Where are Barts and The London (Queen Mary) and Cambridge located, and how does that affect cost?

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) is in London, UK. Cambridge is in Cambridge, UK. Tuition is £9,250/year at both for UK home applicants; the main cost difference is accommodation (London accommodation typically runs 30-50% above the national average).

When does each school release decisions?

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Cambridge releases medicine decisions January. 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

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) vs Cambridge

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) and Cambridge are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Barts and The London (Queen Mary) is based in London (London) while Cambridge sits in Cambridge (England), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Their A-Level requirements (A*AA vs A*A*A) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers. Cambridge is the older institution (founded 1209); the other (founded 1785) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) and Cambridge.
Comparison field	Barts and The London (Queen Mary)London	CambridgeCambridge
Quick comparison
Location	London, UK	Cambridge, UK
A-Level offer	A*AA at A-level achieved in one sitting over a study period of no longer than two years	AAA at A-level (typical offer; 92–95% of recent offer-holders predicted AAA*) including Chemistry and Biology / Mathematics / Physics
TrueScore	Barts and The London (Queen Mary) TrueScore 2010	Cambridge TrueScore 2150
UCAT home cut-off	A hard floor at the fourth decile: Queen Mary states your application will not be considered beyond first shortlisting if your total UCAT falls below it. Clearing the fourth decile is no guarantee of an interview.	No threshold. Cambridge states plainly: "There is no minimum threshold for UCAT score."
Interview format	Panel interview with two senior academic or clinical staff, sometimes a lay selector (online)	Traditional panel interviews with academic focus
Post-interview chance	UK Undergrad: 948/1294 = 73% (2025); International: 61/159 = 38%; A101 Graduate Medicine: 55/127 = 43%	Home (predicted grades): 253/979 = 26% (2025); International (predicted): 8/58 = 14%. ~30 more offers to those with achieved grades.
Decision date	March onwards	January

A-Level offer	A*AA at A-level achieved in one sitting over a study period of no longer than two years	AAA at A-level (typical offer; 92–95% of recent offer-holders predicted AAA*) including Chemistry and Biology / Mathematics / Physics
Contextual A-Level offer	AAA at A-level for standard or enhanced contextual applicants. AAB for care-leavers.	-
Required A-Level subjects	First A-level: Chemistry or Biology. Second A-level: a further science from Chemistry, Biology, Physics or Mathematics. Third A-level: any subject.	Chemistry plus two of Biology / Mathematics / Physics / Further Mathematics is optimal. Most colleges have this as a fixed requirement. Some colleges (e.g. Corpus Christi, Fitzwilliam, Girton, Gonville & Caius, Homerton, Murray Edwards, Newnham, Selwyn, Trinity Hall) may consider applicants without Biology after admissions-tutor consultation. Three A-levels is sufficient - four not required.
A-Level resit policy	Resits only with extenuating circumstances. UCAS tariff scoring applies only to the 3 A-levels meeting the A*AA requirement (not EPQ or music qualifications).	Resits considered case-by-case; competitive applicants typically achieve AAA in one sitting.
GCSE requirements	At least 6 GCSEs at grades 777666 (AAABBB pre-2017) including Biology, Chemistry, English Language or English Literature, and Mathematics. Science Double Award may substitute all sciences. GCSEs not required for graduates.	No specific GCSE requirement, but successful applicants typically achieve grade 7+ across all GCSEs. Mean offer-holder ≈ 9.7 grade A*/9 historically.
GCSE scoring methodology	Used only as minimum threshold once met - UCAT-led ranking takes over	GCSE used contextually as part of holistic shortlisting (less algorithmically than Oxford). Sub-90% A*/9 applicants advised to favour Cambridge over Oxford.
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	A1, A1, A2 at Advanced Higher (per Cambridge banding system)
International Baccalaureate	38 points overall, 7,6,6 at Higher Level - including HL Chemistry or Biology and a second science / Maths	41–42 points overall, 7,7,6 at Higher Level including HL Chemistry plus two of Biology / Mathematics / Physics
Graduate-entry degree requirement	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above. A101 4-year accelerated Graduate Entry programme available.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above - A-level Chemistry (normally passed within 7 years of entry) required. Accelerated A101 Graduate Course in Medicine offered at Lucy Cavendish, Hughes Hall, St Edmund's and Wolfson colleges only.
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	No separate threshold published.
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Band 4 auto-rejected. SJT used minimally post-interview (B1=2pts, B2=1pt, B3=0).	Not used. Cambridge assesses the overall cognitive subtest score only and states it will not use the situational judgement score for 2027 entry.
UCAT notes	Queen Mary says plainly that it is not possible to predict what the thresholds will be in any given year, nor to use previous years' data to predict them - so treat any specific figure quoted elsewher…	Cambridge looks at the overall cognitive subtest score only and weighs it alongside academic record and interview - it publishes no cut-off and no offer-holder averages. Colleges assess individually,…

Degree awarded	MBBS	MB BChir
Course length	5 years	6 years
Teaching style	Problem-based learning + Team-based learning	Traditional / lecture-led
Anatomy teaching	Full-body dissection	Full-body dissection
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	East London and north east London	Cambridge and the East of England
Named placement sites	The Royal London Hospital, Homerton Hospital, Newham Hospital, Whipps Cross Hospital, King George Hospital, Queen's Hospital	Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Intercalation	Intercalated degree options include Experimental Pathology, Global Medical Humanities, Neuroscience, Pharmacology and Innovative Therapeutics, Prehospital Medicine, and Sports and Exercise Medicine.	Built in — year 3 is an intercalated year for every student.
Course highlight	-	An optional seven-week study-abroad placement is available in year 5.

Interview window	December - February	December
Interview details	Online panel-style MMI of about 20 minutes. You speak with a current medical student before it begins, which can help settle nerves. Stations cover motivation for medicine, teamwork, communication and…	Usually two panel-style interviews, normally both at the College that is considering your application (the one you named, or the one you were allocated after an open application). Cambridge says most…

Specialities	Medicine, Dentistry, Biomedical Sciences	Clinical Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Medical Sciences
Established	1785	1209
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	No longer 50:50 weighted on A-level predictions and UCAT - anyone who exceeds the UCAT cut-off generally gets an interview regardless of predictions. SJT band adds bonus points to interview score post…	UCAT replaced the BMAT from 2025 entry. Variation between colleges in average UCAT scores and success rates, but the pooling system smooths over it - applying to "less popular" colleges does not meani…
Official course page	https://www.qmul.ac.uk/fmd/study/undergraduate/courses/a100/	https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/medicine-mb-bchir

Barts and The London (Queen Mary)

London

Quick comparison

Location: London, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA at A-level achieved in one sitting over a study period of no longer than two years
TrueScore: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) TrueScore 2010
UCAT home cut-off: A hard floor at the fourth decile: Queen Mary states your application will not be considered beyond first shortlisting if your total UCAT falls below it. Clearing the fourth decile is no guarantee of an interview.
Interview format: Panel interview with two senior academic or clinical staff, sometimes a lay selector (online)
Post-interview chance: UK Undergrad: 948/1294 = 73% (2025); International: 61/159 = 38%; A101 Graduate Medicine: 55/127 = 43%
Decision date: March onwards

Cambridge

Quick comparison

Location: Cambridge, UK
A-Level offer: A*A*A at A-level (typical offer; 92–95% of recent offer-holders predicted A*A*A*) including Chemistry and Biology / Mathematics / Physics
TrueScore: Cambridge TrueScore 2150
UCAT home cut-off: No threshold. Cambridge states plainly: "There is no minimum threshold for UCAT score."
Interview format: Traditional panel interviews with academic focus
Post-interview chance: Home (predicted grades): 253/979 = 26% (2025); International (predicted): 8/58 = 14%. ~30 more offers to those with achieved grades.
Decision date: January

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) vs Cambridge - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) requires A*AA at A-level achieved in one sitting over a study period of no longer than two years.

Cambridge requires A*A*A at A-level (typical offer; 92–95% of recent offer-holders predicted A*A*A*) including Chemistry and Biology / Mathematics / Physics.

Cambridge is the stricter A-Level offer; Barts and The London (Queen Mary) is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Barts and The London (Queen Mary) carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Barts and The London (Queen Mary): At least 6 GCSEs at grades 777666 (AAABBB pre-2017) including Biology, Chemistry, English Language or English Literature, and Mathematics. Science Double Award may substitute all sciences. GCSEs not… Cambridge: No specific GCSE requirement, but successful applicants typically achieve grade 7+ across all GCSEs.

Mean offer-holder ≈ 9.7 grade A*/9 historically. GCSE used contextually as part of holistic…

Interview formats

Both Barts and The London (Queen Mary) and Cambridge use Panel 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.

That said, the specifics differ slightly: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) runs panel interview with two senior academic or clinical staff, sometimes a lay selector (online); Cambridge runs traditional panel interviews with academic focus. Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) interviews in December - February; Cambridge in December.

Curriculum and teaching style

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) runs a Integrated curriculum; Cambridge runs a Traditional curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Barts and The London (Queen Mary) delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Cambridge uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year MBBS with integrated theory and clinical practice. Strong East London NHS placement network (Royal London, Whipps Cross, Newham, Mile End). Three pre-clinical years at Cambridge (mostly lecture/lab-based, with college supervisions), then three clinical years at Addenbrooke's Hospital and C

Intake size: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) — 311 Home places and up to 24 Overseas expected for September 2026 entry on the five-year A100 - one of the larger UK medical schools.; Cambridge — 270 students accepted in the 2025 cycle across all Colleges (A100 Standard Entry Medicine), including a capped 22 overseas fee-status places..

