How do interviews differ between Edge Hill and UCL?

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

Where are Edge Hill and UCL located, and how does that affect cost?

Edge Hill is in Ormskirk, UK. UCL is in London, 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?

Edge Hill typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. UCL releases medicine decisions Decisions are made after all the Interviews have been completed. 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

Edge Hill vs UCL

Edge Hill and UCL are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Edge Hill is based in Ormskirk (England) while UCL sits in London (London), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination. Their A-Level requirements (AAA vs A*AA) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers.

UCL is the older institution (founded 1826); the other (founded 2020) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Edge Hill and UCL.
Comparison field	Edge HillOrmskirk	UCLLondon
Quick comparison
Location	Ormskirk, UK	London, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry, OR AAB / A*AB with Biology and Chemistry at grade A or above plus a third subject at grade B or above	AAA including AA in Chemistry and Biology in either order. The third subject is your own choice, other than General Studies or Critical Thinking.
TrueScore	Edge Hill TrueScore 1950	UCL TrueScore 2190
UCAT home cut-off	Edge Hill does not publish a UCAT cut-off. Shortlisting is UCAT-led once the minimum academic requirements are met, so the effective bar moves with the strength of each cohort.	2190+ /2700 (2026 entry threshold)
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	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)	Reasonable. Around 1,000 applicants are interviewed for 313 home and 24 overseas places, and UCL makes more offers than places because not every offer is taken up. Offers rest purely on interview performance, and UCL reviews home, international and Access UCL interview scores separately rather than applying an uplift to any group.
Decision date	March onwards	Decisions are made after all the Interviews have been completed

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry, OR AAB / A*AB with Biology and Chemistry at grade A or above plus a third subject at grade B or above	AAA including AA in Chemistry and Biology in either order. The third subject is your own choice, other than General Studies or Critical Thinking.
Contextual A-Level offer	-	AAB at A-level for Access UCL contextual applicants - Biology and Chemistry both at grade A
Required A-Level subjects	Biology and Chemistry both required	Chemistry and Biology both required
A-Level resit policy	Resits accepted	Qualification resits are not accepted, including re-starting Year 12. GCSE resits are accepted.
GCSE requirements	At least 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above (or equivalent), including Biology, Chemistry, English Language and Mathematics. Double Science 6-6 accepted in lieu of separate Bio/Chem.	Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics. No score or assessment of other GCSEs. GCSE resits accepted.
GCSE scoring methodology	Used only as minimum threshold - wholly UCAT-based shortlisting once met	Used only as minimum threshold (Eng + Maths grade 6/B). Other GCSEs not scored or assessed.
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	A1,A,A at Advanced Higher (or A1,A at Advanced Higher plus A,A,A at Higher), to include Chemistry and Biology at Advanced Higher with either at A1. Highers alone are not sufficient.
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Biology and Chemistry	39 points overall, 19 at Higher Level - including HL 7,6,6 with HL Chemistry and HL Biology
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	Graduates apply to the standard six-year MBBS BSc; there is no accelerated route. UCL expects at least ABB in A-levels taken before the first degree (or 34 IB points with 16 at Higher Level at 6,5,5). A graduate who meets the grade bar but lacks A-level Chemistry and/or Biology may sit them during or after the degree, at grade A* (or A*A if taking both).
Alternative qualifications	Edge Hill does NOT accept international students. Foundation Year (A104) route available with lower UCAT bar (~1750 /2700).	-

Contextual cut-off	-	2080+ /2700 (Access UCL, 2026 entry threshold)
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	2300+ /2700 (2026 entry threshold)
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	No significant use, band 4 auto-rejected	Only used where candidates are on the same UCAT score
UCAT notes	International students are not accepted. A Band 4 SJT is not accepted.	There is no fixed cut-off - UCL ranks candidates on total UCAT score and the threshold falls where the interview slots run out, so it moves every year with the applicant pool. Access UCL applicants ar…

Degree awarded	MBChB	MBBS BSc
Course length	5 years	6 years (integrated BSc built in)
Teaching style	Case-based learning + Team-based learning	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 2	-
Placement geography	The north west of England	-
Named placement sites	-	-
Intercalation	-	Built in — the six-year programme is inclusive of the integrated BSc. Graduate entrants with UK degrees are exempt.
Course highlight	Students are allocated to a specific hospital for the whole of their training rather than rotating between sites.	UCL offers one of the widest ranges of integrated BSc options of any UK medical school.

Interview window	December - March	December - March
Interview details	MMI format with 1 minute of prep outside each station and 7 minutes to answer. Probing follow-up questions are common - treat them as opportunities to develop your answer rather than signs you have go…	Up to eight MMI stations of five minutes each, with one minute beforehand to read the instructions and two or three questions per station - around 50 minutes in total. Home fee-paying candidates are i…

Specialities	Medicine, Community Medicine	Medicine, Medical Sciences, Global Health
Established	2020	1826
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	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-reje…	Cut-offs differ from Imperial - UCL's home threshold is lower while its international threshold is higher, partly because UCL holds more interviews relative to offers. SJT is only used as a tie-breake…
Official course page	https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/course/medicine/	https://www.ucl.ac.uk/study/prospective-students/undergraduate/courses/medicine-mbbs-bsc

Edge Hill

Ormskirk

Quick comparison

Location: Ormskirk, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry, OR A*A*B / A*AB with Biology and Chemistry at grade A or above plus a third subject at grade B or above
TrueScore: Edge Hill TrueScore 1950
UCAT home cut-off: Edge Hill does not publish a UCAT cut-off. Shortlisting is UCAT-led once the minimum academic requirements are met, so the effective bar moves with the strength of each cohort.
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

UCL

London

Quick comparison

Location: London, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA including A*A in Chemistry and Biology in either order. The third subject is your own choice, other than General Studies or Critical Thinking.
TrueScore: UCL TrueScore 2190
UCAT home cut-off: 2190+ /2700 (2026 entry threshold)
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Reasonable. Around 1,000 applicants are interviewed for 313 home and 24 overseas places, and UCL makes more offers than places because not every offer is taken up. Offers rest purely on interview performance, and UCL reviews home, international and Access UCL interview scores separately rather than applying an uplift to any group.
Decision date: Decisions are made after all the Interviews have been completed

Edge Hill vs UCL - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Edge Hill requires AAA at A-level including Biology and Chemistry, OR A*A*B / A*AB with Biology and Chemistry at grade A or above plus a third subject at grade B or above.

UCL requires A*AA including A*A in Chemistry and Biology in either order. The third subject is your own choice, other than General Studies or Critical Thinking.

UCL is the stricter A-Level offer; Edge Hill is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Edge Hill carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Edge Hill: At least 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above (or equivalent), including Biology, Chemistry, English Language and Mathematics. Double Science 6-6 accepted in lieu of separate Bio/Chem. Used only as minimum… UCL: Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics. No score or assessment of other GCSEs. GCSE resits accepted.

Used only as minimum threshold (Eng + Maths grade 6/B). Other GCSEs not scored…

Interview formats

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

Curriculum and teaching style

Edge Hill runs a PBL curriculum; UCL runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Edge Hill leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while UCL uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year MBChB with PBL and case-based learning. Clinical placements across Lancashire NHS sites (Southport & Ormskirk, Wirral, Mersey Care). Six-year MBBS BSc with compulsory intercalated BSc in Year 3. Clinical placements at UCL-affiliated NHS sites including UCLH, Royal Free, and Whitting

Intake size: Edge Hill — 63 places per year, up from 50 in 2024 and 30 in 2023.; UCL — 313 home and 24 overseas fee-status places per year (337 in total).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Offers rest purely on interview performance, and UCL reviews home, international and Access UCL interview scores separately rather than applying an uplift to any group.

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

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.

UCL: Cut-offs differ from Imperial - UCL's home threshold is lower while its international threshold is higher, partly because UCL holds more interviews relative to offers. SJT is only used as a tie-breaker between equally scored candidates.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, Edge Hill is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Edge Hill feeds into the England foundation programme network; UCL into the London 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. Edge Hill guidance: Edge Hill does not publish a UCAT cut-off. Shortlisting is UCAT-led once the minimum academic requirements are met, so the effective bar moves with the strength of each cohort.. UCL guidance: 2190+ /2700 (2026 entry threshold).

Edge Hill requires AAA including Biology and Chemistry, OR A*A*B / A*AB with Biology and Chemistry at grade A or above plus a third subject at grade B or above. UCL requires A*AA including Chemistry and Biology. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Edge Hill — Resits accepted.. UCL — A-Level resits not accepted..

Edge Hill — At least 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above (or equivalent), including Biology, Chemistry, English Language and Mathematics. Double Science 6-6 accepted in lieu of separate Bio/Chem. Used only as minimum threshold - wholly UCAT-based shortlisting once met UCL — Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics. No score or assessment of other GCSEs. GCSE resits accepted. Used only as minimum threshold (Eng + Maths grade 6/B). Other GCSEs not scored or assessed.

Edge Hill's selection methodology: Newer programme (first cohort 2020). UCAT + academic + MMI interview. Strong North-West / Lancashire focus. UCL's selection methodology: Beyond the minimum academic requirements, shortlisting is wholly by total UCAT score, with SJT as a tie-break only. UCL normally interviews around 1,000 applicants, sending invitations on a rolling basis from December through to March. Home, international and Access UCL candidates are reviewed in separate pools. 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.

Edge Hill: Home Student (2023): 32/115 = 28% - chances may have improved with 63 places now (vs 30 in 2023, 50 in 2024). UCL: Reasonable. Around 1,000 applicants are interviewed for 313 home and 24 overseas places, and UCL makes more offers than places because not every offer is taken up. Offers rest purely on interview performance, and UCL reviews home, international and Access UCL interview scores separately rather than applying an uplift to any group.. 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%.

Edge Hill runs a PBL curriculum. UCL runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Edge Hill specifics: Five-year MBChB with PBL and case-based learning. Clinical placements across Lancashire NHS sites (Southport & Ormskirk, Wirral, Mersey Care). UCL specifics: Six-year MBBS BSc with compulsory intercalated BSc in Year 3. Clinical placements at UCL-affiliated NHS sites including UCLH, Royal Free, and Whittington.

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

Edge HillEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

UCLEntry 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.

Edge Hill vs UCL

Side-by-side comparison

Edge Hill vs UCL - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

Post-interview offer rate

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Edge Hill vs UCL?

How do interviews differ between Edge Hill and UCL?

What A-Level grades do Edge Hill and UCL require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Edge Hill vs UCL?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Which has a higher post-interview offer rate, Edge Hill or UCL?

Where are Edge Hill and UCL located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Edge Hill and UCL use?

Should I apply to both Edge Hill and UCL?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons