Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) vs Edinburgh

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Edinburgh requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology/Physics/Mathematics.

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): Min 6 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science. Edinburgh: Strong GCSE/National 5 profile expected; not algorithmically scored.

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)); Edinburgh uses Assessment day (Assessment day: three 12-minute individual stations plus a 45-minute group exercise (Edinburgh describes it as 'not a typical MMI format')). 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; Edinburgh in December - February.

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) runs a PBL curriculum; Edinburgh runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Edinburgh 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 Six-year MBChB with compulsory intercalated honours degree in Year 3 (one of the largest intercalated cohorts in the UK).

Intake size: Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) — ~165 home + ~25 international places per year.; Edinburgh — ~210 Scottish + RUK + ~22 international places per year.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS): Home: 394/737 = 53% (2025); International: 27/72 = 38%. Edinburgh: RUK student: 166/300 = 68%; Scottish student: 424/432 = 98% (effectively not interviewed); Overseas student: 45/98 = 46%.

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.

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.

Edinburgh: Around 50% academic, 35% UCAT and 15% SJT in shortlisting; SJT band 4 is rejected outright. Scottish applicants face a much lower bar than RUK and are effectively guaranteed an interview if they meet minimums. Strong research focus and international reputation.