Barts and The London (Queen Mary) vs Swansea (GEM)

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

Swansea (GEM) requires Graduate entry programme - degree required.

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. Swansea (GEM): Not applicable - graduate-entry programme. Requires a 2:1 honours degree.

Both Barts and The London (Queen Mary) and Swansea (GEM) 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); Swansea (GEM) runs assessment day. 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; Swansea (GEM) in March.

Barts and The London (Queen Mary) runs a Integrated curriculum; Swansea (GEM) 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 Swansea (GEM) 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). Four-year accelerated graduate-entry MBBCh. Swansea-based with South Wales NHS placements (Swansea Bay UHB, Hywel Dda UHB).

Intake size: Barts and The London (Queen Mary) — ~290 home + ~30 international places per year (one of the larger UK medical schools).; Swansea (GEM) — ~70 home + ~10 international places per year (4-year accelerated MBBCh).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

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).

Swansea (GEM): Graduate entry programme with a written SJT exercise as part of the selection day. Personal statement and detailed course knowledge feature prominently - applicants should know Swansea's programme structure in detail.