Where are Hertfordshire and Pears Cumbria (GEM) located, and how does that affect cost?

Hertfordshire is in Hatfield, UK. Pears Cumbria (GEM) is in Carlisle, 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?

Hertfordshire typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Pears Cumbria (GEM) 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

Hertfordshire vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at Hertfordshire vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

Hertfordshire — Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Dual Award Science). Pears Cumbria (GEM) — GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree.

Hertfordshire and Pears Cumbria (GEM) 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.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Hertfordshire and Pears Cumbria (GEM).
Comparison field	HertfordshireHatfield	Pears Cumbria (GEM)Carlisle
Quick comparison
Location	Hatfield, UK	Carlisle, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Human Biology) at grade A plus a third subject at grade A, completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years. General Studies and Critical Thinking excluded.	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree
TrueScore	Hertfordshire TrueScore 1700intl	Pears Cumbria (GEM) TrueScore 1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off	-	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	-	-
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Human Biology) at grade A plus a third subject at grade A, completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years. General Studies and Critical Thinking excluded.	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry AND Biology (or Human Biology) both required, plus any third subject	-
A-Level resit policy	Resits accepted.	Not applicable to graduate entry - degree class is the academic measure.
GCSE requirements	Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Dual Award Science)	GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree
GCSE scoring methodology	-	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall with Higher Level 6 in Chemistry or Biology and Higher Level 5 in a second science (Chemistry, Biology, Physics) or Mathematics	-
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree — e.g. anatomy, biochemistry, biomedical science, biology, nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, paramedic science, pharmacy, dentistry or veterinary science. NOT open to any-discipline graduates.
Alternative qualifications	Access to Medicine Diploma accepted: 39 credits at distinction plus six at merit, with all biology and chemistry credits at distinction. International applicants only for the first cohort, applying direct rather than through UCAS, so it costs none of your four UCAS choices. Applicants must be 18 by the start of the course.	Graduate-entry only, home fee status required (international applicants are not eligible). UCAT or GAMSAT accepted — the applicant chooses one; MCAT is not accepted. MBBS awarded by Imperial College London and taught at the University of Cumbria Fusehill Street campus, Carlisle.

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	No cut-off exists yet. Hertfordshire ranks applicants by UCAT and invites a fixed number to interview, but the first cohort is September 2026 so there is no historic lowest-invited score to quote.	-
Graduate cut-off	-	1960+ /2700 for 2026 entry (1910+ contextual). GAMSAT alternative: 59 overall (53 contextual).
SJT band	No usage mentioned in any selection policy	-
UCAT notes	International applicants only for the first intake. SJT not used. Any number circulating as a Hertfordshire 'cut-off' is guesswork - the school has not yet completed a cycle.	UCAT or GAMSAT — the applicant chooses one; MCAT is NOT accepted. Both are minimum-threshold hurdles rather than ranked scores. The UCAT must be sat in the same year as the UCAS submission; the GAMSAT…

Degree awarded	MBBS	MBBS (awarded by Imperial College London)
Course length	5 years	4 years (graduate entry)
Teaching style	Case-based learning + Problem-based learning	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	-	North and south Cumbria
Named placement sites	-	-
Intercalation	Available during the course, earning an additional qualification.	-
Course highlight	Initially open to international students only — around 70 places a year — with plans to admit UK fee-paying students soon after.	The MBBS is awarded by Imperial College London, delivered in partnership with the University of Cumbria.

Interview window	December - March	December - March
Interview details	Applicants are ranked by UCAT score and a fixed number invited to an Interview Day, provided they meet academic minimums. Interview format includes typical MMI-style stations.	Graduate-entry MMI format with stations focused on clinical reasoning, ethics, communication and motivation for rural and community healthcare.

Specialities	Medicine, International Medicine	Medicine, Rural Healthcare, Community Medicine
Established	2025	2023
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	International applicants only for the first intake, with home entry planned later. Delivered with support from City St George's, University of London, and still working toward GMC accreditation - conf…	The only medicine route in Carlisle, and graduate-entry only — there is no school-leaver course here. Restricted to home-fee applicants holding a 2:1 in biosciences or allied healthcare, with the MBBS…
Official course page	https://www.herts.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/mbbs-medicine	https://cumbriamed.ac.uk/study/

Hertfordshire

Hatfield

Quick comparison

Location: Hatfield, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Human Biology) at grade A plus a third subject at grade A, completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years. General Studies and Critical Thinking excluded.
TrueScore: Hertfordshire TrueScore 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Pears Cumbria (GEM)

Carlisle

Quick comparison

Location: Carlisle, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree
TrueScore: Pears Cumbria (GEM) TrueScore 1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Hertfordshire vs Pears Cumbria (GEM) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Hertfordshire requires AAA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Human Biology) at grade A plus a third subject at grade A, completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years. General Studies and Critical Thinking excluded.

Pears Cumbria (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Hertfordshire: Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Dual Award Science). Pears Cumbria (GEM): GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree.

Interview formats

Both Hertfordshire and Pears Cumbria (GEM) 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: Hertfordshire interviews in December - March; Pears Cumbria (GEM) 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. Hertfordshire-based with East-of-England NHS placements. Four-year accelerated graduate-entry programme. Imperial College London partner. Clinical placements across Cumbria NHS sites (UHMBT, North Cumbria In

Intake size: Hertfordshire — ~50-100 places per year (newer cohort).; Pears Cumbria (GEM) — ~58 places per year. Imperial reported an 11:1 applications-to-places ratio for 2025.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

What makes each distinctive

Hertfordshire: International applicants only for the first intake, with home entry planned later. Delivered with support from City St George's, University of London, and still working toward GMC accreditation - confirm the accreditation position before accepting an offer. Applicants are ranked by UCAT with no published cut-off.

Pears Cumbria (GEM): The only medicine route in Carlisle, and graduate-entry only — there is no school-leaver course here. Restricted to home-fee applicants holding a 2:1 in biosciences or allied healthcare, with the MBBS awarded by Imperial College London.

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

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. Hertfordshire guidance: International applicants only for the first intake. SJT not used. Any number circulating as a Hertfordshire 'cut-off' is guesswork - the school has not yet completed a cycle.. Pears Cumbria (GEM) guidance: UCAT or GAMSAT — the applicant chooses one; MCAT is NOT accepted. Both are minimum-threshold hurdles rather than ranked scores. The UCAT must be sat in the same year as the UCAS submission; the GAMSAT within the two years before it..

Hertfordshire uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Pears Cumbria (GEM) 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 (Hertfordshire); December - March (Pears Cumbria (GEM)).

Hertfordshire requires AAA including Chemistry AND Biology (or Human Biology), plus a third subject, completed in one sitting across a maximum of two years. Pears Cumbria (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Hertfordshire — Resits accepted.. Pears Cumbria (GEM) — Not applicable to graduate entry - degree class is the academic measure..

Hertfordshire's selection methodology: Newer programme. UCAT + academic + interview. Hertfordshire-based with strong widening-participation focus. Pears Cumbria (GEM)'s selection methodology: Degree subject and class hurdle (2:1 in biosciences or allied healthcare), then a UCAT or GAMSAT threshold, then MMI. Home fee status is an eligibility requirement, not a preference. MBBS awarded by Imperial College London. 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.

Hertfordshire runs a PBL curriculum. Pears Cumbria (GEM) runs a PBL curriculum. Both schools deliver teaching in the same broad style, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar. Hertfordshire specifics: Five-year MBChB. Hertfordshire-based with East-of-England NHS placements. Pears Cumbria (GEM) specifics: Four-year accelerated graduate-entry programme. Imperial College London partner. Clinical placements across Cumbria NHS sites (UHMBT, North Cumbria Integrated Care).

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

HertfordshireEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Pears Cumbria (GEM)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.

Hertfordshire vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)

Side-by-side comparison

Hertfordshire vs Pears Cumbria (GEM) - in detail

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 Hertfordshire vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

How do interviews differ between Hertfordshire and Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

What A-Level grades do Hertfordshire and Pears Cumbria (GEM) require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Hertfordshire vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Where are Hertfordshire and Pears Cumbria (GEM) located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Hertfordshire and Pears Cumbria (GEM) use?

Should I apply to both Hertfordshire and Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons