Barts and The London (Queen Mary) vs Leicester

Barts and The London (Queen Mary)'s published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 2000, while Leicester sits at approximately 1750.

The 250-point spread matters: Leicester 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.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Barts and The London (Queen Mary): not separately disclosed; Leicester: ~1725+ /2700 (UKWPMed; 2024 contextual cut-off ≈ 1763). Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

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

Leicester requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) is the stricter A-Level offer; Leicester is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Leicester 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. Leicester: Min 5 GCSEs at grade 7+ (A/A*) 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)); Leicester 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, Leicester is the better fit.

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

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) runs a Integrated curriculum; Leicester 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 Leicester 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 MBChB with problem-based learning. Clinical placements across Leicestershire NHS hospitals (Leicester Royal Infirmary, Glenfield, Kettering,

Intake size: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) — ~290 home + ~30 international places per year (one of the larger UK medical schools).; Leicester — ~270 home + ~30 international places per year (A100 standard 5-year programme).. 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%. Leicester: UK Undergraduate: 797/1351 = 59% (2025); UK Graduate: 19/32 = 59%; Overseas Undergraduate: 57/199 = 29%.

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).

Leicester: Combined UCAT + GCSE scoring out of 96. Predicted A-level applicants only need AAB UKWPMed; achieved-grade applicants assessed in top 5 deciles UCAT instead. Personal statement is not routinely used.