Edinburgh vs Queen's University Belfast (QUB)

Edinburgh's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 1850, while Queen's University Belfast (QUB) sits at approximately 700.

That's a 1150-point gap — large enough to put the two schools in completely different competitiveness tiers. An applicant scoring in the 1100-1500 band would be competitive at Queen's University Belfast (QUB) but borderline at Edinburgh.

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.; Queen's University Belfast (QUB): not separately disclosed. 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.

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) requires A*AA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Maths/Physics - see subject rules).

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) is the stricter A-Level offer; Edinburgh is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Edinburgh carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

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… Queen's University Belfast (QUB): Minimum grade C/4 in GCSE Mathematics, English and Physics (or 4-4 in Double Science) if not offered at AS-level or A-level.

Top 9 GCSEs scored /36: A*/9 = 4 pts, A/7-8 = 3 pts, B/6 = 2 pts, C/4-5 =…

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

Interview windows: Edinburgh interviews in December - February; Queen's University Belfast (QUB) in January - February.

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. Queen's University Belfast (QUB): Good.

Queen's states that once you reach interview it anticipates at least a one-in-two chance of an offer, so the hard part is being among the roughly 700 selected.

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.

Queen's University Belfast (QUB): Less weight on NHS hot topics than most schools. Stronger emphasis on reflective examples of personal qualities. SJT may be used if borderline before or after interview, but in 2025 anyone with 30/42 received an interview regardless.