Where are King's College London (KCL) and Manchester located, and how does that affect cost?

King's College London (KCL) is in London, UK. Manchester is in Manchester, 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?

King's College London (KCL) typically releases medicine decisions By the end of May. Manchester 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

King's College London (KCL) vs Manchester

Q: What A-Level grades do King's College London (KCL) and Manchester require?

King's College London (KCL) requires A*AA including Chemistry and Biology. Manchester requires AAA including Chemistry or Biology, plus one of Biology / Chemistry / Maths / Further Maths / Physics / Psychology. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school.

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

Their A-Level requirements (A*AA vs AAA) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: King's College London (KCL) and Manchester.
Comparison field	King's College London (KCL)London	ManchesterManchester
Quick comparison
Location	London, UK	Manchester, UK
A-Level offer	A*AA including grade A in Biology and Chemistry. General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted, and a pass in the science practical endorsement is required. The EPQ is not considered at any point in the assessment process.	AAA at A-level including Chemistry or Biology, plus one of Biology / Chemistry / Maths / Further Maths / Physics / Psychology. No use of predicted grades.
TrueScore	King's College London (KCL) TrueScore 2150	Manchester TrueScore 2060
UCAT home cut-off	No cut-off published. King's states that the minimum scores of interviewees and offer-holders "are not cut-off scores".	2060+ /2700 with Band 1 or 2 SJT (2026 entry threshold, A106)
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	Strong. In the 2024 cycle King's interviewed 982 applicants and made 762 offers (78%) - 609 offers from 796 UK interviews (77%) and 153 from 186 non-UK interviews (82%). The 2023 cycle was tighter at 645 offers from 1,116 interviews (58%).	2026 entry: home 985 offers from 1,667 interviews (59%); overseas 40 from 191 (21%); A101 home 91 from 157 (58%) and A101 overseas 6 from 10. Overseas applicants face a far harder run at both stages than home applicants.
Decision date	By the end of May	March onwards

A-Level offer	A*AA including grade A in Biology and Chemistry. General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted, and a pass in the science practical endorsement is required. The EPQ is not considered at any point in the assessment process.	AAA at A-level including Chemistry or Biology, plus one of Biology / Chemistry / Maths / Further Maths / Physics / Psychology. No use of predicted grades.
Contextual A-Level offer	-	AAB at A-level for WP+ contextual applicants. ABB for refugee or care-experienced (WP++) applicants.
Required A-Level subjects	Biology and Chemistry both required	Chemistry or Biology required, plus one of Biology / Chemistry / Mathematics / Further Mathematics / Physics / Psychology
A-Level resit policy	Resits accepted - KCL has clarified via FOI that "a first resit is considered equally to applicants taking their first sittings" (19 resit applicants received an interview in 2024, 16 received offers)	Resits accepted, but only one of Year 12 or Year 13 may be resat, a minimum of ABB at the first Year 13 sitting is required for resit grades to count, and the resit offer is AAA
GCSE requirements	Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics	At least 7 GCSEs at grade 7, 8 or 9. English Language or Literature, Mathematics, and 2 Science subjects must be at grade 6 or above. WP+/WP++: 6 GCSEs at grade 7+ accepted. GCSE resits permitted; up to one Level 2 BTEC may be counted.
GCSE scoring methodology	GCSEs are one of the four factors King's names in shortlisting, alongside A-level grades, UCAT and the personal statement, and performance is read in the context of your educational background. King's…	Used only as minimum eligibility threshold - no further use of GCSEs in shortlisting beyond the floor
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	38 points overall (including TOK/EE), or an aggregate of 19 from three Higher Levels, and must include grade 6 in Higher Level Biology and Higher Level Chemistry	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including HL Chemistry or Biology plus another science from Chemistry / Biology / Physics / Psychology / Mathematics
Graduate-entry degree requirement	Graduate applicants typically hold 2:1 or above in any honours degree, plus required A-level Chemistry and Biology grades. KCL accepts graduates onto the standard 6-year MBBS A100.	A 2:1 honours degree or above, plus a minimum of BBB at A-level at the first sitting. Applicants with a relevant science degree are exempt from the A-level subject specification but must still meet BBB. The accelerated four-year A101 Graduate Entry programme runs a separate UCAT threshold (2,080 home, 2,310 overseas for 2026 entry).
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	-	1960+ /2700 (WP+, 2026 entry threshold)
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	No separate cut-off published.	2250+ /2700 (2026 entry threshold) - 190 points ABOVE the home bar, not level with it
Graduate cut-off	-	2080+ /2700 for home A101, or 2310+ for overseas A101 (2026 entry)
SJT band	Band 4 automatically rejected. Band 3 riskier - only 37/360 band 3 applicants received interview in 2024.	Band 1 or 2 - do not currently consider B3/4
UCAT notes	King's shortlists on A-level grades, UCAT, personal statement and GCSE grades together, and says exam results and UCAT are "perhaps the most important factors". Its published UCAT statistics stop at t…	Met-or-not thresholds, set each November once results are in, so Manchester cannot confirm them in advance and they move year to year. Clear the threshold with an SJT of Band 1 or 2 and you are very l…

Degree awarded	MBBS	MBChB
Course length	5 years (6 with intercalation)	5 years
Teaching style	Integrated	Case-based learning + Team-based learning
Anatomy teaching	-	Dissection
First patient contact	-	Year 3
Placement geography	London and the south east of England	Greater Manchester and the north west
Named placement sites	Guy's Hospital, King's College Hospital, St Thomas' Hospital	Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (Oxford Road), Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (Wythenshawe), Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (formerly Salford Royal), Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Intercalation	Optional one-year BSc between Stages 2 and 3, spanning clinical and biomedical sciences and the humanities.	Intercalate for a year to complete a BSc, a master’s degree or an MB-PhD.
Course highlight	Twinned with medical schools around the world, offering clinical exchanges.	The UK’s largest medical school, with over 2,200 undergraduate medical students.

Interview window	November - May	December - early March
Interview details	MMI format with stations covering ethical scenarios, communication and clinical problem-solving. No offer is made without an interview, and King's runs them across an unusually long window - November…	Five-station MMI including a role-play that assesses verbal and non-verbal communication and empathy, plus typical MMI questions on motivation, ethics and teamwork. One station may ask you to elaborat…

Specialities	Medicine, Dentistry, Biomedical Sciences	Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy
Established	1829	1824
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Strong clinical focus with emphasis on London healthcare system.	The UK's largest medical school, with over 2,200 undergraduate medical students and strong research links. Thresholds are met-or-not rather than ranked, so clearing the UCAT bar with an SJT of Band 1…
Official course page	https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/medicine-mbbs	https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/2026/01428/mbchb-medicine/

King's College London (KCL)

London

Quick comparison

Location: London, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA including grade A in Biology and Chemistry. General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted, and a pass in the science practical endorsement is required. The EPQ is not considered at any point in the assessment process.
TrueScore: King's College London (KCL) TrueScore 2150
UCAT home cut-off: No cut-off published. King's states that the minimum scores of interviewees and offer-holders "are not cut-off scores".
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Strong. In the 2024 cycle King's interviewed 982 applicants and made 762 offers (78%) - 609 offers from 796 UK interviews (77%) and 153 from 186 non-UK interviews (82%). The 2023 cycle was tighter at 645 offers from 1,116 interviews (58%).
Decision date: By the end of May

Manchester

Quick comparison

Location: Manchester, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Chemistry or Biology, plus one of Biology / Chemistry / Maths / Further Maths / Physics / Psychology. No use of predicted grades.
TrueScore: Manchester TrueScore 2060
UCAT home cut-off: 2060+ /2700 with Band 1 or 2 SJT (2026 entry threshold, A106)
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: 2026 entry: home 985 offers from 1,667 interviews (59%); overseas 40 from 191 (21%); A101 home 91 from 157 (58%) and A101 overseas 6 from 10. Overseas applicants face a far harder run at both stages than home applicants.
Decision date: March onwards

King's College London (KCL) vs Manchester - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

King's College London (KCL) requires A*AA including grade A in Biology and Chemistry. General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Global Perspectives are not accepted, and a pass in the science practical endorsement is required. The EPQ is not considered at any point in the assessment process.

Manchester requires AAA at A-level including Chemistry or Biology, plus one of Biology / Chemistry / Maths / Further Maths / Physics / Psychology. No use of predicted grades.

King's College London (KCL) is the stricter A-Level offer; Manchester is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Manchester carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — King's College London (KCL): Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics. GCSEs are one of the four factors King's names in shortlisting, alongside A-level grades, UCAT and the personal statement, and performance… Manchester: At least 7 GCSEs at grade 7, 8 or 9.

English Language or Literature, Mathematics, and 2 Science subjects must be at grade 6 or above. WP+/WP++: 6 GCSEs at grade 7+ accepted. GCSE resits permitted; up…

Interview formats

Both King's College London (KCL) and Manchester 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: King's College London (KCL) interviews in November - May; Manchester in December - early March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Intake size: King's College London (KCL) — Around 300 places on A100, within roughly 410 across all of King's medicine programmes.; Manchester — Manchester publishes 401 funded places across its medicine courses - the majority for home students and 28 for international students - plus a small number of additional self-funded or government-sponsored places on the graduate-entry programme..

A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Manchester: 2026 entry: home 985 offers from 1,667 interviews (59%); overseas 40 from 191 (21%); A101 home 91 from 157 (58%) and A101 overseas 6 from 10. Overseas applicants face a far harder run at both stages than home applicants.

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

King's College London (KCL): Strong clinical focus with emphasis on London healthcare system.

Manchester: The UK's largest medical school, with over 2,200 undergraduate medical students and strong research links. Thresholds are met-or-not rather than ranked, so clearing the UCAT bar with an SJT of Band 1 or 2 usually earns an interview; Bands 3 and 4 are not currently considered.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, Manchester is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — King's College London (KCL) feeds into the London foundation programme network; Manchester into the England 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

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. King's College London (KCL) guidance: No cut-off published. King's states that the minimum scores of interviewees and offer-holders "are not cut-off scores".. Manchester guidance: 2060+ /2700 with Band 1 or 2 SJT (2026 entry threshold, A106).

King's College London (KCL) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Manchester 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: November - May (King's College London (KCL)); December - early March (Manchester).

King's College London (KCL) — Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics. GCSEs are one of the four factors King's names in shortlisting, alongside A-level grades, UCAT and the personal statement, and performance is read in the context of your educational background. King's does not publish a points tariff for GCSEs. Manchester — At least 7 GCSEs at grade 7, 8 or 9. English Language or Literature, Mathematics, and 2 Science subjects must be at grade 6 or above. WP+/WP++: 6 GCSEs at grade 7+ accepted. GCSE resits permitted; up to one Level 2 BTEC may be counted. Used only as minimum eligibility threshold - no further use of GCSEs in shortlisting beyond the floor

King's College London (KCL)'s selection methodology: shortlisting weight not fully disclosed; check the official admissions page. Manchester's selection methodology: Academic minimums first, then UCAT must exceed cut-off. Historically, all applicants beyond the cut-off interviewed. SJT band 1 or 2 expected. 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.

King's College London (KCL): Strong. In the 2024 cycle King's interviewed 982 applicants and made 762 offers (78%) - 609 offers from 796 UK interviews (77%) and 153 from 186 non-UK interviews (82%). The 2023 cycle was tighter at 645 offers from 1,116 interviews (58%).. Manchester: 2026 entry: home 985 offers from 1,667 interviews (59%); overseas 40 from 191 (21%); A101 home 91 from 157 (58%) and A101 overseas 6 from 10. Overseas applicants face a far harder run at both stages than home applicants.. 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%.

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

King's College London (KCL)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

ManchesterEntry 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.

King's College London (KCL) vs Manchester

Side-by-side comparison

King's College London (KCL) vs Manchester - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

Post-interview offer rate

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for King's College London (KCL) vs Manchester?

How do interviews differ between King's College London (KCL) and Manchester?

What A-Level grades do King's College London (KCL) and Manchester require?

How are GCSEs weighted at King's College London (KCL) vs Manchester?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Which has a higher post-interview offer rate, King's College London (KCL) or Manchester?

Where are King's College London (KCL) and Manchester located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

Should I apply to both King's College London (KCL) and Manchester?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons