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Medical school comparison

Buckingham vs Edge Hill

Buckingham and Edge Hill 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. Their A-Level requirements (ABB vs AAA) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers.

Side-by-side comparison

Buckingham

Buckingham

Quick comparison

Location
Buckingham, UK
A-Level offer
Minimum ABB at A-level including Chemistry OR Biology - both are not required.
TrueScore
-
UCAT home cut-off
-
Interview format
Three-stage selection: academic screening, digital Multiple Mini Assessment (MMA), then an MMI/OSSE task circuit
Post-interview chance
Refused to state
Decision date
March onwards

Edge Hill

Ormskirk

Quick comparison

Location
Ormskirk, UK
A-Level offer
AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry, OR A*A*B / A*AB with Biology and Chemistry at grade A or above plus a third subject at grade B or above
TrueScore
Edge Hill TrueScore 1950
UCAT home cut-off
Edge Hill does not publish a UCAT cut-off. Shortlisting is UCAT-led once the minimum academic requirements are met, so the effective bar moves with the strength of each cohort.
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
Home Student (2023): 32/115 = 28% - chances may have improved with 63 places now (vs 30 in 2023, 50 in 2024)
Decision date
March onwards

Buckingham vs Edge Hill - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Buckingham requires Minimum ABB at A-level including Chemistry OR Biology - both are not required.

Edge Hill requires AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry, OR A*A*B / A*AB with Biology and Chemistry at grade A or above plus a third subject at grade B or above.

Edge Hill is the stricter A-Level offer; Buckingham is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Buckingham carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Buckingham: At least grade 4 in GCSE English and at least grade 4 in GCSE Mathematics (or equivalent). Edge Hill: At least 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above (or equivalent), including Biology, Chemistry, English Language and Mathematics. Double Science 6-6 accepted in lieu of separate Bio/Chem. Used only as minimum…

Interview formats

Both Buckingham and Edge Hill 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.

That said, the specifics differ slightly: Buckingham runs three-stage selection: academic screening, digital multiple mini assessment (mma), then an mmi/osse task circuit; Edge Hill runs multiple mini interviews (mmi). Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: Buckingham interviews in December - March; Edge Hill in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Buckingham runs a Integrated curriculum; Edge Hill runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Buckingham delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Edge Hill centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: Four-and-a-half-year accelerated MB ChB (no UCAT required). Clinical placements at Milton Keynes, Stoke Mandeville and partner NHS sites. Five-year MBChB with PBL and case-based learning. Clinical placements across Lancashire NHS sites (Southport & Ormskirk, Wirral, Mersey Care).

Intake size: Buckingham — ~70 home + significant international places per year (UK's only private medical school).; Edge Hill — 63 places per year, up from 50 in 2024 and 30 in 2023.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Buckingham: Refused to state. Edge Hill: Home Student (2023): 32/115 = 28% - chances may have improved with 63 places now (vs 30 in 2023, 50 in 2024).

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

Buckingham: UCAT is not used - Buckingham selects with its own computer-based MMA (Multiple Mini Assessment). Private university: fees rise to £41,500/year for UK and £47,000/year for international applicants (£186,750 and £211,500 across the 4.5 years). Apply directly, outside UCAS.

Edge Hill: Significant proportional increase in places - now 63 places, up from 30 in 2023 and 50 in 2024. UCAT thresholds may have softened with growth. International students not accepted. Band 4 SJT auto-rejected.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, Buckingham is the lower-risk academic option. 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 Edge Hill; 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. Buckingham guidance: UCAT not used. Selection is by Buckingham's own computer-based MMA (Multiple Mini Assessment). Private university, applied to directly outside UCAS.. Edge Hill guidance: Edge Hill does not publish a UCAT cut-off. Shortlisting is UCAT-led once the minimum academic requirements are met, so the effective bar moves with the strength of each cohort..

Where to go next

BuckinghamEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full
Edge HillEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed .