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Medical school comparison

Dundee vs Edge Hill

Dundee and Edge Hill are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Dundee is based in Dundee (Scotland) while Edge Hill sits in Ormskirk (England), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Side-by-side comparison

Dundee

Dundee

Quick comparison

Location
Dundee, UK
A-Level offer
AAA at A-level (minimum) - A*A*A or A*A*A* recommended for non-contextual RUK due to use in shortlisting algorithm
TrueScore
1700
UCAT home cut-off
-
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
RUK Non-Contextual (2025): 73/130 = 56%; Scottish: 647/825 = 78%; International: 86/156 = 55%
Decision date
March onwards

Edge Hill

Ormskirk

Quick comparison

Location
Ormskirk, UK
A-Level offer
AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry, OR A*A*B with Biology and Chemistry at grade A or above plus a third subject at grade B or above
TrueScore
1950
UCAT home cut-off
~2050+ /2700 (2023 entry lowest invited ≈ 1958; recent target per third-party sources is top 15-20% nationally for 2026 entry)
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
Home Student (2023): 32/115 = 28% - chances may have improved with 63 places now (vs 30 in 2023, 50 in 2024)
Decision date
March onwards

Dundee vs Edge Hill - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Dundee requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology. Edge Hill 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 — Dundee: Biology, English and Maths required at GCSE grade 6/B (if not studied at A-Level). Higher GCSE/National 5 grades essential due to high academic weighting in shortlisting. Edge Hill: Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Interview formats

Both Dundee and Edge Hill 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: Dundee interviews in December - February; Edge Hill in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Dundee runs a Spiral curriculum; Edge Hill runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Dundee delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Edge Hill centres learning around clinical cases. Specifics: Five-year MBChB spiral curriculum - concepts revisited with increasing complexity. Clinical placements across NHS Tayside, NHS Fife, NHS Highland, and Five-year MBChB with PBL and case-based learning. Clinical placements across Lancashire NHS sites (Southport & Ormskirk, Wirral, Mersey Care). Intake size: Dundee — Home (Scottish + Contextual) ~825 places; RUK ~130; International ~156 (2025 entry).; Edge Hill — ~100 places per year (small cohort).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Dundee: RUK Non-Contextual (2025): 73/130 = 56%; Scottish: 647/825 = 78%; International: 86/156 = 55%. Edge Hill: Home Student (2023): 32/115 = 28% - chances may have improved with 63 places now (vs 30 in 2023, 50 in 2024). 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

Dundee: Scottish medical school renowned for anatomy teaching and medical research. Shortlisting weights 60% academic / 40% UCAT for school leavers (40/60 for graduates). Both A-level predictions and GCSEs feed the academic score. Edge Hill: Significant proportional increase in places - now 63 places, up from 30 in 2023 and 50 in 2024. UCAT thresholds may have softened with growth. International students not accepted. Band 4 SJT auto-rejected.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Dundee feeds into the Scotland foundation programme network; Edge Hill into the England network. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Edge Hill; 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. Dundee guidance: Pre-interview shortlisting: 60% academic + 40% UCAT (school leavers); 40% / 60% for graduates. SJT not used.. Edge Hill guidance: ~2050+ /2700 (2023 entry lowest invited ≈ 1958; recent target per third-party sources is top 15-20% nationally for 2026 entry).

Dundee uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Edge Hill 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 - February (Dundee); December - March (Edge Hill).

Dundee requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology. Edge Hill requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Dundee — Resits not accepted (one-sitting expectation for standard applicants).. Edge Hill — Resits accepted..

Dundee — Biology, English and Maths required at GCSE grade 6/B (if not studied at A-Level). Higher GCSE/National 5 grades essential due to high academic weighting in shortlisting. Edge Hill — Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Dundee's selection methodology: 60% academic score (GCSE + predicted A-Level) + 40% UCAT for shortlisting. Personal statement not scored - may be discussed at interview. SJT not used. Edge Hill's selection methodology: Newer programme (first cohort 2020). UCAT + academic + MMI interview. Strong North-West / Lancashire 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.

Dundee: RUK Non-Contextual (2025): 73/130 = 56%; Scottish: 647/825 = 78%; International: 86/156 = 55%. Edge Hill: Home Student (2023): 32/115 = 28% - chances may have improved with 63 places now (vs 30 in 2023, 50 in 2024). 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%.

Dundee is in Dundee, UK. Edge Hill is in Ormskirk, UK. Scottish-domiciled applicants funded by SAAS pay no tuition fees at Scottish medical schools — a substantial funding advantage worth tens of thousands of pounds over the degree. Rest-of-UK applicants still pay £9,250/year.

Dundee typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Edge Hill 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.

Dundee runs a Spiral curriculum. Edge Hill runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Dundee specifics: Five-year MBChB spiral curriculum - concepts revisited with increasing complexity. Clinical placements across NHS Tayside, NHS Fife, NHS Highland, and remote/rural Scottish sites. Edge Hill specifics: Five-year MBChB with PBL and case-based learning. Clinical placements across Lancashire NHS sites (Southport & Ormskirk, Wirral, Mersey 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.