Where are University of Greater Manchester and Kent and Medway (KMMS) located, and how does that affect cost?

University of Greater Manchester is in Bolton, UK. Kent and Medway (KMMS) is in Canterbury/Medway, 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?

University of Greater Manchester typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Kent and Medway (KMMS) 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

University of Greater Manchester vs Kent and Medway (KMMS)

University of Greater Manchester and Kent and Medway (KMMS) are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Both sit in England, so location and clinical-placement breadth are similar — the differentiation comes from selection methodology, interview style and curriculum philosophy.

Their UCAT thresholds are remarkably close (within ~1 points), so the deciding factors are GCSE weighting, interview format and personal-statement use.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: University of Greater Manchester and Kent and Medway (KMMS).
Comparison field	University of Greater ManchesterBolton	Kent and Medway (KMMS)Canterbury/Medway
Quick comparison
Location	Bolton, UK	Canterbury/Medway, UK
A-Level offer	Minimum AAB at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one further subject from Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics. Completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years.	AAB minimum for applicants already holding their A-levels (Group B). Pre-A-level applicants (Group A) get a conditional offer set from their school's average attainment - typically AAA or AAB. Normally completed in two years.
TrueScore	University of Greater Manchester TrueScore 1700intl	Kent and Medway (KMMS) TrueScore 1900
UCAT home cut-off	Not applicable - the course is not open to home applicants for 2026-27 entry	47th centile or above with SJT band 3 or better (2025-26 threshold was a 2490 total). KMMS explicitly does not commit to the same threshold for 2027 entry.
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	-	Home Fee Status: 176/404 = 44%; International: 14/32 = 44% (only 113 applicants); Graduate (2023): 52/83 = 63%
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	Minimum AAB at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one further subject from Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics. Completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years.	AAB minimum for applicants already holding their A-levels (Group B). Pre-A-level applicants (Group A) get a conditional offer set from their school's average attainment - typically AAA or AAB. Normally completed in two years.
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry or Biology required, plus a further subject from Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics	Chemistry and/or Biology. If only one of the two is offered, one further subject from Physics, Mathematics, Psychology or Computer Science is required. Critical Thinking and General Studies are not accepted.
A-Level resit policy	Resits may be considered	KMMS does not use predicted A-level or AS grades - selection is on achieved grades. Resit applicants are assessed on final achieved grades only.
GCSE requirements	Five GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including Mathematics, English Language and two science subjects. Resits accepted in GCSE English Language or Mathematics.	Five GCSEs at grade 9-6 (A*-B) including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Double Science plus one other). GCSE resits accepted.
GCSE scoring methodology	-	Selection driven by a contextualised GCSE Attainment 8 score /90 (Maths /18, English Language /9, English Literature /9, three EBacc subjects /27, three other subjects /27) benchmarked against the app…
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	34 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Chemistry and/or Biology
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or higher in any honours degree. Graduate applicants need SJT band 2 or better.
Alternative qualifications	International students only for 2026-27 entry; the school has indicated home eligibility may change in future cycles, so confirm directly with admissions before applying. Applications are made directly to the school rather than through UCAS. UCAT required of all applicants from 2026 entry, with no published cut-off and no SJT use.	-

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	UCAT required from 2026 entry; no cut-off published	Same admission-test threshold as home applicants; personal statement replaces GCSE in the scoring.
Graduate cut-off	-	47th centile or above, but graduates need SJT band 2 or better.
SJT band	No usage mentioned in any selection policy	Band 4 automatically rejected. Other bands treated equally for school leavers; graduates need B1 or B2.
UCAT notes	The school requires the UCAT of all applicants from 2026 entry but publishes no threshold, so no cut-off should be inferred. No SJT use stated. Applications are made directly to the school, outside th…	The centile matters more than the raw number here - KMMS republishes the threshold each cycle. Once it is met, selection is driven by a contextualised GCSE Attainment 8 score.

Degree awarded	MBChB	BM BS
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Integrated	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	-	Year 1
Placement geography	The north west of England	Kent and Medway
Named placement sites	-	-
Intercalation	-	-
Course highlight	£40 million of purpose-built facilities, in Bolton — around 20 minutes from Manchester.	The degree is awarded jointly by the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University.

Interview window	December - March	December - March
Interview details	Interviews are conducted online and run as a series of mini-interviews and tests. From 2026 entry every applicant must sit the UCAT; the school publishes no cut-off score.	Multi-station interview that differs significantly from standard UK MMIs. Stations of about 7 minutes covering data handling, situational judgement, role-play and values-based tasks, followed by a 40-…

Specialities	Medicine, Community Medicine	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	2025	2020
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	For 2026-27 entry the MBChB is open to international students only. Applications are made directly to the school, so a place here costs you none of your four UCAS medical choices. Teaching is based at…	Selection by contextualised GCSE 'Attainment 8' score (/90) after UCAT minimum met - strong choice for high-GCSE / low-UCAT applicants. School performance averaged in to contextualise GCSE scoring (na…
Official course page	https://medicine.greatermanchester.ac.uk/undergraduate-medical-school/	https://kmms.ac.uk/study/

University of Greater Manchester

Bolton

Quick comparison

Location: Bolton, UK
A-Level offer: Minimum AAB at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one further subject from Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics. Completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years.
TrueScore: University of Greater Manchester TrueScore 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off: Not applicable - the course is not open to home applicants for 2026-27 entry
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Kent and Medway (KMMS)

Canterbury/Medway

Quick comparison

Location: Canterbury/Medway, UK
A-Level offer: AAB minimum for applicants already holding their A-levels (Group B). Pre-A-level applicants (Group A) get a conditional offer set from their school's average attainment - typically AAA or AAB. Normally completed in two years.
TrueScore: Kent and Medway (KMMS) TrueScore 1900
UCAT home cut-off: 47th centile or above with SJT band 3 or better (2025-26 threshold was a 2490 total). KMMS explicitly does not commit to the same threshold for 2027 entry.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Home Fee Status: 176/404 = 44%; International: 14/32 = 44% (only 113 applicants); Graduate (2023): 52/83 = 63%
Decision date: March onwards

University of Greater Manchester vs Kent and Medway (KMMS) - in detail

UCAT thresholds compared

University of Greater Manchester's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 2026, while Kent and Medway (KMMS) sits at approximately 2025.

Their UCAT bars are statistically indistinguishable (within 1 points), so the UCAT is unlikely to be your differentiator between them.

A-Level and academic profile

University of Greater Manchester requires Minimum AAB at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one further subject from Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics. Completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years.

Kent and Medway (KMMS) requires AAB minimum for applicants already holding their A-levels (Group B). Pre-A-level applicants (Group A) get a conditional offer set from their school's average attainment - typically AAA or AAB. Normally completed in two years.

Both demand the same A-Level grade band, so academic prediction is unlikely to differentiate your application between them — provided you meet the required subject combination at each.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — University of Greater Manchester: Five GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including Mathematics, English Language and two science subjects. Resits accepted in GCSE English Language or Mathematics. Kent and Medway (KMMS): Five GCSEs at grade 9-6 (A*-B) including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Double Science plus one other).

GCSE resits accepted. Selection driven by a contextualised…

Interview formats

Both University of Greater Manchester and Kent and Medway (KMMS) 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: University of Greater Manchester interviews in December - March; Kent and Medway (KMMS) in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Both schools deliver a PBL-style curriculum, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar across years 1-3.

Specifics: Five-year MBChB taught at the Institute of Medical Sciences on the Royal Bolton Hospital site, with clinical placements through the school's own healt Five-year MBBS jointly run by University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University. Strong rural/community placement strand across Kent and Medw

Intake size: University of Greater Manchester — Not published by the school.; Kent and Medway (KMMS) — ~125 home + ~25 international places per year.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

What makes each distinctive

University of Greater Manchester: For 2026-27 entry the MBChB is open to international students only. Applications are made directly to the school, so a place here costs you none of your four UCAS medical choices. Teaching is based at the Institute of Medical Sciences on the Royal Bolton Hospital site.

Kent and Medway (KMMS): Selection by contextualised GCSE 'Attainment 8' score (/90) after UCAT minimum met - strong choice for high-GCSE / low-UCAT applicants. School performance averaged in to contextualise GCSE scoring (national average 45.9; ~25% above school average likely required).

Which is right for you?

Both schools sit in the same England foundation-programme catchment, so post-graduation training paths overlap heavily. 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

University of Greater Manchester's typical home cut-off is around 2026, while Kent and Medway (KMMS) sits at approximately 2025 — a 1-point spread. The spread is small enough that other factors (GCSE weighting, interview score, contextual flags) usually dominate the firm/insurance decision. Cut-offs change year on year and vary by tier — check each school's latest published threshold before submitting your UCAS form.

University of Greater Manchester uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Kent and Medway (KMMS) 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 (University of Greater Manchester); December - March (Kent and Medway (KMMS)).

University of Greater Manchester requires Minimum AAB offer/prediction, must include chemistry or biology and one further subject from biology/chemistry/physics/maths. Completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years. May consider resits. GCSEs: 5 subjects at grade 6, must include maths, English language and two sciences; will consider resits in GCSE English language or maths.. Kent and Medway (KMMS) requires AAB minimum including Chemistry and/or Biology - if only one is offered, a further subject from Physics, Maths, Psychology or Computer Science is required. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: University of Greater Manchester — Resits may be considered.. Kent and Medway (KMMS) — Resits considered..

University of Greater Manchester — Five GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including Mathematics, English Language and two science subjects. Resits accepted in GCSE English Language or Mathematics. Kent and Medway (KMMS) — Five GCSEs at grade 9-6 (A*-B) including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Double Science plus one other). GCSE resits accepted. Selection driven by a contextualised GCSE Attainment 8 score /90 (Maths /18, English Language /9, English Literature /9, three EBacc subjects /27, three other subjects /27) benchmarked against the applicant's school average. IGCSE treated equivalently to GCSE.

University of Greater Manchester's selection methodology: Academic entry requirements plus UCAT (required of all applicants from 2026 entry, with no published cut-off), then an online interview made up of a series of mini-interviews and tests. Direct application to the school rather than through UCAS. Kent and Medway (KMMS)'s selection methodology: KMMS does NOT use predicted A-Level grades or BMAT in selection. Does NOT use percentage weighting. Offers made in batches based on UCAT + academic minimums + MMI performance. Does not use AS levels. 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.

University of Greater Manchester runs a PBL curriculum. Kent and Medway (KMMS) runs a PBL curriculum. Both schools deliver teaching in the same broad style, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar. University of Greater Manchester specifics: Five-year MBChB taught at the Institute of Medical Sciences on the Royal Bolton Hospital site, with clinical placements through the school's own healthcare partners. Kent and Medway (KMMS) specifics: Five-year MBBS jointly run by University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University. Strong rural/community placement strand across Kent and Medway NHS sites.

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

University of Greater ManchesterEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Kent and Medway (KMMS)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.

University of Greater Manchester vs Kent and Medway (KMMS)

Side-by-side comparison

University of Greater Manchester vs Kent and Medway (KMMS) - in detail

UCAT thresholds compared

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for University of Greater Manchester vs Kent and Medway (KMMS)?

How do interviews differ between University of Greater Manchester and Kent and Medway (KMMS)?

What A-Level grades do University of Greater Manchester and Kent and Medway (KMMS) require?

How are GCSEs weighted at University of Greater Manchester vs Kent and Medway (KMMS)?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Where are University of Greater Manchester and Kent and Medway (KMMS) located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do University of Greater Manchester and Kent and Medway (KMMS) use?

Should I apply to both University of Greater Manchester and Kent and Medway (KMMS)?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons