What A-Level grades do Norwich (UEA) and Ulster University Medical School require?

Norwich (UEA) requires AAA including Biology or Chemistry. Ulster University Medical School requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Norwich (UEA) — Resits accepted with explanation.. Ulster University Medical School — Resits accepted..

Where are Norwich (UEA) and Ulster University Medical School located, and how does that affect cost?

Norwich (UEA) is in Norwich, UK. Ulster University Medical School is in Londonderry, 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?

Norwich (UEA) typically releases medicine decisions March. Ulster University Medical School 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

Norwich (UEA) vs Ulster University Medical School

Norwich (UEA) and Ulster University Medical School are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Norwich (UEA) is based in Norwich (England) while Ulster University Medical School sits in Londonderry (London), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Norwich (UEA) and Ulster University Medical School.
Comparison field	Norwich (UEA)Norwich	Ulster University Medical SchoolLondonderry
Quick comparison
Location	Norwich, UK	Londonderry, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology or Chemistry	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree
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)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	UK Undergraduate: 539/638 = 84%; UK Graduate: 29/39 = 74%; International: 24/69 = 35%	-
Decision date	March	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology or Chemistry	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	Biology or Chemistry required (only one is essential)	-
A-Level resit policy	Resits permitted but require ABB or AAC at first sitting and at least one A* in subjects being resat	Resits accepted.
GCSE requirements	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 scoring methodology	GCSE used only as minimum threshold - pre-interview shortlisting is wholly UCAT-based once GCSE met	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Biology or Chemistry	-
Graduate-entry degree requirement	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any honours degree. Graduate-entry candidates still required to sit UCAT.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any honours degree (Arts, Science, Humanities all accepted)
Alternative qualifications	-	Graduate-entry only. UCAT NOT used - Ulster uses GAMSAT (Graduate Medical School Admissions Test). Recent GAMSAT thresholds have been ~61. Plus 2:1 honours degree and MMI interview. Strong Northern Ireland regional focus.

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	-
Graduate cut-off	-	Not applicable - Ulster uses GAMSAT, not the UCAT. Recent thresholds have been around 61.
SJT band	SJT is part of interview score. 27 students with band 3 got offers in 2024 out of total ~600.	-
UCAT notes	All on-time applications go through primary screening for the academic minimums, a satisfactory personal statement and reference, and a UCAT sat in the summer before applying. If applications exceed i…	GAMSAT is scored out of 100. Do not sit the UCAT for this course.

Degree awarded	MBBS	MBBS
Course length	5 years	4 years (graduate entry)
Teaching style	Problem-based learning	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	Imaging and models
First patient contact	Year 1	-
Placement geography	Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire	Across Northern Ireland
Named placement sites	Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital	-
Intercalation	-	-
Course highlight	The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital is just 100 metres from Norwich Medical School.	Based at the Magee campus in Derry~Londonderry, alongside other healthcare programmes.

Interview window	November - February	December - March
Interview details	An on-campus MMI, each station with a different interviewer and roughly 5 minutes per station with a short changeover between. Heavy focus on personal suitability for medicine - empathy, insight into…	MMI format with multiple stations. Focus on serving Northern Ireland's healthcare needs alongside standard motivation, ethics and communication content.

Specialities	Medicine, Medical Sciences, Problem-Based Learning	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	1963	2021
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	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 suitabil…	New medical school serving Northern Ireland. Strong regional focus, with the course oriented around local workforce needs. Cut-offs have not yet stabilised.
Official course page	https://www.uea.ac.uk/course/undergraduate/mbbs-medicine	https://www.ulster.ac.uk/courses/202627/medicine-41407

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

Ulster University Medical School

Londonderry

Quick comparison

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

Norwich (UEA) vs Ulster University Medical School - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

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

Ulster University Medical School requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree.

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… Ulster University Medical School: Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Interview formats

Both Norwich (UEA) and Ulster University Medical School 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; Ulster University Medical School in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Norwich (UEA) runs a PBL curriculum; Ulster University Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Norwich (UEA) leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Ulster University Medical School uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Five-year MBBS built around problem-based learning. Strong emphasis on consultation skills from Year 1. Clinical placements across Norfolk, Suffolk, a Four-year accelerated MBBS for graduates. Clinical placements across Northern Ireland NHS sites (Magee Campus, Western HSC, Northern HSC).

Intake size: Norwich (UEA) — ~167 home + ~22 international places per year (A100 Standard Entry Medicine).; Ulster University Medical School — ~70 places per year (small cohort, NI-focused).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

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.

Ulster University Medical School: New medical school serving Northern Ireland. Strong regional focus, with the course oriented around local workforce needs. Cut-offs have not yet stabilised.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Norwich (UEA) feeds into the England foundation programme network; Ulster University Medical School into the London network. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Norwich (UEA); 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. 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.. Ulster University Medical School guidance: GAMSAT is scored out of 100. Do not sit the UCAT for this course..

Norwich (UEA) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Ulster University Medical School 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: November - February (Norwich (UEA)); December - March (Ulster University Medical School).

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 threshold - pre-interview shortlisting is wholly UCAT-based once GCSE met Ulster University Medical School — Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Norwich (UEA)'s selection methodology: UCAT-banded interview invites once the academic minimums are met. Ulster University Medical School's selection methodology: Graduate-entry only: a 2:1 honours degree in any discipline plus GAMSAT (recent threshold ~61 out of 100), then MMI. Strong Northern Ireland regional focus. 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.

Norwich (UEA) runs a PBL curriculum. Ulster University Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Norwich (UEA) specifics: Five-year MBBS built around problem-based learning. Strong emphasis on consultation skills from Year 1. Clinical placements across Norfolk, Suffolk, and the East of England. Ulster University Medical School specifics: Four-year accelerated MBBS for graduates. Clinical placements across Northern Ireland NHS sites (Magee Campus, Western HSC, Northern HSC).

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

Norwich (UEA)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Ulster University Medical SchoolEntry 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.