How do interviews differ between Glasgow and King's College London (KCL)?

Glasgow uses Panel interview: Panel interview. King's College London (KCL) 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 (Glasgow); November - May (King's College London (KCL)).

What A-Level grades do Glasgow and King's College London (KCL) require?

Glasgow requires AAA including Chemistry and one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics. King's College London (KCL) requires A*AA including Chemistry and Biology. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school.

Where are Glasgow and King's College London (KCL) located, and how does that affect cost?

Glasgow is in Glasgow, UK. King's College London (KCL) is in London, 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?

Glasgow typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. King's College London (KCL) releases medicine decisions By the end of May. 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

Glasgow vs King's College London (KCL)

Glasgow and King's College London (KCL) are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Glasgow is based in Glasgow (Scotland) while King's College London (KCL) sits in London (London), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Their A-Level requirements (AAA vs A*AA) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers. The interview formats diverge — Panel vs MMI — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different. Glasgow is the older institution (founded 1451); the other (founded 1829) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Glasgow and King's College London (KCL).
Comparison field	GlasgowGlasgow	King's College London (KCL)London
Quick comparison
Location	Glasgow, UK	London, UK
A-Level offer	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.	A*AA including grade A in Biology and Chemistry. General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted, and a pass in the science practical endorsement is required. The EPQ is not considered at any point in the assessment process.
TrueScore	Glasgow TrueScore 1870	King's College London (KCL) TrueScore 2150
UCAT home cut-off	-	No cut-off published. King's states that the minimum scores of interviewees and offer-holders "are not cut-off scores".
Interview format	Panel interview	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	Scottish: 473/565 = 84% (2025); RUK: 128/216 = 59%; International: 114/161 = 71%	Strong. In the 2024 cycle King's interviewed 982 applicants and made 762 offers (78%) - 609 offers from 796 UK interviews (77%) and 153 from 186 non-UK interviews (82%). The 2023 cycle was tighter at 645 offers from 1,116 interviews (58%).
Decision date	March onwards	By the end of May

A-Level offer	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.	A*AA including grade A in Biology and Chemistry. General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted, and a pass in the science practical endorsement is required. The EPQ is not considered at any point in the assessment process.
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry plus one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics	Biology and Chemistry both required
A-Level resit policy	Resits or additional time to sit qualifications not permitted - required grades and subjects must be obtained at one sitting and at the first attempt	Resits accepted - KCL has clarified via FOI that "a first resit is considered equally to applicants taking their first sittings" (19 resit applicants received an interview in 2024, 16 received offers)
GCSE requirements	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.	Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics
GCSE scoring methodology	-	GCSEs are one of the four factors King's names in shortlisting, alongside A-level grades, UCAT and the personal statement, and performance is read in the context of your educational background. King's…
Scottish Highers	AAAAB at Higher in S5 including Chemistry, Biology and one of Physics or Mathematics, plus BB at Advanced Higher in S6 and National 5 English at grade B. Offers are conditional on S6 performance, and Highers taken in S4 do not count towards the S5 requirement.	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	BB at Advanced Higher in S6 (in addition to S5 AAAAB Highers above)	-
International Baccalaureate	38 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including HL Chemistry and Biology, plus SL Physics or Mathematics at 6 and SL English at 6	38 points overall (including TOK/EE), or an aggregate of 19 from three Higher Levels, and must include grade 6 in Higher Level Biology and Higher Level Chemistry
Graduate-entry degree requirement	2:1 or above in a relevant science degree, obtained within 7 years of the entry date. UCAT still required.	Graduate applicants typically hold 2:1 or above in any honours degree, plus required A-level Chemistry and Biology grades. KCL accepts graduates onto the standard 6-year MBBS A100.
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	1870+ /2700 (2026 entry threshold for interview)	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	1990+ /2700 (2026 entry threshold for interview)	-
International cut-off	2150+ /2700 (2026 entry threshold, International and EU)	No separate cut-off published.
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Not considered	Band 4 automatically rejected. Band 3 riskier - only 37/360 band 3 applicants received interview in 2024.
UCAT notes	Glasgow states plainly that it does not consider the SJT. Thresholds differ by applicant group because intake numbers for Home, Rest of UK and International are set by the Scottish Government and Scot…	King's shortlists on A-level grades, UCAT, personal statement and GCSE grades together, and says exam results and UCAT are "perhaps the most important factors". Its published UCAT statistics stop at t…

Degree awarded	MBChB	MBBS
Course length	5 years	5 years (6 with intercalation)
Teaching style	Spiral + Problem-based learning	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 1	-
Placement geography	Glasgow and the west of Scotland	London and the south east of England
Named placement sites	Glasgow Royal Infirmary (New Lister Building), Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (Teaching & Learning Centre)	Guy's Hospital, King's College Hospital, St Thomas' Hospital
Intercalation	A one-year intercalated BSc with over 20 options, or a two-year BSc (Hons), taken between years 3 and 4.	Optional one-year BSc between Stages 2 and 3, spanning clinical and biomedical sciences and the humanities.
Course highlight	The COMET scheme funds an enhanced, immersive general-practice experience for selected students.	Twinned with medical schools around the world, offering clinical exchanges.

Interview window	December - February	November - May
Interview details	One 30-minute session split into two parts, Panel A and Panel B, with the same two interviewers covering both. Panel A explores your motivation for medicine and teamwork; Panel B covers communication…	MMI format with stations covering ethical scenarios, communication and clinical problem-solving. No offer is made without an interview, and King's runs them across an unusually long window - November…

Specialities	Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Medicine	Medicine, Dentistry, Biomedical Sciences
Established	1451	1829
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	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 cycl…	Strong clinical focus with emphasis on London healthcare system.
Official course page	https://www.gla.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/medicine/	https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/medicine-mbbs

Glasgow

Quick comparison

Location: Glasgow, UK
A-Level offer: 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.
TrueScore: Glasgow TrueScore 1870
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Panel interview
Post-interview chance: Scottish: 473/565 = 84% (2025); RUK: 128/216 = 59%; International: 114/161 = 71%
Decision date: March onwards

King's College London (KCL)

London

Quick comparison

Location: London, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA including grade A in Biology and Chemistry. General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted, and a pass in the science practical endorsement is required. The EPQ is not considered at any point in the assessment process.
TrueScore: King's College London (KCL) TrueScore 2150
UCAT home cut-off: No cut-off published. King's states that the minimum scores of interviewees and offer-holders "are not cut-off scores".
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Strong. In the 2024 cycle King's interviewed 982 applicants and made 762 offers (78%) - 609 offers from 796 UK interviews (77%) and 153 from 186 non-UK interviews (82%). The 2023 cycle was tighter at 645 offers from 1,116 interviews (58%).
Decision date: By the end of May

Glasgow vs King's College London (KCL) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

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.

King's College London (KCL) requires A*AA including grade A in Biology and Chemistry. General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted, and a pass in the science practical endorsement is required. The EPQ is not considered at any point in the assessment process.

King's College London (KCL) 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. King's College London (KCL): Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics.

GCSEs are one of the four factors King's names in shortlisting, alongside A-level grades, UCAT and the personal statement, and performance…

Interview formats

Glasgow uses Panel (Panel interview); King's College London (KCL) uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)). These two formats reward different skills — Panel emphasises narrative coherence and the ability to develop a thread under follow-up questioning, while MMI rewards breadth and quick recovery.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, Glasgow may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, King's College London (KCL) is the better fit.

Interview windows: Glasgow interviews in December - February; King's College London (KCL) in November - May.

Curriculum and teaching style

Intake size: Glasgow — ~40-50 RUK + ~22 international + ~190 Scottish places per year (A100).; King's College London (KCL) — Around 300 places on A100, within roughly 410 across all of King's medicine programmes.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

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

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.

King's College London (KCL): Strong clinical focus with emphasis on London healthcare system.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, Glasgow is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Glasgow feeds into the Scotland foundation programme network; King's College London (KCL) 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. Glasgow guidance: Glasgow states plainly that it does not consider the SJT. Thresholds differ by applicant group because intake numbers for Home, Rest of UK and International are set by the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council, and they move each year with the strength of the cohort. Personal statement and reference are screened before UCAT is applied, not afterwards.. King's College London (KCL) guidance: No cut-off published. King's states that the minimum scores of interviewees and offer-holders "are not cut-off scores"..

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. King's College London (KCL) — Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics. GCSEs are one of the four factors King's names in shortlisting, alongside A-level grades, UCAT and the personal statement, and performance is read in the context of your educational background. King's does not publish a points tariff for GCSEs.

Glasgow's selection methodology: A staged process running October to March. Applications are first assessed on achieved and predicted qualifications, personal statement and reference; UCAT scores are released to the admissions team later in the cycle and used to allocate interviews among those who cleared that screen. Interview scores are then accumulated and offers made, with most processed by the end of March. Applicants who narrowly miss may be revisited if places free up. King's College London (KCL)'s selection methodology: shortlisting weight not fully disclosed; check the official admissions page. 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.

Glasgow: Scottish: 473/565 = 84% (2025); RUK: 128/216 = 59%; International: 114/161 = 71%. King's College London (KCL): Strong. In the 2024 cycle King's interviewed 982 applicants and made 762 offers (78%) - 609 offers from 796 UK interviews (77%) and 153 from 186 non-UK interviews (82%). The 2023 cycle was tighter at 645 offers from 1,116 interviews (58%).. Post-interview odds tell you how competitive each school is at the final stage. Two schools with similar UCAT thresholds can have very different post-interview rates — a school with a 60% post-interview success rate is structurally easier to convert than one at 25%.

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

GlasgowEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

King's College London (KCL)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.