Where are Birmingham and North Wales (Bangor) located, and how does that affect cost?

Birmingham is in Birmingham, UK. North Wales (Bangor) is in Bangor, UK. Tuition is £9,250/year at both for UK home applicants; the main cost difference is accommodation (London accommodation typically runs 30-50% above the national average).

When does each school release decisions?

Birmingham typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. North Wales (Bangor) releases medicine decisions March onwards. If one is earlier than the other, you may need to hold a decision while waiting for the second school — be ready to compare in real time.

Medical school comparison

Birmingham vs North Wales (Bangor)

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at Birmingham vs North Wales (Bangor)?

Birmingham — English Language at grade 6/B, Mathematics at grade 6/B, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science) at grade 6/B. Top GCSEs heavily scored: GCSE = 45% of pre-interview application score (UCAT 40%, contextual 15%) North Wales (Bangor) — English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.

Birmingham and North Wales (Bangor) are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Both sit in England, so location and clinical-placement breadth are similar — the differentiation comes from selection methodology, interview style and curriculum philosophy.

Birmingham is the older institution (founded 1900); the other (founded 2020) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Birmingham and North Wales (Bangor).
Comparison field	BirminghamBirmingham	North Wales (Bangor)Bangor
Quick comparison
Location	Birmingham, UK	Bangor, UK
A-Level offer	AAA including Chemistry and a second science from Biology/Human Biology, Physics or Mathematics, with a minimum prediction of AAB. Three A-levels are required.	AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.
TrueScore	Birmingham TrueScore 2030	North Wales (Bangor) TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off	No cut-off. Birmingham states there is no minimum UCAT score - your total is converted to a national decile and fed into a combined application score.	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	Strong. In the 2024-25 cycle Birmingham made 845 offers from 1,061 home interviews (80%) and 79 from 117 international interviews (68%). Getting to interview is the hard part.	Refused to disclose. New medical school, has been in clearing in past years.
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA including Chemistry and a second science from Biology/Human Biology, Physics or Mathematics, with a minimum prediction of AAB. Three A-levels are required.	AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.
Contextual A-Level offer	AAB under the Contextual Offer scheme (one grade below standard), or ABB on completing a Pathways to Birmingham programme (two grades below), both including Chemistry and a second science from Biology/Human Biology, Physics or Mathematics	AAB for Welsh-speaking applicants (who must also hold a first-language Welsh GCSE) and for others meeting Bangor's contextual criteria.
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry plus one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics, plus one other subject	Biology required, plus one further science
A-Level resit policy	Birmingham does not publish a resit policy on its medicine selection pages, and its sibling dentistry programme states that resits are not considered. Applicants resitting any qualification should confirm their position with the Medical School before applying rather than assuming resits are accepted.	A-level resits are NOT accepted. GCSE resits are accepted only if completed within 12 months of the original sitting and before application.
GCSE requirements	English Language at grade 6/B, Mathematics at grade 6/B, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science) at grade 6/B	English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.
GCSE scoring methodology	Top GCSEs heavily scored: GCSE = 45% of pre-interview application score (UCAT 40%, contextual 15%)	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	Minimum 32 points overall with 6,6,6 at Higher Level, including Chemistry and a second science from Biology / Physics / Mathematics	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Biology and one further science
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any honours degree (A101 graduate-entry route)
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	No cut-off. Contextual applicants gain up to 1.5 extra points on the application score, scaled to their POLAR4 quintile, which lets a lower UCAT decile still reach the interview threshold.	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	International applicants are not given an application score at all: they must meet an academic standard equivalent to A*AA and are then ranked on total UCAT alone.	-
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Used post-interview as one of the interview stations. B1=3/3, B2=2/3, B3=1/3, B4=0/3.	Refused to disclose how SJT is used (avoid with B4)
UCAT notes	Application score = 45% GCSE + 40% UCAT + 15% contextual, out of 10. UCAT is scored by national decile, from 4.000 for the 10th decile down to 0.000 for the 1st, so a decile drop costs about 0.44 poin…	Bangor requires the UCAT but publishes NO minimum threshold - it states only that the score is used in selection. No cut-off should be inferred or estimated.

Degree awarded	MBChB	BMBS
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Integrated	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	-	North Wales
Named placement sites	-	-
Intercalation	Available, usually between year 2 and year 3.	-
Course highlight	-	The programme is bilingual — most components can be studied in Welsh as well as English, and students use Welsh on placement.

Interview window	December - February	December - March
Interview details	An MMI circuit of six or seven stations, each lasting 8 minutes including 2 minutes of preparation in which you are told the topic and, where relevant, the questions. The circuit mixes interview stati…	MMI format spread across several stations. Each station gives 3 minutes' preparation for two questions and 3 minutes to answer each. Topics include motivation, ethics and reflection on experiences.

Specialities	Medicine, Dentistry, Medical Sciences	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	1900	2020
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Selection is GCSE-heavy: 45% GCSE / 40% UCAT / 15% contextual. UCAT scored by national decile, so a clear top-decile score makes a big difference. Birmingham was the first UK university to offer denti…	Bangor publishes no UCAT threshold and has declined FOI requests on its shortlisting weighting, so no cut-off can be quoted. A-level resits are not accepted. Welsh-speaking applicants (with a first-la…
Official course page	https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/med/medicine	https://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/a100-medicine-bmbs

Birmingham

Quick comparison

Location: Birmingham, UK
A-Level offer: AAA including Chemistry and a second science from Biology/Human Biology, Physics or Mathematics, with a minimum prediction of AAB. Three A-levels are required.
TrueScore: Birmingham TrueScore 2030
UCAT home cut-off: No cut-off. Birmingham states there is no minimum UCAT score - your total is converted to a national decile and fed into a combined application score.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Strong. In the 2024-25 cycle Birmingham made 845 offers from 1,061 home interviews (80%) and 79 from 117 international interviews (68%). Getting to interview is the hard part.
Decision date: March onwards

North Wales (Bangor)

Bangor

Quick comparison

Location: Bangor, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.
TrueScore: North Wales (Bangor) TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Refused to disclose. New medical school, has been in clearing in past years.
Decision date: March onwards

Birmingham vs North Wales (Bangor) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Birmingham requires AAA including Chemistry and a second science from Biology/Human Biology, Physics or Mathematics, with a minimum prediction of AAB. Three A-levels are required.

North Wales (Bangor) requires AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.

Both demand the same A-Level grade band, so academic prediction is unlikely to differentiate your application between them — provided you meet the required subject combination at each.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Birmingham: English Language at grade 6/B, Mathematics at grade 6/B, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science) at grade 6/B. Top GCSEs heavily scored: GCSE = 45% of pre-interview application score (UCAT 40%… North Wales (Bangor): English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.

Interview formats

Both Birmingham and North Wales (Bangor) use MMI 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.

Interview windows: Birmingham interviews in December - February; North Wales (Bangor) in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Birmingham runs a Integrated curriculum; North Wales (Bangor) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Birmingham delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while North Wales (Bangor) centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: Five-year MBChB with integrated science and clinical exposure from Year 1. Clinical placements across Birmingham-affiliated NHS hospitals (UHB, Russel Four-year accelerated MBBCh (Cardiff) for graduates, or 5-year route. Strong rural/community placement strand across North Wales (Betsi Cadwaladr UHB)

Intake size: Birmingham — 380 home places and 28 international for 2025 entry, of which up to 6 international places are reserved for IMU-Malaysia students entering the clinical years.; North Wales (Bangor) — ~30 places per year (small cohort, designed for local retention).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

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.

What makes each distinctive

Birmingham: Selection is GCSE-heavy: 45% GCSE / 40% UCAT / 15% contextual. UCAT scored by national decile, so a clear top-decile score makes a big difference. Birmingham was the first UK university to offer dentistry and medicine programmes side by side.

North Wales (Bangor): Bangor publishes no UCAT threshold and has declined FOI requests on its shortlisting weighting, so no cut-off can be quoted. A-level resits are not accepted. Welsh-speaking applicants (with a first-language Welsh GCSE) and other contextual applicants may receive an AAB offer.

Which is right for you?

Both schools sit in the same England foundation-programme catchment, so post-graduation training paths overlap heavily. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer North Wales (Bangor); if you prefer lecture-led foundations, the other suits better.

Your firm/insurance choice should ultimately weight: where your UCAT and predicted grades sit relative to each school's threshold, which interview format you can prepare for most credibly, and where you'd actually want to live for five or six years.

Common questions

Neither school publishes a single fixed UCAT cut-off; both use UCAT as part of a composite shortlisting score alongside GCSE and personal-statement weighting. Birmingham guidance: No cut-off. Birmingham states there is no minimum UCAT score - your total is converted to a national decile and fed into a combined application score.. North Wales (Bangor) guidance: Bangor requires the UCAT but publishes NO minimum threshold - it states only that the score is used in selection. No cut-off should be inferred or estimated..

Birmingham uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). North Wales (Bangor) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). The format is the same, so the same prep approach applies — practise ethics frameworks, NHS hot topics, and (for MMI) structured 5-7 minute station answers. Interview windows: December - February (Birmingham); December - March (North Wales (Bangor)).

Birmingham requires AAA including Chemistry and a second science from Biology/Human Biology, Physics or Mathematics, with a minimum prediction of AAB. North Wales (Bangor) requires AAA including Biology and one further science. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Birmingham — Birmingham does not publish a resit policy on its medicine selection pages, and its sibling dentistry programme states that resits are not c. North Wales (Bangor) — Resits considered..

Birmingham's selection methodology: Home applicants are ranked on a total application score out of 10: 45% GCSE (max 4.5), 40% UCAT by national decile (max 4.0) and 15% contextual (max 1.5). There is no fixed UCAT cut-off, so strong GCSEs genuinely compensate for a weaker UCAT. The personal statement is not scored, though it is read before and after interview and must evidence commitment to medicine. The threshold score moves each year and is only set once the whole pool is known. International applicants are handled separately, ranked on UCAT alone once they meet the academic bar. North Wales (Bangor)'s selection methodology: AAA including Biology and a second science, plus UCAT with no published threshold, then MMI. Cardiff University School of Medicine is the contingency partner during GMC accreditation, so students would graduate from Cardiff if required. Understanding each school's exact algorithm is the single highest-leverage piece of pre-application research — it tells you whether your profile is competitive before you spend an application choice.

Birmingham: Strong. In the 2024-25 cycle Birmingham made 845 offers from 1,061 home interviews (80%) and 79 from 117 international interviews (68%). Getting to interview is the hard part.. North Wales (Bangor): Refused to disclose. New medical school, has been in clearing in past years.. Post-interview odds tell you how competitive each school is at the final stage. Two schools with similar UCAT thresholds can have very different post-interview rates — a school with a 60% post-interview success rate is structurally easier to convert than one at 25%.

Birmingham runs a Integrated curriculum. North Wales (Bangor) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Birmingham specifics: Five-year MBChB with integrated science and clinical exposure from Year 1. Clinical placements across Birmingham-affiliated NHS hospitals (UHB, Russell's Hall, Heartlands). North Wales (Bangor) specifics: Four-year accelerated MBBCh (Cardiff) for graduates, or 5-year route. Strong rural/community placement strand across North Wales (Betsi Cadwaladr UHB).

You can — UCAS allows 4 medicine/dentistry choices in total, so listing both is feasible if your profile fits each school's selection algorithm. Apply to both only if your UCAT, GCSE and predicted-grade profile is competitive against each school's published weighting. A common mistake is using two of your four slots on similar schools when a more spread-out portfolio (one safe + one stretch) would maximise overall offer probability.

Where to go next

BirminghamEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

North Wales (Bangor)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 19 September 2026.

Birmingham vs North Wales (Bangor)

Side-by-side comparison

Birmingham vs North Wales (Bangor) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

Post-interview offer rate

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Birmingham vs North Wales (Bangor)?

How do interviews differ between Birmingham and North Wales (Bangor)?

What A-Level grades do Birmingham and North Wales (Bangor) require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Birmingham vs North Wales (Bangor)?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Which has a higher post-interview offer rate, Birmingham or North Wales (Bangor)?

Where are Birmingham and North Wales (Bangor) located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Birmingham and North Wales (Bangor) use?

Should I apply to both Birmingham and North Wales (Bangor)?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons