Buckingham vs Glasgow

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

Glasgow requires AAA including Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics. International A-level applicants need AAA including Chemistry, Biology and one of Physics or Mathematics.

Grades must be achieved at one sitting and at the first attempt - resits and extra time to sit qualifications are not permitted, and a mix of qualifications at the same level is not accepted.

Glasgow 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). Glasgow: GCSE English Literature or English Language at grade 6/B or above. GCSE Biology at grade 6/B if not studied at A-level. GCSE retakes are accepted.

Buckingham uses MMI (Three-stage selection: academic screening, digital Multiple Mini Assessment (MMA), then an MMI/OSSE task circuit); Glasgow uses Panel (Panel interview). These two formats reward different skills — MMI emphasises breadth, station-recovery and structured answers under time pressure, while Panel rewards depth and consistency.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, Glasgow may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, Buckingham is the better fit.

Interview windows: Buckingham interviews in December - March; Glasgow in December - February.

Buckingham runs a Integrated curriculum; Glasgow runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Buckingham delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Glasgow 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 built around problem-based learning groups, with early clinical exposure from Year 1.

Intake size: Buckingham — ~70 home + significant international places per year (UK's only private medical school).; Glasgow — ~40-50 RUK + ~22 international + ~190 Scottish places per year (A100).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Buckingham: Refused to state. Glasgow: Scottish: 473/565 = 84% (2025); RUK: 128/216 = 59%; International: 114/161 = 71%.

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.

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.

Glasgow: One of the oldest medical schools in the English-speaking world. Your personal statement and reference are screened early, alongside achieved and predicted grades; UCAT scores arrive later in the cycle and are then used to allocate interviews among applicants who have already cleared that screen. Glasgow does not use the SJT at all.