Aberdeen vs Newcastle

Aberdeen requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology/Physics/Mathematics.

Newcastle requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

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: Strong National 5 / GCSE profile expected; not algorithmically scored but contributes to academic ranking. Newcastle: Top 8 GCSE grades scored; not used if A-Level academic criteria already met. Bio/Chem/Physics A-Levels need pass in practical element.

Both Aberdeen and Newcastle 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; Newcastle in December - January.

Aberdeen runs a Integrated curriculum; Newcastle runs a Case-based curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Aberdeen delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Newcastle 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 MBBS with case-based learning. Clinical placements across Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust and partner sites in the North East.

Intake size: Aberdeen — ~257 Scottish + ~24 RUK + ~39 International per year (2025 entry data).; Newcastle — ~270 home + ~25 international places per year across Newcastle and Malaysia campuses.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Aberdeen: RUK 74/165 = 45% (2025); Scottish 736/863 = 85%; International 101/140 = 72%. Newcastle: International: 82/88 = 93% (2025); Graduate Entry: 46/86 = 53%; Home Non-Contextual: 418/577 = 72%; Home Widening Participation: 194/350 = 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.

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%.

Newcastle: Heavy use of UCAT post-interview - high scorers are rewarded disproportionately by Newcastle's scoring system. The Partners contextual programme has generous eligibility (e.g. all Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage applicants including those at private school).