Nottingham vs UCL

Nottingham's published UCAT threshold for home applicants is around 1850, while UCL sits at approximately 2100.

The 250-point spread matters: Nottingham offers slightly more headroom for an average-strong UCAT, while UCL expects performance closer to the national 75th-90th percentile.

Contextual / widening-participation cut-offs differ — Nottingham: ~1700+ /2700 (A108 Foundation Year - lower threshold); UCL: ~1950+ /2700 (Access UCL - 2025 cut-off ≈ 1950). Eligible applicants should weight this heavily when choosing.

Nottingham requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

UCL requires A*AA including Chemistry and Biology.

UCL is the stricter A-Level offer; Nottingham is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, Nottingham carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Nottingham: GCSE results form part of the academic profile alongside A-Level predictions. Maths and English at minimum grade 6 typically expected. UCL: Minimum English Language and Mathematics at grade 6. GCSE resits accepted.

Both Nottingham and UCL 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.

That said, the specifics differ slightly: Nottingham runs multiple mini interviews (mmi); UCL runs mmi (home), traditional (international). Mock practice tailored to each school's exact format is the highest-leverage prep.

Interview windows: Nottingham interviews in December - March; UCL in December - March.

Both schools deliver a Integrated-style curriculum, so day-to-day study habits will feel similar across years 1-3.

Specifics: Five-year MBChB with compulsory intercalated BMedSci built into the course (one of few UK schools to embed BMedSci as standard). Six-year MBBS BSc with compulsory intercalated BSc in Year 3. Clinical placements at UCL-affiliated NHS sites including UCLH, Royal Free, and Whitting

Intake size: Nottingham — ~250 home + ~30 international places per year.; UCL — ~310 home + ~24 overseas fee status places per year.. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

Nottingham: All Students (2024): 519/913 = 57% (or 336/911 = 37% from another source); A108 WP Foundation Year: 61/188 = 32%. UCL: Home Fee Status (2024): 562/1032 = 54%; Contextual (2025): 58%; International (2023): 55/131 = 42%.

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.

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.

UCL: Cut-offs differ from Imperial - UCL's home threshold is lower while its international threshold is higher, partly because UCL holds more interviews relative to offers. SJT is only used as a tie-breaker between equally scored candidates.