Where are Edinburgh and Pears Cumbria (GEM) located, and how does that affect cost?

Edinburgh is in Edinburgh, UK. Pears Cumbria (GEM) is in Carlisle, UK. Scottish-domiciled applicants funded by SAAS pay no tuition fees at Scottish medical schools — a substantial funding advantage worth tens of thousands of pounds over the degree. Rest-of-UK applicants still pay £9,250/year.

When does each school release decisions?

Edinburgh typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Pears Cumbria (GEM) releases medicine decisions March onwards. 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

Edinburgh vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)

Edinburgh and Pears Cumbria (GEM) are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Edinburgh is based in Edinburgh (Scotland) while Pears Cumbria (GEM) sits in Carlisle (England), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

The interview formats diverge — Assessment day vs MMI — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different. Edinburgh is the older institution (founded 1583); the other (founded 2023) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Edinburgh and Pears Cumbria (GEM).
Comparison field	EdinburghEdinburgh	Pears Cumbria (GEM)Carlisle
Quick comparison
Location	Edinburgh, UK	Carlisle, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (theoretically minimum, but AAA* predictions ideal for RUK/English applicants to maximise post-interview chances) including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree
TrueScore	Edinburgh TrueScore 1850	Pears Cumbria (GEM) TrueScore 1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off	1850+ /2700 - a hard floor for 2027 entry. Edinburgh states that an applicant scoring below the cut-off will not be considered at all.	-
Interview format	Half-day assessment day, held at Edinburgh Medical School or online (Edinburgh describes it as 'not a typical MMI format')	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	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.	-
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (theoretically minimum, but AAA* predictions ideal for RUK/English applicants to maximise post-interview chances) including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry plus one of Biology / Mathematics / Physics	-
A-Level resit policy	Resits considered with strong justification.	Not applicable to graduate entry - degree class is the academic measure.
GCSE requirements	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 fewer than 8 were sat. It does not publish a target grade profile beyond the minimum.	GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree
GCSE scoring methodology	Best 8 GCSEs are scored as part of the academic component, which carries the large majority of the pre-assessment-day ranking (UCAT 17.5% and SJT 7.5% make up the rest). Proportional scoring applies w…	-
Scottish Highers	National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers are all considered, and the standard offer requires strong Higher and Advanced Higher performance. Edinburgh does not publish a separate Scottish UCAT minimum - the published cut-off of 1,850 for 2027 entry applies to all applicants except those carrying a Plus Flag.	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	Strong Advanced Higher performance expected for full academic points	-
International Baccalaureate	38 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including HL Chemistry plus one of Biology / Mathematics / Physics	-
Graduate-entry degree requirement	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above. UCAT still required - graduate applicants ranked alongside undergraduate by total academic + UCAT score.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree — e.g. anatomy, biochemistry, biomedical science, biology, nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, paramedic science, pharmacy, dentistry or veterinary science. NOT open to any-discipline graduates.
Alternative qualifications	-	Graduate-entry only, home fee status required (international applicants are not eligible). UCAT or GAMSAT accepted — the applicant chooses one; MCAT is not accepted. MBBS awarded by Imperial College London and taught at the University of Cumbria Fusehill Street campus, Carlisle.

Contextual cut-off	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.	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	-
Graduate cut-off	-	1960+ /2700 for 2026 entry (1910+ contextual). GAMSAT alternative: 59 overall (53 contextual).
SJT band	The SJT band is worth 7.5% of the application score. Band 4 means you will not be considered for entry - Edinburgh applies this to everyone, including applicants eligible for widening-access concessions.	-
UCAT notes	The 1,850 cut-off is necessary but nowhere near sufficient - clearing it only keeps you in the ranking. The UCAT total is worth 17.5% of the application score and the SJT band a further 7.5%; the acad…	UCAT or GAMSAT — the applicant chooses one; MCAT is NOT accepted. Both are minimum-threshold hurdles rather than ranked scores. The UCAT must be sat in the same year as the UCAS submission; the GAMSAT…

Degree awarded	MBChB with BMedSci (Hons)	MBBS (awarded by Imperial College London)
Course length	6 years	4 years (graduate entry)
Teaching style	Integrated	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 2	Year 1
Placement geography	Lothian and the south of Scotland	North and south Cumbria
Named placement sites	-	-
Intercalation	Built in — year 3 is the honours BMedSci research year.	-
Course highlight	The only Scottish institution offering a six-year MBChB.	The MBBS is awarded by Imperial College London, delivered in partnership with the University of Cumbria.

Interview window	December - February	December - March
Interview details	Edinburgh invites roughly the top 800 ranked applicants to a half-day assessment day, which it runs as a series of short interviews rather than a standard MMI circuit, and which includes a collaborati…	Graduate-entry MMI format with stations focused on clinical reasoning, ethics, communication and motivation for rural and community healthcare.

Specialities	Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Biomedical Sciences	Medicine, Rural Healthcare, Community Medicine
Established	1583	2023
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	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…	The only medicine route in Carlisle, and graduate-entry only — there is no school-leaver course here. Restricted to home-fee applicants holding a 2:1 in biosciences or allied healthcare, with the MBBS…
Official course page	https://study.ed.ac.uk/programmes/undergraduate/354-mbchb-medicine-6-year-programme	https://cumbriamed.ac.uk/study/

Edinburgh

Quick comparison

Location: Edinburgh, UK
A-Level offer: 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
TrueScore: Edinburgh TrueScore 1850
UCAT home cut-off: 1850+ /2700 - a hard floor for 2027 entry. Edinburgh states that an applicant scoring below the cut-off will not be considered at all.
Interview format: Half-day assessment day, held at Edinburgh Medical School or online (Edinburgh describes it as 'not a typical MMI format')
Post-interview chance: 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.
Decision date: March onwards

Pears Cumbria (GEM)

Carlisle

Quick comparison

Location: Carlisle, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree
TrueScore: Pears Cumbria (GEM) TrueScore 1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Edinburgh vs Pears Cumbria (GEM) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

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.

Pears Cumbria (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree.

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… Pears Cumbria (GEM): GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree.

Interview formats

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

Interview windows: Edinburgh interviews in December - February; Pears Cumbria (GEM) in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

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

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 Four-year accelerated graduate-entry programme. Imperial College London partner. Clinical placements across Cumbria NHS sites (UHMBT, North Cumbria In

Intake size: Edinburgh — ~210 Scottish + RUK + ~22 international places per year.; Pears Cumbria (GEM) — ~58 places per year. Imperial reported an 11:1 applications-to-places ratio for 2025.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

What makes each distinctive

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.

Pears Cumbria (GEM): The only medicine route in Carlisle, and graduate-entry only — there is no school-leaver course here. Restricted to home-fee applicants holding a 2:1 in biosciences or allied healthcare, with the MBBS awarded by Imperial College London.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Edinburgh feeds into the Scotland foundation programme network; Pears Cumbria (GEM) into the England network. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Pears Cumbria (GEM); 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. Edinburgh guidance: 1850+ /2700 - a hard floor for 2027 entry. Edinburgh states that an applicant scoring below the cut-off will not be considered at all.. Pears Cumbria (GEM) guidance: UCAT or GAMSAT — the applicant chooses one; MCAT is NOT accepted. Both are minimum-threshold hurdles rather than ranked scores. The UCAT must be sat in the same year as the UCAS submission; the GAMSAT within the two years before it..

Edinburgh uses Assessment day: Half-day assessment day, held at Edinburgh Medical School or online (Edinburgh describes it as 'not a typical MMI format'). Pears Cumbria (GEM) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). The two formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each, with at least 3 full mock interviews per format before sitting either. Interview windows: December - February (Edinburgh); December - March (Pears Cumbria (GEM)).

Edinburgh requires AAA including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics. Pears Cumbria (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Edinburgh — Resits considered with strong justification.. Pears Cumbria (GEM) — Not applicable to graduate entry - degree class is the academic measure..

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 fewer than 8 were sat. It does not publish a target grade profile beyond the minimum. Best 8 GCSEs are scored as part of the academic component, which carries the large majority of the pre-assessment-day ranking (UCAT 17.5% and SJT 7.5% make up the rest). Proportional scoring applies where school policy meant fewer than 8 GCSEs were sat. Pears Cumbria (GEM) — GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree.

Edinburgh's selection methodology: Each application is assessed independently by two members of admissions staff against the academic criteria, scoring the best 8 GCSEs plus A-level/Higher performance. Weighted UCAT (17.5%) and SJT (7.5%) points are added, applications are ranked, and roughly the top 800 are invited to a half-day assessment day - which Edinburgh itself calls an interview. Offers follow soon after the final assessment day. Pears Cumbria (GEM)'s selection methodology: Degree subject and class hurdle (2:1 in biosciences or allied healthcare), then a UCAT or GAMSAT threshold, then MMI. Home fee status is an eligibility requirement, not a preference. MBBS awarded by Imperial College London. 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.

Edinburgh runs a Integrated curriculum. Pears Cumbria (GEM) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Edinburgh 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 in the UK). Graduates leave with TWO qualification Pears Cumbria (GEM) specifics: Four-year accelerated graduate-entry programme. Imperial College London partner. Clinical placements across Cumbria NHS sites (UHMBT, North Cumbria Integrated Care).

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

EdinburghEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Pears Cumbria (GEM)Entry 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.

Edinburgh vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)

Side-by-side comparison

Edinburgh vs Pears Cumbria (GEM) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Edinburgh vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

How do interviews differ between Edinburgh and Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

What A-Level grades do Edinburgh and Pears Cumbria (GEM) require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Edinburgh vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Where are Edinburgh and Pears Cumbria (GEM) located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Edinburgh and Pears Cumbria (GEM) use?

Should I apply to both Edinburgh and Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons