How do interviews differ between Bristol and Nottingham?

Bristol uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Nottingham 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: November - April (Bristol); December - March (Nottingham).

Where are Bristol and Nottingham located, and how does that affect cost?

Bristol is in Bristol, UK. Nottingham is in Nottingham, 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?

Bristol typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Nottingham 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

Bristol vs Nottingham

Bristol and Nottingham 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: Bristol and Nottingham.
Comparison field	BristolBristol	NottinghamNottingham
Quick comparison
Location	Bristol, UK	Nottingham, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics, Mathematics or Further Mathematics	AAA at A-level including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry. No use of predicted grades - Nottingham considers achieved grades only.
TrueScore	Bristol TrueScore 2280	Nottingham TrueScore 1850
UCAT home cut-off	2240+ /2700 - the final threshold to be invited to interview for 2026 entry.	No fixed score. Nottingham states that the threshold varies year by year, cannot be predicted in advance, and that it does not share previous years' thresholds.
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	Total: 650/968 = 67% (2024); A108 Gateway to Medicine: 63/88 = 72%	All Students (2024): 519/913 = 57% (or 336/911 = 37% from another source); A108 WP Foundation Year: 61/188 = 32%
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics, Mathematics or Further Mathematics	AAA at A-level including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry. No use of predicted grades - Nottingham considers achieved grades only.
Contextual A-Level offer	ABB at A-level for contextual / WP-eligible applicants	Two contextual tiers, both requiring at least an A in Biology or Chemistry: standard contextual AAB, enhanced contextual ABB.
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry required, plus one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics / Further Mathematics	Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry both required
A-Level resit policy	Resits accepted - no requirement that all three A-levels be sat in the same year	Resits considered case-by-case; standard expectation is one-sitting AAA.
GCSE requirements	Mathematics at minimum grade 7/A and English Language at minimum grade 4/C. GCSE resit applicants welcomed and may apply with results pending.	Minimum six GCSEs at grade 7/A including both Biology and Chemistry, plus at least grade 6/B in Mathematics and English Language (English and Maths do NOT need to be at grade 7).
GCSE scoring methodology	GCSEs and A-levels used only as minimum thresholds - 100% UCAT weighting for shortlisting once minimums are met	GCSEs feed the combined points score used for shortlisting alongside UCAT.
Scottish Highers	AAAAB at Higher including Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	AA at Advanced Higher including Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics	-
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, 18 at Higher Level including 6,6 HL in Chemistry and one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics (either Analysis & Approaches or Applications & Interpretation)	34 points overall including HL6 in Biology and HL6 in Chemistry; alternatively 6,6,6 across three HL Certificates with HL6 in Biology and HL6 in Chemistry.
Graduate-entry degree requirement	A 2:1 in your degree plus BBB at A-level, including Chemistry and either Biology, Physics, Mathematics or Further Mathematics	-
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	2270+ /2700 for 2026 entry.	-
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Not used	Band 4 automatically rejected. SJT scored: B1=10, B2=6, B3=2, B4=0.
UCAT notes	Shortlisting is wholly UCAT once the academic minimum is met, using the combined score from every subtest EXCEPT the Situational Judgement Test. Bristol states the threshold is subject to change year…	Nottingham scores each UCAT component raw score rather than working from the total alone, and combines that with GCSE scoring to select for interview. An SJT of Band 4 means you will not be considered…

Degree awarded	MB ChB	BMBS
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Case-based learning + Integrated	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	Prosection	-
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 2
Placement geography	-	Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire
Named placement sites	-	Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham City Hospital, Highbury Hospital, Royal Derby Hospital, King's Mill Hospital, Chesterfield Royal Hospital, Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust, Derbyshire Healthcare Trust
Intercalation	Offered between years 3 and 4, at bachelor's or master's level.	-
Course highlight	You choose the placement for your final-year elective.	The course was co-created with input from students, staff and practitioners.

Interview window	November - April	December - March
Interview details	Bristol calls this a structured interview rather than an MMI: around 30 minutes across six stations, each assessed by a panel of three, and hosted remotely. No reading or writing is required in any of…	An MMI of six scenarios, including at least one role play. Expect a strong emphasis on awareness of current NHS and healthcare issues alongside the usual motivation and ethics ground.

Specialities	Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Sciences	Medicine, Medical Sciences, Graduate Entry Medicine
Established	1876	1948
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	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…	Scoring system is now distinct from Lincoln's, weighting GCSE (/32), UCAT (/40) and SJT (/10) - band 4 SJT auto-rejected. No use of predicted A-level grades.
Official course page	https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2027/medicine/mb-chb-medicine/	https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studywithus/ugstudy/courses/UG/2026/Medicine-BMBS.html

Bristol

Quick comparison

Location: Bristol, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics, Mathematics or Further Mathematics
TrueScore: Bristol TrueScore 2280
UCAT home cut-off: 2240+ /2700 - the final threshold to be invited to interview for 2026 entry.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Total: 650/968 = 67% (2024); A108 Gateway to Medicine: 63/88 = 72%
Decision date: March onwards

Nottingham

Quick comparison

Location: Nottingham, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry. No use of predicted grades - Nottingham considers achieved grades only.
TrueScore: Nottingham TrueScore 1850
UCAT home cut-off: No fixed score. Nottingham states that the threshold varies year by year, cannot be predicted in advance, and that it does not share previous years' thresholds.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: All Students (2024): 519/913 = 57% (or 336/911 = 37% from another source); A108 WP Foundation Year: 61/188 = 32%
Decision date: March onwards

Bristol vs Nottingham - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Bristol requires AAA at A-level including Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics, Mathematics or Further Mathematics.

Nottingham requires AAA at A-level including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry. No use of predicted grades - Nottingham considers achieved grades only.

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 — Bristol: Mathematics at minimum grade 7/A and English Language at minimum grade 4/C. GCSE resit applicants welcomed and may apply with results pending.

GCSEs and A-levels used only as minimum thresholds -… Nottingham: Minimum six GCSEs at grade 7/A including both Biology and Chemistry, plus at least grade 6/B in Mathematics and English Language (English and Maths do NOT need to be at grade 7). GCSEs feed the…

Interview formats

Both Bristol and Nottingham 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 November - April; Nottingham in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Bristol runs a Spiral curriculum; Nottingham runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Bristol delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Nottingham uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year MB ChB spiral curriculum - concepts revisited with increasing complexity. Clinical exposure from Year 1. Five-year MBChB with compulsory intercalated BMedSci built into the course (one of few UK schools to embed BMedSci as standard).

Intake size: Bristol — ~220 home + ~30 international places per year (A100 Standard Entry Medicine).; Nottingham — ~250 home + ~30 international places per year.. 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

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.

Nottingham: Scoring system is now distinct from Lincoln's, weighting GCSE (/32), UCAT (/40) and SJT (/10) - band 4 SJT auto-rejected. No use of predicted A-level grades.

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 Bristol; 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. Bristol guidance: 2240+ /2700 - the final threshold to be invited to interview for 2026 entry.. Nottingham guidance: No fixed score. Nottingham states that the threshold varies year by year, cannot be predicted in advance, and that it does not share previous years' thresholds..

Bristol requires AAA including Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics, Mathematics or Further Mathematics. Nottingham requires AAA including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Bristol — Resits accepted; no requirement for three A-Levels in same year.. Nottingham — Resits considered case-by-case; standard expectation is one-sitting AAA..

Bristol — Mathematics at minimum grade 7/A and English Language at minimum grade 4/C. GCSE resit applicants welcomed and may apply with results pending. GCSEs and A-levels used only as minimum thresholds - 100% UCAT weighting for shortlisting once minimums are met Nottingham — Minimum six GCSEs at grade 7/A including both Biology and Chemistry, plus at least grade 6/B in Mathematics and English Language (English and Maths do NOT need to be at grade 7). GCSEs feed the combined points score used for shortlisting alongside UCAT.

Bristol's selection methodology: Once the academic minimum is met, shortlisting is wholly on the UCAT total excluding the SJT. For 2026 entry the final thresholds to be invited were 2,240 (home) and 2,270 (overseas). Work experience is encouraged but is not a requirement. Nottingham's selection methodology: Once you meet the academic entry requirements, Nottingham scores each of your UCAT component raw scores - not just the total - and combines that with GCSE scoring to select for interview. There is no fixed threshold: Nottingham says it varies year by year, cannot be predicted, and that it does not release previous years' figures. An SJT of Band 4 rules you out. 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.

Bristol: Total: 650/968 = 67% (2024); A108 Gateway to Medicine: 63/88 = 72%. Nottingham: All Students (2024): 519/913 = 57% (or 336/911 = 37% from another source); A108 WP Foundation Year: 61/188 = 32%. 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%.

Bristol runs a Spiral curriculum. Nottingham runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Bristol specifics: Five-year MB ChB spiral curriculum - concepts revisited with increasing complexity. Clinical exposure from Year 1. Nottingham specifics: Five-year MBChB with compulsory intercalated BMedSci built into the course (one of few UK schools to embed BMedSci as standard).

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

BristolEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

NottinghamEntry 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.

Bristol vs Nottingham

Side-by-side comparison

Bristol vs Nottingham - 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 Bristol vs Nottingham?

How do interviews differ between Bristol and Nottingham?

What A-Level grades do Bristol and Nottingham require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Bristol vs Nottingham?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Which has a higher post-interview offer rate, Bristol or Nottingham?

Where are Bristol and Nottingham located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Bristol and Nottingham use?

Should I apply to both Bristol and Nottingham?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons