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Medical school comparison

Buckingham vs Leicester

Buckingham and Leicester 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 A*AA) 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

Leicester

Leicester

Quick comparison

Location
Leicester, UK
A-Level offer
A*AA at A-level including Chemistry or Biology, plus one of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics or Psychology - A* must be in one of the sciences
TrueScore
Leicester TrueScore 1750
UCAT home cut-off
Expressed in deciles, not raw scores. Applicants who meet the minimum GCSE requirement, achieved the A-level requirement within two years of their GCSEs, and sit in the TOP 5 DECILES with an SJT of Band 1-3 are automatically invited to interview.
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
UK Undergraduate: 797/1351 = 59% (2025); UK Graduate: 19/32 = 59%; Overseas Undergraduate: 57/199 = 29%
Decision date
March onwards

Buckingham vs Leicester - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

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

Leicester requires A*AA at A-level including Chemistry or Biology, plus one of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics or Psychology - A* must be in one of the sciences.

Leicester 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). Leicester: Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language, Mathematics, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Science). Resits in English Language and Maths accepted to meet minimums; resits in other subjects only with…

Interview formats

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.

Curriculum and teaching style

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.

Post-interview offer rate

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.

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.

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.

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 Leicester; 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.. Leicester guidance: Expressed in deciles, not raw scores. Applicants who meet the minimum GCSE requirement, achieved the A-level requirement within two years of their GCSEs, and sit in the TOP 5 DECILES with an SJT of Band 1-3 are automatically invited to interview..

Where to go next

BuckinghamEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full
LeicesterEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

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