Aberdeen vs St Andrews

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

St Andrews 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. St Andrews: Strong National 5 / GCSE profile. Biology required if not studied at A-Level (per Glasgow partnership rules).

Both Aberdeen and St Andrews 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; St Andrews in December - March.

Aberdeen runs a Integrated curriculum; St Andrews runs a Traditional curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Aberdeen delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while St Andrews 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. First 3 years at St Andrews leading to BSc (Hons) Medicine. Most students then transfer to a partner clinical school for years 4-6 of MBChB.

Intake size: Aberdeen — ~257 Scottish + ~24 RUK + ~39 International per year (2025 entry data).; St Andrews — RUK ~24 places, Scottish ~150, International ~30 (3-year pre-clinical only - clinical years at partner schools).. 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%. St Andrews: RUK Student (2025): 123/162 = 74%; Scottish + RUK: 411/505 = 81%; International (2023): 56/82 = 68%.

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%.

St Andrews: Three-year pre-clinical course at St Andrews followed by transfer to a partner medical school for clinical years. SJT not used (was used many years ago, not now or in future). Scottish students face much lower cut-offs than RUK applicants.