UCAT thresholds compared
Exeter's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 1880, while St George's sits at approximately 1950. The 70-point spread is within year-on-year noise — for most applicants the two thresholds are effectively interchangeable, and other selection factors (GCSE weighting, interview score) will dominate. Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Exeter: ~1820+ /2700 with A*A*A* (4th decile) OR ~2010+ /2700 with A*A*A (7th decile); St George's: not separately disclosed. Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.
A-Level and academic profile
Exeter requires Applicants need to apply via UCAS by 15 October; academic profile + admissions test used to determine interview invite. Typical A-Level offer A*AA (contextual AAB) for 2026 entry.. St George's requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology. St George's is the stricter A-Level offer; Exeter is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Exeter carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.
Interview formats
Both Exeter and St George's 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: Exeter interviews in December – March; St George's in November - February.
Post-interview offer rate
Exeter: International (2026 policy): ~33% (10 places, ~30 interviews); UK Undergrad: 366/696 = 53%. St George's: Home Undergrad (2024): 247/677 = 36% (or 423/686 = 62% inc. deferred); Overseas Undergrad: 25/146 = 17% (or 58/152 = 38% inc. deferred). 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
Exeter: Focus on non-academic qualities including communication, empathy, role-play and realistic insight into the course and career. Points-based shortlisting combining A-level prediction + UCAT decile (75% academic / 25% UCAT). SJT not used - band 4 is fine. St George's: Strong holistic-care and soft-skills emphasis. SJT used post-interview in offer making (B1 = 15 pts, B2 = 10, B3 = 5, B4 = nothing). St George's is also generous with deferred-entry offers, often made to borderline applicants in lieu of rejection.