Where are Brunel Medical School and Cardiff located, and how does that affect cost?

Brunel Medical School is in Uxbridge, UK. Cardiff is in Cardiff, 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?

Brunel Medical School typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Cardiff 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

Brunel Medical School vs Cardiff

Brunel Medical School and Cardiff are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Brunel Medical School is based in Uxbridge (England) while Cardiff sits in Cardiff (Wales), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Cardiff is the older institution (founded 1893); the other (founded 2022) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Brunel Medical School and Cardiff.
Comparison field	Brunel Medical SchoolUxbridge	CardiffCardiff
Quick comparison
Location	Uxbridge, UK	Cardiff, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Chemistry or Biology, plus a second science (Chemistry / Biology / Physics / Mathematics) and any third subject	AAA at A-level including Biology OR Chemistry plus a second science from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology. A pass in the science practical element is required where applicable.
TrueScore	Brunel Medical School TrueScore 1850	Cardiff TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off	UCAT required for home applicants. Brunel publishes NO cut-off score - selection is competitive on overall performance, so no threshold should be inferred.	No minimum. Cardiff states there is no minimum UCAT score, and that a cut-off is only introduced - and varies each cycle - when more applicants reach the highest academic scores than it can interview (around 1,000).
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	International: 240/540 = 44%. UK estimated >30%, likely less than other London universities.	International (2024): 60/146 = 41%; Welsh: 232/349 = 66%; RUK: 347/664 = 52%; ~600 offers from 1000 interviews in 2025
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Chemistry or Biology, plus a second science (Chemistry / Biology / Physics / Mathematics) and any third subject	AAA at A-level including Biology OR Chemistry plus a second science from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology. A pass in the science practical element is required where applicable.
Contextual A-Level offer	Lower contextualised offer available for Widening Access Criteria applicants - exact grades not published	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry or Biology required, plus a second science from Chemistry / Biology / Physics / Mathematics, plus any third subject	Biology and Chemistry both required
A-Level resit policy	Resits considered.	Resits only considered for applicants who held a conditional offer in the previous cycle and provide evidence of exceptional circumstances. GCSE resits accepted within one year of original sitting (English Language any time). No use of predicted A-level grades - achieved grades only.
GCSE requirements	Five GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including two Science subjects, English Language at grade 4/C (or equivalent), and Mathematics at grade 5/B	Top 9 GCSEs scored /27, must include Mathematics, English Language, Biology, Chemistry (or Double Science): A/8/9 = 3 pts, A/7 = 2 pts, B/6 = 1 pt. Achieved A-levels add up to 3 further points (A = 3, A = 2). 27/27 typical for RUK.
GCSE scoring methodology	-	GCSE-heavy: top 9 GCSEs scored /27. Welsh-domiciled and contextual applicants receive up to 3 additional points. UCAT only applied as tie-break when too many applicants reach 27/27.
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, including HL 6 in Chemistry or Biology and HL 6 in a second science	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Biology and Chemistry
Graduate-entry degree requirement	Bachelor's degree at 2:1 or equivalent in a subject relevant to Medicine; Master's with Merit or equivalent in a relevant subject also accepted	Graduate applicants need a 2:1 (Hons) or to be working towards one, plus BBB/ABC at A-level including the subject requirements and the minimum GCSEs. Applicants who have completed a PhD need only BBC at A-level, with all other criteria still met.
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	-
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Band 4 SJT auto-rejected	Not considered at all
UCAT notes	Applicants with SJT Band 4 are not accepted. Brunel takes both home and international students (2026/7 fees: £9,790 home, £49,395 international).	Cardiff is academically led: GCSE and UCAT decile scores are combined to rank applicants, with an extra point for academic achievement in further or higher education. The UCAT therefore acts as a sepa…

Degree awarded	MBBS	MBBCh
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Team-based learning	Case-based learning + Spiral
Anatomy teaching	Plastinated specimens	-
First patient contact	Year 1	-
Placement geography	Greater London and south east England	Across Wales
Named placement sites	-	-
Intercalation	-	-
Course highlight	The clinical skills facilities include 18 video-equipped consultation rooms.	You can spend all or part of the course based in north Wales and still graduate from Cardiff.

Interview window	December - March	December - February
Interview details	MMI format with around 4-5 minutes per station. Heavy on scenario reasoning, data interpretation and inferences from given information rather than recall of memorised model answers. 1-minute reading t…	MMI format with stations testing motivation for medicine, communication, ethics and understanding of the Welsh healthcare context. You are told the general topic of each station beforehand.

Specialities	Medicine, Healthcare Sciences	Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy
Established	2022	1893
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	New medical school still under GMC accreditation (Buckingham acts as contingency). Refused to publish UCAT cut-offs - anecdotally low. International offers are notably high in volume relative to home…	Leading Welsh medical school with strong community-medicine and research focus. GCSE-heavy scoring (/27) - full points typically requires 9 grade 8/9s. UCAT is used to rank candidates only when there…
Official course page	https://www.brunel.ac.uk/study/courses/medicine-mbbs	https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/course/medicine-mbbch

Brunel Medical School

Uxbridge

Quick comparison

Location: Uxbridge, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Chemistry or Biology, plus a second science (Chemistry / Biology / Physics / Mathematics) and any third subject
TrueScore: Brunel Medical School TrueScore 1850
UCAT home cut-off: UCAT required for home applicants. Brunel publishes NO cut-off score - selection is competitive on overall performance, so no threshold should be inferred.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: International: 240/540 = 44%. UK estimated >30%, likely less than other London universities.
Decision date: March onwards

Cardiff

Quick comparison

Location: Cardiff, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Biology OR Chemistry plus a second science from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology. A pass in the science practical element is required where applicable.
TrueScore: Cardiff TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off: No minimum. Cardiff states there is no minimum UCAT score, and that a cut-off is only introduced - and varies each cycle - when more applicants reach the highest academic scores than it can interview (around 1,000).
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: International (2024): 60/146 = 41%; Welsh: 232/349 = 66%; RUK: 347/664 = 52%; ~600 offers from 1000 interviews in 2025
Decision date: March onwards

Brunel Medical School vs Cardiff - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Brunel Medical School requires AAA at A-level including Chemistry or Biology, plus a second science (Chemistry / Biology / Physics / Mathematics) and any third subject.

Cardiff requires AAA at A-level including Biology OR Chemistry plus a second science from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology. A pass in the science practical element is required where applicable.

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 — Brunel Medical School: Five GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including two Science subjects, English Language at grade 4/C (or equivalent), and Mathematics at grade 5/B. Cardiff: Top 9 GCSEs scored /27, must include Mathematics, English Language, Biology, Chemistry (or Double Science): A*/8/9 = 3 pts, A/7 = 2 pts, B/6 = 1 pt.

Achieved A-levels add up to 3 further points (A* =…

Interview formats

Both Brunel Medical School and Cardiff 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: Brunel Medical School interviews in December - March; Cardiff in December - February.

Curriculum and teaching style

Brunel Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum; Cardiff runs a Case-based curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Brunel Medical School delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Cardiff centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: Five-year MBBS with integrated theory and early clinical practice. Brunel partners with NHS West London for clinical placements (Hillingdon, Northwick Five-year MBBCh with case-based learning. Cardiff splits clinical placements across South Wales (Cardiff & Vale, Aneurin Bevan, Cwm Taf Morgannwg).

Intake size: Brunel Medical School — ~95 places per year (small newer cohort).; Cardiff — ~270 home + ~30 international places per year (A100).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Brunel Medical School: International: 240/540 = 44%. UK estimated >30%, likely less than other London universities. Cardiff: International (2024): 60/146 = 41%; Welsh: 232/349 = 66%; RUK: 347/664 = 52%; ~600 offers from 1000 interviews in 2025.

