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Medical school comparison

Keele vs Queen's University Belfast (QUB)

Keele and Queen's University Belfast (QUB) are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Keele is based in Staffordshire (England) while Queen's University Belfast (QUB) sits in Belfast (Northern Ireland), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Their UCAT thresholds are remarkably close (within ~0 points), so the deciding factors are GCSE weighting, interview format and personal-statement use. The interview formats diverge — Traditional vs MMI — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different.

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) is the older institution (founded 1849); the other (founded 1978) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Keele

Staffordshire

Quick comparison

Location
Staffordshire, UK
A-Level offer
A*AA at A-level (or AAA + grade A in EPQ as alternative)
TrueScore
1900
UCAT home cut-off
~1700+ /2700 absolute minimum (with 15/25 total score or 14/25 + 600+ VR). Top 20% UCAT (~2100+) maximises points.
Interview format
Two 15-minute structured online interviews (traditional format, not MMI; Microsoft Teams), usually around two hours apart
Post-interview chance
International: 23/54 = 43%; Home Non-Contextual: 167/491 = 34%
Decision date
March onwards

Queen's University Belfast (QUB)

Belfast

Quick comparison

Location
Belfast, UK
A-Level offer
A*AA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Maths/Physics - see subject rules)
TrueScore
1700
UCAT home cut-off
~1700+ /2700 with 9× grade 9s GCSE (~35/45 target). Lower UCAT viable with stronger GCSE.
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
Home: 332/778 = 43%; International: 51/214 = 24%
Decision date
April onwards
Compare different schools

Keele vs Queen's University Belfast (QUB) - in detail

UCAT thresholds compared

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

Their UCAT bars are statistically indistinguishable (within 0 points), so the UCAT is unlikely to be your differentiator between them.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Keele: ~1700+ /2700 with up to 3 contextual points (UCAT bursary, postcode, local school); Queen's University Belfast (QUB): ~1500+ /2700 (with strong GCSE). Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

A-Level and academic profile

Keele 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.

Interview formats

Keele uses Traditional (Two 15-minute structured online interviews (traditional format, not MMI; Microsoft Teams), usually around two hours apart); Queen's University Belfast (QUB) uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)). These two formats reward different skills — Traditional emphasises academic reasoning and thinking aloud through unfamiliar problems, while MMI rewards breadth and quick recovery.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, either may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, Queen's University Belfast (QUB) is the better fit.

Interview windows: Keele interviews in December - March; Queen's University Belfast (QUB) in January - February.

Post-interview offer rate

Keele: International: 23/54 = 43%; Home Non-Contextual: 167/491 = 34%. 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.

What makes each distinctive

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.

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.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Keele feeds into the England foundation programme network; Queen's University Belfast (QUB) into the Northern Ireland network.

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

Where to go next

KeeleEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in fullQueen's University Belfast (QUB)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 4 August 2026.