Buckingham vs Kent and Medway (KMMS)

Buckingham requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Kent and Medway (KMMS) 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. Kent and Medway (KMMS): Min 6 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Both Buckingham and Kent and Medway (KMMS) 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; Kent and Medway (KMMS) 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; Kent and Medway (KMMS) in December - March.

Buckingham runs a Integrated curriculum; Kent and Medway (KMMS) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Buckingham delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Kent and Medway (KMMS) 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 University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University. Strong rural/community placement strand across Kent and Medw

Intake size: Buckingham — ~70 home + significant international places per year (UK's only private medical school).; Kent and Medway (KMMS) — ~125 home + ~25 international places per year.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Buckingham: Refused to state. Kent and Medway (KMMS): Home Fee Status: 176/404 = 44%; International: 14/32 = 44% (only 113 applicants); Graduate (2023): 52/83 = 63%.

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.

Kent and Medway (KMMS): Selection by contextualised GCSE 'Attainment 8' score (/90) after UCAT minimum met - strong choice for high-GCSE / low-UCAT applicants. School performance averaged in to contextualise GCSE scoring (national average 45.9; ~25% above school average likely required).