Where are Pears Cumbria (GEM) and Ulster University Medical School located, and how does that affect cost?

Pears Cumbria (GEM) is in Carlisle, UK. Ulster University Medical School is in Londonderry, 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. Ulster University Medical School 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 Ulster University Medical School

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at Pears Cumbria (GEM) vs Ulster University Medical School?

Pears Cumbria (GEM) — GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree. Ulster University Medical School — Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Pears Cumbria (GEM) and Ulster University Medical School 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 Ulster University Medical School sits in Londonderry (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 Ulster University Medical School.
Comparison field	Pears Cumbria (GEM)Carlisle	Ulster University Medical SchoolLondonderry
Quick comparison
Location	Carlisle, UK	Londonderry, UK
A-Level offer	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree
TrueScore	Pears Cumbria (GEM) TrueScore 1700GEM	-
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	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	-	-
A-Level resit policy	Not applicable to graduate entry - degree class is the academic measure.	Resits accepted.
GCSE requirements	GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree	-
GCSE scoring methodology	-	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	-	-
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.	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any honours degree (Arts, Science, Humanities all accepted)
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.	Graduate-entry only. UCAT NOT used - Ulster uses GAMSAT (Graduate Medical School Admissions Test). Recent GAMSAT thresholds have been ~61. Plus 2:1 honours degree and MMI interview. Strong Northern Ireland regional focus.

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).	Not applicable - Ulster uses GAMSAT, not the UCAT. Recent thresholds have been around 61.
SJT band	-	-
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…	GAMSAT is scored out of 100. Do not sit the UCAT for this course.

Degree awarded	MBBS (awarded by Imperial College London)	MBBS
Course length	4 years (graduate entry)	4 years (graduate entry)
Teaching style	Integrated	Problem-based learning
Anatomy teaching	Imaging and models	Imaging and models
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	North and south Cumbria	Northern Ireland
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)	Western Health and Social Care Trust (including Altnagelvin Area Hospital), South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (Ulster Hospital, Dundonald), Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, GP practices across Northern Ireland
Intercalation	-	-
Course highlight	The MBBS is awarded by Imperial College London, delivered in partnership with the University of Cumbria.	Based at the Magee campus in Derry~Londonderry, alongside other healthcare programmes.

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.	MMI format with multiple stations. Focus on serving Northern Ireland's healthcare needs alongside standard motivation, ethics and communication content.

Specialities	Medicine, Rural Healthcare, Community Medicine	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	2023	2021
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…	New medical school serving Northern Ireland. Strong regional focus, with the course oriented around local workforce needs. Cut-offs have not yet stabilised.
Official course page	https://cumbriamed.ac.uk/study/	https://www.ulster.ac.uk/courses/202627/medicine-41407

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

Ulster University Medical School

Londonderry

Quick comparison

Location: Londonderry, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree
TrueScore: -
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Pears Cumbria (GEM) vs Ulster University Medical School - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

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

Ulster University Medical School requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Pears Cumbria (GEM): GCSE English Language and Mathematics at minimum grade 4/C - assessed alongside degree. Ulster University Medical School: Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science.

Interview formats

Both Pears Cumbria (GEM) and Ulster University Medical School 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; Ulster University Medical School in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Pears Cumbria (GEM) runs a PBL curriculum; Ulster University Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Pears Cumbria (GEM) leans on small-group case-based learning from year 1, while Ulster University Medical School uses a more traditional lecture-led structure.

Specifics: Four-year accelerated graduate-entry programme. Imperial College London partner. Clinical placements across Cumbria NHS sites (UHMBT, North Cumbria In Four-year accelerated MBBS for graduates. Clinical placements across Northern Ireland NHS sites (Magee Campus, Western HSC, Northern HSC).

Intake size: Pears Cumbria (GEM) — ~58 places per year; Ulster University Medical School — ~70 places per year (small cohort, NI-focused). A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

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.

Ulster University Medical School: New medical school serving Northern Ireland. Strong regional focus, with the course oriented around local workforce needs. Cut-offs have not yet stabilised.

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; Ulster University Medical School into the London network. 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

Pears Cumbria (GEM): no fixed home cut-off published; mCAT is NOT accepted. Ulster University Medical School: no fixed home cut-off published; gAMSAT is scored out of 100. 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). Ulster University Medical School 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 (Ulster University Medical School).

Pears Cumbria (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in a biosciences or allied healthcare degree. Ulster University Medical School requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Pears Cumbria (GEM) — Not applicable to graduate entry - degree class is the academic measure.. Ulster University Medical School — Resits accepted..

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. Ulster University Medical School's selection methodology: Graduate-entry only: a 2:1 honours degree in any discipline plus GAMSAT (recent threshold ~61 out of 100), then MMI. Strong Northern Ireland regional focus. 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.

Pears Cumbria (GEM) runs a PBL curriculum. Ulster University Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. 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). Ulster University Medical School specifics: Four-year accelerated MBBS for graduates. Clinical placements across Northern Ireland NHS sites (Magee Campus, Western HSC, Northern HSC).

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

Ulster University Medical SchoolEntry 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.

Pears Cumbria (GEM) vs Ulster University Medical School

Side-by-side comparison

Pears Cumbria (GEM) vs Ulster University Medical School - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Pears Cumbria (GEM) vs Ulster University Medical School?

How do interviews differ between Pears Cumbria (GEM) and Ulster University Medical School?

What A-Level grades do Pears Cumbria (GEM) and Ulster University Medical School require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Pears Cumbria (GEM) vs Ulster University Medical School?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Where are Pears Cumbria (GEM) and Ulster University Medical School located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Pears Cumbria (GEM) and Ulster University Medical School use?

Should I apply to both Pears Cumbria (GEM) and Ulster University Medical School?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons