Buckingham vs Hull York (HYMS)

Buckingham requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Hull York (HYMS) requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

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 — Buckingham: Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science. UK's only private medical school - no UCAT/BMAT required. Hull York (HYMS): Min 6 GCSEs at grade 6 including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Both Buckingham and Hull York (HYMS) 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; Hull York (HYMS) 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; Hull York (HYMS) in December - March.

Buckingham runs a Integrated curriculum; Hull York (HYMS) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Buckingham delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Hull York (HYMS) 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 MBBS jointly run by Hull and York universities. Clinical placements across Hull, York, Scarborough, and Yorkshire NHS sites.

Intake size: Buckingham — ~70 home + significant international places per year (UK's only private medical school).; Hull York (HYMS) — ~165 home + ~25 international places per year.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Buckingham: Refused to state. Hull York (HYMS): All (2024): 678/750 = 90%; Home: 655/695 = 94%; Overseas: 20/55 = 36%.

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 not used in selection - the MMA computer-based test replaces it. Private university with £40k tuition fees. Apply directly outside UCAS rather than via the standard route.

Hull York (HYMS): Points-based shortlisting: UCAT decile (/35) + SJT (/15) + GCSE top 6 subjects (/35) + contextual data (/15). The PBL group exercise is unusual among UK medical schools and reflects HYMS's problem-based curriculum.