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

Aston University is in Birmingham, UK. Edinburgh is in Edinburgh, 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?

Aston University typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Edinburgh 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

Aston University vs Edinburgh

Aston University and Edinburgh are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Aston University is based in Birmingham (England) while Edinburgh sits in Edinburgh (Scotland), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination. Their A-Level requirements (A*AA vs AAA) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers.

The interview formats diverge — MMI vs Assessment day — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different. Edinburgh is the older institution (founded 1583); 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: Aston University and Edinburgh.
Comparison field	Aston UniversityBirmingham	EdinburghEdinburgh
Quick comparison
Location	Birmingham, UK	Edinburgh, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (A must be in Chemistry or Biology)	AAA at A-level (theoretically minimum, but AAA* predictions ideal for RUK/English applicants to maximise post-interview chances) including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics
TrueScore	Aston University TrueScore 1950	Edinburgh TrueScore 1850
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.	1850+ /2700 - a hard floor for 2027 entry. Edinburgh states that an applicant scoring below the cut-off will not be considered at all.
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Half-day assessment day, held at Edinburgh Medical School or online (Edinburgh describes it as 'not a typical MMI format')
Post-interview chance	All Applicants: 306/363 = 84% (2025); Non-Contextual: 182/214 = 85%	Around 800 applicants reach the assessment day each cycle, competing for an intake in the low hundreds across the Scottish, RUK and international pools, so a substantial share of interviewees are unsuccessful. Edinburgh publishes per-cycle admissions statistics with the current breakdown.
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (A must be in Chemistry or Biology)	AAA at A-level (theoretically minimum, but AAA* predictions ideal for RUK/English applicants to maximise post-interview chances) including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics
Contextual A-Level offer	AAB at A-level for Aston Ready (WP) applicants, with AA in Chemistry + Biology	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry + Biology compulsory, plus one other subject. If 4 A-levels taken, Chemistry, Biology and the next-best grade are considered.	Chemistry plus one of Biology / Mathematics / Physics
A-Level resit policy	Final qualification profile must normally be achieved in no more than three academic years - one resit attempt only	Resits considered with strong justification.
GCSE requirements	Minimum 6 GCSEs/IGCSEs at grade 6/B or above including English Language, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology (or Double Science)	Minimum grade 7/A in Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and English. Edinburgh then scores your best 8 GCSEs as part of the academic component, applying proportional scoring where school policy meant fewer than 8 were sat. It does not publish a target grade profile beyond the minimum.
GCSE scoring methodology	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	Best 8 GCSEs are scored as part of the academic component, which carries the large majority of the pre-assessment-day ranking (UCAT 17.5% and SJT 7.5% make up the rest). Proportional scoring applies w…
Scottish Highers	-	National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers are all considered, and the standard offer requires strong Higher and Advanced Higher performance. Edinburgh does not publish a separate Scottish UCAT minimum - the published cut-off of 1,850 for 2027 entry applies to all applicants except those carrying a Plus Flag.
Scottish Advanced Highers	AAA at Advanced Higher including Chemistry and Biology	Strong Advanced Higher performance expected for full academic points
International Baccalaureate	37 points overall, 7,6,6 at Higher Level including Chemistry and Biology - one of Chem/Bio must be grade 7 HL	38 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including HL Chemistry plus one of Biology / Mathematics / Physics
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.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above. UCAT still required - graduate applicants ranked alongside undergraduate by total academic + UCAT score.
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	Aston Ready contextual applicants are ranked in their own Home Widening Participation group rather than against other home applicants.	Plus Flag applicants are exempt from the cut-off entirely and are considered with any UCAT total, and they receive a 10% uplift on their UCAT score.
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	-
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Not scored - good for band 4	The SJT band is worth 7.5% of the application score. Band 4 means you will not be considered for entry - Edinburgh applies this to everyone, including applicants eligible for widening-access concessions.
UCAT notes	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…	The 1,850 cut-off is necessary but nowhere near sufficient - clearing it only keeps you in the ranking. The UCAT total is worth 17.5% of the application score and the SJT band a further 7.5%; the acad…

Degree awarded	MBChB	MBChB with BMedSci (Hons)
Course length	5 years	6 years
Teaching style	Problem-based learning	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 2
Placement geography	The West Midlands	Lothian and the south of Scotland
Named placement sites	-	-
Intercalation	-	Built in — year 3 is the honours BMedSci research year.
Course highlight	-	The only Scottish institution offering a six-year MBChB.

Interview window	December - March	December - February
Interview details	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.	Edinburgh invites roughly the top 800 ranked applicants to a half-day assessment day, which it runs as a series of short interviews rather than a standard MMI circuit, and which includes a collaborati…

Specialities	Medicine, Community Medicine	Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Biomedical Sciences
Established	2018	1583
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	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…	Shortlisting is dominated by the academic score: the UCAT total contributes 17.5% and the SJT band 7.5%, with the academic assessment carrying the rest. Every application is read independently by two…
Official course page	https://www.aston.ac.uk/study/courses/medicine-mbchb	https://study.ed.ac.uk/programmes/undergraduate/354-mbchb-medicine-6-year-programme

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

Edinburgh

Quick comparison

Location: Edinburgh, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level (theoretically minimum, but A*A*A* predictions ideal for RUK/English applicants to maximise post-interview chances) including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics
TrueScore: Edinburgh TrueScore 1850
UCAT home cut-off: 1850+ /2700 - a hard floor for 2027 entry. Edinburgh states that an applicant scoring below the cut-off will not be considered at all.
Interview format: Half-day assessment day, held at Edinburgh Medical School or online (Edinburgh describes it as 'not a typical MMI format')
Post-interview chance: Around 800 applicants reach the assessment day each cycle, competing for an intake in the low hundreds across the Scottish, RUK and international pools, so a substantial share of interviewees are unsuccessful. Edinburgh publishes per-cycle admissions statistics with the current breakdown.
Decision date: March onwards

Aston University vs Edinburgh - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

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

Edinburgh requires AAA at A-level (theoretically minimum, but A*A*A* predictions ideal for RUK/English applicants to maximise post-interview chances) including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics.

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

GCSE profile matters at both schools — 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… Edinburgh: Minimum grade 7/A in Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and English.

Edinburgh then scores your best 8 GCSEs as part of the academic component, applying proportional scoring where school policy meant…

Interview formats

Aston University uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)); Edinburgh uses Assessment day (Half-day assessment day, held at Edinburgh Medical School or online (Edinburgh describes it as 'not a typical MMI format')). These two formats reward different skills — MMI emphasises breadth, station-recovery and structured answers under time pressure, while Assessment day 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, Aston University is the better fit.

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

Curriculum and teaching style

Aston University runs a PBL curriculum; Edinburgh runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Aston University leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Edinburgh uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year MBChB with PBL. Clinical placements across Birmingham NHS sites (UHB, Sandwell, Walsall, Heart of England). Six-year MBChB — the only six-year MBChB in Scotland — with a compulsory intercalated honours year in Year 3 (one of the largest intercalated cohorts

Intake size: Aston University — ~110 places per year.; Edinburgh — ~210 Scottish + RUK + ~22 international places per year.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

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

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.

Edinburgh: Shortlisting is dominated by the academic score: the UCAT total contributes 17.5% and the SJT band 7.5%, with the academic assessment carrying the rest. Every application is read independently by two admissions staff, and only your FIRST attempt at a required subject counts - retaking it in a different qualification does not help.

An SJT of Band 4 ends the application outright, with no widening-access exemption. Strong research focus and international reputation.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, Edinburgh is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Aston University feeds into the England foundation programme network; Edinburgh into the Scotland 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. 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.. Edinburgh guidance: 1850+ /2700 - a hard floor for 2027 entry. Edinburgh states that an applicant scoring below the cut-off will not be considered at all..

Aston University uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Edinburgh uses Assessment day: Half-day assessment day, held at Edinburgh Medical School or online (Edinburgh describes it as 'not a typical MMI format'). The two formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each, with at least 3 full mock interviews per format before sitting either. Interview windows: December - March (Aston University); December - February (Edinburgh).

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

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 Edinburgh — Minimum grade 7/A in Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and English. Edinburgh then scores your best 8 GCSEs as part of the academic component, applying proportional scoring where school policy meant fewer than 8 were sat. It does not publish a target grade profile beyond the minimum. Best 8 GCSEs are scored as part of the academic component, which carries the large majority of the pre-assessment-day ranking (UCAT 17.5% and SJT 7.5% make up the rest). Proportional scoring applies where school policy meant fewer than 8 GCSEs were sat.

Aston University's selection methodology: Newer programme (first cohort 2018). UCAT + academic + MMI. Birmingham-based with strong widening-participation focus. Edinburgh's selection methodology: Each application is assessed independently by two members of admissions staff against the academic criteria, scoring the best 8 GCSEs plus A-level/Higher performance. Weighted UCAT (17.5%) and SJT (7.5%) points are added, applications are ranked, and roughly the top 800 are invited to a half-day assessment day - which Edinburgh itself calls an interview. Offers follow soon after the final assessment day. 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.

Aston University: All Applicants: 306/363 = 84% (2025); Non-Contextual: 182/214 = 85%. Edinburgh: Around 800 applicants reach the assessment day each cycle, competing for an intake in the low hundreds across the Scottish, RUK and international pools, so a substantial share of interviewees are unsuccessful. Edinburgh publishes per-cycle admissions statistics with the current breakdown.. 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%.

Aston University runs a PBL curriculum. Edinburgh runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Aston University specifics: Five-year MBChB with PBL. Clinical placements across Birmingham NHS sites (UHB, Sandwell, Walsall, Heart of England). Edinburgh specifics: Six-year MBChB — the only six-year MBChB in Scotland — with a compulsory intercalated honours year in Year 3 (one of the largest intercalated cohorts in the UK). Graduates leave with TWO qualification

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

Aston UniversityEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

EdinburghEntry 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.

Aston University vs Edinburgh

Side-by-side comparison

Aston University vs Edinburgh - 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 Aston University vs Edinburgh?

How do interviews differ between Aston University and Edinburgh?

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

How are GCSEs weighted at Aston University vs Edinburgh?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

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

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

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Aston University and Edinburgh use?

Should I apply to both Aston University and Edinburgh?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons