Chester Medical School (GEM) and Hull York (HYMS) 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.
| Comparison field | Chester Medical School (GEM)Chester | Hull York (HYMS)Hull/York |
|---|---|---|
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| Location | Chester, UK | Hull/York, UK |
| A-Level offer | Graduate entry - degree required | AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (3 A-levels studied and awarded concurrently) |
| TrueScoreTrueScore is our prediction of the UCAT score required to be invited to interview at this school for the upcoming cycle. Built from multi-year FOI data and applicant trends. Click any badge to see the full breakdown. | 1820GEM | 1980 |
| UCAT home cut-off | - | ~2010+ /2700 with B1 SJT and 6× grade 9s safest (~7th decile UCAT); ~1950+ consider with strong GCSE/SJT mix |
| Interview format | Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI) | Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI) |
| Post-interview chance | - | All (2024): 678/750 = 90%; Home: 655/695 = 94%; Overseas: 20/55 = 36% |
| Decision date | March onwards | March onwards |
Chester
Quick comparison
Hull/York
Quick comparison
Chester Medical School (GEM) requires Graduate entry - degree required.
Hull York (HYMS) requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.
GCSE profile matters at both schools — Chester Medical School (GEM): Not applicable - graduate-entry programme. Requires a 2:1 honours degree. Hull York (HYMS): Min 6 GCSEs at grade 6 including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.
Both Chester Medical School (GEM) and Hull York (HYMS) 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: Chester Medical School (GEM) interviews in December - March; Hull York (HYMS) in December - March.
Both schools deliver a PBL-style curriculum, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar across years 1-3.
Specifics: Four-year accelerated graduate-entry MBChB. Cheshire-based with regional NHS placements. Five-year MBBS jointly run by Hull and York universities. Clinical placements across Hull, York, Scarborough, and Yorkshire NHS sites.
Intake size: Chester Medical School (GEM) — ~30-50 places per year (small newer cohort).; Hull York (HYMS) — ~165 home + ~25 international places per year.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.
Chester Medical School (GEM): Graduate entry programme with focus on serving local communities. Newer course with a regional commitment to north-west England.
Hull York (HYMS): Points-based shortlisting: UCAT decile (/35) + SJT (/15) + GCSE top 6 subjects (/35) + contextual data (/15). The PBL group exercise is unusual among UK medical schools and reflects HYMS's problem-based curriculum.
Both schools sit in the same England foundation-programme catchment, so post-graduation training paths overlap heavily. 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.
School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 4 August 2026.