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

Barts and The London (Queen Mary): No longer 50:50 weighted on A-level predictions and UCAT - anyone who exceeds the UCAT cut-off generally gets an interview regardless of predictions. SJT band adds bonus points to interview score post-interview (Band 1 = +2, Band 2 = +1, Band 3 = 0).

Cambridge: UCAT replaced the BMAT from 2025 entry. Variation between colleges in average UCAT scores and success rates, but the pooling system smooths over it - applying to "less popular" colleges does not meaningfully change your odds. A100 is offered at every College except Hughes Hall.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, Barts and The London (Queen Mary) is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Barts and The London (Queen Mary) feeds into the London foundation programme network; Cambridge into the England network.

If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Barts and The London (Queen Mary); 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. Barts and The London (Queen Mary) guidance: A hard floor at the fourth decile: Queen Mary states your application will not be considered beyond first shortlisting if your total UCAT falls below it. Clearing the fourth decile is no guarantee of an interview.. Cambridge guidance: No threshold. Cambridge states plainly: "There is no minimum threshold for UCAT score.".

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) uses Panel interview: Panel interview with two senior academic or clinical staff, sometimes a lay selector (online). Cambridge uses Traditional interview: Traditional panel interviews with academic focus. 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 - February (Barts and The London (Queen Mary)); December (Cambridge).

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) requires A*AA including Chemistry and Biology/Physics/Mathematics. Cambridge requires A*A*A including Chemistry, plus one or two further science or mathematics subjects from Mathematics, Biology/Human Biology, Physics or Further Mathematics (the number varies by College). Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) — Resits considered with explanation.. Cambridge — Resits considered case-by-case; competitive applicants typically achieve A*A*A in one sitting..

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) — At least 6 GCSEs at grades 777666 (AAABBB pre-2017) including Biology, Chemistry, English Language or English Literature, and Mathematics. Science Double Award may substitute all sciences. GCSEs not required for graduates. Used only as minimum threshold once met - UCAT-led ranking takes over Cambridge — No specific GCSE requirement, but successful applicants typically achieve grade 7+ across all GCSEs. Mean offer-holder ≈ 9.7 grade A*/9 historically. GCSE used contextually as part of holistic shortlisting (less algorithmically than Oxford). Sub-90% A*/9 applicants advised to favour Cambridge over Oxford.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary)'s selection methodology: You must be predicted a minimum UCAS tariff of 152 (A*AA) from the required subjects, and your total UCAT must reach at least the fourth decile to pass first shortlisting. Beyond that, candidates are shortlisted for the MMI, with the SJT used after interview. Queen Mary does not publish, and says it cannot predict, the year's threshold. Cambridge's selection methodology: Holistic assessment run by each College: "We assess applicants through a mixture of academic record, UCAT and interviews." There is no UCAT threshold and no published algorithm. Cambridge interviews a high proportion of applicants and therefore makes many post-interview rejections. 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.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary): UK Undergrad: 948/1294 = 73% (2025); International: 61/159 = 38%; A101 Graduate Medicine: 55/127 = 43%. Cambridge: Home (predicted grades): 253/979 = 26% (2025); International (predicted): 8/58 = 14%. ~30 more offers to those with achieved grades.. 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%.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) runs a Integrated curriculum. Cambridge runs a Traditional curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Barts and The London (Queen Mary) specifics: Five-year MBBS with integrated theory and clinical practice. Strong East London NHS placement network (Royal London, Whipps Cross, Newham, Mile End). Cambridge specifics: Three pre-clinical years at Cambridge (mostly lecture/lab-based, with college supervisions), then three clinical years at Addenbrooke's Hospital and Cambridge-affiliated NHS sites.

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

Barts and The London (Queen Mary)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

CambridgeEntry 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.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) vs Cambridge

Side-by-side comparison

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) vs Cambridge - 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 Barts and The London (Queen Mary) vs Cambridge?

How do interviews differ between Barts and The London (Queen Mary) and Cambridge?

What A-Level grades do Barts and The London (Queen Mary) and Cambridge require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Barts and The London (Queen Mary) vs Cambridge?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Which has a higher post-interview offer rate, Barts and The London (Queen Mary) or Cambridge?

Where are Barts and The London (Queen Mary) and Cambridge located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Barts and The London (Queen Mary) and Cambridge use?

Should I apply to both Barts and The London (Queen Mary) and Cambridge?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons