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

King's College London (KCL) is in London, UK. St Mary's Twickenham is in Twickenham, 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?

King's College London (KCL) typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. St Mary's Twickenham 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 St Mary's Twickenham

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at King's College London (KCL) vs St Mary's Twickenham?

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.) St Mary's Twickenham — Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science).

King's College London (KCL) and St Mary's Twickenham are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Both sit in London, so location and clinical-placement breadth are similar — the differentiation comes from selection methodology, interview style and curriculum philosophy. 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 2025) 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 St Mary's Twickenham.
Comparison field	King's College London (KCL)London	St Mary's TwickenhamTwickenham, London
Quick comparison
Location	London, UK	Twickenham, London, UK
A-Level offer	A*AA at A-level including A in Biology and Chemistry	AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
TrueScore	2150	1700intl
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%	-
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	A*AA at A-level including A in Biology and Chemistry	AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	Biology and Chemistry both required	Chemistry or Biology required, plus one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
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 only considered in exceptional circumstances
GCSE requirements	Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language and Mathematics	Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science)
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 Chemistry or Biology and a second science / Maths
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.	-
Alternative qualifications	-	New international-only medicine course for 2026 entry - first cohort. Applied to directly outside standard UCAS medicine route. UCAT contributes to combined admissions test + academic ranking. No SJT use.

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)	No cut-off exists yet. UCAT contributes to the shortlisting rank, but the first cohort is September 2026 so no historic threshold exists.
Graduate cut-off	-	-
SJT band	Band 4 automatically rejected. Band 3 riskier - only 37/360 band 3 applicants received interview in 2024.	No usage mentioned in any selection policy
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.	International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only. No SJT use stated. Any quoted 'cut-off' for this school is guesswork - it has not yet completed an admissions cycle.

Interview window	December - February	December - March
Interview details	MMI format with stations covering ethical scenarios, communication, and clinical problem-solving.	Applications are scored on academic record and admissions tests to produce a shortlisting rank. Interviews are online Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs).

Specialities	Medicine, Dentistry, Biomedical Sciences	Medicine, International Medicine
Established	1829	2025
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Strong clinical focus with emphasis on London healthcare system.	International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only, applying direct rather than through UCAS, so it costs none of your four UCAS medical choices. Weigh that against the accreditation risk: the MBBS is not y…
Official course page	https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/medicine-mbbs	https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/mbbs-medicine-degree

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

St Mary's Twickenham

Twickenham, London

Quick comparison

Location: Twickenham, London, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
TrueScore: 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Compare different schools

King's College London (KCL) vs St Mary's Twickenham - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

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

St Mary's Twickenham requires AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics.

King's College London (KCL) is the stricter A-Level offer; St Mary's Twickenham is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, St Mary's Twickenham 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… St Mary's Twickenham: Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science).

Interview formats

Both King's College London (KCL) and St Mary's Twickenham 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; St Mary's Twickenham in December - March.

What makes each distinctive

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

St Mary's Twickenham: International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only, applying direct rather than through UCAS, so it costs none of your four UCAS medical choices. Weigh that against the accreditation risk: the MBBS is not yet GMC-accredited, and St Mary's contingency is that students would transfer to the University of Lancashire if accreditation is not achieved.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, St Mary's Twickenham is the lower-risk academic option. Both schools sit in the same London foundation-programme catchment, so post-graduation training paths overlap heavily.

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. St Mary's Twickenham guidance: International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only. No SJT use stated. Any quoted 'cut-off' for this school is guesswork - it has not yet completed an admissions cycle..

King's College London (KCL) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). St Mary's Twickenham 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 (St Mary's Twickenham).

King's College London (KCL) requires A*AA including Chemistry and Biology. St Mary's Twickenham requires AAA prediction and offer requirements, must include chemistry or biology as well as one of biology/chemistry/physics/maths. Resits only considered in exceptional circumstances. GCSEs: grade 6 minimum in maths, English language, biology and chemistry (or dual award science).. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school.

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 St Mary's TwickenhamEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

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