How do interviews differ between Oxford and St George's?

Oxford uses Traditional interview: Traditional or Panel Interviews. St George's uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). The two formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each, with at least 3 full mock interviews per format before sitting either. Interview windows: December (Oxford); November - February (St George's).

What A-Level grades do Oxford and St George's require?

Oxford requires A*AA including Chemistry and Biology/Physics/Mathematics. St George's requires A*AA or AAA including Chemistry and Biology/Human Biology (offer depends on cohort strength). Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school.

Where are Oxford and St George's located, and how does that affect cost?

Oxford is in Oxford, UK. St George's is in London, 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?

Oxford typically releases medicine decisions January. St George's releases medicine decisions Rolling-basis after Interviews have finished. 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

Oxford vs St George's

Oxford and St George's are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Oxford is based in Oxford (England) while St George's sits in London (London), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

The interview formats diverge — Panel vs MMI — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different. Oxford is the older institution (founded 1096); the other (founded 1733) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Oxford and St George's.
Comparison field	OxfordOxford	St George'sLondon
Quick comparison
Location	Oxford, UK	London, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (and AAA predictions) including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Mathematics, Further Mathematics or Physics	A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on cohort strength). Predicted AAA required including Chemistry and Biology / Human Biology.
TrueScore	Oxford TrueScore 2230	St George's TrueScore 1950
UCAT home cut-off	No published cut-off. For 2026 entry the mean UCAT was 2,217.5 across all applicants, 2,377.5 among those shortlisted and 2,407.1 among offer-holders.	No predictable threshold. City St George's states that it is not possible to predict what the UCAT thresholds will be in any given year, nor to use previous years' data to predict them. The cut-off is set annually against the strength of that year's scores.
Interview format	Traditional or Panel Interviews	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	Strong. Of ~425 shortlisted for 2026 entry, 175 received offers - roughly 42% of home-fee interviewees (about 167 offers from ~393 interviews) and 8 of the 32 international interviewees (25%).	Home Undergrad (2024): 247/677 = 36% (or 423/686 = 62% inc. deferred); Overseas Undergrad: 25/146 = 17% (or 58/152 = 38% inc. deferred)
Decision date	January	Rolling-basis after Interviews have finished

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (and AAA predictions) including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Mathematics, Further Mathematics or Physics	A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on cohort strength). Predicted AAA required including Chemistry and Biology / Human Biology.
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry plus one of Biology / Mathematics / Further Mathematics / Physics. Combinations like Chemistry + Biology + Psychology are acceptable - Maths/Physics is not a barrier. Students can in theory be selected without Biology (interview prep would be more challenging).	Chemistry and Biology (or Human Biology) both required
A-Level resit policy	Resits accepted with extenuating circumstances - must resit all 3 subjects in the same sitting	Resits or third year of study accepted with extenuating circumstances only
GCSE requirements	No minimum is published. 2026 entry means: 10.1 grade A*/9/8 (96% of grades) for shortlisted applicants and 10.3 (97%) for offer-holders, against 8.9 (86%) across all applicants. Contextualised to school performance.	Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or 6-6 Dual Award Science). GCSE resits accepted.
GCSE scoring methodology	Oxford scores the number of A/9/8 grades and the mean proportion of grades at A/9/8, contextualised against school-level performance data; grades 8 and 9 are treated alike. The relative weighting of…	Used only as minimum threshold - wholly UCAT-based shortlisting once met
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	39 points overall, 7,6,6 at Higher Level including HL Chemistry plus one of Biology / Mathematics / Physics	37 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including HL Chemistry and HL Biology
Graduate-entry degree requirement	Two routes. Graduates may apply to the standard six-year A100, and Oxford also runs A101, a four-year accelerated Graduate-Entry course of roughly 30 places, open to applicants with a 2:1 or above (or GPA above 3.5) in an applied or experimental science. A101 needs A-levels of at least AAB with an A/A* in Chemistry - waived for Chemistry or Biochemistry graduates - plus one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics; the A-level grade rule relaxes if exams were sat more than five years ago. IB route: 36 points with 6s at Higher Level.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any discipline. Graduate for Undergraduate Programme available - UCAT cut-off applies (~2100+ /2700).
Alternative qualifications	4 A-levels and/or EPQ are not beneficial in the shortlisting algorithm. Three A-levels is sufficient.	-

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	Mean 2,537.2 among the 32 international-fee applicants shortlisted for 2026 entry, of whom 8 received offers.	-
Graduate cut-off	-	~2100+ /2700 (Graduate for Undergraduate Programme)
SJT band	Not used for shortlisting. Theoretically post-interview alongside other factors. Bands 1, 2, 3 no cause for concern; band 4 also selected last year.	SJT used post-interview in offer making. Combined with MMI score → B1=15 pts, B2=10, B3=5, B4=none.
UCAT notes	Shortlisting combines UCAT with a contextualised GCSE score. Around 425 applicants are interviewed each year (~2.5 per place): the bulk are ranked in automatically, and the Shortlisting Committee adde…	Once the entry criteria are met, applicants are ranked by UCAT score and interview places are allocated from the top down until they run out. A minimum of 500/900 is required in each individual cognit…

Degree awarded	BM BCh	MBBS
Course length	6 years (3 pre-clinical + 3 clinical)	5 years
Teaching style	Traditional / lecture-led	Problem-based learning
Anatomy teaching	Prosection	Prosection
First patient contact	-	-
Placement geography	Oxford	-
Named placement sites	John Radcliffe Hospital	-
Intercalation	Built in — the BA in Medical Sciences is taken as year 3 by every student on the standard course.	-
Course highlight	-	The MBBS puts unusual weight on clinical communication — drawing out a patient’s history, giving clear explanations, and negotiating with patients and relatives.

Interview window	December	November - February
Interview details	Two college-based panel interviews held in December, each typically 20-30 minutes. Tutors push you on scientific reasoning rather than rehearsed answers - expect questions that build on what you say a…	A six-station MMI, each station around five minutes with a 60-second break between, delivered through SAMMI (Scalable Automated Multiple Mini Interviews) software. Each station is assessed separately…

Specialities	Clinical Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Medical Research	Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Healthcare Sciences
Established	1096	1733
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Pooling system means each applicant is assessed at two colleges, with a centralised shortlist - applying to a "less competitive" college gives no real advantage. GCSE performance is contextualised to…	Strong holistic-care and soft-skills emphasis. SJT used post-interview in offer making (B1 = 15 pts, B2 = 10, B3 = 5, B4 = nothing). St George's is also generous with deferred-entry offers, often made…
Official course page	https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/course-listing/medicine	https://www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-students/courses/undergraduate/medicine

Oxford

Quick comparison

Location: Oxford, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA at A-level (and A*AA predictions) including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Mathematics, Further Mathematics or Physics
TrueScore: Oxford TrueScore 2230
UCAT home cut-off: No published cut-off. For 2026 entry the mean UCAT was 2,217.5 across all applicants, 2,377.5 among those shortlisted and 2,407.1 among offer-holders.
Interview format: Traditional or Panel Interviews
Post-interview chance: Strong. Of ~425 shortlisted for 2026 entry, 175 received offers - roughly 42% of home-fee interviewees (about 167 offers from ~393 interviews) and 8 of the 32 international interviewees (25%).
Decision date: January

St George's

London

Quick comparison

Location: London, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on cohort strength). Predicted AAA required including Chemistry and Biology / Human Biology.
TrueScore: St George's TrueScore 1950
UCAT home cut-off: No predictable threshold. City St George's states that it is not possible to predict what the UCAT thresholds will be in any given year, nor to use previous years' data to predict them. The cut-off is set annually against the strength of that year's scores.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: Home Undergrad (2024): 247/677 = 36% (or 423/686 = 62% inc. deferred); Overseas Undergrad: 25/146 = 17% (or 58/152 = 38% inc. deferred)
Decision date: Rolling-basis after Interviews have finished

Oxford vs St George's - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Oxford requires A*AA at A-level (and A*AA predictions) including Chemistry plus one of Biology, Mathematics, Further Mathematics or Physics.

St George's requires A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on cohort strength). Predicted AAA required including Chemistry and Biology / Human Biology.

Both demand the same A-Level grade band, so academic prediction is unlikely to differentiate your application between them — provided you meet the required subject combination at each.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Oxford: No minimum is published. 2026 entry means: 10.1 grade A*/9/8 (96% of grades) for shortlisted applicants and 10.3 (97%) for offer-holders, against 8.9 (86%) across all applicants. Contextualised to… St George's: Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or 6-6 Dual Award Science).

GCSE resits accepted. Used only as minimum threshold -…

Interview formats

Oxford uses Panel (Traditional or Panel Interviews); St George's uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)). These two formats reward different skills — Panel emphasises narrative coherence and the ability to develop a thread under follow-up questioning, while MMI rewards breadth and quick recovery.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, Oxford may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, St George's is the better fit.

Interview windows: Oxford interviews in December; St George's in November - February.

Post-interview offer rate

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

Oxford: Pooling system means each applicant is assessed at two colleges, with a centralised shortlist - applying to a "less competitive" college gives no real advantage. GCSE performance is contextualised to your school. Tutors prize lateral reasoning and willingness to engage with the unfamiliar.

St George's: Strong holistic-care and soft-skills emphasis. SJT used post-interview in offer making (B1 = 15 pts, B2 = 10, B3 = 5, B4 = nothing). St George's is also generous with deferred-entry offers, often made to borderline applicants in lieu of rejection.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Oxford feeds into the England foundation programme network; St George's into the London 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. Oxford guidance: No published cut-off. For 2026 entry the mean UCAT was 2,217.5 across all applicants, 2,377.5 among those shortlisted and 2,407.1 among offer-holders.. St George's guidance: No predictable threshold. City St George's states that it is not possible to predict what the UCAT thresholds will be in any given year, nor to use previous years' data to predict them. The cut-off is set annually against the strength of that year's scores..

Oxford — No minimum is published. 2026 entry means: 10.1 grade A*/9/8 (96% of grades) for shortlisted applicants and 10.3 (97%) for offer-holders, against 8.9 (86%) across all applicants. Contextualised to school performance. Oxford scores the number of A*/9/8 grades and the mean proportion of grades at A*/9/8, contextualised against school-level performance data; grades 8 and 9 are treated alike. The relative weighting of GCSE against UCAT is not published. Applicants with five or fewer GCSEs, or who sat them in summer 2020-2021, are handled separately. St George's — Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 6/B or above, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics (or 6-6 Dual Award Science). GCSE resits accepted. Used only as minimum threshold - wholly UCAT-based shortlisting once met

Oxford's selection methodology: Initial shortlisting is algorithmic, combining UCAT with a GCSE measure (number and proportion of A*/9/8) contextualised to the applicant's school. Tutors then review every non-shortlisted applicant and nominate any the algorithm may have underrated; those plus the 80 candidates just below the cut-off go to the A100 Shortlisting Committee, which added 80 applicants in the 2025 round. Roughly 425 are interviewed from ~1,026 eligible applicants. St George's'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.

Oxford: Strong. Of ~425 shortlisted for 2026 entry, 175 received offers - roughly 42% of home-fee interviewees (about 167 offers from ~393 interviews) and 8 of the 32 international interviewees (25%).. St George's: Home Undergrad (2024): 247/677 = 36% (or 423/686 = 62% inc. deferred); Overseas Undergrad: 25/146 = 17% (or 58/152 = 38% inc. deferred). Post-interview odds tell you how competitive each school is at the final stage. Two schools with similar UCAT thresholds can have very different post-interview rates — a school with a 60% post-interview success rate is structurally easier to convert than one at 25%.

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

OxfordEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

St George'sEntry 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.