aberdeen feeds into the Scotland foundation programme network; Aston University into the England network.

If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Aston University; 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 or six years.

Common questions

Neither school publishes a single fixed UCAT cut-off; both use UCAT as part of a composite shortlisting score alongside GCSE and personal-statement weighting. Aberdeen guidance: Aberdeen does not use a minimum UCAT cut-off at all. Your score is converted into points relative to every other Aberdeen applicant that year, and feeds a total of academic attainment 30%, UCAT 20% and interview 50%. Applicants are ranked on that total, so UCAT is only a fifth of the decision and the interview is half of it.. Aston University guidance: No cut-off at all. Aston states it does not set score requirements for the UCAT and has no lower cut-off for either the UCAT or the SJT..

Aberdeen requires AAA including Chemistry, plus one of Biology, Human Biology, Mathematics or Physics, plus one other subject. Aston University requires A*AA including Chemistry and Biology (A* in Chemistry or Biology). Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Aberdeen — Resits considered with strong justification.. Aston University — Resits accepted..

Aberdeen — English Language and Mathematics at grade 6/B or above. A combination of grade 6–9 GCSEs expected, especially in sciences. National 5 (Scottish): English and Maths at B/6 minimum. GCSEs are not used in scoring - minimum threshold only (2025 entry onwards) Aston University — Minimum 6 GCSEs/IGCSEs at grade 6/B or above including English Language, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology (or Double Science). GCSEs scored /24 (or /12 if A-levels completed) as part of the academic score: 9/8/A* = 4 (or 2) pts, 7/A = 3 (or 2) pts, 6/B = 2 (or 1) pts, 5/4/C = 1 (or 0) pt

Aberdeen's selection methodology: Aberdeen scores academic attainment and predictions at 30%, UCAT at 20% and interview performance at 50%, then ranks applicants on the total; those above the required threshold are interviewed and may then be offered a place. There is no minimum UCAT cut-off - your score is converted to points relative to all other Aberdeen applicants that year. Scotland-domiciled applicants who meet the academic minimum and sit within the top 75% of Aberdeen's UCAT scores are guaranteed an interview. Aston University's selection methodology: Newer programme (first cohort 2018). UCAT + academic + MMI. Birmingham-based with strong widening-participation 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.

Aberdeen: RUK 74/165 = 45% (2025); Scottish 736/863 = 85%; International 101/140 = 72%. Aston University: All Applicants: 306/363 = 84% (2025); Non-Contextual: 182/214 = 85%. 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%.

Aberdeen runs a Integrated curriculum. Aston University runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Aberdeen specifics: Five-year MBChB with early clinical exposure from Year 1. Distinctive remote/rural placement strand in Highlands and Western Isles. Aston University specifics: Five-year MBChB with PBL. Clinical placements across Birmingham NHS sites (UHB, Sandwell, Walsall, Heart of England).

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.

Where to go next

AberdeenEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Aston UniversityEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 19 September 2026.

Aberdeen vs Aston University

Side-by-side comparison

Aberdeen vs Aston University - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

Post-interview offer rate

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Aberdeen vs Aston University?

How do interviews differ between Aberdeen and Aston University?

What A-Level grades do Aberdeen and Aston University require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Aberdeen vs Aston University?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Which has a higher post-interview offer rate, Aberdeen or Aston University?

Where are Aberdeen and Aston University located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Aberdeen and Aston University use?

Should I apply to both Aberdeen and Aston University?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons