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

King's College London (KCL) requires A*AA including Chemistry and Biology. North Wales (Bangor) requires AAA including Biology and one further science. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school.

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

King's College London (KCL) is in London, UK. North Wales (Bangor) is in Bangor, 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 March onwards. North Wales (Bangor) 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.

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Medical school comparison

King's College London (KCL) vs North Wales (Bangor)

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at King's College London (KCL) vs North Wales (Bangor)?

King's College London (KCL) — Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics. GCSE used heavily in shortlisting: scored /40 - 8/8+/A* = 5 pts each, 7 = 3.75 pts, 6 = 2.5 pts. (KCL's "A-as-A*" rule may apply depending on school performance.) North Wales (Bangor) — English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.

King's College London (KCL) and North Wales (Bangor) 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 North Wales (Bangor) sits in Bangor (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. King's College London (KCL) is the older institution (founded 1829); the other (founded 2020) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: King's College London (KCL) and North Wales (Bangor).
Comparison field	King's College London (KCL)London	North Wales (Bangor)Bangor
Quick comparison
Location	London, UK	Bangor, UK
A-Level offer	A*AA at A-level including A in Biology and Chemistry	AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.
TrueScore	2150	1700
UCAT home cut-off	~2130+ /2700 (non-contextual) with B1 SJT and 8× grade 8s at GCSE; mean offer holder ≈ 2250	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	All Students: 760/981 = 77% (2024); Overall undergraduate (2023): 645/1115 = 58%	Refused to disclose. New medical school, has been in clearing in past years.
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	A*AA at A-level including A in Biology and Chemistry	AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.
Contextual A-Level offer	-	AAB for Welsh-speaking applicants (who must also hold a first-language Welsh GCSE) and for others meeting Bangor's contextual criteria.
Required A-Level subjects	Biology and Chemistry both required	Biology required, plus one further science
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)	A-level resits are NOT accepted. GCSE resits are accepted only if completed within 12 months of the original sitting and before application.
GCSE requirements	Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics	English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.
GCSE scoring methodology	GCSE used heavily in shortlisting: scored /40 - 8/8+/A* = 5 pts each, 7 = 3.75 pts, 6 = 2.5 pts. (KCL's "A-as-A*" rule may apply depending on school performance.)	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	35 points overall, 7,6,6 at Higher Level including Biology and Chemistry	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Biology and one further science
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.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any honours degree (A101 graduate-entry route)
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	~1900+ /2700 with WP flags (POLAR/ACORN/IMD, care experienced, K+ participation)	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	~2200+ /2700; mean offer holder ≈ 2310 (2023)	-
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Band 4 automatically rejected. Band 3 riskier - only 37/360 band 3 applicants received interview in 2024.	Refused to disclose how SJT is used (avoid with B4)
UCAT notes	Points system /150 (+ up to 20 contextual). UCAT /100 (KCL percentile, often higher than national); GCSE /40; SJT /10. Interview threshold ~135-140 standard.	Bangor requires the UCAT but publishes NO minimum threshold - it states only that the score is used in selection. No cut-off should be inferred or estimated.

Interview window	December - February	December - March
Interview details	MMI format with stations covering ethical scenarios, communication, and clinical problem-solving.	MMI format spread across several stations. Each station gives 3 minutes' preparation for two questions and 3 minutes to answer each. Topics include motivation, ethics and reflection on experiences.

Specialities	Medicine, Dentistry, Biomedical Sciences	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	1829	2020
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Strong clinical focus with emphasis on London healthcare system.	Bangor publishes no UCAT threshold and has declined FOI requests on its shortlisting weighting, so no cut-off can be quoted. A-level resits are not accepted. Welsh-speaking applicants (with a first-la…
Official course page	https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/medicine-mbbs	https://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/a100-medicine-bmbs

King's College London (KCL)

London

Quick comparison

Location: London, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA at A-level including A in Biology and Chemistry
TrueScore: 2150
UCAT home cut-off: ~2130+ /2700 (non-contextual) with B1 SJT and 8× grade 8s at GCSE; mean offer holder ≈ 2250
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: All Students: 760/981 = 77% (2024); Overall undergraduate (2023): 645/1115 = 58%
Decision date: March onwards

North Wales (Bangor)

Bangor

Quick comparison

Location: Bangor, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.
TrueScore: 1700
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Refused to disclose. New medical school, has been in clearing in past years.
Decision date: March onwards

Compare different schools

King's College London (KCL) vs North Wales (Bangor) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

King's College London (KCL) requires A*AA at A-level including A in Biology and Chemistry.

North Wales (Bangor) requires AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.

King's College London (KCL) is the stricter A-Level offer; North Wales (Bangor) is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, North Wales (Bangor) 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. GCSE used heavily in shortlisting: scored /40 - 8/8+/A* = 5 pts each, 7 = 3.75 pts, 6 = 2.5 pts.

(KCL's "A-as-A*" rule may apply depending… North Wales (Bangor): English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.

Interview formats

Both King's College London (KCL) and North Wales (Bangor) 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 December - February; North Wales (Bangor) in December - March.

Post-interview offer rate

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.

North Wales (Bangor): Bangor publishes no UCAT threshold and has declined FOI requests on its shortlisting weighting, so no cut-off can be quoted. A-level resits are not accepted. Welsh-speaking applicants (with a first-language Welsh GCSE) and other contextual applicants may receive an AAB offer.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, North Wales (Bangor) 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; North Wales (Bangor) 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: ~2130+ /2700 (non-contextual) with B1 SJT and 8× grade 8s at GCSE; mean offer holder ≈ 2250. North Wales (Bangor) guidance: Bangor requires the UCAT but publishes NO minimum threshold - it states only that the score is used in selection. No cut-off should be inferred or estimated..

King's College London (KCL) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). North Wales (Bangor) 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 - February (King's College London (KCL)); December - March (North Wales (Bangor)).

King's College London (KCL)'s selection methodology: shortlisting weight not fully disclosed; check the official admissions page. North Wales (Bangor)'s selection methodology: AAA including Biology and a second science, plus UCAT with no published threshold, then MMI. Cardiff University School of Medicine is the contingency partner during GMC accreditation, so students would graduate from Cardiff if required. 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): All Students: 760/981 = 77% (2024); Overall undergraduate (2023): 645/1115 = 58%. North Wales (Bangor): Refused to disclose. New medical school, has been in clearing in past years.. 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 North Wales (Bangor)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 7 September 2026.