Buckingham vs Surrey (GEM)

Buckingham requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Surrey (GEM) 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. Surrey (GEM): Not applicable - graduate-entry programme. Requires a 2:1 honours degree.

Both Buckingham and Surrey (GEM) 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; Surrey (GEM) 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; Surrey (GEM) in December - March.

Buckingham runs a Integrated curriculum; Surrey (GEM) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Buckingham delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Surrey (GEM) 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 graduate-entry MBChB. Surrey-based with South-East NHS placements.

Intake size: Buckingham — ~70 home + significant international places per year (UK's only private medical school).; Surrey (GEM) — ~30-50 places per year (small newer cohort).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

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.

Surrey (GEM): New graduate-entry medical school with focus on innovative teaching methods and the use of technology in healthcare delivery.