Where are Cambridge and St Mary's Twickenham located, and how does that affect cost?

Cambridge is in Cambridge, UK. St Mary's Twickenham is in Twickenham, 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?

Cambridge typically releases medicine decisions January. St Mary's Twickenham 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

Cambridge vs St Mary's Twickenham

Cambridge and St Mary's Twickenham are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Cambridge is based in Cambridge (England) while St Mary's Twickenham sits in Twickenham, London (London), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Their A-Level requirements (A*A*A vs AAA) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers. The interview formats diverge — Panel vs MMI — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different. Cambridge is the older institution (founded 1209); the other (founded 2025) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Cambridge and St Mary's Twickenham.
Comparison field	CambridgeCambridge	St Mary's TwickenhamTwickenham, London
Quick comparison
Location	Cambridge, UK	Twickenham, London, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (typical offer; 92–95% of recent offer-holders predicted AAA*) including Chemistry and Biology / Mathematics / Physics	AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
TrueScore	Cambridge TrueScore 2150	St Mary's Twickenham TrueScore 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off	No threshold. Cambridge states plainly: "There is no minimum threshold for UCAT score."	-
Interview format	Traditional panel interviews with academic focus	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	Home (predicted grades): 253/979 = 26% (2025); International (predicted): 8/58 = 14%. ~30 more offers to those with achieved grades.	-
Decision date	January	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (typical offer; 92–95% of recent offer-holders predicted AAA*) including Chemistry and Biology / Mathematics / Physics	AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry plus two of Biology / Mathematics / Physics / Further Mathematics is optimal. Most colleges have this as a fixed requirement. Some colleges (e.g. Corpus Christi, Fitzwilliam, Girton, Gonville & Caius, Homerton, Murray Edwards, Newnham, Selwyn, Trinity Hall) may consider applicants without Biology after admissions-tutor consultation. Three A-levels is sufficient - four not required.	Chemistry or Biology required, plus one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
A-Level resit policy	Resits considered case-by-case; competitive applicants typically achieve AAA in one sitting.	Resits only considered in exceptional circumstances
GCSE requirements	No specific GCSE requirement, but successful applicants typically achieve grade 7+ across all GCSEs. Mean offer-holder ≈ 9.7 grade A*/9 historically.	Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science)
GCSE scoring methodology	GCSE used contextually as part of holistic shortlisting (less algorithmically than Oxford). Sub-90% A*/9 applicants advised to favour Cambridge over Oxford.	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	A1, A1, A2 at Advanced Higher (per Cambridge banding system)	-
International Baccalaureate	41–42 points overall, 7,7,6 at Higher Level including HL Chemistry plus two of Biology / Mathematics / Physics	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Chemistry or Biology and a second science / Maths
Graduate-entry degree requirement	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above - A-level Chemistry (normally passed within 7 years of entry) required. Accelerated A101 Graduate Course in Medicine offered at Lucy Cavendish, Hughes Hall, St Edmund's and Wolfson colleges only.	-
Alternative qualifications	-	New international-only medicine course for 2026 entry - first cohort. Applied to directly outside standard UCAS medicine route. UCAT contributes to combined admissions test + academic ranking. No SJT use.

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	No separate threshold published.	No cut-off exists yet. UCAT contributes to the shortlisting rank, but the first cohort is September 2026 so no historic threshold exists.
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Not used. Cambridge assesses the overall cognitive subtest score only and states it will not use the situational judgement score for 2027 entry.	No usage mentioned in any selection policy
UCAT notes	Cambridge looks at the overall cognitive subtest score only and weighs it alongside academic record and interview - it publishes no cut-off and no offer-holder averages. Colleges assess individually,…	International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only. No SJT use stated. Any quoted 'cut-off' for this school is guesswork - it has not yet completed an admissions cycle.

Degree awarded	MB BChir	MBBS
Course length	6 years	5 years
Teaching style	Traditional / lecture-led	Case-based learning
Anatomy teaching	Full-body dissection	-
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	Cambridge and the East of England	London, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire
Named placement sites	Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	West London Trust, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Basingstoke), Practice Plus Group (Ilford), Royal Trinity Hospice, Princess Alice Hospice, Meadow House
Intercalation	Built in — year 3 is an intercalated year for every student.	-
Course highlight	An optional seven-week study-abroad placement is available in year 5.	Currently accepts international students only.

Interview window	December	December - March
Interview details	Usually two panel-style interviews, normally both at the College that is considering your application (the one you named, or the one you were allocated after an open application). Cambridge says most…	Applications are scored on academic record and admissions tests to produce a shortlisting rank. Interviews are online Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs).

Specialities	Clinical Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Medical Sciences	Medicine, International Medicine
Established	1209	2025
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	UCAT replaced the BMAT from 2025 entry. Variation between colleges in average UCAT scores and success rates, but the pooling system smooths over it - applying to "less popular" colleges does not meani…	International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only, applying direct rather than through UCAS, so it costs none of your four UCAS medical choices. Weigh that against the accreditation risk: the MBBS is not y…
Official course page	https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/medicine-mb-bchir	https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/mbbs-medicine-degree

Cambridge

Quick comparison

Location: Cambridge, UK
A-Level offer: A*A*A at A-level (typical offer; 92–95% of recent offer-holders predicted A*A*A*) including Chemistry and Biology / Mathematics / Physics
TrueScore: Cambridge TrueScore 2150
UCAT home cut-off: No threshold. Cambridge states plainly: "There is no minimum threshold for UCAT score."
Interview format: Traditional panel interviews with academic focus
Post-interview chance: Home (predicted grades): 253/979 = 26% (2025); International (predicted): 8/58 = 14%. ~30 more offers to those with achieved grades.
Decision date: January

St Mary's Twickenham

Twickenham, London

Quick comparison

Location: Twickenham, London, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
TrueScore: St Mary's Twickenham TrueScore 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Cambridge vs St Mary's Twickenham - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Cambridge requires A*A*A at A-level (typical offer; 92–95% of recent offer-holders predicted A*A*A*) including Chemistry and Biology / Mathematics / Physics.

St Mary's Twickenham requires AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics.

Cambridge is the stricter A-Level offer; St Mary's Twickenham is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, St Mary's Twickenham carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Cambridge: No specific GCSE requirement, but successful applicants typically achieve grade 7+ across all GCSEs. Mean offer-holder ≈ 9.7 grade A*/9 historically. GCSE used contextually as part of holistic… St Mary's Twickenham: Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science).

Interview formats

Cambridge uses Panel (Traditional panel interviews with academic focus); St Mary's Twickenham uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)). These two formats reward different skills — Panel emphasises narrative coherence and the ability to develop a thread under follow-up questioning, while MMI rewards breadth and quick recovery.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, Cambridge may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, St Mary's Twickenham is the better fit.

Interview windows: Cambridge interviews in December; St Mary's Twickenham in December - March.

What makes each distinctive

Cambridge: UCAT replaced the BMAT from 2025 entry. Variation between colleges in average UCAT scores and success rates, but the pooling system smooths over it - applying to "less popular" colleges does not meaningfully change your odds. A100 is offered at every College except Hughes Hall.

St Mary's Twickenham: International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only, applying direct rather than through UCAS, so it costs none of your four UCAS medical choices. Weigh that against the accreditation risk: the MBBS is not yet GMC-accredited, and St Mary's contingency is that students would transfer to the University of Lancashire if accreditation is not achieved.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, St Mary's Twickenham is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Cambridge feeds into the England foundation programme network; St Mary's Twickenham 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. Cambridge guidance: No threshold. Cambridge states plainly: "There is no minimum threshold for UCAT score.". St Mary's Twickenham guidance: International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only. No SJT use stated. Any quoted 'cut-off' for this school is guesswork - it has not yet completed an admissions cycle..

Cambridge uses Traditional interview: Traditional panel interviews with academic focus. St Mary's Twickenham uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). The two formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each, with at least 3 full mock interviews per format before sitting either. Interview windows: December (Cambridge); December - March (St Mary's Twickenham).

Cambridge requires A*A*A including Chemistry, plus one or two further science or mathematics subjects from Mathematics, Biology/Human Biology, Physics or Further Mathematics (the number varies by College). St Mary's Twickenham requires AAA prediction and offer requirements, must include chemistry or biology as well as one of biology/chemistry/physics/maths. Resits only considered in exceptional circumstances. GCSEs: grade 6 minimum in maths, English language, biology and chemistry (or dual award science).. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school.

Cambridge — No specific GCSE requirement, but successful applicants typically achieve grade 7+ across all GCSEs. Mean offer-holder ≈ 9.7 grade A*/9 historically. GCSE used contextually as part of holistic shortlisting (less algorithmically than Oxford). Sub-90% A*/9 applicants advised to favour Cambridge over Oxford. St Mary's Twickenham — Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science).

Cambridge's selection methodology: Holistic assessment run by each College: "We assess applicants through a mixture of academic record, UCAT and interviews." There is no UCAT threshold and no published algorithm. Cambridge interviews a high proportion of applicants and therefore makes many post-interview rejections. St Mary's Twickenham'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.

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

CambridgeEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

St Mary's TwickenhamEntry 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.

Cambridge vs St Mary's Twickenham

Side-by-side comparison

Cambridge vs St Mary's Twickenham - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Cambridge vs St Mary's Twickenham?

How do interviews differ between Cambridge and St Mary's Twickenham?

What A-Level grades do Cambridge and St Mary's Twickenham require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Cambridge vs St Mary's Twickenham?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Where are Cambridge and St Mary's Twickenham located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

Should I apply to both Cambridge and St Mary's Twickenham?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons