What A-Level grades do Buckingham and North Wales (Bangor) require?

Buckingham requires ABB including Chemistry or Biology (4.5-year MBChB). North Wales (Bangor) requires AAA including Biology and one further science. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Buckingham — Resits considered.. North Wales (Bangor) — Resits considered..

Which has a higher post-interview offer rate, Buckingham or North Wales (Bangor)?

Buckingham: Refused to state. North Wales (Bangor): Refused to disclose. New medical school, has been in clearing in past years.. Post-interview odds tell you how competitive each school is at the final stage. Two schools with similar UCAT thresholds can have very different post-interview rates — a school with a 60% post-interview success rate is structurally easier to convert than one at 25%.

Where are Buckingham and North Wales (Bangor) located, and how does that affect cost?

Buckingham is in Buckingham, UK. North Wales (Bangor) is in Bangor, UK. Tuition is £9,250/year at both for UK home applicants; the main cost difference is accommodation (London accommodation typically runs 30-50% above the national average).

When does each school release decisions?

Buckingham typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. North Wales (Bangor) releases medicine decisions March onwards. If one is earlier than the other, you may need to hold a decision while waiting for the second school — be ready to compare in real time.

Medical school comparison

Buckingham vs North Wales (Bangor)

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at Buckingham vs North Wales (Bangor)?

Buckingham — At least grade 4 in GCSE English and at least grade 4 in GCSE Mathematics (or equivalent). North Wales (Bangor) — English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.

Buckingham and North Wales (Bangor) 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 AAA) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Buckingham and North Wales (Bangor).
Comparison field	BuckinghamBuckingham	North Wales (Bangor)Bangor
Quick comparison
Location	Buckingham, UK	Bangor, UK
A-Level offer	Minimum ABB at A-level including Chemistry OR Biology - both are not required.	AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.
TrueScore	-	North Wales (Bangor) TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off	-	-
Interview format	Three-stage selection: academic screening, digital Multiple Mini Assessment (MMA), then an MMI/OSSE task circuit	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	Refused to state	Refused to disclose. New medical school, has been in clearing in past years.
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	Minimum ABB at A-level including Chemistry OR Biology - both are not required.	AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.
Contextual A-Level offer	-	AAB for Welsh-speaking applicants (who must also hold a first-language Welsh GCSE) and for others meeting Bangor's contextual criteria.
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry or Biology (one of the two, not both)	Biology required, plus one further science
A-Level resit policy	Resits considered.	A-level resits are NOT accepted. GCSE resits are accepted only if completed within 12 months of the original sitting and before application.
GCSE requirements	At least grade 4 in GCSE English and at least grade 4 in GCSE Mathematics (or equivalent).	English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.
GCSE scoring methodology	-	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	Total score of at least 32 points including three Higher Level subjects, with at least HL6 in Chemistry or Biology and at least HL5 in the other.	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Biology and one further science
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any honours degree (A101 graduate-entry route)
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	-
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	UCAT not used - uses MMA computer-based test instead	Refused to disclose how SJT is used (avoid with B4)
UCAT notes	UCAT not used. Selection is by Buckingham's own computer-based MMA (Multiple Mini Assessment). Private university, applied to directly outside UCAS.	Bangor requires the UCAT but publishes NO minimum threshold - it states only that the score is used in selection. No cut-off should be inferred or estimated.

Degree awarded	MB ChB	BMBS
Course length	4.5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Integrated	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	-	Year 1
Placement geography	Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Cheshire	North Wales
Named placement sites	Milton Keynes University Hospital, St Andrew's Hospital, Northampton, South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Macclesfield General Hospital (East Cheshire Trust), Leighton Hospital (Mid Cheshire Hospitals)	-
Intercalation	-	-
Course highlight	Buckingham is an independent, privately funded university — tuition is £41,500 a year for UK students and £47,000 for international students.	The programme is bilingual — most components can be studied in Welsh as well as English, and students use Welsh on placement.

Interview window	December - March	December - March
Interview details	Buckingham selects in three stages for January 2027 entry: academic screening, a digital Multiple Mini Assessment (MMA), then an MMI/OSSE — a series of tasks assessing Good Medical Practice attributes…	MMI format spread across several stations. Each station gives 3 minutes' preparation for two questions and 3 minutes to answer each. Topics include motivation, ethics and reflection on experiences.

Specialities	Medicine, Accelerated Medicine	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	1976	2020
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	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 (£1…	Bangor publishes no UCAT threshold and has declined FOI requests on its shortlisting weighting, so no cut-off can be quoted. A-level resits are not accepted. Welsh-speaking applicants (with a first-la…
Official course page	https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/mb-chb-medicine-4.5-year-degree/	https://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/a100-medicine-bmbs

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

North Wales (Bangor)

Bangor

Quick comparison

Location: Bangor, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.
TrueScore: North Wales (Bangor) TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Refused to disclose. New medical school, has been in clearing in past years.
Decision date: March onwards

Buckingham vs North Wales (Bangor) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

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

North Wales (Bangor) requires AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.

North Wales (Bangor) 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). North Wales (Bangor): English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.

Interview formats

Both Buckingham and North Wales (Bangor) 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; North Wales (Bangor) 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; North Wales (Bangor) in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Buckingham runs a Integrated curriculum; North Wales (Bangor) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Buckingham delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while North Wales (Bangor) 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. Four-year accelerated MBBCh (Cardiff) for graduates, or 5-year route. Strong rural/community placement strand across North Wales (Betsi Cadwaladr UHB)

Intake size: Buckingham — ~70 home + significant international places per year (UK's only private medical school).; North Wales (Bangor) — ~30 places per year (small cohort, designed for local retention).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Buckingham: Refused to state. North Wales (Bangor): Refused to disclose. New medical school, has been in clearing in past years.

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.

North Wales (Bangor): Bangor publishes no UCAT threshold and has declined FOI requests on its shortlisting weighting, so no cut-off can be quoted. A-level resits are not accepted. Welsh-speaking applicants (with a first-language Welsh GCSE) and other contextual applicants may receive an AAB offer.

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 North Wales (Bangor); 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.. North Wales (Bangor) guidance: Bangor requires the UCAT but publishes NO minimum threshold - it states only that the score is used in selection. No cut-off should be inferred or estimated..

Buckingham uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Three-stage selection: academic screening, digital Multiple Mini Assessment (MMA), then an MMI/OSSE task circuit. North Wales (Bangor) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). The format is the same, so the same prep approach applies — practise ethics frameworks, NHS hot topics, and (for MMI) structured 5-7 minute station answers. Interview windows: December - March (Buckingham); December - March (North Wales (Bangor)).

Buckingham's selection methodology: Buckingham does not require UCAT or BMAT. Selection by interview + academic profile + personal statement. Annual fees ~£40,000+ (private school, no NHS bursary). North Wales (Bangor)'s selection methodology: AAA including Biology and a second science, plus UCAT with no published threshold, then MMI. Cardiff University School of Medicine is the contingency partner during GMC accreditation, so students would graduate from Cardiff if required. Understanding each school's exact algorithm is the single highest-leverage piece of pre-application research — it tells you whether your profile is competitive before you spend an application choice.

Buckingham runs a Integrated curriculum. North Wales (Bangor) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Buckingham specifics: Four-and-a-half-year accelerated MB ChB (no UCAT required). Clinical placements at Milton Keynes, Stoke Mandeville and partner NHS sites. North Wales (Bangor) specifics: Four-year accelerated MBBCh (Cardiff) for graduates, or 5-year route. Strong rural/community placement strand across North Wales (Betsi Cadwaladr UHB).

You can — UCAS allows 4 medicine/dentistry choices in total, so listing both is feasible if your profile fits each school's selection algorithm. Apply to both only if your UCAT, GCSE and predicted-grade profile is competitive against each school's published weighting. A common mistake is using two of your four slots on similar schools when a more spread-out portfolio (one safe + one stretch) would maximise overall offer probability.

Where to go next

BuckinghamEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

North Wales (Bangor)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 19 September 2026.