What A-Level grades do Buckingham and St George's require?

Buckingham requires ABB including Chemistry or Biology (4.5-year MBChB). St George's requires A*AA or AAA including Chemistry and Biology/Human Biology (offer depends on cohort strength). Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school.

Where are Buckingham and St George's located, and how does that affect cost?

Buckingham is in Buckingham, UK. St George's is in London, 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. St George's releases medicine decisions Rolling-basis after Interviews have finished. 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 St George's

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at Buckingham vs St George's?

Buckingham — At least grade 4 in GCSE English and at least grade 4 in GCSE Mathematics (or equivalent). St George's — Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or 6-6 Dual Award Science). GCSE resits accepted. Used only as minimum threshold - wholly UCAT-based shortlisting once met

Buckingham and St George's are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Buckingham is based in Buckingham (England) while St George's sits in London (London), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination. Their A-Level requirements (ABB vs A*AA) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers.

St George's is the older institution (founded 1733); the other (founded 1976) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Buckingham and St George's.
Comparison field	BuckinghamBuckingham	St George'sLondon
Quick comparison
Location	Buckingham, UK	London, UK
A-Level offer	Minimum ABB at A-level including Chemistry OR Biology - both are not required.	A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on cohort strength). Predicted AAA required including Chemistry and Biology / Human Biology.
TrueScore	-	St George's TrueScore 1950
UCAT home cut-off	-	No predictable threshold. City St George's states that it is not possible to predict what the UCAT thresholds will be in any given year, nor to use previous years' data to predict them. The cut-off is set annually against the strength of that year's scores.
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	Home Undergrad (2024): 247/677 = 36% (or 423/686 = 62% inc. deferred); Overseas Undergrad: 25/146 = 17% (or 58/152 = 38% inc. deferred)
Decision date	March onwards	Rolling-basis after Interviews have finished

A-Level offer	Minimum ABB at A-level including Chemistry OR Biology - both are not required.	A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on cohort strength). Predicted AAA required including Chemistry and Biology / Human Biology.
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry or Biology (one of the two, not both)	Chemistry and Biology (or Human Biology) both required
A-Level resit policy	Resits considered.	Resits or third year of study accepted with extenuating circumstances only
GCSE requirements	At least grade 4 in GCSE English and at least grade 4 in GCSE Mathematics (or equivalent).	Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or 6-6 Dual Award Science). GCSE resits accepted.
GCSE scoring methodology	-	Used only as minimum threshold - wholly UCAT-based shortlisting once met
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.	37 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including HL Chemistry and HL Biology
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any discipline. Graduate for Undergraduate Programme available - UCAT cut-off applies (~2100+ /2700).
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	-
Graduate cut-off	-	~2100+ /2700 (Graduate for Undergraduate Programme)
SJT band	UCAT not used - uses MMA computer-based test instead	SJT used post-interview in offer making. Combined with MMI score → B1=15 pts, B2=10, B3=5, B4=none.
UCAT notes	UCAT not used. Selection is by Buckingham's own computer-based MMA (Multiple Mini Assessment). Private university, applied to directly outside UCAS.	Once the entry criteria are met, applicants are ranked by UCAT score and interview places are allocated from the top down until they run out. A minimum of 500/900 is required in each individual cognit…

Degree awarded	MB ChB	MBBS
Course length	4.5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Integrated	Problem-based learning
Anatomy teaching	-	Prosection
First patient contact	-	-
Placement geography	Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Cheshire	-
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 MBBS puts unusual weight on clinical communication — drawing out a patient’s history, giving clear explanations, and negotiating with patients and relatives.

Interview window	December - March	November - February
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…	A six-station MMI, each station around five minutes with a 60-second break between, delivered through SAMMI (Scalable Automated Multiple Mini Interviews) software. Each station is assessed separately…

Specialities	Medicine, Accelerated Medicine	Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Healthcare Sciences
Established	1976	1733
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…	Strong holistic-care and soft-skills emphasis. SJT used post-interview in offer making (B1 = 15 pts, B2 = 10, B3 = 5, B4 = nothing). St George's is also generous with deferred-entry offers, often made…
Official course page	https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/mb-chb-medicine-4.5-year-degree/	https://www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-students/courses/undergraduate/medicine

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

St George's

London

Quick comparison

Location: London, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on cohort strength). Predicted AAA required including Chemistry and Biology / Human Biology.
TrueScore: St George's TrueScore 1950
UCAT home cut-off: No predictable threshold. City St George's states that it is not possible to predict what the UCAT thresholds will be in any given year, nor to use previous years' data to predict them. The cut-off is set annually against the strength of that year's scores.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Home Undergrad (2024): 247/677 = 36% (or 423/686 = 62% inc. deferred); Overseas Undergrad: 25/146 = 17% (or 58/152 = 38% inc. deferred)
Decision date: Rolling-basis after Interviews have finished

Buckingham vs St George's - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

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

St George's requires A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on cohort strength). Predicted AAA required including Chemistry and Biology / Human Biology.

St George's 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). St George's: Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or 6-6 Dual Award Science). GCSE resits accepted. Used only as minimum threshold -…

Interview formats

Both Buckingham and St George's 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; St George's 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; St George's in November - February.

Post-interview offer rate

Buckingham: Refused to state. St George's: Home Undergrad (2024): 247/677 = 36% (or 423/686 = 62% inc. deferred); Overseas Undergrad: 25/146 = 17% (or 58/152 = 38% inc. deferred).

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.

St George's: Strong holistic-care and soft-skills emphasis. SJT used post-interview in offer making (B1 = 15 pts, B2 = 10, B3 = 5, B4 = nothing). St George's is also generous with deferred-entry offers, often made to borderline applicants in lieu of rejection.

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. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Buckingham feeds into the England foundation programme network; St George's into the London network.

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.. St George's guidance: No predictable threshold. City St George's states that it is not possible to predict what the UCAT thresholds will be in any given year, nor to use previous years' data to predict them. The cut-off is set annually against the strength of that year's scores..

Buckingham uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Three-stage selection: academic screening, digital Multiple Mini Assessment (MMA), then an MMI/OSSE task circuit. St George's 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); November - February (St George's).

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). St George's's selection methodology: shortlisting weight not fully disclosed; check the official admissions page. 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: Refused to state. St George's: Home Undergrad (2024): 247/677 = 36% (or 423/686 = 62% inc. deferred); Overseas Undergrad: 25/146 = 17% (or 58/152 = 38% inc. deferred). 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%.

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

St George'sEntry 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.