Barts and The London (Queen Mary) vs Liverpool

Barts and The London (Queen Mary)'s published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 2000, while Liverpool sits at approximately 1910.

The 90-point spread is within year-on-year noise — for most applicants the two thresholds are effectively interchangeable, and other selection factors (GCSE weighting, interview score) will dominate.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Barts and The London (Queen Mary): not separately disclosed; Liverpool: ~1730+ /2700 (2024 entry contextual lowest invited ≈ 1733). Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

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

Liverpool requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) is the stricter A-Level offer; Liverpool is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Liverpool 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. Liverpool: Top 9 GCSE subjects scored. Must include English Language, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics (or dual science). 2 points per 7+, 1 point per 6. Min total 15 points (≈ 6×7s + 3×6s).

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) uses Panel (Panel interview with two senior academic or clinical staff, sometimes a lay selector (online)); Liverpool 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, Liverpool is the better fit.

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

Both schools deliver a Integrated-style curriculum, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar across years 1-3.

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 integrated theory and clinical practice. Strong NHS placement breadth across Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Intake size: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) — ~290 home + ~30 international places per year (one of the larger UK medical schools).; Liverpool — ~280 home + ~30 international places per year (A100 Standard Entry Medicine).. 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%. Liverpool: Home applicants (2024): 612/1870 = 33%; International: 22/138 = 16%. Low post-interview chances for both.

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).

Liverpool: Historic medical school known for tropical medicine and global health. GCSE-heavy scoring (top 9 GCSEs counted). Personal statement not normally used in shortlisting but reserved for borderline cases. Low post-interview success rate compared with peers.