Barts and The London (Queen Mary) vs Peninsula (Plymouth)

Barts and The London (Queen Mary)'s published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 2000, while Peninsula (Plymouth) sits at approximately 1900.

The 100-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; Peninsula (Plymouth): ~1700+ /2700 (UKWPMED or AAB; 2024 entry contextual lowest invited ≈ 1658). Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

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

Peninsula (Plymouth) requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) is the stricter A-Level offer; Peninsula (Plymouth) is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Peninsula (Plymouth) 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. Peninsula (Plymouth): Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 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)); Peninsula (Plymouth) 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, Peninsula (Plymouth) is the better fit.

Interview windows: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) interviews in December - February; Peninsula (Plymouth) in Not available.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) runs a Integrated curriculum; Peninsula (Plymouth) 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 Peninsula (Plymouth) 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 with PBL and case-based learning. Distinctive rural/coastal placement strand across Devon, Cornwall, Somerset.

Intake size: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) — ~290 home + ~30 international places per year (one of the larger UK medical schools).; Peninsula (Plymouth) — ~140 home + ~25 international places per year (Plymouth University Peninsula MBChB).. 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%. Peninsula (Plymouth): All Applicants: 434/761 = 57% (2025).

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).

Peninsula (Plymouth): Plymouth publishes the qualities they assess: communication, decision making, reflection and self-insight, motivation and commitment, integrity and inclusivity, resilience and adaptability, and teamwork. Personal statement and work experience are NOT considered in interview selection.