Barts and The London (Queen Mary) vs Kent and Medway (KMMS)

Barts and The London (Queen Mary)'s published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 2000, while Kent and Medway (KMMS) sits at approximately 1840.

The 160-point spread matters: Kent and Medway (KMMS) offers slightly more headroom for an average-strong UCAT, while Barts and The London (Queen Mary) expects performance closer to the national 75th-90th percentile.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) requires A*AA including Chemistry and Biology/Physics/Mathematics.

Kent and Medway (KMMS) requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

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

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Barts and The London (Queen Mary): Min 6 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science. Kent and Medway (KMMS): Min 6 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) uses Panel (Panel interview with two senior academic or clinical staff, sometimes a lay selector (online)); Kent and Medway (KMMS) uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)). These two formats reward different skills — Panel emphasises narrative coherence and the ability to develop a thread under follow-up questioning, while MMI rewards breadth and quick recovery.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, Barts and The London (Queen Mary) may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, Kent and Medway (KMMS) is the better fit.

Interview windows: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) interviews in December - February; Kent and Medway (KMMS) in December - March.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) runs a Integrated curriculum; Kent and Medway (KMMS) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Barts and The London (Queen Mary) delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Kent and Medway (KMMS) centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: Five-year MBBS with integrated theory and clinical practice. Strong East London NHS placement network (Royal London, Whipps Cross, Newham, Mile End). Five-year MBBS jointly run by University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University. Strong rural/community placement strand across Kent and Medw

Intake size: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) — ~290 home + ~30 international places per year (one of the larger UK medical schools).; Kent and Medway (KMMS) — ~125 home + ~25 international places per year.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary): UK Undergrad: 948/1294 = 73% (2025); International: 61/159 = 38%; A101 Graduate Medicine: 55/127 = 43%. Kent and Medway (KMMS): Home Fee Status: 176/404 = 44%; International: 14/32 = 44% (only 113 applicants); Graduate (2023): 52/83 = 63%.

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.

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).

Kent and Medway (KMMS): Selection by contextualised GCSE 'Attainment 8' score (/90) after UCAT minimum met - strong choice for high-GCSE / low-UCAT applicants. School performance averaged in to contextualise GCSE scoring (national average 45.9; ~25% above school average likely required).