Where are Chester Medical School (GEM) and Pears Cumbria (GEM) located, and how does that affect cost?

Chester Medical School (GEM) is in Chester, UK. Pears Cumbria (GEM) is in Carlisle, 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?

Chester Medical School (GEM) typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Pears Cumbria (GEM) 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

Chester Medical School (GEM) vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at Chester Medical School (GEM) vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

Chester Medical School (GEM) — GCSE English Language and Mathematics at grade 4/C or above (or accepted equivalent). Pears Cumbria (GEM) — GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree.

Chester Medical School (GEM) and Pears Cumbria (GEM) 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.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Chester Medical School (GEM) and Pears Cumbria (GEM).
Comparison field	Chester Medical School (GEM)Chester	Pears Cumbria (GEM)Carlisle
Quick comparison
Location	Chester, UK	Carlisle, UK
A-Level offer	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject (a Master's offsets a 2:2)	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree
TrueScore	Chester Medical School (GEM) TrueScore 1820GEM	Pears Cumbria (GEM) TrueScore 1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off	-	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	-	-
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject (a Master's offsets a 2:2)	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	-	-
A-Level resit policy	Not applicable to graduate entry.	Not applicable to graduate entry - degree class is the academic measure.
GCSE requirements	GCSE English Language and Mathematics at grade 4/C or above (or accepted equivalent)	GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree
GCSE scoring methodology	-	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	-	-
Graduate-entry degree requirement	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or higher in any honours degree from a UK or recognised international institution. No restriction on degree subject - non-science degrees acceptable.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree — e.g. anatomy, biochemistry, biomedical science, biology, nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, paramedic science, pharmacy, dentistry or veterinary science. NOT open to any-discipline graduates.
Alternative qualifications	Graduate-entry only. UCAT, GAMSAT or MCAT all accepted (applicant submits best score). Required: relevant healthcare or community work experience, plus a personal statement reflecting commitment to medicine.	Graduate-entry only, home fee status required (international applicants are not eligible). UCAT or GAMSAT accepted — the applicant chooses one; MCAT is not accepted. MBBS awarded by Imperial College London and taught at the University of Cumbria Fusehill Street campus, Carlisle.

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	-
Graduate cut-off	UCAT, GAMSAT or MCAT accepted - the applicant submits their best score. No fixed cut-off: Chester sets the threshold annually 'above the national mean'.	1960+ /2700 for 2026 entry (1910+ contextual). GAMSAT alternative: 59 overall (53 contextual).
SJT band	-	-
UCAT notes	Any-discipline graduate entry. 70 hours of healthcare or care-setting work experience within the three years before applying is a hard requirement. International applicants need IELTS 7.0.	UCAT or GAMSAT — the applicant chooses one; MCAT is NOT accepted. Both are minimum-threshold hurdles rather than ranked scores. The UCAT must be sat in the same year as the UCAS submission; the GAMSAT…

Degree awarded	MB ChB	MBBS (awarded by Imperial College London)
Course length	4 years (graduate entry)	4 years (graduate entry)
Teaching style	Integrated	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	Imaging and models	-
First patient contact	-	Year 1
Placement geography	Cheshire, the Wirral, Shropshire and north Wales	North and south Cumbria
Named placement sites	Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Warrington and Halton NHS Trust, Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Crewe, Northwich, Winsford), Cheshire and Wirral Partnership, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (Wrexham Maelor), Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt NHS Foundation Trust (Oswestry)	-
Intercalation	-	-
Course highlight	Open to graduates with a previous degree in any discipline, not just science.	The MBBS is awarded by Imperial College London, delivered in partnership with the University of Cumbria.

Interview window	December - March	December - March
Interview details	Graduate-entry MMI format with stations covering clinical reasoning, communication, motivation and reflection on prior experiences.	Graduate-entry MMI format with stations focused on clinical reasoning, ethics, communication and motivation for rural and community healthcare.

Specialities	Medicine, Community Medicine	Medicine, Rural Healthcare, Community Medicine
Established	2024	2023
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Graduate entry programme with focus on serving local communities. Newer course with a regional commitment to north-west England.	The only medicine route in Carlisle, and graduate-entry only — there is no school-leaver course here. Restricted to home-fee applicants holding a 2:1 in biosciences or allied healthcare, with the MBBS…
Official course page	https://www.chester.ac.uk/study/graduate-entry-medicine/	https://cumbriamed.ac.uk/study/

Chester Medical School (GEM)

Chester

Quick comparison

Location: Chester, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject (a Master's offsets a 2:2)
TrueScore: Chester Medical School (GEM) TrueScore 1820GEM
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Pears Cumbria (GEM)

Carlisle

Quick comparison

Location: Carlisle, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree
TrueScore: Pears Cumbria (GEM) TrueScore 1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Chester Medical School (GEM) vs Pears Cumbria (GEM) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Chester Medical School (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject (a Master's offsets a 2:2).

Pears Cumbria (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Chester Medical School (GEM): GCSE English Language and Mathematics at grade 4/C or above (or accepted equivalent). Pears Cumbria (GEM): GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree.

Interview formats

Both Chester Medical School (GEM) and Pears Cumbria (GEM) 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; Pears Cumbria (GEM) in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

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. Four-year accelerated graduate-entry programme. Imperial College London partner. Clinical placements across Cumbria NHS sites (UHMBT, North Cumbria In

Intake size: Chester Medical School (GEM) — ~30-50 places per year (small newer cohort).; Pears Cumbria (GEM) — ~58 places per year. Imperial reported an 11:1 applications-to-places ratio for 2025.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

What makes each distinctive

Chester Medical School (GEM): Graduate entry programme with focus on serving local communities. Newer course with a regional commitment to north-west England.

Pears Cumbria (GEM): The only medicine route in Carlisle, and graduate-entry only — there is no school-leaver course here. Restricted to home-fee applicants holding a 2:1 in biosciences or allied healthcare, with the MBBS awarded by Imperial College London.

Which is right for you?

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.

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. Chester Medical School (GEM) guidance: Any-discipline graduate entry. 70 hours of healthcare or care-setting work experience within the three years before applying is a hard requirement. International applicants need IELTS 7.0.. Pears Cumbria (GEM) guidance: UCAT or GAMSAT — the applicant chooses one; MCAT is NOT accepted. Both are minimum-threshold hurdles rather than ranked scores. The UCAT must be sat in the same year as the UCAS submission; the GAMSAT within the two years before it..

Chester Medical School (GEM) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Pears Cumbria (GEM) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). The format is the same, so the same prep approach applies — practise ethics frameworks, NHS hot topics, and (for MMI) structured 5-7 minute station answers. Interview windows: December - March (Chester Medical School (GEM)); December - March (Pears Cumbria (GEM)).

Chester Medical School (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject (a Master's offsets a 2:2). Pears Cumbria (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Chester Medical School (GEM) — Not applicable to graduate entry.. Pears Cumbria (GEM) — Not applicable to graduate entry - degree class is the academic measure..

Chester Medical School (GEM)'s selection methodology: Degree class (2:1, or 2:2 with a Master's) plus an admission test - UCAT, GAMSAT or MCAT, best score counted, threshold set above the national mean each year - plus 70 hours of recent healthcare work experience, then MMI. Pears Cumbria (GEM)'s selection methodology: Degree subject and class hurdle (2:1 in biosciences or allied healthcare), then a UCAT or GAMSAT threshold, then MMI. Home fee status is an eligibility requirement, not a preference. MBBS awarded by Imperial College London. 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.

Chester Medical School (GEM) runs a PBL curriculum. Pears Cumbria (GEM) runs a PBL curriculum. Both schools deliver teaching in the same broad style, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar. Chester Medical School (GEM) specifics: Four-year accelerated graduate-entry MBChB. Cheshire-based with regional NHS placements. Pears Cumbria (GEM) specifics: Four-year accelerated graduate-entry programme. Imperial College London partner. Clinical placements across Cumbria NHS sites (UHMBT, North Cumbria Integrated Care).

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

Chester Medical School (GEM)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Pears Cumbria (GEM)Entry 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.

Chester Medical School (GEM) vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)

Side-by-side comparison

Chester Medical School (GEM) vs Pears Cumbria (GEM) - 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 Chester Medical School (GEM) vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

How do interviews differ between Chester Medical School (GEM) and Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

What A-Level grades do Chester Medical School (GEM) and Pears Cumbria (GEM) require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Chester Medical School (GEM) vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Where are Chester Medical School (GEM) and Pears Cumbria (GEM) located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Chester Medical School (GEM) and Pears Cumbria (GEM) use?

Should I apply to both Chester Medical School (GEM) and Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons