Lancaster vs St Andrews

Lancaster's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 1920, while St Andrews sits at approximately 650.

That's a 1270-point gap — large enough to put the two schools in completely different competitiveness tiers. An applicant scoring in the 1100-1500 band would be competitive at St Andrews but borderline at Lancaster.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Lancaster: 1870+ /2700 (2026 entry contextual); St Andrews: Widening-access applicants receive a 10% uplift on their UCAT score.. Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

Lancaster requires AAA at A-level including any 2 of Biology, Chemistry and Psychology - OR AAB with grade B in a 4th subject or EPQ.

St Andrews requires AAA at A-level (offer and predicted) including Chemistry and one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics.

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 — Lancaster: Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Biology, Chemistry, Physics (or 6-6 Combined Science) plus Mathematics and English Language.

Score calculated /16 across 8 GCSE subjects: 7+ = 2 pts, 6 = 1 pt; minimum 13/16… St Andrews: Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 7/A in one sitting (achieved A-level applicants may be considered with fewer). GCSE grade 5 in Biology, Mathematics, and English (Language or Literature) required if not…

Both Lancaster and St Andrews 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: Lancaster interviews in December - March; St Andrews in December - March.

Lancaster runs a PBL curriculum; St Andrews runs a Traditional curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Lancaster leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while St Andrews uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year MBChB built around problem-based learning. Distinct rural/community placement strand in Cumbria, Lancashire and Morecambe Bay. First 3 years at St Andrews leading to BSc (Hons) Medicine. Most students then transfer to a partner clinical school for years 4-6 of MBChB.

Intake size: Lancaster — ~64 home + ~10 international places per year (small intake).; St Andrews — RUK ~24 places, Scottish ~150, International ~30 (3-year pre-clinical only - clinical years at partner schools).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Lancaster: Home student: 261/587 = 44%; International: 6/19 = 32%. St Andrews: RUK Student (2025): 123/162 = 74%; Scottish + RUK: 411/505 = 81%; International (2023): 56/82 = 68%.

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.

Lancaster: Newer medical school with a focus on regional healthcare in north-west England. Personal statement is not used in selection and interviewers do not have access to it. SJT band 4 is auto-rejected - bands 1-3 are equal.

St Andrews: Three-year pre-clinical course at St Andrews followed by transfer to a partner medical school for clinical years. SJT not used (was used many years ago, not now or in future). Scottish students face much lower cut-offs than RUK applicants.