Edinburgh vs Lancaster

Edinburgh requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology/Physics/Mathematics.

Lancaster 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 — Edinburgh: Strong GCSE/National 5 profile expected; not algorithmically scored. Lancaster: Min grade 6 in English Language, Maths, dual-award Science (or Biology + Chemistry).

Edinburgh uses Assessment day (Assessment day: three 12-minute individual stations plus a 45-minute group exercise (Edinburgh describes it as 'not a typical MMI format')); Lancaster uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)). These two formats reward different skills — Assessment day 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, Lancaster is the better fit.

Interview windows: Edinburgh interviews in December - February; Lancaster in December - March.

Edinburgh runs a Integrated curriculum; Lancaster runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Edinburgh delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Lancaster centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: Six-year MBChB with compulsory intercalated honours degree in Year 3 (one of the largest intercalated cohorts in the UK). Five-year MBChB built around problem-based learning. Distinct rural/community placement strand in Cumbria, Lancashire and Morecambe Bay.

Intake size: Edinburgh — ~210 Scottish + RUK + ~22 international places per year.; Lancaster — ~64 home + ~10 international places per year (small intake).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Edinburgh: RUK student: 166/300 = 68%; Scottish student: 424/432 = 98% (effectively not interviewed); Overseas student: 45/98 = 46%. Lancaster: Home student: 261/587 = 44%; International: 6/19 = 32%.

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.

Edinburgh: Around 50% academic, 35% UCAT and 15% SJT in shortlisting; SJT band 4 is rejected outright. Scottish applicants face a much lower bar than RUK and are effectively guaranteed an interview if they meet minimums. Strong research focus and international reputation.

Lancaster: Newer medical school with a focus on regional healthcare in north-west England. Personal statement is not used in selection and interviewers do not have access to it. SJT band 4 is auto-rejected - bands 1-3 are equal.