How are GCSEs weighted at Nottingham vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)?

Nottingham — Minimum six GCSEs at grade 7/A including both Biology and Chemistry, plus at least grade 6/B in Mathematics and English Language (English and Maths do NOT need to be at grade 7). GCSEs feed the combined points score used for shortlisting alongside UCAT. Pears Cumbria (GEM) — GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree.

Where are Nottingham and Pears Cumbria (GEM) located, and how does that affect cost?

Nottingham is in Nottingham, UK. Pears Cumbria (GEM) is in Carlisle, 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?

Nottingham typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Pears Cumbria (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.

Medical school comparison

Nottingham vs Pears Cumbria (GEM)

Nottingham and Pears Cumbria (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.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Nottingham and Pears Cumbria (GEM).
Comparison field	NottinghamNottingham	Pears Cumbria (GEM)Carlisle
Quick comparison
Location	Nottingham, UK	Carlisle, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry. No use of predicted grades - Nottingham considers achieved grades only.	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree
TrueScore	Nottingham TrueScore 1850	Pears Cumbria (GEM) TrueScore 1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off	No fixed score. Nottingham states that the threshold varies year by year, cannot be predicted in advance, and that it does not share previous years' thresholds.	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	All Students (2024): 519/913 = 57% (or 336/911 = 37% from another source); A108 WP Foundation Year: 61/188 = 32%	-
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry. No use of predicted grades - Nottingham considers achieved grades only.	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree
Contextual A-Level offer	Two contextual tiers, both requiring at least an A in Biology or Chemistry: standard contextual AAB, enhanced contextual ABB.	-
Required A-Level subjects	Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry both required	-
A-Level resit policy	Resits considered case-by-case; standard expectation is one-sitting AAA.	Not applicable to graduate entry - degree class is the academic measure.
GCSE requirements	Minimum six GCSEs at grade 7/A including both Biology and Chemistry, plus at least grade 6/B in Mathematics and English Language (English and Maths do NOT need to be at grade 7).	GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree
GCSE scoring methodology	GCSEs feed the combined points score used for shortlisting alongside UCAT.	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	34 points overall including HL6 in Biology and HL6 in Chemistry; alternatively 6,6,6 across three HL Certificates with HL6 in Biology and HL6 in Chemistry.	-
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree — e.g. anatomy, biochemistry, biomedical science, biology, nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, paramedic science, pharmacy, dentistry or veterinary science. NOT open to any-discipline graduates.
Alternative qualifications	-	Graduate-entry only, home fee status required (international applicants are not eligible). UCAT or GAMSAT accepted — the applicant chooses one; MCAT is not accepted. MBBS awarded by Imperial College London and taught at the University of Cumbria Fusehill Street campus, Carlisle.

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	-
Graduate cut-off	-	1960+ /2700 for 2026 entry (1910+ contextual). GAMSAT alternative: 59 overall (53 contextual).
SJT band	Band 4 automatically rejected. SJT scored: B1=10, B2=6, B3=2, B4=0.	-
UCAT notes	Nottingham scores each UCAT component raw score rather than working from the total alone, and combines that with GCSE scoring to select for interview. An SJT of Band 4 means you will not be considered…	UCAT or GAMSAT — the applicant chooses one; MCAT is NOT accepted. Both are minimum-threshold hurdles rather than ranked scores. The UCAT must be sat in the same year as the UCAS submission; the GAMSAT…

Degree awarded	BMBS (Hons)	MBBS (awarded by Imperial College London)
Course length	5 years	4 years (graduate entry)
Teaching style	Integrated + Spiral + Case-based learning	Integrated
Anatomy teaching	-	Imaging and models
First patient contact	Year 2	Year 1
Placement geography	Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire	North and south Cumbria
Named placement sites	Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham City Hospital, Highbury Hospital, Royal Derby Hospital, King's Mill Hospital, Chesterfield Royal Hospital, Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust, Derbyshire Healthcare Trust	Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle (North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust), Furness General Hospital, Barrow-in-Furness (University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust)
Intercalation	-	-
Course highlight	The course was co-created with input from students, staff and practitioners.	The MBBS is awarded by Imperial College London, delivered in partnership with the University of Cumbria.

Interview window	December - March	December - March
Interview details	An MMI of six scenarios, including at least one role play. Expect a strong emphasis on awareness of current NHS and healthcare issues alongside the usual motivation and ethics ground.	Graduate-entry MMI format with stations focused on clinical reasoning, ethics, communication and motivation for rural and community healthcare.

Specialities	Medicine, Medical Sciences, Graduate Entry Medicine	Medicine, Rural Healthcare, Community Medicine
Established	1948	2023
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Scoring system is now distinct from Lincoln's, weighting GCSE (/32), UCAT (/40) and SJT (/10) - band 4 SJT auto-rejected. No use of predicted A-level grades.	The only medicine route in Carlisle, and graduate-entry only — there is no school-leaver course here. Restricted to home-fee applicants holding a 2:1 in biosciences or allied healthcare, with the MBBS…
Official course page	https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studywithus/ugstudy/courses/UG/2026/Medicine-BMBS.html	https://cumbriamed.ac.uk/study/

Nottingham

Quick comparison

Location: Nottingham, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry. No use of predicted grades - Nottingham considers achieved grades only.
TrueScore: Nottingham TrueScore 1850
UCAT home cut-off: No fixed score. Nottingham states that the threshold varies year by year, cannot be predicted in advance, and that it does not share previous years' thresholds.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: All Students (2024): 519/913 = 57% (or 336/911 = 37% from another source); A108 WP Foundation Year: 61/188 = 32%
Decision date: March onwards

Pears Cumbria (GEM)

Carlisle

Quick comparison

Location: Carlisle, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree
TrueScore: Pears Cumbria (GEM) TrueScore 1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Nottingham vs Pears Cumbria (GEM) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Nottingham requires AAA at A-level including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry. No use of predicted grades - Nottingham considers achieved grades only.

Pears Cumbria (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Nottingham: Minimum six GCSEs at grade 7/A including both Biology and Chemistry, plus at least grade 6/B in Mathematics and English Language (English and Maths do NOT need to be at grade 7). GCSEs feed the… Pears Cumbria (GEM): GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree.

Interview formats

Both Nottingham and Pears Cumbria (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: Nottingham interviews in December - March; Pears Cumbria (GEM) in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

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

Specifics: Five-year MBChB with compulsory intercalated BMedSci built into the course (one of few UK schools to embed BMedSci as standard). Four-year accelerated graduate-entry programme. Imperial College London partner. Clinical placements across Cumbria NHS sites (UHMBT, North Cumbria In

Intake size: Nottingham — ~250 home + ~30 international places per year; Pears Cumbria (GEM) — ~58 places per year. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

What makes each distinctive

Nottingham: Scoring system is now distinct from Lincoln's, weighting GCSE (/32), UCAT (/40) and SJT (/10) - band 4 SJT auto-rejected. No use of predicted A-level grades.

Pears Cumbria (GEM): The only medicine route in Carlisle, and graduate-entry only — there is no school-leaver course here. Restricted to home-fee applicants holding a 2:1 in biosciences or allied healthcare, with the MBBS awarded by Imperial College London.

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 Pears Cumbria (GEM); 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

Nottingham: no fixed score. Pears Cumbria (GEM): no fixed home cut-off published; mCAT is NOT accepted. These are the figures on record for 2027-entry applicants. Schools without a fixed cut-off rank UCAT inside a composite shortlisting score, so thresholds move with each year's applicant pool — confirm the latest figure on each school's admissions page.

Nottingham uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Pears Cumbria (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 - March (Nottingham); December - March (Pears Cumbria (GEM)).

Nottingham requires AAA at A-level including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry. No use of predicted grades - Nottingham considers achieved grades only.. Pears Cumbria (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Nottingham — Resits considered case-by-case; standard expectation is one-sitting AAA.. Pears Cumbria (GEM) — Not applicable to graduate entry - degree class is the academic measure..

Nottingham's selection methodology: Once you meet the academic entry requirements, Nottingham scores each of your UCAT component raw scores - not just the total - and combines that with GCSE scoring to select for interview. There is no fixed threshold: Nottingham says it varies year by year, cannot be predicted, and that it does not release previous years' figures. An SJT of Band 4 rules you out. Pears Cumbria (GEM)'s selection methodology: Degree subject and class hurdle (2:1 in biosciences or allied healthcare), then a UCAT or GAMSAT threshold, then MMI. Home fee status is an eligibility requirement, not a preference. MBBS awarded by Imperial College London. 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.

Nottingham runs a Integrated curriculum. Pears Cumbria (GEM) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Nottingham specifics: Five-year MBChB with compulsory intercalated BMedSci built into the course (one of few UK schools to embed BMedSci as standard). Pears Cumbria (GEM) specifics: Four-year accelerated graduate-entry programme. Imperial College London partner. Clinical placements across Cumbria NHS sites (UHMBT, North Cumbria Integrated Care).

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

NottinghamEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Pears Cumbria (GEM)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 14 August 2026.