Buckingham vs Leicester

Buckingham requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Leicester 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. Leicester: Min 5 GCSEs at grade 7+ (A/A*) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Both Buckingham and Leicester 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; Leicester 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; Leicester in December - March.

Buckingham runs a Integrated curriculum; Leicester runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Buckingham delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Leicester 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 problem-based learning. Clinical placements across Leicestershire NHS hospitals (Leicester Royal Infirmary, Glenfield, Kettering,

Intake size: Buckingham — ~70 home + significant international places per year (UK's only private medical school).; Leicester — ~270 home + ~30 international places per year (A100 standard 5-year programme).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Buckingham: Refused to state. Leicester: UK Undergraduate: 797/1351 = 59% (2025); UK Graduate: 19/32 = 59%; Overseas Undergraduate: 57/199 = 29%.

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.

Leicester: Combined UCAT + GCSE scoring out of 96. Predicted A-level applicants only need AAB UKWPMed; achieved-grade applicants assessed in top 5 deciles UCAT instead. Personal statement is not routinely used.