Glasgow vs Keele

Glasgow requires AAA including Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics. International A-level applicants need AAA including Chemistry, Biology and one of Physics or Mathematics.

Grades must be achieved at one sitting and at the first attempt - resits and extra time to sit qualifications are not permitted, and a mix of qualifications at the same level is not accepted.

Keele requires A*AA at A-level (or AAA + grade A in EPQ as alternative).

Keele is the stricter A-Level offer; Glasgow is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Glasgow carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Glasgow: GCSE English Literature or English Language at grade 6/B or above. GCSE Biology at grade 6/B if not studied at A-level. GCSE retakes are accepted. Keele: Five GCSEs at grade 7/A or above, plus minimum grade 6 in English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (6-6 Combined Science accepted as equivalent).

Glasgow uses Panel (Panel interview); Keele uses Traditional (Two 15-minute structured online interviews (traditional format, not MMI; Microsoft Teams), usually around two hours apart). These two formats reward different skills — Panel emphasises narrative coherence and the ability to develop a thread under follow-up questioning, while Traditional rewards malleability and intellectual honesty.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, Glasgow may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, either is the better fit.

Interview windows: Glasgow interviews in December - February; Keele in December - March.

Glasgow runs a PBL curriculum; Keele runs a Spiral curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Glasgow leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Keele uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year MBChB built around problem-based learning groups, with early clinical exposure from Year 1. Five-year MBChB with spiral curriculum. Strong rural/community placement strand across Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire.

Intake size: Glasgow — ~40-50 RUK + ~22 international + ~190 Scottish places per year (A100).; Keele — ~150 home + ~10 international places per year (5-year MBChB) + ~30 Health Foundation Year places.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Glasgow: Scottish: 473/565 = 84% (2025); RUK: 128/216 = 59%; International: 114/161 = 71%. Keele: International: 23/54 = 43%; Home Non-Contextual: 167/491 = 34%.

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.

Glasgow: One of the oldest medical schools in the English-speaking world. Your personal statement and reference are screened early, alongside achieved and predicted grades; UCAT scores arrive later in the cycle and are then used to allocate interviews among applicants who have already cleared that screen. Glasgow does not use the SJT at all.

Keele: Personal statement is heavily weighted (/15 of the /25 total score) - Keele has very specific PS criteria. Strong PS with band 1-2 SJT can compensate for relatively low UCAT. International applicants selected on UCAT only.