Cardiff vs Sunderland

Cardiff's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 1700, while Sunderland sits at approximately 1700.

Their UCAT bars are statistically indistinguishable (within 0 points), so the UCAT is unlikely to be your differentiator between them.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Cardiff: not separately disclosed; Sunderland: ~1680+ /2700 (top 8 deciles required; AAB offer with local + contextual). Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

Cardiff requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Sunderland 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 — Cardiff: Top 9 GCSEs scored out of 27 points (must include Maths, English Language, Biology, Chemistry). A*/8/9 = 3 pts, A/7 = 2, B/6 = 1. Sunderland: Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 including Maths, English Language, Biology, Chemistry (or dual-award Science).

Both Cardiff and Sunderland 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.

Interview windows: Cardiff interviews in December - February; Sunderland in December - January.

Cardiff runs a Case-based curriculum; Sunderland runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Cardiff leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Sunderland centres learning around clinical cases.

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 PBL and case-based learning. Strong North-East NHS placement network.

Intake size: Cardiff — ~270 home + ~30 international places per year (A100).; Sunderland — ~100 places per year (smaller cohort).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Cardiff: International (2024): 60/146 = 41%; Welsh: 232/349 = 66%; RUK: 347/664 = 52%; ~600 offers from 1000 interviews in 2025. Sunderland: All Home Applicants: 353/731 = 48% (2025). Not for international students - home only.

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.

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.

Sunderland: No use of personal statement. The interview-selection tool reviews up to 4 examples of paid voluntary work or caring experience (shadowing doctors does not count). Numeracy test now part of the interview process.