Lincoln Medical School vs Sunderland

Lincoln Medical School's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 1700, while Sunderland sits at approximately 1700.

Their UCAT bars are statistically indistinguishable (within 0 points), so the UCAT is unlikely to be your differentiator between them.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Lincoln Medical School: ~1500+ /2700 with WP uplifts (MEM2 Q1 = 8pts; care experienced = 15pts; UCAT bursary = 6pts); Sunderland: ~1680+ /2700 (top 8 deciles required; AAB offer with local + contextual). Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

Lincoln Medical School requires AAB including Chemistry and Biology.

Sunderland requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Sunderland is the stricter A-Level offer; Lincoln Medical School is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Lincoln Medical School carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Lincoln Medical School: Min 6 GCSEs at grade 6 including Maths, English Language, Biology, Chemistry, Physics (or dual-award Science). Sunderland: Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 including Maths, English Language, Biology, Chemistry (or dual-award Science).

Both Lincoln Medical School and Sunderland 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: Lincoln Medical School interviews in December - March; Sunderland in December - January.

Lincoln Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum; Sunderland runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Lincoln Medical School delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Sunderland centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: Five-year MBBChir partnered with Nottingham. Lincoln-based teaching with Lincolnshire NHS clinical placements (Lincoln County Hospital, Pilgrim Hospit Five-year MBChB with PBL and case-based learning. Strong North-East NHS placement network.

Intake size: Lincoln Medical School — ~80 places per year (small cohort, focused on Lincolnshire placements).; Sunderland — ~100 places per year (smaller cohort).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Lincoln Medical School: All Students (2023): 159/229 = 69%. Sunderland: All Home Applicants: 353/731 = 48% (2025). Not for international students - home only.

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.

Lincoln Medical School: Strong choice for low-UCAT, high-SJT applicants. SJT scored heavily (B1 = 15, B2 = 10, B3 = 5, B4 = 0). A band 1 SJT can offset a relatively modest UCAT score in the overall ranking.

Sunderland: No use of personal statement. The interview-selection tool reviews up to 4 examples of paid voluntary work or caring experience (shadowing doctors does not count). Numeracy test now part of the interview process.