Where are Cardiff and Keele located, and how does that affect cost?

Cardiff is in Cardiff, UK. Keele is in Staffordshire, 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?

Cardiff typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Keele 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

Cardiff vs Keele

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

The interview formats diverge — MMI vs Traditional — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Cardiff and Keele.
Comparison field	CardiffCardiff	KeeleStaffordshire
Quick comparison
Location	Cardiff, UK	Staffordshire, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology OR Chemistry plus a second science from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology. A pass in the science practical element is required where applicable.	A*AA at A-level (or AAA + grade A in EPQ as alternative)
TrueScore	Cardiff TrueScore 1700	Keele TrueScore 1900
UCAT home cut-off	No minimum. Cardiff states there is no minimum UCAT score, and that a cut-off is only introduced - and varies each cycle - when more applicants reach the highest academic scores than it can interview (around 1,000).	~1700+ /2700 absolute minimum (with 15/25 total score or 14/25 + 600+ VR). Top 20% UCAT (~2100+) maximises points.
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Two 15-minute structured online interviews (traditional format, not MMI; Microsoft Teams), usually around two hours apart
Post-interview chance	International (2024): 60/146 = 41%; Welsh: 232/349 = 66%; RUK: 347/664 = 52%; ~600 offers from 1000 interviews in 2025	International: 23/54 = 43%; Home Non-Contextual: 167/491 = 34%
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology OR Chemistry plus a second science from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology. A pass in the science practical element is required where applicable.	A*AA at A-level (or AAA + grade A in EPQ as alternative)
Contextual A-Level offer	-	AAA at A-level for contextual applicants
Required A-Level subjects	Biology and Chemistry both required	One of Biology / Chemistry required, plus a second from Chemistry / Biology / Mathematics / Physics / Economics / Psychology
A-Level resit policy	Resits only considered for applicants who held a conditional offer in the previous cycle and provide evidence of exceptional circumstances. GCSE resits accepted within one year of original sitting (English Language any time). No use of predicted A-level grades - achieved grades only.	Resits only accepted with the new achieved grades after completion of A-level resits - predicted resit grades not used in shortlisting
GCSE requirements	Top 9 GCSEs scored /27, must include Mathematics, English Language, Biology, Chemistry (or Double Science): A/8/9 = 3 pts, A/7 = 2 pts, B/6 = 1 pt. Achieved A-levels add up to 3 further points (A = 3, A = 2). 27/27 typical for RUK.	Five GCSEs at grade 7/A or above, plus minimum grade 6 in English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (6-6 Combined Science accepted as equivalent)
GCSE scoring methodology	GCSE-heavy: top 9 GCSEs scored /27. Welsh-domiciled and contextual applicants receive up to 3 additional points. UCAT only applied as tie-break when too many applicants reach 27/27.	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Biology and Chemistry	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level - including HL Biology or Chemistry plus a second science / Maths / Economics / Psychology
Graduate-entry degree requirement	Graduate applicants need a 2:1 (Hons) or to be working towards one, plus BBB/ABC at A-level including the subject requirements and the minimum GCSEs. Applicants who have completed a PhD need only BBC at A-level, with all other criteria still met.	-
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	-	~1700+ /2700 with up to 3 contextual points (UCAT bursary, postcode, local school)
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	~1950+ /2700 minimum requirement; 2024 entry international avg 1882, lowest 1763
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Not considered at all	Band 4 automatically rejected. Band 3 can compensate with higher stats. Scored /2 (B1=2, B2=1, B3=0).
UCAT notes	Cardiff is academically led: GCSE and UCAT decile scores are combined to rank applicants, with an extra point for academic achievement in further or higher education. The UCAT therefore acts as a sepa…	Points system /25: PS /15 + UCAT /5 (decile-based) + SJT /2 + contextual /3. Cut-off 15/25 (or 14/25 + 600+ VR).

Degree awarded	MBBCh	MBChB
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Case-based learning + Spiral	Spiral + Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	Dissection
First patient contact	-	Year 1
Placement geography	Across Wales	Staffordshire and Shropshire
Named placement sites	-	University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (Royal Stoke, County Hospital Stafford), Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (Bradwell, Haywood, St George’s Stafford, Redwoods Shrewsbury), North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust (Harplands, Stoke), Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (Royal Shrewsbury, Princess Royal Telford)
Intercalation	-	Available after year 2 at bachelor's level or year 4 at master's level, at Keele or another university.
Course highlight	You can spend all or part of the course based in north Wales and still graduate from Cardiff.	-

Interview window	December - February	December - March
Interview details	MMI format with stations testing motivation for medicine, communication, ethics and understanding of the Welsh healthcare context. You are told the general topic of each station beforehand.	Keele's 2027-entry selection uses two 15-minute structured online interviews via Microsoft Teams, usually about two hours apart, discussing pre-released GMC 'Good Medical Practice' guidance and a case…

Specialities	Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy	Medicine, Community Medicine, Primary Care
Established	1893	1978
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Leading Welsh medical school with strong community-medicine and research focus. GCSE-heavy scoring (/27) - full points typically requires 9 grade 8/9s. UCAT is used to rank candidates only when there…	Personal statement is heavily weighted (/15 of the /25 total score) - Keele has very specific PS criteria. Strong PS with band 1-2 SJT can compensate for relatively low UCAT. International applicants…
Official course page	https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/course/medicine-mbbch	https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduatecourses/medicine/

Cardiff

Quick comparison

Location: Cardiff, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Biology OR Chemistry plus a second science from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology. A pass in the science practical element is required where applicable.
TrueScore: Cardiff TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off: No minimum. Cardiff states there is no minimum UCAT score, and that a cut-off is only introduced - and varies each cycle - when more applicants reach the highest academic scores than it can interview (around 1,000).
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: International (2024): 60/146 = 41%; Welsh: 232/349 = 66%; RUK: 347/664 = 52%; ~600 offers from 1000 interviews in 2025
Decision date: March onwards

Keele

Staffordshire

Quick comparison

Location: Staffordshire, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA at A-level (or AAA + grade A in EPQ as alternative)
TrueScore: Keele TrueScore 1900
UCAT home cut-off: ~1700+ /2700 absolute minimum (with 15/25 total score or 14/25 + 600+ VR). Top 20% UCAT (~2100+) maximises points.
Interview format: Two 15-minute structured online interviews (traditional format, not MMI; Microsoft Teams), usually around two hours apart
Post-interview chance: International: 23/54 = 43%; Home Non-Contextual: 167/491 = 34%
Decision date: March onwards

Cardiff vs Keele - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Cardiff requires AAA at A-level including Biology OR Chemistry plus a second science from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology. A pass in the science practical element is required where applicable.

Keele requires A*AA at A-level (or AAA + grade A in EPQ as alternative).

Keele is the stricter A-Level offer; Cardiff is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Cardiff carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Cardiff: Top 9 GCSEs scored /27, must include Mathematics, English Language, Biology, Chemistry (or Double Science): A*/8/9 = 3 pts, A/7 = 2 pts, B/6 = 1 pt.

Achieved A-levels add up to 3 further points (A* =… Keele: Five GCSEs at grade 7/A or above, plus minimum grade 6 in English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (6-6 Combined Science accepted as equivalent).

Interview formats

Cardiff uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)); Keele uses Traditional (Two 15-minute structured online interviews (traditional format, not MMI; Microsoft Teams), usually around two hours apart). These two formats reward different skills — MMI emphasises breadth, station-recovery and structured answers under time pressure, while Traditional rewards malleability and intellectual honesty.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, either may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, Cardiff is the better fit.

Interview windows: Cardiff interviews in December - February; Keele in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Cardiff runs a Case-based curriculum; Keele runs a Spiral curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Cardiff leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Keele uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year MBBCh with case-based learning. Cardiff splits clinical placements across South Wales (Cardiff & Vale, Aneurin Bevan, Cwm Taf Morgannwg). Five-year MBChB with spiral curriculum. Strong rural/community placement strand across Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire.

Intake size: Cardiff — ~270 home + ~30 international places per year (A100).; Keele — ~150 home + ~10 international places per year (5-year MBChB) + ~30 Health Foundation Year places.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Cardiff: International (2024): 60/146 = 41%; Welsh: 232/349 = 66%; RUK: 347/664 = 52%; ~600 offers from 1000 interviews in 2025. Keele: International: 23/54 = 43%; Home Non-Contextual: 167/491 = 34%.

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

Cardiff: Leading Welsh medical school with strong community-medicine and research focus. GCSE-heavy scoring (/27) - full points typically requires 9 grade 8/9s. UCAT is used to rank candidates only when there are too many at the maximum GCSE score.

Keele: Personal statement is heavily weighted (/15 of the /25 total score) - Keele has very specific PS criteria. Strong PS with band 1-2 SJT can compensate for relatively low UCAT. International applicants selected on UCAT only.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, Cardiff is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Cardiff feeds into the Wales foundation programme network; Keele into the England network.

If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Cardiff; 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. Cardiff guidance: No minimum. Cardiff states there is no minimum UCAT score, and that a cut-off is only introduced - and varies each cycle - when more applicants reach the highest academic scores than it can interview (around 1,000).. Keele guidance: ~1700+ /2700 absolute minimum (with 15/25 total score or 14/25 + 600+ VR). Top 20% UCAT (~2100+) maximises points..

Cardiff uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Keele uses Traditional interview: Two 15-minute structured online interviews (traditional format, not MMI; Microsoft Teams), usually around two hours apart. 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 - February (Cardiff); December - March (Keele).

Cardiff requires AAA including Biology or Chemistry plus a second science from Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology. Keele requires A*AA, or AAA with an EPQ at grade A. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Cardiff — Cardiff considers resit applicants on a case-by-case basis.. Keele — Resits accepted with explanation; achieved-grade route also available..

Cardiff — Top 9 GCSEs scored /27, must include Mathematics, English Language, Biology, Chemistry (or Double Science): A*/8/9 = 3 pts, A/7 = 2 pts, B/6 = 1 pt. Achieved A-levels add up to 3 further points (A* = 3, A = 2). 27/27 typical for RUK. GCSE-heavy: top 9 GCSEs scored /27. Welsh-domiciled and contextual applicants receive up to 3 additional points. UCAT only applied as tie-break when too many applicants reach 27/27. Keele — Five GCSEs at grade 7/A or above, plus minimum grade 6 in English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (6-6 Combined Science accepted as equivalent).

Cardiff's selection methodology: Cardiff combines GCSE points with UCAT decile scores to rank applicants, adding a point for academic achievement in further or higher education. Points come from nine GCSE subjects, which must include Biology, Chemistry, English (first) or Welsh (first), and Mathematics or Numeracy. There is no minimum UCAT score: a cut-off is introduced only when the number of applicants with the highest academic scores exceeds the roughly 1,000 Cardiff can interview, and it moves every cycle. No offer is made without an MMI. Keele's selection methodology: UCAT + academic + Multiple Mini Interview. Keele's contextual route (Keele Health Foundation Year) provides extensive support for North Midlands widening-participation applicants. 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.

Cardiff: International (2024): 60/146 = 41%; Welsh: 232/349 = 66%; RUK: 347/664 = 52%; ~600 offers from 1000 interviews in 2025. Keele: International: 23/54 = 43%; Home Non-Contextual: 167/491 = 34%. 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%.

Cardiff runs a Case-based curriculum. Keele runs a Spiral curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Cardiff specifics: Five-year MBBCh with case-based learning. Cardiff splits clinical placements across South Wales (Cardiff & Vale, Aneurin Bevan, Cwm Taf Morgannwg). Keele specifics: Five-year MBChB with spiral curriculum. Strong rural/community placement strand across Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire.

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

CardiffEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

KeeleEntry 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.

Cardiff vs Keele

Side-by-side comparison

Cardiff vs Keele - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

Post-interview offer rate

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Cardiff vs Keele?

How do interviews differ between Cardiff and Keele?

What A-Level grades do Cardiff and Keele require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Cardiff vs Keele?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Which has a higher post-interview offer rate, Cardiff or Keele?

Where are Cardiff and Keele located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Cardiff and Keele use?

Should I apply to both Cardiff and Keele?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons