What A-Level grades do Keele and UCL require?

Keele requires A*AA, or AAA with an EPQ at grade A. UCL requires A*AA including Chemistry and Biology. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Keele — Resits accepted with explanation; achieved-grade route also available.. UCL — A-Level resits not accepted..

Where are Keele and UCL located, and how does that affect cost?

Keele is in Staffordshire, UK. UCL is in London, 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?

Keele typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. UCL releases medicine decisions Decisions are made after all the Interviews have been completed. 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

Keele vs UCL

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at Keele vs UCL?

Keele — Five GCSEs at grade 7/A or above, plus minimum grade 6 in English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (6-6 Combined Science accepted as equivalent). UCL — Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics. No score or assessment of other GCSEs. GCSE resits accepted. Used only as minimum threshold (Eng + Maths grade 6/B). Other GCSEs not scored or assessed.

Keele and UCL are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Keele is based in Staffordshire (England) while UCL sits in London (London), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

On UCAT alone there is roughly a 490-point gap between them — a substantial difference that should shape which you list as firm choice vs. insurance. The interview formats diverge — Traditional vs MMI — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different.

UCL is the older institution (founded 1826); the other (founded 1978) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Keele and UCL.
Comparison field	KeeleStaffordshire	UCLLondon
Quick comparison
Location	Staffordshire, UK	London, UK
A-Level offer	A*AA at A-level (or AAA + grade A in EPQ as alternative)	AAA including AA in Chemistry and Biology in either order. The third subject is your own choice, other than General Studies or Critical Thinking.
TrueScore	Keele TrueScore 1900	UCL TrueScore 2190
UCAT home cut-off	~1700+ /2700 absolute minimum (with 15/25 total score or 14/25 + 600+ VR). Top 20% UCAT (~2100+) maximises points.	2190+ /2700 (2026 entry threshold)
Interview format	Two 15-minute structured online interviews (traditional format, not MMI; Microsoft Teams), usually around two hours apart	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	International: 23/54 = 43%; Home Non-Contextual: 167/491 = 34%	Reasonable. Around 1,000 applicants are interviewed for 313 home and 24 overseas places, and UCL makes more offers than places because not every offer is taken up. Offers rest purely on interview performance, and UCL reviews home, international and Access UCL interview scores separately rather than applying an uplift to any group.
Decision date	March onwards	Decisions are made after all the Interviews have been completed

A-Level offer	A*AA at A-level (or AAA + grade A in EPQ as alternative)	AAA including AA in Chemistry and Biology in either order. The third subject is your own choice, other than General Studies or Critical Thinking.
Contextual A-Level offer	AAA at A-level for contextual applicants	AAB at A-level for Access UCL contextual applicants - Biology and Chemistry both at grade A
Required A-Level subjects	One of Biology / Chemistry required, plus a second from Chemistry / Biology / Mathematics / Physics / Economics / Psychology	Chemistry and Biology both required
A-Level resit policy	Resits only accepted with the new achieved grades after completion of A-level resits - predicted resit grades not used in shortlisting	Qualification resits are not accepted, including re-starting Year 12. GCSE resits are accepted.
GCSE requirements	Five GCSEs at grade 7/A or above, plus minimum grade 6 in English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (6-6 Combined Science accepted as equivalent)	Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics. No score or assessment of other GCSEs. GCSE resits accepted.
GCSE scoring methodology	-	Used only as minimum threshold (Eng + Maths grade 6/B). Other GCSEs not scored or assessed.
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	A1,A,A at Advanced Higher (or A1,A at Advanced Higher plus A,A,A at Higher), to include Chemistry and Biology at Advanced Higher with either at A1. Highers alone are not sufficient.
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level - including HL Biology or Chemistry plus a second science / Maths / Economics / Psychology	39 points overall, 19 at Higher Level - including HL 7,6,6 with HL Chemistry and HL Biology
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	Graduates apply to the standard six-year MBBS BSc; there is no accelerated route. UCL expects at least ABB in A-levels taken before the first degree (or 34 IB points with 16 at Higher Level at 6,5,5). A graduate who meets the grade bar but lacks A-level Chemistry and/or Biology may sit them during or after the degree, at grade A* (or A*A if taking both).
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	~1700+ /2700 with up to 3 contextual points (UCAT bursary, postcode, local school)	2080+ /2700 (Access UCL, 2026 entry threshold)
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	~1950+ /2700 minimum requirement; 2024 entry international avg 1882, lowest 1763	2300+ /2700 (2026 entry threshold)
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Band 4 automatically rejected. Band 3 can compensate with higher stats. Scored /2 (B1=2, B2=1, B3=0).	Only used where candidates are on the same UCAT score
UCAT notes	Points system /25: PS /15 + UCAT /5 (decile-based) + SJT /2 + contextual /3. Cut-off 15/25 (or 14/25 + 600+ VR).	There is no fixed cut-off - UCL ranks candidates on total UCAT score and the threshold falls where the interview slots run out, so it moves every year with the applicant pool. Access UCL applicants ar…

Degree awarded	MBChB	MBBS BSc
Course length	5 years	6 years (integrated BSc built in)
Teaching style	Spiral + Integrated	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	Dissection	-
First patient contact	Year 1	-
Placement geography	Staffordshire and Shropshire	-
Named placement sites	University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (Royal Stoke, County Hospital Stafford), Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (Bradwell, Haywood, St George’s Stafford, Redwoods Shrewsbury), North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust (Harplands, Stoke), Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (Royal Shrewsbury, Princess Royal Telford)	-
Intercalation	Available after year 2 at bachelor's level or year 4 at master's level, at Keele or another university.	Built in — the six-year programme is inclusive of the integrated BSc. Graduate entrants with UK degrees are exempt.
Course highlight	-	UCL offers one of the widest ranges of integrated BSc options of any UK medical school.

Interview window	December - March	December - March
Interview details	Keele's 2027-entry selection uses two 15-minute structured online interviews via Microsoft Teams, usually about two hours apart, discussing pre-released GMC 'Good Medical Practice' guidance and a case…	Up to eight MMI stations of five minutes each, with one minute beforehand to read the instructions and two or three questions per station - around 50 minutes in total. Home fee-paying candidates are i…

Specialities	Medicine, Community Medicine, Primary Care	Medicine, Medical Sciences, Global Health
Established	1978	1826
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	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…	Cut-offs differ from Imperial - UCL's home threshold is lower while its international threshold is higher, partly because UCL holds more interviews relative to offers. SJT is only used as a tie-breake…
Official course page	https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduatecourses/medicine/	https://www.ucl.ac.uk/study/prospective-students/undergraduate/courses/medicine-mbbs-bsc

Keele

Staffordshire

Quick comparison

Location: Staffordshire, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA at A-level (or AAA + grade A in EPQ as alternative)
TrueScore: Keele 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

UCL

London

Quick comparison

Location: London, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA including A*A in Chemistry and Biology in either order. The third subject is your own choice, other than General Studies or Critical Thinking.
TrueScore: UCL TrueScore 2190
UCAT home cut-off: 2190+ /2700 (2026 entry threshold)
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Reasonable. Around 1,000 applicants are interviewed for 313 home and 24 overseas places, and UCL makes more offers than places because not every offer is taken up. Offers rest purely on interview performance, and UCL reviews home, international and Access UCL interview scores separately rather than applying an uplift to any group.
Decision date: Decisions are made after all the Interviews have been completed

Keele vs UCL - in detail

UCAT thresholds compared

Keele's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 1700, while UCL sits at approximately 2190.

That's a 490-point gap — large enough to put the two schools in completely different competitiveness tiers. An applicant scoring in the 1900-2000 band would be competitive at Keele but borderline at UCL.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Keele: ~1700+ /2700 with up to 3 contextual points (UCAT bursary, postcode, local school); UCL: 2080+ /2700 (Access UCL, 2026 entry threshold). Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

A-Level and academic profile

Keele requires A*AA at A-level (or AAA + grade A in EPQ as alternative).

UCL requires A*AA including A*A in Chemistry and Biology in either order. The third subject is your own choice, other than General Studies or Critical Thinking.

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 — Keele: Five GCSEs at grade 7/A or above, plus minimum grade 6 in English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (6-6 Combined Science accepted as equivalent). UCL: Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics. No score or assessment of other GCSEs. GCSE resits accepted.

Used only as minimum threshold (Eng + Maths grade 6/B). Other GCSEs not scored…

Interview formats

Keele uses Traditional (Two 15-minute structured online interviews (traditional format, not MMI; Microsoft Teams), usually around two hours apart); UCL 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, UCL is the better fit.

Interview windows: Keele interviews in December - March; UCL in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Keele runs a Spiral curriculum; UCL runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Keele delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while UCL uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year MBChB with spiral curriculum. Strong rural/community placement strand across Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire. Six-year MBBS BSc with compulsory intercalated BSc in Year 3. Clinical placements at UCL-affiliated NHS sites including UCLH, Royal Free, and Whitting

Intake size: Keele — ~150 home + ~10 international places per year (5-year MBChB) + ~30 Health Foundation Year places.; UCL — 313 home and 24 overseas fee-status places per year (337 in total).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Offers rest purely on interview performance, and UCL reviews home, international and Access UCL interview scores separately rather than applying an uplift to any group.

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.

UCL: Cut-offs differ from Imperial - UCL's home threshold is lower while its international threshold is higher, partly because UCL holds more interviews relative to offers. SJT is only used as a tie-breaker between equally scored candidates.

Which is right for you?

If your UCAT lands below the UK median (~1880/2700), Keele is the more realistic firm-choice option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Keele feeds into the England foundation programme network; UCL into the London network.

If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Keele; if you prefer lecture-led foundations, the other suits better. 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

Keele's typical home cut-off is around 1700, while UCL sits at approximately 2190 — a 490-point spread. That's a meaningful gap; Keele is materially more accessible for an average-to-good UCAT, while UCL expects performance closer to the top 19% of test-takers. Cut-offs change year on year and vary by tier — check each school's latest published threshold before submitting your UCAS form.

Keele uses Traditional interview: Two 15-minute structured online interviews (traditional format, not MMI; Microsoft Teams), usually around two hours apart. UCL uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). The two formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each, with at least 3 full mock interviews per format before sitting either. Interview windows: December - March (Keele); December - March (UCL).

Keele's selection methodology: UCAT + academic + Multiple Mini Interview. Keele's contextual route (Keele Health Foundation Year) provides extensive support for North Midlands widening-participation applicants. UCL's selection methodology: Beyond the minimum academic requirements, shortlisting is wholly by total UCAT score, with SJT as a tie-break only. UCL normally interviews around 1,000 applicants, sending invitations on a rolling basis from December through to March. Home, international and Access UCL candidates are reviewed in separate pools. 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.

Keele: International: 23/54 = 43%; Home Non-Contextual: 167/491 = 34%. UCL: Reasonable. Around 1,000 applicants are interviewed for 313 home and 24 overseas places, and UCL makes more offers than places because not every offer is taken up. Offers rest purely on interview performance, and UCL reviews home, international and Access UCL interview scores separately rather than applying an uplift to any group.. Post-interview odds tell you how competitive each school is at the final stage. Two schools with similar UCAT thresholds can have very different post-interview rates — a school with a 60% post-interview success rate is structurally easier to convert than one at 25%.

Keele runs a Spiral curriculum. UCL runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Keele specifics: Five-year MBChB with spiral curriculum. Strong rural/community placement strand across Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire. UCL specifics: Six-year MBBS BSc with compulsory intercalated BSc in Year 3. Clinical placements at UCL-affiliated NHS sites including UCLH, Royal Free, and Whittington.

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

KeeleEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

UCLEntry 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.