Hull York (HYMS) vs Keele

Hull York (HYMS)'s published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 2010, while Keele sits at approximately 1700.

That's a 310-point gap — large enough to put the two schools in completely different competitiveness tiers. An applicant scoring in the 1800-1900 band would be competitive at Keele but borderline at Hull York (HYMS).

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Hull York (HYMS): ~1700+ /2700 with WP eligibility (4th decile minimum + minimum entry requirements); Keele: ~1700+ /2700 with up to 3 contextual points (UCAT bursary, postcode, local school). Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

Hull York (HYMS) requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Keele requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

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 — Hull York (HYMS): Min 6 GCSEs at grade 6 including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science. Keele: Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Hull York (HYMS) uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)); 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 — MMI emphasises breadth, station-recovery and structured answers under time pressure, while Traditional rewards malleability and intellectual honesty.

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

Interview windows: Hull York (HYMS) interviews in December - March; Keele in December - March.

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

Specifics: Five-year MBBS jointly run by Hull and York universities. Clinical placements across Hull, York, Scarborough, and Yorkshire NHS sites. Five-year MBChB with spiral curriculum. Strong rural/community placement strand across Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire.

Intake size: Hull York (HYMS) — ~165 home + ~25 international places per year.; 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.

Hull York (HYMS): All (2024): 678/750 = 90%; Home: 655/695 = 94%; Overseas: 20/55 = 36%. 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.

Hull York (HYMS): Points-based shortlisting: UCAT decile (/35) + SJT (/15) + GCSE top 6 subjects (/35) + contextual data (/15). The PBL group exercise is unusual among UK medical schools and reflects HYMS's problem-based curriculum.

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.