Where are Cambridge and Ulster University Medical School located, and how does that affect cost?

Cambridge is in Cambridge, UK. Ulster University Medical School is in Londonderry, 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. Ulster University Medical School 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 Ulster University Medical School

Cambridge and Ulster University Medical School are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Cambridge is based in Cambridge (England) while Ulster University Medical School sits in Londonderry (London), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

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 2021) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Cambridge and Ulster University Medical School.
Comparison field	CambridgeCambridge	Ulster University Medical SchoolLondonderry
Quick comparison
Location	Cambridge, UK	Londonderry, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (typical offer; 92–95% of recent offer-holders predicted AAA*) including Chemistry and Biology / Mathematics / Physics	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree
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	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	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree
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.	-
A-Level resit policy	Resits considered case-by-case; competitive applicants typically achieve AAA in one sitting.	Resits accepted.
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.	-
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	-
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.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any honours degree (Arts, Science, Humanities all accepted)
Alternative qualifications	-	Graduate-entry only. UCAT NOT used - Ulster uses GAMSAT (Graduate Medical School Admissions Test). Recent GAMSAT thresholds have been ~61. Plus 2:1 honours degree and MMI interview. Strong Northern Ireland regional focus.

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	No separate threshold published.	-
Graduate cut-off	-	Not applicable - Ulster uses GAMSAT, not the UCAT. Recent thresholds have been around 61.
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.	-
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,…	GAMSAT is scored out of 100. Do not sit the UCAT for this course.

Degree awarded	MB BChir	MBBS
Course length	6 years	4 years (graduate entry)
Teaching style	Traditional / lecture-led	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	Full-body dissection	Imaging and models
First patient contact	Year 1	-
Placement geography	Cambridge and the East of England	Across Northern Ireland
Named placement sites	Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	-
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.	Based at the Magee campus in Derry~Londonderry, alongside other healthcare programmes.

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…	MMI format with multiple stations. Focus on serving Northern Ireland's healthcare needs alongside standard motivation, ethics and communication content.

Specialities	Clinical Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Medical Sciences	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	1209	2021
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…	New medical school serving Northern Ireland. Strong regional focus, with the course oriented around local workforce needs. Cut-offs have not yet stabilised.
Official course page	https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/medicine-mb-bchir	https://www.ulster.ac.uk/courses/202627/medicine-41407

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

Ulster University Medical School

Londonderry

Quick comparison

Location: Londonderry, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree
TrueScore: -
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Cambridge vs Ulster University Medical School - 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.

Ulster University Medical School requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree.

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… Ulster University Medical School: Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Interview formats

Cambridge uses Panel (Traditional panel interviews with academic focus); Ulster University Medical School 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, Ulster University Medical School is the better fit.

Interview windows: Cambridge interviews in December; Ulster University Medical School in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Cambridge runs a Traditional curriculum; Ulster University Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Cambridge delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Ulster University Medical School uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Three pre-clinical years at Cambridge (mostly lecture/lab-based, with college supervisions), then three clinical years at Addenbrooke's Hospital and C Four-year accelerated MBBS for graduates. Clinical placements across Northern Ireland NHS sites (Magee Campus, Western HSC, Northern HSC).

Intake size: Cambridge — 270 students accepted in the 2025 cycle across all Colleges (A100 Standard Entry Medicine), including a capped 22 overseas fee-status places.; Ulster University Medical School — ~70 places per year (small cohort, NI-focused).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

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.

Ulster University Medical School: New medical school serving Northern Ireland. Strong regional focus, with the course oriented around local workforce needs. Cut-offs have not yet stabilised.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Cambridge feeds into the England foundation programme network; Ulster University Medical School into the London network. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Cambridge; 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. Cambridge guidance: No threshold. Cambridge states plainly: "There is no minimum threshold for UCAT score.". Ulster University Medical School guidance: GAMSAT is scored out of 100. Do not sit the UCAT for this course..

Cambridge uses Traditional interview: Traditional panel interviews with academic focus. Ulster University Medical School 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 (Ulster University Medical School).

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). Ulster University Medical School requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Cambridge — Resits considered case-by-case; competitive applicants typically achieve A*A*A in one sitting.. Ulster University Medical School — Resits accepted..

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. Ulster University Medical School — Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, 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. Ulster University Medical School's selection methodology: Graduate-entry only: a 2:1 honours degree in any discipline plus GAMSAT (recent threshold ~61 out of 100), then MMI. Strong Northern Ireland regional focus. 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.

Cambridge runs a Traditional curriculum. Ulster University Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Cambridge specifics: Three pre-clinical years at Cambridge (mostly lecture/lab-based, with college supervisions), then three clinical years at Addenbrooke's Hospital and Cambridge-affiliated NHS sites. Ulster University Medical School specifics: Four-year accelerated MBBS for graduates. Clinical placements across Northern Ireland NHS sites (Magee Campus, Western HSC, Northern HSC).

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

Ulster University Medical SchoolEntry 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 Ulster University Medical School

Side-by-side comparison

Cambridge vs Ulster University Medical School - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Cambridge vs Ulster University Medical School?

How do interviews differ between Cambridge and Ulster University Medical School?

What A-Level grades do Cambridge and Ulster University Medical School require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Cambridge vs Ulster University Medical School?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Where are Cambridge and Ulster University Medical School located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Cambridge and Ulster University Medical School use?

Should I apply to both Cambridge and Ulster University Medical School?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons