Where are Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) and Dundee located, and how does that affect cost?

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) is in Brighton, UK. Dundee is in Dundee, UK. Scottish-domiciled applicants funded by SAAS pay no tuition fees at Scottish medical schools — a substantial funding advantage worth tens of thousands of pounds over the degree. Rest-of-UK applicants still pay £9,250/year.

When does each school release decisions?

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Dundee 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

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) vs Dundee

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) and Dundee are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) is based in Brighton (England) while Dundee sits in Dundee (Scotland), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

The interview formats diverge — MMI vs Assessment day — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) and Dundee.
Comparison field	Brighton & Sussex (BSMS)Brighton	DundeeDundee
Quick comparison
Location	Brighton, UK	Dundee, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry	AAA at A-level (minimum) - AAA or AAA* recommended for non-contextual RUK due to use in shortlisting algorithm
TrueScore	Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) TrueScore 1990	Dundee TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off	~1900+ /2700	No published threshold for the current scale. Dundee publishes admissions statistics by year of entry, but warns that because Abstract Reasoning was withdrawn in 2025 and the maximum moved from 3,600 to 2,700, the figures shown are not directly comparable with scores from 2025 onwards.
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Two-part group interview (about 1h40m including registration): an observed 30-minute group discussion, then an assessor-led discussion with the same group
Post-interview chance	Home: 394/737 = 53% (2025); International: 27/72 = 38%	RUK Non-Contextual (2025): 73/130 = 56%; Scottish: 647/825 = 78%; International: 86/156 = 55%
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry	AAA at A-level (minimum) - AAA or AAA* recommended for non-contextual RUK due to use in shortlisting algorithm
Contextual A-Level offer	AAB at A-level for UKWPMED-eligible (contextual) applicants, including Biology and Chemistry	-
Required A-Level subjects	Biology and Chemistry both required	Chemistry plus another science from Biology, Physics or Mathematics
A-Level resit policy	Resits considered with one dropped grade (i.e. AAB on first attempt then AAA at resit)	Resits not accepted (exceptional circumstances only)
GCSE requirements	Minimum grade 6/B in Mathematics and English Language or English Literature. Grade 5s accepted with contextual data.	Biology, English and Mathematics at minimum grade 6/B if not studied at A-level
GCSE scoring methodology	Used only as a minimum threshold - not used to rank applicants beyond meeting the floor	GCSEs feed the academic score (60% of pre-interview ranking for school leavers); higher grades are essential due to high weighting
Scottish Highers	-	AAAAB at Higher in S5 with Chemistry plus another science from Biology, Physics or Mathematics
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	Recommended at AB or higher to be competitive for offer (used in academic ranking)
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Biology and Chemistry	37 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Chemistry and a second science
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any honours degree. Graduate academic score is based only on undergraduate performance - A-level predictions/achieved grades not used in graduate ranking. Pre-interview shortlisting weights 40% academic + 60% UCAT for graduates.
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	~1810+ /2700 (UK WP)	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	~2030+ /2700	-
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Band 4 autorejected - 1, 2, 3 are fine	No use of SJT
UCAT notes	Wholly UCAT-based shortlisting (50th centile or above considered, then ranked downwards). Offers made on interview performance. Band 4 SJT auto-rejected.	Pre-interview shortlisting weights academic score 60% and UCAT 40% for school leavers, and 40%/60% for graduates. The SJT is not used. Scottish, RUK and international applicants are considered against…

Degree awarded	BM BS	MBChB
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Integrated	Spiral
Anatomy teaching	Full-body dissection	Full-body dissection
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	Sussex and Surrey	Dundee and across Scotland
Named placement sites	Royal Sussex County Hospital	Ninewells Hospital, Dundee
Intercalation	Optional. Numbers are capped at 40% of the cohort, with priority given to those without a prior degree.	An optional one-year intercalated BMSc (Hons), taken between years 3 and 4, with nine subjects on offer.
Course highlight	The degree is awarded jointly by the Universities of Brighton and Sussex.	Anatomy is taught on Thiel-embalmed cadavers, which retain life-like flexibility and joint mobility.

Interview window	December - March	January
Interview details	MMI format. Questions feel closer to a typical job interview than a clinical viva - personal attributes feature heavily. There is usually time to spare in each station, so pace yourself.	Dundee's interview has two parts (published for September 2027 entry). First, you discuss a set scenario with five other applicants for around 30 minutes while an assessor observes without joining in.…

Specialities	Medicine, Medical Education	Medicine, Dentistry, Life Sciences
Established	2002	1967
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Wholly UCAT-based shortlisting. Offers made primarily on interview performance - UCAT is only used post-interview for borderline cases. Band 4 SJT auto-rejected; bands 1-3 are fine.	Scottish medical school renowned for anatomy teaching and medical research. Shortlisting weights 60% academic / 40% UCAT for school leavers (40/60 for graduates). Both A-level predictions and GCSEs fe…
Official course page	https://www.bsms.ac.uk/undergraduate/our-course/index.aspx	https://www.dundee.ac.uk/undergraduate/medicine

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS)

Brighton

Quick comparison

Location: Brighton, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry
TrueScore: Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) TrueScore 1990
UCAT home cut-off: ~1900+ /2700
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Home: 394/737 = 53% (2025); International: 27/72 = 38%
Decision date: March onwards

Dundee

Quick comparison

Location: Dundee, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level (minimum) - A*A*A or A*A*A* recommended for non-contextual RUK due to use in shortlisting algorithm
TrueScore: Dundee TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off: No published threshold for the current scale. Dundee publishes admissions statistics by year of entry, but warns that because Abstract Reasoning was withdrawn in 2025 and the maximum moved from 3,600 to 2,700, the figures shown are not directly comparable with scores from 2025 onwards.
Interview format: Two-part group interview (about 1h40m including registration): an observed 30-minute group discussion, then an assessor-led discussion with the same group
Post-interview chance: RUK Non-Contextual (2025): 73/130 = 56%; Scottish: 647/825 = 78%; International: 86/156 = 55%
Decision date: March onwards

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) vs Dundee - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) requires AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry.

Dundee requires AAA at A-level (minimum) - A*A*A or A*A*A* recommended for non-contextual RUK due to use in shortlisting algorithm.

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 — Brighton & Sussex (BSMS): Minimum grade 6/B in Mathematics and English Language or English Literature. Grade 5s accepted with contextual data. Used only as a minimum threshold - not used to rank applicants beyond meeting the… Dundee: Biology, English and Mathematics at minimum grade 6/B if not studied at A-level.

GCSEs feed the academic score (60% of pre-interview ranking for school leavers); higher grades are essential due to…

Interview formats

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)); Dundee uses Assessment day (Two-part group interview (about 1h40m including registration): an observed 30-minute group discussion, then an assessor-led discussion with the same group). These two formats reward different skills — MMI emphasises breadth, station-recovery and structured answers under time pressure, while Assessment day rewards malleability and intellectual honesty.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, either may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) is the better fit.

Interview windows: Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) interviews in December - March; Dundee in January.

Curriculum and teaching style

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) runs a PBL curriculum; Dundee runs a Spiral curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Dundee uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year MBBS jointly run by Brighton and Sussex universities. Sussex-based pre-clinical years; clinical placements across Sussex NHS sites (Royal Su Five-year MBChB spiral curriculum - concepts revisited with increasing complexity. Clinical placements across NHS Tayside, NHS Fife, NHS Highland, and

Intake size: Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) — ~165 home + ~25 international places per year; Dundee — Home (Scottish + Contextual) ~825 places; RUK ~130; International ~156 (2025 entry). A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS): Home: 394/737 = 53% (2025); International: 27/72 = 38%. Dundee: RUK Non-Contextual (2025): 73/130 = 56%; Scottish: 647/825 = 78%; International: 86/156 = 55%.

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

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS): Wholly UCAT-based shortlisting. Offers made primarily on interview performance - UCAT is only used post-interview for borderline cases. Band 4 SJT auto-rejected; bands 1-3 are fine.

Dundee: Scottish medical school renowned for anatomy teaching and medical research. Shortlisting weights 60% academic / 40% UCAT for school leavers (40/60 for graduates). Both A-level predictions and GCSEs feed the academic score.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) feeds into the England foundation programme network; Dundee into the Scotland network. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Brighton & Sussex (BSMS); 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

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS): home applicants — ~1900+ /2700. Dundee: no published threshold for the current scale. These are the figures on record for 2027-entry applicants. Schools without a fixed cut-off rank UCAT inside a composite shortlisting score, so thresholds move with each year's applicant pool — confirm the latest figure on each school's admissions page.

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Dundee uses Assessment day: Two-part group interview (about 1h40m including registration): an observed 30-minute group discussion, then an assessor-led discussion with the same group. The two formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each, with at least 3 full mock interviews per format before sitting either. Interview windows: December - March (Brighton & Sussex (BSMS)); January (Dundee).

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) requires AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry. Dundee requires AAA at A-level (minimum) - A*A*A or A*A*A* recommended for non-contextual RUK due to use in shortlisting algorithm. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) — Resits accepted with explanation.. Dundee — Resits not accepted (one-sitting expectation for standard applicants)..

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) — Minimum grade 6/B in Mathematics and English Language or English Literature. Grade 5s accepted with contextual data. Used only as a minimum threshold - not used to rank applicants beyond meeting the floor Dundee — Biology, English and Mathematics at minimum grade 6/B if not studied at A-level. GCSEs feed the academic score (60% of pre-interview ranking for school leavers); higher grades are essential due to high weighting

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS)'s selection methodology: Joint programme between University of Brighton and University of Sussex. UCAT + academic + Multiple Mini Interview. SJT used post-interview. Dundee's selection methodology: 60% academic score (GCSE + predicted A-Level) + 40% UCAT for shortlisting. Personal statement not scored - may be discussed at interview. SJT not used. 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.

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS): Home: 394/737 = 53% (2025); International: 27/72 = 38%. Dundee: RUK Non-Contextual (2025): 73/130 = 56%; Scottish: 647/825 = 78%; International: 86/156 = 55%. 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%.

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) runs a PBL curriculum. Dundee runs a Spiral curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) specifics: Five-year MBBS jointly run by Brighton and Sussex universities. Sussex-based pre-clinical years; clinical placements across Sussex NHS sites (Royal Sussex County Hospital, Western Sussex Hospitals). Dundee specifics: Five-year MBChB spiral curriculum - concepts revisited with increasing complexity. Clinical placements across NHS Tayside, NHS Fife, NHS Highland, and remote/rural Scottish sites.

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

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

DundeeEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 14 August 2026.

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) vs Dundee

Side-by-side comparison

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) vs Dundee - 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 Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) vs Dundee?

How do interviews differ between Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) and Dundee?

What A-Level grades do Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) and Dundee require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) vs Dundee?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Which has a higher post-interview offer rate, Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) or Dundee?

Where are Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) and Dundee located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) and Dundee use?

Should I apply to both Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) and Dundee?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons