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

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) is in Brighton, UK. Hertfordshire is in Hatfield, 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?

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

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) vs Hertfordshire?

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 Hertfordshire — Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Dual Award Science).

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) and Hertfordshire 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.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) and Hertfordshire.
Comparison field	Brighton & Sussex (BSMS)Brighton	HertfordshireHatfield
Quick comparison
Location	Brighton, UK	Hatfield, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry	AAA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Human Biology) at grade A plus a third subject at grade A, completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years. General Studies and Critical Thinking excluded.
TrueScore	Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) TrueScore 1990	Hertfordshire TrueScore 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off	~1900+ /2700	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	Home: 394/737 = 53% (2025); International: 27/72 = 38%	-
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry	AAA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Human Biology) at grade A plus a third subject at grade A, completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years. General Studies and Critical Thinking excluded.
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 AND Biology (or Human Biology) both required, plus any third subject
A-Level resit policy	Resits considered with one dropped grade (i.e. AAB on first attempt then AAA at resit)	Resits accepted.
GCSE requirements	Minimum grade 6/B in Mathematics and English Language or English Literature. Grade 5s accepted with contextual data.	Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Dual Award Science)
GCSE scoring methodology	Used only as a minimum threshold - not used to rank applicants beyond meeting the floor	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Biology and Chemistry	36 points overall with Higher Level 6 in Chemistry or Biology and Higher Level 5 in a second science (Chemistry, Biology, Physics) or Mathematics
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	-
Alternative qualifications	-	Access to Medicine Diploma accepted: 39 credits at distinction plus six at merit, with all biology and chemistry credits at distinction. International applicants only for the first cohort, applying direct rather than through UCAS, so it costs none of your four UCAS choices. Applicants must be 18 by the start of the course.

Contextual cut-off	~1810+ /2700 (UK WP)	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	~2030+ /2700	No cut-off exists yet. Hertfordshire ranks applicants by UCAT and invites a fixed number to interview, but the first cohort is September 2026 so there is no historic lowest-invited score to quote.
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Band 4 autorejected - 1, 2, 3 are fine	No usage mentioned in any selection policy
UCAT notes	Wholly UCAT-based shortlisting (50th centile or above considered, then ranked downwards). Offers made on interview performance. Band 4 SJT auto-rejected.	International applicants only for the first intake. SJT not used. Any number circulating as a Hertfordshire 'cut-off' is guesswork - the school has not yet completed a cycle.

Degree awarded	BM BS	MBBS
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Integrated	Case-based learning + Problem-based learning
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 3	Year 1
Placement geography	Sussex	-
Named placement sites	Royal Sussex County Hospital	-
Intercalation	Optional. Numbers are capped at 40% of the cohort, with priority given to those without a prior degree.	Available during the course, earning an additional qualification.
Course highlight	The degree is awarded jointly by the Universities of Brighton and Sussex.	Initially open to international students only — around 70 places a year — with plans to admit UK fee-paying students soon after.

Interview window	December - March	December - March
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.	Applicants are ranked by UCAT score and a fixed number invited to an Interview Day, provided they meet academic minimums. Interview format includes typical MMI-style stations.

Specialities	Medicine, Medical Education	Medicine, International Medicine
Established	2002	2025
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.	International applicants only for the first intake, with home entry planned later. Delivered with support from City St George's, University of London, and still working toward GMC accreditation - conf…
Official course page	https://www.bsms.ac.uk/undergraduate/our-course/index.aspx	https://www.herts.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/mbbs-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

Hertfordshire

Hatfield

Quick comparison

Location: Hatfield, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Human Biology) at grade A plus a third subject at grade A, completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years. General Studies and Critical Thinking excluded.
TrueScore: Hertfordshire TrueScore 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) vs Hertfordshire - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

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

Hertfordshire requires AAA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Human Biology) at grade A plus a third subject at grade A, completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years. General Studies and Critical Thinking excluded.

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… Hertfordshire: Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Dual Award Science).

Interview formats

Both Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) and Hertfordshire 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: Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) interviews in December - March; Hertfordshire in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Both schools deliver a PBL-style curriculum, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar across years 1-3.

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. Hertfordshire-based with East-of-England NHS placements.

Intake size: Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) — ~165 home + ~25 international places per year.; Hertfordshire — ~50-100 places per year (newer cohort).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

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.

Hertfordshire: International applicants only for the first intake, with home entry planned later. Delivered with support from City St George's, University of London, and still working toward GMC accreditation - confirm the accreditation position before accepting an offer. Applicants are ranked by UCAT with no published cut-off.

Which is right for you?

Both schools sit in the same England foundation-programme catchment, so post-graduation training paths overlap heavily. 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. Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) guidance: ~1900+ /2700. Hertfordshire guidance: International applicants only for the first intake. SJT not used. Any number circulating as a Hertfordshire 'cut-off' is guesswork - the school has not yet completed a cycle..

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Hertfordshire 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 - March (Brighton & Sussex (BSMS)); December - March (Hertfordshire).

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) requires AAA including Biology and Chemistry. Hertfordshire requires AAA including Chemistry AND Biology (or Human Biology), plus a third subject, completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years. 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.. Hertfordshire — Resits accepted..

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. Hertfordshire's selection methodology: Newer programme. UCAT + academic + interview. Hertfordshire-based with strong widening-participation focus. 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) runs a PBL curriculum. Hertfordshire runs a PBL curriculum. Both schools deliver teaching in the same broad style, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar. 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). Hertfordshire specifics: Five-year MBChB. Hertfordshire-based with East-of-England NHS placements.

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

HertfordshireEntry 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.

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) vs Hertfordshire

Side-by-side comparison

Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) vs Hertfordshire - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Brighton & Sussex (BSMS) vs Hertfordshire?

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

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

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

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

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

When does each school release decisions?

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

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

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons