How are GCSEs weighted at Hertfordshire vs University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)?

Hertfordshire — Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Dual Award Science). University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) — GCSE performance considered as part of the broader academic profile; specific scoring not published.

Where are Hertfordshire and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) located, and how does that affect cost?

Hertfordshire is in Hatfield, UK. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is in Preston, 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. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) releases medicine decisions March - April. 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 University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)

Hertfordshire and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) 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 A-Level requirements (AAA vs AAB) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Hertfordshire and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).
Comparison field	HertfordshireHatfield	University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)Preston
Quick comparison
Location	Hatfield, UK	Preston, 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.	AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants)
TrueScore	Hertfordshire TrueScore 1700intl	-
UCAT home cut-off	-	UCAT used for home applicant shortlisting; no published cut-off
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	-	-
Decision date	March onwards	March - April

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.	AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants)
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.	-
GCSE requirements	Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Dual Award Science)	-
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	-	-
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.	-

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.	Cognitive subtests considered alongside academic and personal-statement assessment
Graduate cut-off	-	-
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.	UCLan publishes limited shortlisting detail. Threshold varies year-on-year; check the official course page closer to your application year.

Degree awarded	MBBS	MBBS
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Case-based learning + Problem-based learning	Spiral
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire	Lancashire and Cumbria
Named placement sites	-	East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
Intercalation	An optional extra year between years 4 and 5 to take an MSc in any subject area at the University of Hertfordshire, open to students who have passed years 1 to 3.	Optional and selective: after year 4, high-performing students may be offered an additional year to gain a master’s degree.
Course highlight	Initially open to international students only — around 70 places a year — with plans to admit UK fee-paying students soon after.	-

Interview window	December - March	December - February
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.	MMI of approximately 7-9 timed stations covering motivation, ethics, communication, role-play and data interpretation. Home and international applicants are interviewed on the same MMI structure.

Specialities	Medicine, International Medicine	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	2025	2014
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…	One of the first UK universities to run a privately-funded medical school open to international students; substantial international cohort blended with a smaller home intake. Strong Lancashire regiona…
Official course page	https://www.herts.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/mbbs-medicine	https://www.lancashire.ac.uk/

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

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)

Preston

Quick comparison

Location: Preston, UK
A-Level offer: AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants)
TrueScore: -
UCAT home cut-off: UCAT used for home applicant shortlisting; no published cut-off
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March - April

Hertfordshire vs University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) requires AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants).

Hertfordshire is the stricter A-Level offer; University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

Interview formats

Both Hertfordshire and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) 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; University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in December - February.

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.

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan): One of the first UK universities to run a privately-funded medical school open to international students; substantial international cohort blended with a smaller home intake. Strong Lancashire regional placement network.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is the lower-risk academic option. 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

Hertfordshire: no fixed home cut-off published; sJT not used. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan): home applicants — no published cut-off. These are the figures on record for 2027-entry applicants. Schools without a fixed cut-off rank UCAT inside a composite shortlisting score, so thresholds move with each year's applicant pool — confirm the latest figure on each school's admissions page.

Hertfordshire uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) 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 - February (University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)).

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.. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) requires AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants). Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school.

Hertfordshire's selection methodology: Newer programme. UCAT + academic + interview. Hertfordshire-based with strong widening-participation focus. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)'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.

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

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 14 August 2026.