Where are Nottingham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) located, and how does that affect cost?

Nottingham is in Nottingham, UK. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is in Preston, 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. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) releases medicine decisions March - April. 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.

Back to Medical School Compare

Medical school comparison

Nottingham vs University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)

Q: What A-Level grades do Nottingham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) require?

Nottingham requires AAA including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) requires AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants). Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school.

Nottingham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) 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. Their A-Level requirements (AAA vs AAB) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Nottingham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).
Comparison field	NottinghamNottingham	University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)Preston
Quick comparison
Location	Nottingham, UK	Preston, 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.	AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants)
TrueScore	1850	-
UCAT home cut-off	~1850+ /2700 with B1 SJT and 8× grade 9s GCSE (2024 entry lowest invited ≈ 1830)	UCAT used for home applicant shortlisting; no published cut-off
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 - April

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level including Biology (or Human Biology) and Chemistry. No use of predicted grades - Nottingham considers achieved grades only.	AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants)
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.	-
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 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	-	-
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	~1700+ /2700 (A108 Foundation Year - lower threshold)	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	~2100+ /2700	Cognitive subtests considered alongside academic and personal-statement assessment
Graduate cut-off	~1900+ /2700 (A101 GEM)	-
SJT band	Band 4 automatically rejected. SJT scored: B1=10, B2=6, B3=2, B4=0.	-
UCAT notes	Combined points score /82: UCAT /40 (decile-based subsection scoring) + GCSE /32 (top 8) + SJT /10. Cut-off ~65-70/82.	UCLan publishes limited shortlisting detail. Threshold varies year-on-year; check the official course page closer to your application year.

Interview window	December - March	December - February
Interview details	Online MMI on Microsoft Teams with 6 stations of around 5 minutes each, plus a warm-up. Includes a role-play scenario with a current medical student. Heavy emphasis on awareness of current NHS and hea…	MMI of approximately 7-9 timed stations covering motivation, ethics, communication, role-play and data interpretation. Home and international applicants are interviewed on the same MMI structure.

Specialities	Medicine, Medical Sciences, Graduate Entry Medicine	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	1948	2014
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.	One of the first UK universities to run a privately-funded medical school open to international students; substantial international cohort blended with a smaller home intake. Strong Lancashire regiona…
Official course page	https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studywithus/ugstudy/courses/UG/2026/Medicine-BMBS.html	https://www.lancashire.ac.uk/

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: 1850
UCAT home cut-off: ~1850+ /2700 with B1 SJT and 8× grade 9s GCSE (2024 entry lowest invited ≈ 1830)
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

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)

Preston

Quick comparison

Location: Preston, UK
A-Level offer: AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants)
TrueScore: -
UCAT home cut-off: UCAT used for home applicant shortlisting; no published cut-off
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March - April

Compare different schools

Nottingham vs University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) - 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.

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) requires AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants).

Nottingham is the stricter A-Level offer; University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

Interview formats

Both Nottingham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) 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; University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in December - February.

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.

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan): One of the first UK universities to run a privately-funded medical school open to international students; substantial international cohort blended with a smaller home intake. Strong Lancashire regional placement network.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is the lower-risk academic option. Both schools sit in the same England foundation-programme catchment, so post-graduation training paths overlap heavily.

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. Nottingham guidance: ~1850+ /2700 with B1 SJT and 8× grade 9s GCSE (2024 entry lowest invited ≈ 1830). University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) guidance: UCAT used for home applicant shortlisting; no published cut-off.

Nottingham uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) 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 - February (University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)).

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. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) — GCSE performance considered as part of the broader academic profile; specific scoring not published.

Nottingham's selection methodology: Combined academic + UCAT scoring (Nottingham/Lincoln weighted system). Historic data: lowest UCAT accepted for interview was 2340/3600 (2022) and 2330/3600 (2023). Average ~2700. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)'s selection methodology: shortlisting weight not fully disclosed; check the official admissions page. 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.

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 University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 18 August 2026.

Nottingham vs University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)

Side-by-side comparison

Nottingham vs University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Nottingham vs University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)?

How do interviews differ between Nottingham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)?

What A-Level grades do Nottingham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Nottingham vs University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Where are Nottingham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

Should I apply to both Nottingham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons