Imperial College London vs Queen's University Belfast (QUB)

Imperial College London's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 2320, while Queen's University Belfast (QUB) sits at approximately 1700.

That's a 620-point gap — large enough to put the two schools in completely different competitiveness tiers. An applicant scoring in the 1900-2100 band would be competitive at Queen's University Belfast (QUB) but borderline at Imperial College London.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Imperial College London: 2170+ /2700 (2026 entry official contextual cut-off); Queen's University Belfast (QUB): ~1500+ /2700 (with strong GCSE). Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

Imperial College London requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) 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.

Both Imperial College London and Queen's University Belfast (QUB) 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: Imperial College London interviews in December - February; Queen's University Belfast (QUB) in January - February.

Imperial College London: All Applicants: 662/852 = 78% (2025). 280 international interviews, ~2130 international applicants. Queen's University Belfast (QUB): Home: 332/778 = 43%; International: 51/214 = 24%.

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.

Imperial College London: Heavy emphasis on scientific reasoning and the integrated London course structure. Around a quarter of places are now reserved for international applicants. UCAT is the primary shortlisting factor, with personal-statement use limited to exceptional cases.

Queen's University Belfast (QUB): Less weight on NHS hot topics than most schools. Stronger emphasis on reflective examples of personal qualities. SJT may be used if borderline before or after interview, but in 2025 anyone with 30/42 received an interview regardless.