Dundee vs Edinburgh

Dundee requires AAA at A-level (minimum) - A*A*A or A*A*A* recommended for non-contextual RUK due to use in shortlisting algorithm.

Edinburgh requires AAA at A-level (theoretically minimum, but A*A*A* predictions ideal for RUK/English applicants to maximise post-interview chances) including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics.

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 Mathematics at minimum grade 6/B if not studied at A-level. GCSEs feed the academic score (60% of pre-interview ranking for school leavers); higher grades are essential due to… Edinburgh: Minimum grade 7/A in Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics and English.

Edinburgh then scores your best 8 GCSEs as part of the academic component, applying proportional scoring where school policy meant…

Both Dundee and Edinburgh use Assessment day 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.

That said, the specifics differ slightly: Dundee runs two-part group interview (about 1h40m including registration): an observed 30-minute group discussion, then an assessor-led discussion with the same group; Edinburgh runs half-day assessment day of three short-interview stations (mmi-style), at edinburgh medical school or online for applicants living outside the uk and ireland.

Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: Dundee interviews in January; Edinburgh in December - February.

Dundee runs a Spiral curriculum; Edinburgh runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Dundee delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Edinburgh uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year MBChB spiral curriculum - concepts revisited with increasing complexity. Clinical placements across NHS Tayside, NHS Fife, NHS Highland, and Six-year MBChB — the only six-year MBChB in Scotland — with a compulsory intercalated honours year in Year 3 (one of the largest intercalated cohorts

Intake size: Dundee — Home (Scottish + Contextual) ~825 places; RUK ~130; International ~156 (2025 entry); Edinburgh — ~210 Scottish + RUK + ~22 international places per year. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Dundee: RUK Non-Contextual (2025): 73/130 = 56%; Scottish: 647/825 = 78%; International: 86/156 = 55%. Edinburgh: Around 800 applicants reach the assessment day each cycle, competing for an intake in the low hundreds across the Scottish, RUK and international pools, so a substantial share of interviewees are unsuccessful. Edinburgh publishes per-cycle admissions statistics with the current breakdown.

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.

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.

Edinburgh: Shortlisting is dominated by the academic score: the UCAT total contributes 17.5% and the SJT band 7.5%, with the academic assessment carrying the rest. Every application is read independently by two admissions staff, and only your FIRST attempt at a required subject counts - retaking it in a different qualification does not help.

An SJT of Band 4 ends the application outright, with no widening-access exemption. Strong research focus and international reputation.