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

Cambridge is in Cambridge, UK. Worcester Medical School is in Worcester, 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. Worcester 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 Worcester Medical School

Cambridge and Worcester Medical School 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.

Cambridge is the older institution (founded 1209); the other (founded 2023) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Cambridge and Worcester Medical School.
Comparison field	CambridgeCambridge	Worcester Medical SchoolWorcester
Quick comparison
Location	Cambridge, UK	Worcester, 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 - 1st or 2:1 in any subject (or 2:2 plus a Master's/Doctorate)
TrueScore	Cambridge TrueScore 2150	Worcester Medical School TrueScore 1900GEM
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	Casper SJT + two panel interviews
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 - 1st or 2:1 in any subject (or 2:2 plus a Master's/Doctorate)
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 (or equivalent) at grade C/4 or above in Maths and English. Non-science graduates additionally need two science subjects at C/4 or above.
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.	1st or 2:1 undergraduate honours degree in any subject, held or predicted in the year of application. A 2:2 is acceptable when topped by a Master's or Doctoral degree.
Alternative qualifications	-	Graduate-entry only (4-year MBChB), taught at the Three Counties Medical School. UCAT or GAMSAT accepted - the applicant submits the better score. Applicants who have previously started a medical degree in the UK or overseas are not eligible. International applicants are welcome.

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	No separate threshold published.	-
Graduate cut-off	-	~1900+ /2700 (most recent shortlisted applicants scored above 1870 on UCAT)
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,…	Graduate-entry programme accepting UCAT OR GAMSAT (applicant submits the better score). Partnership with Swansea University Medical School for degree accreditation while completing GMC accreditation.

Degree awarded	MB BChir	MBChB
Course length	6 years	4 years (graduate entry)
Teaching style	Traditional / lecture-led	Problem-based learning
Anatomy teaching	Full-body dissection	Imaging and models
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	Cambridge and the East of England	Worcestershire and the Three Counties
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.	Open to graduates of any discipline.

Interview window	December	January - 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…	Shortlisted applicants sit the Casper online situational-judgement test and attend two panel interviews; SJT and interview performance are combined into a single ranking for offers.

Specialities	Clinical Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Medical Sciences	Medicine, Community Healthcare, Primary Care, Patient-Centred Care
Established	1209	2023
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…	Partnership with Swansea University Medical School (provides degree accreditation while Worcester completes GMC accreditation). Emphasis on community-based learning and serving local populations in th…
Official course page	https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/medicine-mb-bchir	https://www.worcester.ac.uk/courses/medicine-graduate-entry-mbchb

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

Worcester Medical School

Worcester

Quick comparison

Location: Worcester, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry - 1st or 2:1 in any subject (or 2:2 plus a Master's/Doctorate)
TrueScore: Worcester Medical School TrueScore 1900GEM
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Casper SJT + two panel interviews
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Cambridge vs Worcester 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.

Worcester Medical School requires Graduate entry - 1st or 2:1 in any subject (or 2:2 plus a Master's/Doctorate).

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… Worcester Medical School: GCSE (or equivalent) at grade C/4 or above in Maths and English.

Non-science graduates additionally need two science subjects at C/4 or above.

Interview formats

Both Cambridge and Worcester Medical School use Panel 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: Cambridge runs traditional panel interviews with academic focus; Worcester Medical School runs casper sjt + two panel interviews. Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: Cambridge interviews in December; Worcester Medical School in January - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Cambridge runs a Traditional curriculum; Worcester Medical School runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Cambridge delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Worcester Medical School centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: Three pre-clinical years at Cambridge (mostly lecture/lab-based, with college supervisions), then three clinical years at Addenbrooke's Hospital and C Five-year MBChB. Worcester-based with West Midlands NHS placements (Worcestershire Acute Hospitals).

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.; Worcester Medical School — ~30-50 places per year (small newer cohort).. 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.

Worcester Medical School: Partnership with Swansea University Medical School (provides degree accreditation while Worcester completes GMC accreditation). Emphasis on community-based learning and serving local populations in the West Midlands.

Which is right for you?

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 Worcester Medical School; 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.". Worcester Medical School guidance: Graduate-entry programme accepting UCAT OR GAMSAT (applicant submits the better score). Partnership with Swansea University Medical School for degree accreditation while completing GMC accreditation..

Cambridge uses Traditional interview: Traditional panel interviews with academic focus. Worcester Medical School uses Panel interview: Casper SJT + two panel interviews. 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); January - March (Worcester 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). Worcester Medical School requires Graduate entry - 1st or 2:1 in any subject (or 2:2 plus a Master's/Doctorate). 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.. Worcester 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. Worcester Medical School — GCSE (or equivalent) at grade C/4 or above in Maths and English. Non-science graduates additionally need two science subjects at C/4 or above.

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. Worcester Medical School's selection methodology: Newer programme (first cohort planned). UCAT + academic + interview. Strong widening-participation 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. Worcester Medical School runs a PBL 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. Worcester Medical School specifics: Five-year MBChB. Worcester-based with West Midlands NHS placements (Worcestershire Acute Hospitals).

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

Worcester 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 Worcester Medical School

Side-by-side comparison

Cambridge vs Worcester 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 Worcester Medical School?

How do interviews differ between Cambridge and Worcester Medical School?

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

How are GCSEs weighted at Cambridge vs Worcester Medical School?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

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

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Cambridge and Worcester Medical School use?

Should I apply to both Cambridge and Worcester Medical School?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons