Where are Exeter and St Mary's Twickenham located, and how does that affect cost?

Exeter is in Exeter, Devon, England, UK, UK. St Mary's Twickenham is in Twickenham, London, UK. Tuition is £9,250/year at both for UK home applicants; the main cost difference is accommodation (London accommodation typically runs 30-50% above the national average).

When does each school release decisions?

Exeter typically releases medicine decisions March onwards / mid-May. St Mary's Twickenham 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

Exeter vs St Mary's Twickenham

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at Exeter vs St Mary's Twickenham?

Exeter — Grade 6/B in English Language. No other GCSE requirements. St Mary's Twickenham — Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science).

Exeter and St Mary's Twickenham are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Exeter is based in Exeter, Devon, England, UK (England) while St Mary's Twickenham sits in Twickenham, London (London), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Their A-Level requirements (A*AA vs AAA) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Exeter and St Mary's Twickenham.
Comparison field	ExeterExeter, Devon, England, UK	St Mary's TwickenhamTwickenham, London
Quick comparison
Location	Exeter, Devon, England, UK, UK	Twickenham, London, UK
A-Level offer	A*AA at A-level including A in Chemistry and A in Biology	AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
TrueScore	Exeter TrueScore 1900	St Mary's Twickenham TrueScore 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off	~1880+ /2700 with AAA* (5th decile) OR ~2100+ /2700 with AAA (8th decile). Points cut-off 74+/100.	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	International (2026 policy): ~33% (10 places, ~30 interviews); UK Undergrad: 366/696 = 53%	-
Decision date	March onwards / mid-May	March onwards

A-Level offer	A*AA at A-level including A in Chemistry and A in Biology	AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
Contextual A-Level offer	AAB at A-level for contextual / WP-eligible applicants	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry and Biology both required at grade A or higher	Chemistry or Biology required, plus one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
A-Level resit policy	Resits accepted - predicted grades can still be considered in shortlisting scores	Resits only considered in exceptional circumstances
GCSE requirements	Grade 6/B in English Language. No other GCSE requirements.	Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science)
GCSE scoring methodology	-	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	38 points overall, 7,6,6 at Higher Level including HL 6 in Chemistry and HL 6 in Biology. Contextual: 34 points overall, 6,6,5 at Higher Level.	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Chemistry or Biology and a second science / Maths
Graduate-entry degree requirement	Graduate applicants must sit GAMSAT (rather than UCAT) - no specific minimum degree class published; competitive applicants typically hold a 2:1 or above	-
Alternative qualifications	-	New international-only medicine course for 2026 entry - first cohort. Applied to directly outside standard UCAS medicine route. UCAT contributes to combined admissions test + academic ranking. No SJT use.

Contextual cut-off	~1820+ /2700 with AAA* (4th decile) OR ~2010+ /2700 with AAA (7th decile)	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	~2100+ /2700 (points cut-off 80+)	No cut-off exists yet. UCAT contributes to the shortlisting rank, but the first cohort is September 2026 so no historic threshold exists.
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	SJT is not used - band 4 is appropriate	No usage mentioned in any selection policy
UCAT notes	Points-based system combining A-level prediction (75% weight) + UCAT decile (25% weight). Achieved A-level grades scored more generously than predictions.	International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only. No SJT use stated. Any quoted 'cut-off' for this school is guesswork - it has not yet completed an admissions cycle.

Degree awarded	BMBS	MBBS
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Case-based learning	Case-based learning
Anatomy teaching	Imaging and models	-
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	Devon and Cornwall	London, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire
Named placement sites	Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust (Truro)	West London Trust, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Basingstoke), Practice Plus Group (Ilford), Royal Trinity Hospice, Princess Alice Hospice, Meadow House
Intercalation	Between years 3 and 4 — ten bachelor's options and more than ten master's options.	-
Course highlight	Every student spends at least one year based in Cornwall, at the Knowledge Spa in Truro.	Currently accepts international students only.

Interview window	December – March	December - March
Interview details	Online MMI via Zoom breakout rooms - typically 4 stations of 5 minutes each, with a few minutes between stations. Strong focus on ethics, personal qualities and motivation. Fewer follow-up questions t…	Applications are scored on academic record and admissions tests to produce a shortlisting rank. Interviews are online Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs).

Specialities	Primary Care, Hospital Medicine, Community Medicine, Clinical Science, Rural & Regional Health	Medicine, International Medicine
Established	2013	2025
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	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%…	International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only, applying direct rather than through UCAS, so it costs none of your four UCAS medical choices. Weigh that against the accreditation risk: the MBBS is not y…
Official course page	https://www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate-degrees/bmbs-medicine/	https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/mbbs-medicine-degree

Exeter

Exeter, Devon, England, UK

Quick comparison

Location: Exeter, Devon, England, UK, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA at A-level including A in Chemistry and A in Biology
TrueScore: Exeter TrueScore 1900
UCAT home cut-off: ~1880+ /2700 with A*A*A* (5th decile) OR ~2100+ /2700 with A*A*A (8th decile). Points cut-off 74+/100.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: International (2026 policy): ~33% (10 places, ~30 interviews); UK Undergrad: 366/696 = 53%
Decision date: March onwards / mid-May

St Mary's Twickenham

Twickenham, London

Quick comparison

Location: Twickenham, London, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
TrueScore: St Mary's Twickenham TrueScore 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Exeter vs St Mary's Twickenham - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Exeter requires A*AA at A-level including A in Chemistry and A in Biology.

St Mary's Twickenham requires AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics.

Exeter is the stricter A-Level offer; St Mary's Twickenham is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, St Mary's Twickenham carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Exeter: Grade 6/B in English Language. No other GCSE requirements. St Mary's Twickenham: Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science).

Interview formats

Both Exeter and St Mary's Twickenham 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 Mary's Twickenham in December - March.

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 Mary's Twickenham: International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only, applying direct rather than through UCAS, so it costs none of your four UCAS medical choices. Weigh that against the accreditation risk: the MBBS is not yet GMC-accredited, and St Mary's contingency is that students would transfer to the University of Lancashire if accreditation is not achieved.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, St Mary's Twickenham is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Exeter feeds into the England foundation programme network; St Mary's Twickenham into the London network.

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. Exeter guidance: ~1880+ /2700 with A*A*A* (5th decile) OR ~2100+ /2700 with A*A*A (8th decile). Points cut-off 74+/100.. St Mary's Twickenham guidance: International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only. No SJT use stated. Any quoted 'cut-off' for this school is guesswork - it has not yet completed an admissions cycle..

Exeter uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). St Mary's Twickenham uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). The format is the same, so the same prep approach applies — practise ethics frameworks, NHS hot topics, and (for MMI) structured 5-7 minute station answers. Interview windows: December – March (Exeter); December - March (St Mary's Twickenham).

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 Mary's Twickenham requires AAA prediction and offer requirements, must include chemistry or biology as well as one of biology/chemistry/physics/maths. Resits only considered in exceptional circumstances. GCSEs: grade 6 minimum in maths, English language, biology and chemistry (or dual award science).. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school.

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

ExeterEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

St Mary's TwickenhamEntry 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.