Bristol vs Exeter

Bristol's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 2260, while Exeter sits at approximately 1880.

That's a 380-point gap — large enough to put the two schools in completely different competitiveness tiers. An applicant scoring in the 2000-2100 band would be competitive at Exeter but borderline at Bristol.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Bristol: ~1450+ /2700 (A108 Gateway / WP - lowest invited has reached as low as 1340); Exeter: ~1820+ /2700 with A*A*A* (4th decile) OR ~2010+ /2700 with A*A*A (7th decile). Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

Bristol requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Exeter requires Applicants need to apply via UCAS by 15 October; academic profile + admissions test used to determine interview invite. Typical A-Level offer A*AA (contextual AAB) for 2026 entry.

Both Bristol and Exeter 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: Bristol interviews in December - February; Exeter in December – March.

Bristol: Total: 650/968 = 67% (2024); A108 Gateway to Medicine: 63/88 = 72%. Exeter: International (2026 policy): ~33% (10 places, ~30 interviews); UK Undergrad: 366/696 = 53%.

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.

Bristol: Russell Group university with strong medical and dental programmes. Shortlisting is wholly UCAT-based - neither personal statement nor SJT is used in selection. Bristol has the highest UCAT cut-off of the major English schools.

Exeter: Focus on non-academic qualities including communication, empathy, role-play and realistic insight into the course and career. Points-based shortlisting combining A-level prediction + UCAT decile (75% academic / 25% UCAT). SJT not used - band 4 is fine.