How do interviews differ between Newcastle and Surrey (GEM)?

Newcastle uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Surrey (GEM) 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 (Surrey (GEM)).

Where are Newcastle and Surrey (GEM) located, and how does that affect cost?

Newcastle is in Newcastle, UK. Surrey (GEM) is in Guildford, 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. Surrey (GEM) 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

Newcastle vs Surrey (GEM)

Newcastle and Surrey (GEM) 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 2024) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Newcastle and Surrey (GEM).
Comparison field	NewcastleNewcastle	Surrey (GEM)Guildford
Quick comparison
Location	Newcastle, UK	Guildford, 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.	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject
TrueScore	1950	1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off	~1900+ /2700 achieves the 50/100 cut-off with 40/40 GCSE (Newcastle publishes explicit /2700 UCAT scoring table)	-
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%	-
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.	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject
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	Not applicable to graduate entry.
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 Maths and English at grade C/5 or above
GCSE scoring methodology	Best 8 GCSEs (must include English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, sciences) scored /40: 9 = 5 pts, 8 = 4 pts, 7 = 3 pts, 6 = 1 pt, 5 = 0 pts. National 5: A = 5 pts, B = 1 pt, C = 0 pts.	-
Scottish Highers	AAAAA at Higher Grade. Scottish qualifications can be taken in more than one sitting.	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	AA at Advanced Higher Grade	-
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, no subject graded less than 5. No requirement for science subjects at HL.	-
Graduate-entry degree requirement	2:1 Honours degree at minimum, or integrated Master's degree. Degree applicants scored 40/40 (1st class) or 40/40 (2:1) in academic shortlist.	Minimum 2:1 UK honours degree (or equivalent) in any subject - all disciplines are given equal consideration.
Alternative qualifications	-	Graduate-entry only (4-year BMBS). GAMSAT is the general admission test; UCAT is accepted only from Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedical Science, Chemistry or Natural Sciences graduates. Open to UK and international applicants (IELTS 7.0 overall and in every component). The University of Exeter is the contingency awarding body while Surrey completes GMC accreditation.

Contextual cut-off	~1900+ /2700 (Partners - same cut-off as home)	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	~2210+ /2700	-
Graduate cut-off	~2050+ /2700 (A101 GEM)	GAMSAT is the general route. UCAT is accepted ONLY from applicants holding a degree in Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedical Science, Chemistry or Natural Sciences.
SJT band	SJT band 4 is rejected; SJT band contributes to interview score (B1=5, B2=3, B3=1)	-
UCAT notes	Score /100: GCSE (or A-level/degree) /40 + UCAT /60. Cut-off 50/100. UCAT scored on explicit /2700 table (60pts for 2400+, descending 1pt per 10 score points). SJT B4 auto-rejected.	No numeric cut-off is published; scores sort applicants into interview, waitlist or rejection. Do not assume a UCAT route - for most degree subjects GAMSAT is the only option.

Interview window	December - January	December - March
Interview details	Seven-station MMI for home A100 and all A101 applicants, each station 7 minutes with 2 minutes' warm-up. Includes role-play and reflection stations. Designed with deliberately excess questions to test…	MMI format with multiple stations assessing communication, ethical reasoning and problem-solving.

Specialities	Medicine, Dentistry, Biomedical Sciences	Medicine, Healthcare Technology, Clinical Practice
Established	1834	2024
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Heavy use of UCAT post-interview - high scorers are rewarded disproportionately by Newcastle's scoring system. The Partners contextual programme has generous eligibility (e.g. all Indian, Pakistani an…	New graduate-entry school taking a technology-forward approach to teaching. Still under GMC review, so the University of Exeter acts as the contingency awarding body until Surrey's own accreditation c…
Official course page	https://www.ncl.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/a100/	https://www.surrey.ac.uk/undergraduate/medicine-graduate-entry

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: 1950
UCAT home cut-off: ~1900+ /2700 achieves the 50/100 cut-off with 40/40 GCSE (Newcastle publishes explicit /2700 UCAT scoring table)
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

Surrey (GEM)

Guildford

Quick comparison

Location: Guildford, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject
TrueScore: 1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Compare different schools

Newcastle vs Surrey (GEM) - 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.

Surrey (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject.

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 GCSEs (must include English Language, English… Surrey (GEM): GCSE Maths and English at grade C/5 or above.

Interview formats

Both Newcastle and Surrey (GEM) 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; Surrey (GEM) in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Newcastle runs a Case-based curriculum; Surrey (GEM) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Newcastle leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Surrey (GEM) 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 graduate-entry MBChB. Surrey-based with South-East NHS placements.

Intake size: Newcastle — ~270 home + ~25 international places per year across Newcastle and Malaysia campuses.; Surrey (GEM) — ~30-50 places per year (small newer cohort).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

What makes each distinctive

Newcastle: Heavy use of UCAT post-interview - high scorers are rewarded disproportionately by Newcastle's scoring system. The Partners contextual programme has generous eligibility (e.g. all Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage applicants including those at private school).

Surrey (GEM): New graduate-entry school taking a technology-forward approach to teaching. Still under GMC review, so the University of Exeter acts as the contingency awarding body until Surrey's own accreditation completes - worth confirming before you accept an 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: ~1900+ /2700 achieves the 50/100 cut-off with 40/40 GCSE (Newcastle publishes explicit /2700 UCAT scoring table). Surrey (GEM) guidance: No numeric cut-off is published; scores sort applicants into interview, waitlist or rejection. Do not assume a UCAT route - for most degree subjects GAMSAT is the only option..

Newcastle requires AAA (excluding Use of Mathematics, World Development, Communication and Culture). Surrey (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject. 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.. Surrey (GEM) — Not applicable to graduate entry..

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 GCSEs (must include English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, sciences) scored /40: 9 = 5 pts, 8 = 4 pts, 7 = 3 pts, 6 = 1 pt, 5 = 0 pts. National 5: A = 5 pts, B = 1 pt, C = 0 pts. Surrey (GEM) — GCSE Maths and English at grade C/5 or above.

Newcastle's selection methodology: Step 1 academic screening (out of 100), then UCAT used for ranking. New process from 2025 entry. Resits acceptable if score increases. Surrey (GEM)'s selection methodology: Degree class hurdle (2:1, any subject), then GAMSAT - or UCAT for bioscience/chemistry graduates only - sorting applicants into interview, waitlist or reject, then a virtual MMI lasting under an hour. 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 runs a Case-based curriculum. Surrey (GEM) 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. Surrey (GEM) specifics: Four-year accelerated graduate-entry MBChB. Surrey-based with South-East NHS placements.

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 Surrey (GEM)Entry 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.