Where are Pears Cumbria (GEM) and St Mary's Twickenham located, and how does that affect cost?

Pears Cumbria (GEM) is in Carlisle, UK. St Mary's Twickenham is in Twickenham, 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?

Pears Cumbria (GEM) typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. St Mary's Twickenham 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

Pears Cumbria (GEM) vs St Mary's Twickenham

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at Pears Cumbria (GEM) vs St Mary's Twickenham?

Pears Cumbria (GEM) — GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree. St Mary's Twickenham — Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science).

Pears Cumbria (GEM) and St Mary's Twickenham are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Pears Cumbria (GEM) is based in Carlisle (England) while St Mary's Twickenham sits in Twickenham, London (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: Pears Cumbria (GEM) and St Mary's Twickenham.
Comparison field	Pears Cumbria (GEM)Carlisle	St Mary's TwickenhamTwickenham, London
Quick comparison
Location	Carlisle, UK	Twickenham, London, UK
A-Level offer	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree	AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
TrueScore	Pears Cumbria (GEM) TrueScore 1700GEM	St Mary's Twickenham TrueScore 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off	-	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	-	-
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree	AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	-	Chemistry or Biology required, plus one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
A-Level resit policy	Not applicable to graduate entry - degree class is the academic measure.	Resits only considered in exceptional circumstances
GCSE requirements	GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree	Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science)
GCSE scoring methodology	-	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	-	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Chemistry or Biology and a second science / Maths
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.	New international-only medicine course for 2026 entry - first cohort. Applied to directly outside standard UCAS medicine route. UCAT contributes to combined admissions test + academic ranking. No SJT use.

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	No cut-off exists yet. UCAT contributes to the shortlisting rank, but the first cohort is September 2026 so no historic threshold exists.
Graduate cut-off	1960+ /2700 for 2026 entry (1910+ contextual). GAMSAT alternative: 59 overall (53 contextual).	-
SJT band	-	No usage mentioned in any selection policy
UCAT notes	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…	International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only. No SJT use stated. Any quoted 'cut-off' for this school is guesswork - it has not yet completed an admissions cycle.

Degree awarded	MBBS (awarded by Imperial College London)	MBBS
Course length	4 years (graduate entry)	5 years
Teaching style	Integrated	Spiral + Case-based learning
Anatomy teaching	Imaging and models	-
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	North and south Cumbria	London, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire
Named placement sites	Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle (North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust), Furness General Hospital, Barrow-in-Furness (University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust)	West London NHS Trust, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Practice Plus Group (Ilford), Royal Trinity Hospice, Princess Alice Hospice, Meadow House
Intercalation	-	Optional. Students who have successfully completed year 3 can apply for a one-year BSc, MSc or MRes at St Mary’s or another approved institution, then return to the MBBS in year 4. Additional tuition…
Course highlight	The MBBS is awarded by Imperial College London, delivered in partnership with the University of Cumbria.	Currently accepts international students only.

Interview window	December - March	December - March
Interview details	Graduate-entry MMI format with stations focused on clinical reasoning, ethics, communication and motivation for rural and community healthcare.	Applications are scored on academic record and admissions tests to produce a shortlisting rank. Interviews are online Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs).

Specialities	Medicine, Rural Healthcare, Community Medicine	Medicine, International Medicine
Established	2023	2025
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	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…	International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only, applying direct rather than through UCAS, so it costs none of your four UCAS medical choices. Weigh that against the accreditation risk: the MBBS is not y…
Official course page	https://cumbriamed.ac.uk/study/	https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/mbbs-medicine-degree

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

St Mary's Twickenham

Twickenham, London

Quick comparison

Location: Twickenham, London, UK
A-Level offer: AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
TrueScore: St Mary's Twickenham TrueScore 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Pears Cumbria (GEM) vs St Mary's Twickenham - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

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

St Mary's Twickenham requires AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Pears Cumbria (GEM): GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree. St Mary's Twickenham: Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science).

Interview formats

Both Pears Cumbria (GEM) and St Mary's Twickenham 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: Pears Cumbria (GEM) interviews in December - March; St Mary's Twickenham in December - March.

What makes each distinctive

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.

St Mary's Twickenham: International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only, applying direct rather than through UCAS, so it costs none of your four UCAS medical choices. Weigh that against the accreditation risk: the MBBS is not yet GMC-accredited, and St Mary's contingency is that students would transfer to the University of Lancashire if accreditation is not achieved.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Pears Cumbria (GEM) feeds into the England foundation programme network; St Mary's Twickenham 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

Pears Cumbria (GEM): no fixed home cut-off published; mCAT is NOT accepted. St Mary's Twickenham: no published UCAT cut-off. 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.

Pears Cumbria (GEM) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). St Mary's Twickenham 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 (Pears Cumbria (GEM)); December - March (St Mary's Twickenham).

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. St Mary's Twickenham'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

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

St Mary's TwickenhamEntry 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.