Skip to main content
NextGen MedPrep logoNextGenMedPrep
Medical school comparison

Aberdeen vs Dundee

Aberdeen and Dundee are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Both sit in Scotland, so location and clinical-placement breadth are similar — the differentiation comes from selection methodology, interview style and curriculum philosophy.

The interview formats diverge — MMI vs Traditional — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different. Aberdeen is the older institution (founded 1495); the other (founded 1967) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Aberdeen

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

Dundee

Dundee

Quick comparison

Location
Dundee, UK
A-Level offer
AAA at A-level (minimum) - A*A*A or A*A*A* recommended for non-contextual RUK due to use in shortlisting algorithm
TrueScore
Dundee TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off
No published threshold for the current scale. Dundee publishes admissions statistics by year of entry, but warns that because Abstract Reasoning was withdrawn in 2025 and the maximum moved from 3,600 to 2,700, the figures shown are not directly comparable with scores from 2025 onwards.
Interview format
Two-part selection (~1h40m): observed 30-minute group discussion, then a structured traditional one-to-one discussion with an assessor
Post-interview chance
RUK Non-Contextual (2025): 73/130 = 56%; Scottish: 647/825 = 78%; International: 86/156 = 55%
Decision date
March onwards

Aberdeen vs Dundee - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Aberdeen requires AAA at A-level.

Dundee requires AAA at A-level (minimum) - A*A*A or A*A*A* recommended for non-contextual RUK due to use in shortlisting algorithm.

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 — 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… Dundee: Biology, English and Mathematics at minimum grade 6/B if not studied at A-level.

GCSEs feed the academic score (60% of pre-interview ranking for school leavers); higher grades are essential due to…

Interview formats

Aberdeen uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)); Dundee uses Traditional (Two-part selection (~1h40m): observed 30-minute group discussion, then a structured traditional one-to-one discussion with an assessor). These two formats reward different skills — MMI emphasises breadth, station-recovery and structured answers under time pressure, while Traditional rewards malleability and intellectual honesty.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, either may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, Aberdeen is the better fit.

Interview windows: Aberdeen interviews in December - March; Dundee in December - February.

Curriculum and teaching style

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

Specifics: Five-year MBChB with early clinical exposure from Year 1. Distinctive remote/rural placement strand in Highlands and Western Isles. Five-year MBChB spiral curriculum - concepts revisited with increasing complexity. Clinical placements across NHS Tayside, NHS Fife, NHS Highland, and

Intake size: Aberdeen — ~257 Scottish + ~24 RUK + ~39 International per year (2025 entry data).; Dundee — Home (Scottish + Contextual) ~825 places; RUK ~130; International ~156 (2025 entry).. 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%. Dundee: RUK Non-Contextual (2025): 73/130 = 56%; Scottish: 647/825 = 78%; International: 86/156 = 55%.

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%.

Dundee: Scottish medical school renowned for anatomy teaching and medical research. Shortlisting weights 60% academic / 40% UCAT for school leavers (40/60 for graduates). Both A-level predictions and GCSEs feed the academic score.

Which is right for you?

Both schools sit in the same Scotland foundation-programme catchment, so post-graduation training paths overlap heavily. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Aberdeen; 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.. Dundee guidance: No published threshold for the current scale. Dundee publishes admissions statistics by year of entry, but warns that because Abstract Reasoning was withdrawn in 2025 and the maximum moved from 3,600 to 2,700, the figures shown are not directly comparable with scores from 2025 onwards..

Where to go next

AberdeenEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full
DundeeEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

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