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

Brunel Medical School: New medical school still under GMC accreditation (Buckingham acts as contingency). Refused to publish UCAT cut-offs - anecdotally low. International offers are notably high in volume relative to home places.

Cardiff: Leading Welsh medical school with strong community-medicine and research focus. GCSE-heavy scoring (/27) - full points typically requires 9 grade 8/9s. UCAT is used to rank candidates only when there are too many at the maximum GCSE score.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Brunel Medical School feeds into the England foundation programme network; Cardiff into the Wales network. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Cardiff; 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. Brunel Medical School guidance: UCAT required for home applicants. Brunel publishes NO cut-off score - selection is competitive on overall performance, so no threshold should be inferred.. Cardiff guidance: No minimum. Cardiff states there is no minimum UCAT score, and that a cut-off is only introduced - and varies each cycle - when more applicants reach the highest academic scores than it can interview (around 1,000)..

Brunel Medical School uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Cardiff 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 (Brunel Medical School); December - February (Cardiff).

Brunel Medical School requires AAA including Chemistry or Biology, plus a second science (Chemistry / Biology / Physics / Mathematics) and any third subject. Cardiff requires AAA including Biology or Chemistry plus a second science from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Brunel Medical School — Resits considered.. Cardiff — Cardiff considers resit applicants on a case-by-case basis..

Brunel Medical School — Five GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including two Science subjects, English Language at grade 4/C (or equivalent), and Mathematics at grade 5/B. Cardiff — Top 9 GCSEs scored /27, must include Mathematics, English Language, Biology, Chemistry (or Double Science): A*/8/9 = 3 pts, A/7 = 2 pts, B/6 = 1 pt. Achieved A-levels add up to 3 further points (A* = 3, A = 2). 27/27 typical for RUK. GCSE-heavy: top 9 GCSEs scored /27. Welsh-domiciled and contextual applicants receive up to 3 additional points. UCAT only applied as tie-break when too many applicants reach 27/27.

Brunel Medical School's selection methodology: New programme (first cohort 2022). UCAT + academic + interview. Brunel partners with NHS West London for clinical placements. Cardiff's selection methodology: Cardiff combines GCSE points with UCAT decile scores to rank applicants, adding a point for academic achievement in further or higher education. Points come from nine GCSE subjects, which must include Biology, Chemistry, English (first) or Welsh (first), and Mathematics or Numeracy. There is no minimum UCAT score: a cut-off is introduced only when the number of applicants with the highest academic scores exceeds the roughly 1,000 Cardiff can interview, and it moves every cycle. No offer is made without an MMI. 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.

Brunel Medical School: International: 240/540 = 44%. UK estimated >30%, likely less than other London universities.. Cardiff: International (2024): 60/146 = 41%; Welsh: 232/349 = 66%; RUK: 347/664 = 52%; ~600 offers from 1000 interviews in 2025. 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%.

Brunel Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum. Cardiff runs a Case-based curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Brunel Medical School specifics: Five-year MBBS with integrated theory and early clinical practice. Brunel partners with NHS West London for clinical placements (Hillingdon, Northwick Park, Ealing). Cardiff specifics: Five-year MBBCh with case-based learning. Cardiff splits clinical placements across South Wales (Cardiff & Vale, Aneurin Bevan, Cwm Taf Morgannwg).

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

Brunel Medical SchoolEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

CardiffEntry 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.

Brunel Medical School vs Cardiff

Side-by-side comparison

Brunel Medical School vs Cardiff - 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 Brunel Medical School vs Cardiff?

How do interviews differ between Brunel Medical School and Cardiff?

What A-Level grades do Brunel Medical School and Cardiff require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Brunel Medical School vs Cardiff?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Which has a higher post-interview offer rate, Brunel Medical School or Cardiff?

Where are Brunel Medical School and Cardiff located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Brunel Medical School and Cardiff use?

Should I apply to both Brunel Medical School and Cardiff?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons