Dundee vs St Andrews

Dundee's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 2025, while St Andrews sits at approximately 650.

That's a 1375-point gap — large enough to put the two schools in completely different competitiveness tiers. An applicant scoring in the 1100-1600 band would be competitive at St Andrews but borderline at Dundee.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Dundee: not separately disclosed; St Andrews: Widening-access applicants receive a 10% uplift on their UCAT score.. Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

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.

St Andrews requires AAA at A-level (offer and predicted) including Chemistry and 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… St Andrews: Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 7/A in one sitting (achieved A-level applicants may be considered with fewer).

GCSE grade 5 in Biology, Mathematics, and English (Language or Literature) required if not…

Dundee uses Traditional (Two-part selection (~1h40m): observed 30-minute group discussion, then a structured traditional one-to-one discussion with an assessor); St Andrews uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)). These two formats reward different skills — Traditional emphasises academic reasoning and thinking aloud through unfamiliar problems, while MMI rewards breadth and quick recovery.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, either may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, St Andrews is the better fit.

Interview windows: Dundee interviews in December - February; St Andrews in December - March.

Dundee runs a Spiral curriculum; St Andrews runs a Traditional curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Dundee delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while St Andrews 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 First 3 years at St Andrews leading to BSc (Hons) Medicine. Most students then transfer to a partner clinical school for years 4-6 of MBChB.

Intake size: Dundee — Home (Scottish + Contextual) ~825 places; RUK ~130; International ~156 (2025 entry).; St Andrews — RUK ~24 places, Scottish ~150, International ~30 (3-year pre-clinical only - clinical years at partner schools).. 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%. St Andrews: RUK Student (2025): 123/162 = 74%; Scottish + RUK: 411/505 = 81%; International (2023): 56/82 = 68%.

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.

St Andrews: Three-year pre-clinical course at St Andrews followed by transfer to a partner medical school for clinical years. SJT not used (was used many years ago, not now or in future). Scottish students face much lower cut-offs than RUK applicants.