Where are Kent and Medway (KMMS) and Ulster University Medical School located, and how does that affect cost?

Kent and Medway (KMMS) is in Canterbury/Medway, UK. Ulster University Medical School is in Londonderry, 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?

Kent and Medway (KMMS) typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Ulster University Medical School releases medicine decisions March onwards. 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

Kent and Medway (KMMS) vs Ulster University Medical School

Kent and Medway (KMMS) and Ulster University Medical School are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Kent and Medway (KMMS) is based in Canterbury/Medway (England) while Ulster University Medical School sits in Londonderry (London), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Kent and Medway (KMMS) and Ulster University Medical School.
Comparison field	Kent and Medway (KMMS)Canterbury/Medway	Ulster University Medical SchoolLondonderry
Quick comparison
Location	Canterbury/Medway, UK	Londonderry, UK
A-Level offer	AAB minimum for applicants already holding their A-levels (Group B). Pre-A-level applicants (Group A) get a conditional offer set from their school's average attainment - typically AAA or AAB. Normally completed in two years.	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree
TrueScore	Kent and Medway (KMMS) TrueScore 1900	-
UCAT home cut-off	47th centile or above with SJT band 3 or better (2025-26 threshold was a 2490 total). KMMS explicitly does not commit to the same threshold for 2027 entry.	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	Home Fee Status: 176/404 = 44%; International: 14/32 = 44% (only 113 applicants); Graduate (2023): 52/83 = 63%	-
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAB minimum for applicants already holding their A-levels (Group B). Pre-A-level applicants (Group A) get a conditional offer set from their school's average attainment - typically AAA or AAB. Normally completed in two years.	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry and/or Biology. If only one of the two is offered, one further subject from Physics, Mathematics, Psychology or Computer Science is required. Critical Thinking and General Studies are not accepted.	-
A-Level resit policy	KMMS does not use predicted A-level or AS grades - selection is on achieved grades. Resit applicants are assessed on final achieved grades only.	Resits accepted.
GCSE requirements	Five GCSEs at grade 9-6 (A*-B) including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Double Science plus one other). GCSE resits accepted.	-
GCSE scoring methodology	Selection driven by a contextualised GCSE Attainment 8 score /90 (Maths /18, English Language /9, English Literature /9, three EBacc subjects /27, three other subjects /27) benchmarked against the app…	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Chemistry and/or Biology	-
Graduate-entry degree requirement	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or higher in any honours degree. Graduate applicants need SJT band 2 or better.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any honours degree (Arts, Science, Humanities all accepted)
Alternative qualifications	-	Graduate-entry only. UCAT NOT used - Ulster uses GAMSAT (Graduate Medical School Admissions Test). Recent GAMSAT thresholds have been ~61. Plus 2:1 honours degree and MMI interview. Strong Northern Ireland regional focus.

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	Same admission-test threshold as home applicants; personal statement replaces GCSE in the scoring.	-
Graduate cut-off	47th centile or above, but graduates need SJT band 2 or better.	Not applicable - Ulster uses GAMSAT, not the UCAT. Recent thresholds have been around 61.
SJT band	Band 4 automatically rejected. Other bands treated equally for school leavers; graduates need B1 or B2.	-
UCAT notes	The centile matters more than the raw number here - KMMS republishes the threshold each cycle. Once it is met, selection is driven by a contextualised GCSE Attainment 8 score.	GAMSAT is scored out of 100. Do not sit the UCAT for this course.

Degree awarded	BM BS	MBBS
Course length	5 years	4 years (graduate entry)
Teaching style	Integrated	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	Imaging and models
First patient contact	Year 1	-
Placement geography	Kent and Medway	Across Northern Ireland
Named placement sites	-	-
Intercalation	-	-
Course highlight	The degree is awarded jointly by the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University.	Based at the Magee campus in Derry~Londonderry, alongside other healthcare programmes.

Interview window	December - March	December - March
Interview details	Multi-station interview that differs significantly from standard UK MMIs. Stations of about 7 minutes covering data handling, situational judgement, role-play and values-based tasks, followed by a 40-…	MMI format with multiple stations. Focus on serving Northern Ireland's healthcare needs alongside standard motivation, ethics and communication content.

Specialities	Medicine, Community Medicine	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	2020	2021
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Selection by contextualised GCSE 'Attainment 8' score (/90) after UCAT minimum met - strong choice for high-GCSE / low-UCAT applicants. School performance averaged in to contextualise GCSE scoring (na…	New medical school serving Northern Ireland. Strong regional focus, with the course oriented around local workforce needs. Cut-offs have not yet stabilised.
Official course page	https://kmms.ac.uk/study/	https://www.ulster.ac.uk/courses/202627/medicine-41407

Kent and Medway (KMMS)

Canterbury/Medway

Quick comparison

Location: Canterbury/Medway, UK
A-Level offer: AAB minimum for applicants already holding their A-levels (Group B). Pre-A-level applicants (Group A) get a conditional offer set from their school's average attainment - typically AAA or AAB. Normally completed in two years.
TrueScore: Kent and Medway (KMMS) TrueScore 1900
UCAT home cut-off: 47th centile or above with SJT band 3 or better (2025-26 threshold was a 2490 total). KMMS explicitly does not commit to the same threshold for 2027 entry.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Home Fee Status: 176/404 = 44%; International: 14/32 = 44% (only 113 applicants); Graduate (2023): 52/83 = 63%
Decision date: March onwards

Ulster University Medical School

Londonderry

Quick comparison

Location: Londonderry, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree
TrueScore: -
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Kent and Medway (KMMS) vs Ulster University Medical School - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Kent and Medway (KMMS) requires AAB minimum for applicants already holding their A-levels (Group B). Pre-A-level applicants (Group A) get a conditional offer set from their school's average attainment - typically AAA or AAB. Normally completed in two years.

Ulster University Medical School requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Kent and Medway (KMMS): Five GCSEs at grade 9-6 (A*-B) including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Double Science plus one other). GCSE resits accepted. Selection driven by a contextualised… Ulster University Medical School: Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Interview formats

Both Kent and Medway (KMMS) and Ulster University Medical School 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: Kent and Medway (KMMS) interviews in December - March; Ulster University Medical School in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Kent and Medway (KMMS) runs a PBL curriculum; Ulster University Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Kent and Medway (KMMS) leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Ulster University Medical School uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year MBBS jointly run by University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University. Strong rural/community placement strand across Kent and Medw Four-year accelerated MBBS for graduates. Clinical placements across Northern Ireland NHS sites (Magee Campus, Western HSC, Northern HSC).

Intake size: Kent and Medway (KMMS) — ~125 home + ~25 international places per year.; Ulster University Medical School — ~70 places per year (small cohort, NI-focused).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

What makes each distinctive

Kent and Medway (KMMS): Selection by contextualised GCSE 'Attainment 8' score (/90) after UCAT minimum met - strong choice for high-GCSE / low-UCAT applicants. School performance averaged in to contextualise GCSE scoring (national average 45.9; ~25% above school average likely required).

Ulster University Medical School: New medical school serving Northern Ireland. Strong regional focus, with the course oriented around local workforce needs. Cut-offs have not yet stabilised.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Kent and Medway (KMMS) feeds into the England foundation programme network; Ulster University Medical School into the London network. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Kent and Medway (KMMS); 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

Neither school publishes a single fixed UCAT cut-off; both use UCAT as part of a composite shortlisting score alongside GCSE and personal-statement weighting. Kent and Medway (KMMS) guidance: 47th centile or above with SJT band 3 or better (2025-26 threshold was a 2490 total). KMMS explicitly does not commit to the same threshold for 2027 entry.. Ulster University Medical School guidance: GAMSAT is scored out of 100. Do not sit the UCAT for this course..

Kent and Medway (KMMS) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Ulster University Medical School 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 (Kent and Medway (KMMS)); December - March (Ulster University Medical School).

Kent and Medway (KMMS) requires AAB minimum including Chemistry and/or Biology - if only one is offered, a further subject from Physics, Maths, Psychology or Computer Science is required. Ulster University Medical School requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Kent and Medway (KMMS) — Resits considered.. Ulster University Medical School — Resits accepted..

Kent and Medway (KMMS) — Five GCSEs at grade 9-6 (A*-B) including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Double Science plus one other). GCSE resits accepted. Selection driven by a contextualised GCSE Attainment 8 score /90 (Maths /18, English Language /9, English Literature /9, three EBacc subjects /27, three other subjects /27) benchmarked against the applicant's school average. IGCSE treated equivalently to GCSE. Ulster University Medical School — Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Kent and Medway (KMMS)'s selection methodology: KMMS does NOT use predicted A-Level grades or BMAT in selection. Does NOT use percentage weighting. Offers made in batches based on UCAT + academic minimums + MMI performance. Does not use AS levels. Ulster University Medical School's selection methodology: Graduate-entry only: a 2:1 honours degree in any discipline plus GAMSAT (recent threshold ~61 out of 100), then MMI. Strong Northern Ireland regional focus. 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.

Kent and Medway (KMMS) runs a PBL curriculum. Ulster University Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Kent and Medway (KMMS) specifics: Five-year MBBS jointly run by University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University. Strong rural/community placement strand across Kent and Medway NHS sites. Ulster University Medical School specifics: Four-year accelerated MBBS for graduates. Clinical placements across Northern Ireland NHS sites (Magee Campus, Western HSC, Northern HSC).

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

Kent and Medway (KMMS)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Ulster University Medical SchoolEntry 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.

Kent and Medway (KMMS) vs Ulster University Medical School

Side-by-side comparison

Kent and Medway (KMMS) vs Ulster University Medical School - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Kent and Medway (KMMS) vs Ulster University Medical School?

How do interviews differ between Kent and Medway (KMMS) and Ulster University Medical School?

What A-Level grades do Kent and Medway (KMMS) and Ulster University Medical School require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Kent and Medway (KMMS) vs Ulster University Medical School?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Where are Kent and Medway (KMMS) and Ulster University Medical School located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Kent and Medway (KMMS) and Ulster University Medical School use?

Should I apply to both Kent and Medway (KMMS) and Ulster University Medical School?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons