Where are Liverpool and North Wales (Bangor) located, and how does that affect cost?

Liverpool is in Liverpool, 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?

Liverpool 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.

Medical school comparison

Liverpool vs North Wales (Bangor)

Liverpool and North Wales (Bangor) are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Both sit in England, so location and clinical-placement breadth are similar — the differentiation comes from selection methodology, interview style and curriculum philosophy.

Liverpool is the older institution (founded 1881); 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: Liverpool and North Wales (Bangor).
Comparison field	LiverpoolLiverpool	North Wales (Bangor)Bangor
Quick comparison
Location	Liverpool, UK	Bangor, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level with Chemistry plus Biology, Physics or Mathematics. AAB also accepted with AA including Chemistry plus one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics. No use of predicted grades.	AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.
TrueScore	Liverpool TrueScore 1900	North Wales (Bangor) TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off	No threshold published in advance. Liverpool ranks applicants on overall UCAT score and says the bar moves each cycle with the strength of the field.	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	Home applicants (2024): 612/1870 = 33%; International: 22/138 = 16%. Low post-interview chances for both.	Refused to disclose. New medical school, has been in clearing in past years.
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level with Chemistry plus Biology, Physics or Mathematics. AAB also accepted with AA including Chemistry plus one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics. No use of predicted grades.	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	Chemistry required, plus Biology, Physics or Mathematics. (AAB pattern: A in Chemistry plus A in one of Bio/Phys/Maths; B in third subject.)	Biology required, plus one further science
A-Level resit policy	Resits "may be considered" - must have achieved ABB on first sitting. Offer becomes A*AA on resit.	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, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Dual Award Science)	English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.
GCSE scoring methodology	Top 9 GCSEs scored /20: 2 pts per grade 7+, 1 pt per grade 6. Minimum 15/20 (12/20 with achieved A-levels). Limited number of BTECs counted. Higher GCSE scores break ties on borderline applicants.	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Biology and one further science
Graduate-entry degree requirement	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above. GAMSAT used for graduate applicants - overall score 55–56 with no section below 50 considered competitive.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any honours degree (A101 graduate-entry route)
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	Home and overseas applications are assessed in completely separate pools, so the two can end up with different thresholds for invitation to interview.	-
Graduate cut-off	Graduate applicants to A100 sit the GAMSAT, not the UCAT - a genuine difference from most UK schools.	-
SJT band	Bands 1-3 accepted, band 4 rejected (home applicants). Any band accepted (international applicants).	Refused to disclose how SJT is used (avoid with B4)
UCAT notes	The UCAT is compulsory for all non-graduate applicants, including those on Access to Medicine routes, and must be sat in the same year as the application. Liverpool considers UCAT annotations as part…	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.

Degree awarded	MBChB	BMBS
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Spiral + Case-based learning	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 2	Year 1
Placement geography	The north west of England	North Wales
Named placement sites	-	-
Intercalation	An additional undergraduate or master's degree by adding a year of intercalated study.	-
Course highlight	-	The programme is bilingual — most components can be studied in Welsh as well as English, and students use Welsh on placement.

Interview window	December - February	December - March
Interview details	MMI with stations testing communication, ethical reasoning, motivation and global-health awareness. Two separate cut-offs (GCSE and UCAT) must both be met before invitations go out.	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, Tropical Medicine	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	1881	2020
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Historic medical school known for tropical medicine and global health. GCSE-heavy scoring (top 9 GCSEs counted). Personal statement not normally used in shortlisting but reserved for borderline cases.…	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.liverpool.ac.uk/courses/medicine-and-surgery-mbchb	https://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/a100-medicine-bmbs

Liverpool

Quick comparison

Location: Liverpool, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level with Chemistry plus Biology, Physics or Mathematics. A*AB also accepted with A*A including Chemistry plus one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics. No use of predicted grades.
TrueScore: Liverpool TrueScore 1900
UCAT home cut-off: No threshold published in advance. Liverpool ranks applicants on overall UCAT score and says the bar moves each cycle with the strength of the field.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Home applicants (2024): 612/1870 = 33%; International: 22/138 = 16%. Low post-interview chances for both.
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: North Wales (Bangor) 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

Liverpool vs North Wales (Bangor) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Liverpool requires AAA at A-level with Chemistry plus Biology, Physics or Mathematics. A*AB also accepted with A*A including Chemistry plus one of Biology / Physics / Mathematics. No use of predicted grades.

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

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 — Liverpool: Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Dual Award Science). Top 9 GCSEs scored /20: 2 pts per grade 7+, 1 pt per grade 6. Minimum 15/20 (12/20… North Wales (Bangor): English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.

Interview formats

Both Liverpool 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: Liverpool interviews in December - February; North Wales (Bangor) in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Liverpool runs a Integrated curriculum; North Wales (Bangor) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Liverpool delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while North Wales (Bangor) centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: Five-year MBChB with integrated theory and clinical practice. Strong NHS placement breadth across Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Four-year accelerated MBBCh (Cardiff) for graduates, or 5-year route. Strong rural/community placement strand across North Wales (Betsi Cadwaladr UHB)

Intake size: Liverpool — ~280 home + ~30 international places per year (A100 Standard Entry Medicine).; North Wales (Bangor) — ~30 places per year (small cohort, designed for local retention).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Post-interview offer rate

Liverpool: Home applicants (2024): 612/1870 = 33%; International: 22/138 = 16%. Low post-interview chances for both. North Wales (Bangor): Refused to disclose. New medical school, has been in clearing in past years.

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

Liverpool: Historic medical school known for tropical medicine and global health. GCSE-heavy scoring (top 9 GCSEs counted). Personal statement not normally used in shortlisting but reserved for borderline cases. Low post-interview success rate compared with peers.

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?

Both schools sit in the same England foundation-programme catchment, so post-graduation training paths overlap heavily. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer North Wales (Bangor); if you prefer lecture-led foundations, the other suits better.

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. Liverpool guidance: No threshold published in advance. Liverpool ranks applicants on overall UCAT score and says the bar moves each cycle with the strength of the field.. 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..

Liverpool 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 (Liverpool); December - March (North Wales (Bangor)).

Liverpool requires AAA with Chemistry plus Biology, Physics or Mathematics. 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. Resit policies differ: Liverpool — No A-Level prediction requirement; resit applicants accepted. Achieved-grade applicants need only 12 GCSE points (vs 15 for predicted-grade . North Wales (Bangor) — Resits considered..

Liverpool — Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or Dual Award Science). Top 9 GCSEs scored /20: 2 pts per grade 7+, 1 pt per grade 6. Minimum 15/20 (12/20 with achieved A-levels). Limited number of BTECs counted. Higher GCSE scores break ties on borderline applicants. North Wales (Bangor) — English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.

Liverpool's selection methodology: Applicants must clear the academic criteria, then are ranked on overall UCAT score, with the top scorers progressing. Home and overseas applications are considered in separate pools because the competition within each differs, so the two can end up with different interview thresholds. Liverpool publishes no cut-off in advance. Around 3,350 people applied to A100 for 2026 entry. 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.

Liverpool: Home applicants (2024): 612/1870 = 33%; International: 22/138 = 16%. Low post-interview chances for both.. 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%.

Liverpool runs a Integrated curriculum. North Wales (Bangor) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Liverpool specifics: Five-year MBChB with integrated theory and clinical practice. Strong NHS placement breadth across Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Cheshire & Merseyside. North Wales (Bangor) specifics: Four-year accelerated MBBCh (Cardiff) for graduates, or 5-year route. Strong rural/community placement strand across North Wales (Betsi Cadwaladr UHB).

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

LiverpoolEntry 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 19 September 2026.

Liverpool vs North Wales (Bangor)

Side-by-side comparison

Liverpool vs North Wales (Bangor) - 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 Liverpool vs North Wales (Bangor)?

How do interviews differ between Liverpool and North Wales (Bangor)?

What A-Level grades do Liverpool and North Wales (Bangor) require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Liverpool vs North Wales (Bangor)?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Which has a higher post-interview offer rate, Liverpool or North Wales (Bangor)?

Where are Liverpool and North Wales (Bangor) located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Liverpool and North Wales (Bangor) use?

Should I apply to both Liverpool and North Wales (Bangor)?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons