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Medical school comparison

Norwich (UEA) vs Queen's University Belfast (QUB)

Norwich (UEA) and Queen's University Belfast (QUB) are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Norwich (UEA) is based in Norwich (England) while Queen's University Belfast (QUB) sits in Belfast (Northern Ireland), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Their A-Level requirements (AAA vs A*AA) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers. Queen's University Belfast (QUB) is the older institution (founded 1849); the other (founded 1963) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Norwich (UEA)

Norwich

Quick comparison

Location
Norwich, UK
A-Level offer
AAA at A-level including Biology or Chemistry
TrueScore
Norwich (UEA) TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off
No cut-off. UEA states it does not have a cut-off score: a high score is advantageous, and a low score does not disqualify an applicant from consideration.
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
UK Undergraduate: 539/638 = 84%; UK Graduate: 29/39 = 74%; International: 24/69 = 35%
Decision date
March

Queen's University Belfast (QUB)

Belfast

Quick comparison

Location
Belfast, UK
A-Level offer
A*AA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Maths/Physics - see subject rules)
TrueScore
Queen's University Belfast (QUB) TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off
No cut-off published. Queen's ranks applicants on cognitive performance, with the overall UCAT score contributing points alongside GCSE attainment, and invites roughly the top 700 to interview.
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
Good. Queen's states that once you reach interview it anticipates at least a one-in-two chance of an offer, so the hard part is being among the roughly 700 selected.
Decision date
April onwards

Norwich (UEA) vs Queen's University Belfast (QUB) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Norwich (UEA) requires AAA at A-level including Biology or Chemistry.

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) requires A*AA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Maths/Physics - see subject rules).

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) is the stricter A-Level offer; Norwich (UEA) is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Norwich (UEA) carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Norwich (UEA): Six GCSEs at grade 7/A or above, including Mathematics and either two science subjects or Double Science. English Language at grade 5/B minimum. GCSE retakes tolerated.

GCSE used only as minimum… Queen's University Belfast (QUB): Minimum grade C/4 in GCSE Mathematics, English and Physics (or 4-4 in Double Science) if not offered at AS-level or A-level. Top 9 GCSEs scored /36: A*/9 = 4 pts, A/7-8 = 3 pts, B/6 = 2 pts, C/4-5 =…

Interview formats

Both Norwich (UEA) and Queen's University Belfast (QUB) 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: Norwich (UEA) interviews in November - February; Queen's University Belfast (QUB) in January - February.

Post-interview offer rate

Norwich (UEA): UK Undergraduate: 539/638 = 84%; UK Graduate: 29/39 = 74%; International: 24/69 = 35%. Queen's University Belfast (QUB): Good. Queen's states that once you reach interview it anticipates at least a one-in-two chance of an offer, so the hard part is being among the roughly 700 selected.

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

Norwich (UEA): UCAT plays a major role both pre- and post-interview (50/50 with interview score). SJT forms part of the interview score - band 3 students have received offers in past cycles. Strong focus on suitability rather than academic ranking.

Queen's University Belfast (QUB): Less weight on NHS hot topics than most schools. Stronger emphasis on reflective examples of personal qualities. SJT may be used if borderline before or after interview, but in 2025 anyone with 30/42 received an interview regardless.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, Norwich (UEA) is the lower-risk academic option. Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Norwich (UEA) feeds into the England foundation programme network; Queen's University Belfast (QUB) into the Northern Ireland network.

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. Norwich (UEA) guidance: No cut-off. UEA states it does not have a cut-off score: a high score is advantageous, and a low score does not disqualify an applicant from consideration.. Queen's University Belfast (QUB) guidance: No cut-off published. Queen's ranks applicants on cognitive performance, with the overall UCAT score contributing points alongside GCSE attainment, and invites roughly the top 700 to interview..

Where to go next

Norwich (UEA)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full
Queen's University Belfast (QUB)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed .