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

Newcastle is in Newcastle, 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?

Newcastle 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

Newcastle vs North Wales (Bangor)

Newcastle 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.

Newcastle is the older institution (founded 1834); 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: Newcastle and North Wales (Bangor).
Comparison field	NewcastleNewcastle	North Wales (Bangor)Bangor
Quick comparison
Location	Newcastle, UK	Bangor, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (excluding Use of Mathematics, World Development, Communication and Culture). Practical pass required for Biology, Chemistry and Physics.	AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.
TrueScore	Newcastle TrueScore 1950	North Wales (Bangor) TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off	No cut-off - UCAT is converted to points on a published table and added to your academic score. 2,400 and above scores the maximum 60 points, falling by one point per 10 UCAT points down to 1 point at 1,810 and below.	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	International: 82/88 = 93% (2025); Graduate Entry: 46/86 = 53%; Home Non-Contextual: 418/577 = 72%; Home Widening Participation: 194/350 = 55%	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 (excluding Use of Mathematics, World Development, Communication and Culture). Practical pass required for Biology, Chemistry and Physics.	AAA at A-level including Biology and one further science.
Contextual A-Level offer	ABB at A-level for contextual / Partners applicants. BBB for those entering through supported entry programmes.	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	Subjects including Maths and sciences considered in scoring (no specific science requirement; AAA must come from accepted subjects)	Biology required, plus one further science
A-Level resit policy	Resits acceptable if the score increases	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	Best 8 GCSEs scored - applicant must have achieved at this level for academic competitiveness. Not used if academic A-level criteria are met.	English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.
GCSE scoring methodology	Best 8 achieved GCSEs scored out of 40 - Newcastle names no compulsory GCSE subjects. 9/A* = 5 pts, 8 = 4 pts, 7/A = 3 pts, 6/B = 1 pt, 5/C = 0 pts. National 5: A = 5, B = 1, C = 0. Resat GCSEs are sc…	-
Scottish Highers	Scottish qualifications are accepted and may be taken in more than one sitting; National 5s are scored on the same Level 2 table (A = 5 points, B = 1, C = 0). Confirm the current Higher grade profile directly with the School of Medicine, as Newcastle publishes only its A-level and IB headline offers.	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	AA at Advanced Higher Grade	-
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall. Newcastle publishes only this headline figure; because its A-level rule requires Biology or Chemistry plus a second science, IB applicants should confirm the required Higher Level subjects with the School of Medicine before choosing their subjects.	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Biology and one further science
Graduate-entry degree requirement	A 2:1 honours degree at minimum. Predicted or achieved classifications are scored as part of the academic screen: a first class scores 40 points and a 2:1 scores 36. Applicants whose degree was awarded more than five years ago must show continued engagement with education, such as postgraduate study, or they will not be considered; Masters and PhD qualifications are not themselves scored.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any honours degree (A101 graduate-entry route)
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	Same points table, but contextual applicants are ranked as a separate stream from standard applicants.	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	International and A101 applicants are ranked on total UCAT score alone - their academic results are not scored.	-
Graduate cut-off	A101 applicants are ranked on total UCAT score alone, like international applicants.	-
SJT band	SJT band 4 is rejected; SJT band contributes to interview score (B1=5, B2=3, B3=1)	Refused to disclose how SJT is used (avoid with B4)
UCAT notes	Academic screen = academic points (max 40) + UCAT points (max 60). The academic score uses your MOST RECENT achieved qualification, so achieved A-levels replace GCSEs in the calculation; degrees score…	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	MB BS	BMBS
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Case-based learning	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 3	Year 1
Placement geography	The north east of England	North Wales
Named placement sites	-	-
Intercalation	A broad range of Biomedical Science BSc degrees and master's degrees.	-
Course highlight	Year 2 students can take a Malaysia exchange at the NUMed campus.	The programme is bilingual — most components can be studied in Welsh as well as English, and students use Welsh on placement.

Interview window	December - January	December - March
Interview details	Home A100 and A101 applicants generally sit Multiple Mini Interviews on campus, assessed by an individual selector at each station using a mix of role play and interview questions. Applicants classed…	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	1834	2020
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Newcastle publishes an unusually explicit scoring model: academic points out of 40 plus UCAT points out of 60, combined into one ranked academic-screen score. The UCAT table is published in full, so y…	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.ncl.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/a100/	https://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/a100-medicine-bmbs

Newcastle

Quick comparison

Location: Newcastle, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level (excluding Use of Mathematics, World Development, Communication and Culture). Practical pass required for Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
TrueScore: Newcastle TrueScore 1950
UCAT home cut-off: No cut-off - UCAT is converted to points on a published table and added to your academic score. 2,400 and above scores the maximum 60 points, falling by one point per 10 UCAT points down to 1 point at 1,810 and below.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: International: 82/88 = 93% (2025); Graduate Entry: 46/86 = 53%; Home Non-Contextual: 418/577 = 72%; Home Widening Participation: 194/350 = 55%
Decision date: March onwards

A-Level offer: AAA at A-level (excluding Use of Mathematics, World Development, Communication and Culture). Practical pass required for Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
Contextual A-Level offer: ABB at A-level for contextual / Partners applicants. BBB for those entering through supported entry programmes.
Required A-Level subjects: Subjects including Maths and sciences considered in scoring (no specific science requirement; AAA must come from accepted subjects)
A-Level resit policy: Resits acceptable if the score increases
GCSE requirements: Best 8 GCSEs scored - applicant must have achieved at this level for academic competitiveness. Not used if academic A-level criteria are met.
GCSE scoring methodology: Best 8 achieved GCSEs scored out of 40 - Newcastle names no compulsory GCSE subjects. 9/A* = 5 pts, 8 = 4 pts, 7/A = 3 pts, 6/B = 1 pt, 5/C = 0 pts. National 5: A = 5, B = 1, C = 0. Resat GCSEs are sc…
Scottish Highers: Scottish qualifications are accepted and may be taken in more than one sitting; National 5s are scored on the same Level 2 table (A = 5 points, B = 1, C = 0). Confirm the current Higher grade profile directly with the School of Medicine, as Newcastle publishes only its A-level and IB headline offers.
Scottish Advanced Highers: AA at Advanced Higher Grade
International Baccalaureate: 36 points overall. Newcastle publishes only this headline figure; because its A-level rule requires Biology or Chemistry plus a second science, IB applicants should confirm the required Higher Level subjects with the School of Medicine before choosing their subjects.
Graduate-entry degree requirement: A 2:1 honours degree at minimum. Predicted or achieved classifications are scored as part of the academic screen: a first class scores 40 points and a 2:1 scores 36. Applicants whose degree was awarded more than five years ago must show continued engagement with education, such as postgraduate study, or they will not be considered; Masters and PhD qualifications are not themselves scored.
Alternative qualifications: -

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

Newcastle vs North Wales (Bangor) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Newcastle requires AAA at A-level (excluding Use of Mathematics, World Development, Communication and Culture). Practical pass required for Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

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 — Newcastle: Best 8 GCSEs scored - applicant must have achieved at this level for academic competitiveness. Not used if academic A-level criteria are met. Best 8 achieved GCSEs scored out of 40 - Newcastle names… North Wales (Bangor): English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.

Interview formats

Both Newcastle 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: Newcastle interviews in December - January; North Wales (Bangor) in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Newcastle runs a Case-based curriculum; North Wales (Bangor) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Newcastle leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while North Wales (Bangor) centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: Five-year MBBS with case-based learning. Clinical placements across Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust and partner sites in the North East. Four-year accelerated MBBCh (Cardiff) for graduates, or 5-year route. Strong rural/community placement strand across North Wales (Betsi Cadwaladr UHB)

Intake size: Newcastle — Newcastle does not publish an A100 intake figure in its admissions policy. Note that NUMed Malaysia, the branch campus teaching the same MBBS, runs its own separate admissions route and is not part of the Newcastle intake.; 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

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

Newcastle: Newcastle publishes an unusually explicit scoring model: academic points out of 40 plus UCAT points out of 60, combined into one ranked academic-screen score. The UCAT table is published in full, so you can read your own score straight off it.

Standard and contextual applicants are ranked as separate streams, and PARTNERS is Newcastle's supported-entry route with its own eligibility conditions and a compulsory summer school.

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 Newcastle; 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. Newcastle guidance: No cut-off - UCAT is converted to points on a published table and added to your academic score. 2,400 and above scores the maximum 60 points, falling by one point per 10 UCAT points down to 1 point at 1,810 and below.. 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..

Newcastle 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 - January (Newcastle); December - March (North Wales (Bangor)).

Newcastle requires AAA (excluding Use of Mathematics, World Development, Communication and Culture). 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: Newcastle — Resits accepted if A-Level score increases.. North Wales (Bangor) — Resits considered..

Newcastle — Best 8 GCSEs scored - applicant must have achieved at this level for academic competitiveness. Not used if academic A-level criteria are met. Best 8 achieved GCSEs scored out of 40 - Newcastle names no compulsory GCSE subjects. 9/A* = 5 pts, 8 = 4 pts, 7/A = 3 pts, 6/B = 1 pt, 5/C = 0 pts. National 5: A = 5, B = 1, C = 0. Resat GCSEs are scored on the most recent grade. North Wales (Bangor) — English or Welsh Language at grade B/6, and Double Science at BB/66.

Newcastle's selection methodology: Three stages: academic screen, interview, offers. The academic screen scores your most recent achieved qualification out of 40 and your UCAT out of 60, combines them, and ranks applicants - standard and contextual as separate streams. International and A101 applicants are ranked on UCAT alone. Those above the points threshold are invited to interview. 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.

Newcastle: International: 82/88 = 93% (2025); Graduate Entry: 46/86 = 53%; Home Non-Contextual: 418/577 = 72%; Home Widening Participation: 194/350 = 55%. 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%.

Newcastle runs a Case-based curriculum. North Wales (Bangor) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Newcastle specifics: Five-year MBBS with case-based learning. Clinical placements across Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust and partner sites in the North East. 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

NewcastleEntry 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.

Newcastle vs North Wales (Bangor)

Side-by-side comparison

Newcastle 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 Newcastle vs North Wales (Bangor)?

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

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

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

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

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

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

When does each school release decisions?

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

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

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons