Edinburgh vs Lincoln Medical School

Edinburgh's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 1850, while Lincoln Medical School sits at approximately 1700.

The 150-point spread matters: Lincoln Medical School offers slightly more headroom for an average-strong UCAT, while Edinburgh expects performance closer to the national 75th-90th percentile.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Edinburgh: Plus Flag applicants are exempt from the cut-off entirely and are considered with any UCAT total, and they receive a 10% uplift on their UCAT score.; Lincoln Medical School: ~1500+ /2700 with WP uplifts (MEM2 Q1 = 8pts; care experienced = 15pts; UCAT bursary = 6pts).

Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

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.

Lincoln Medical School requires AAA at A-level which must include Biology (or Human Biology) at grade A. Chemistry is NOT required at A-level.

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: 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… Lincoln Medical School: At least six GCSEs at grade 7/A or above including Biology and Chemistry (or Double Science), plus a minimum of grade 6/B in English Language and Mathematics. GCSE resits accepted before the time of…

Edinburgh uses Assessment day (Half-day assessment day, held at Edinburgh Medical School or online (Edinburgh describes it as 'not a typical MMI format')); Lincoln Medical School 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, Lincoln Medical School is the better fit.

Interview windows: Edinburgh interviews in December - February; Lincoln Medical School in December - March.

Both schools deliver a Integrated-style curriculum, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar across years 1-3.

Specifics: 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 Five-year MBBChir partnered with Nottingham. Lincoln-based teaching with Lincolnshire NHS clinical placements (Lincoln County Hospital, Pilgrim Hospit

Intake size: Edinburgh — ~210 Scottish + RUK + ~22 international places per year.; Lincoln Medical School — ~80 places per year (small cohort, focused on Lincolnshire placements).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

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. Lincoln Medical School: All Students (2023): 159/229 = 69%.

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: 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.

Lincoln Medical School: Strong choice for low-UCAT, high-SJT applicants. SJT scored heavily (B1 = 15, B2 = 10, B3 = 5, B4 = 0). A band 1 SJT can offset a relatively modest UCAT score in the overall ranking.