What A-Level grades do Peninsula (Plymouth) and St George's require?

Peninsula (Plymouth) requires A*AA or AAA including Biology and a second science from Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics or Psychology. 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 Peninsula (Plymouth) and St George's located, and how does that affect cost?

Peninsula (Plymouth) is in Plymouth, 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?

Peninsula (Plymouth) typically releases medicine decisions Not available. 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

Peninsula (Plymouth) vs St George's

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

St George's is the older institution (founded 1733); the other (founded 2000) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: Peninsula (Plymouth) and St George's.
Comparison field	Peninsula (Plymouth)Plymouth	St George'sLondon
Quick comparison
Location	Plymouth, UK	London, UK
A-Level offer	A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on strength of applicant pool - historically usually AAA prediction required) including A in Biology and A in a second science from Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics or Psychology	A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on cohort strength). Predicted AAA required including Chemistry and Biology / Human Biology.
TrueScore	Peninsula (Plymouth) TrueScore 1900	St George's TrueScore 1950
UCAT home cut-off	Not published in advance. Peninsula states the threshold alters each year with the number and quality of applications, and that it cannot confirm the cut-off until all applications have been received and assessed.	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)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	All Applicants: 434/761 = 57% (2025)	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	Not available	Rolling-basis after Interviews have finished

A-Level offer	A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on strength of applicant pool - historically usually AAA prediction required) including A in Biology and A in a second science from Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics or Psychology	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	AAB at A-level for UKWPMED widening-access applicants	-
Required A-Level subjects	Biology required at grade A, plus a second science from Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics / Psychology at grade A	Chemistry and Biology (or Human Biology) both required
A-Level resit policy	Resits accepted with ABB at first attempt (ABC for widening access). If achieved A-level resit grades held, first-sitting requirements waived.	Resits or third year of study accepted with extenuating circumstances only
GCSE requirements	Seven GCSEs at grade 4/C or above, including English Language, Mathematics and two science subjects (or Dual Award)	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	Used only as minimum threshold - wholly UCAT-based shortlisting once academic minimums met. Personal statement and work experience explicitly NOT considered.	Used only as minimum threshold - wholly UCAT-based shortlisting once met
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level - including Biology and a second science / Maths / Psychology	37 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including HL Chemistry and HL Biology
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any discipline. Graduate for Undergraduate Programme available - UCAT cut-off applies (~2100+ /2700).
Alternative qualifications	-	-

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	-
Graduate cut-off	-	~2100+ /2700 (Graduate for Undergraduate Programme)
SJT band	No use of SJT	SJT used post-interview in offer making. Combined with MMI score → B1=15 pts, B2=10, B3=5, B4=none.
UCAT notes	Shortlisting is UCAT-led once the academic minimum is met, and the Admissions Advisory Panel reserves the right to consider any aspect of the UCAT when shortlisting. The personal statement and work ex…	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	BMBS	MBBS
Course length	5 years	5 years
Teaching style	Case-based learning	Problem-based learning
Anatomy teaching	-	Prosection
First patient contact	Year 1	-
Placement geography	The south west of England	-
Named placement sites	-	-
Intercalation	-	-
Course highlight	Plymouth graduates consistently report the highest measures of feeling prepared for professional practice in GMC Foundation doctor surveys.	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	Not available	November - February
Interview details	Five stations of around 5 minutes each, with a single assessor at each station. Total interview lasts about 50 minutes. Stations cover communication, ethical reasoning, GMC-aligned values and motivati…	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	Medicine, Dentistry, Community Medicine	Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Healthcare Sciences
Established	2000	1733
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	Plymouth publishes the qualities they assess: communication, decision making, reflection and self-insight, motivation and commitment, integrity and inclusivity, resilience and adaptability, and teamwo…	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.plymouth.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/bmbs-bachelor-of-medicine-bachelor-of-surgery	https://www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-students/courses/undergraduate/medicine

Peninsula (Plymouth)

Plymouth

Quick comparison

Location: Plymouth, UK
A-Level offer: A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on strength of applicant pool - historically usually AAA prediction required) including A in Biology and A in a second science from Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics or Psychology
TrueScore: Peninsula (Plymouth) TrueScore 1900
UCAT home cut-off: Not published in advance. Peninsula states the threshold alters each year with the number and quality of applications, and that it cannot confirm the cut-off until all applications have been received and assessed.
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: All Applicants: 434/761 = 57% (2025)
Decision date: Not available

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

Peninsula (Plymouth) vs St George's - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Peninsula (Plymouth) requires A*AA or AAA at A-level (offer depends on strength of applicant pool - historically usually AAA prediction required) including A in Biology and A in a second science from Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics or Psychology.

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 — Peninsula (Plymouth): Seven GCSEs at grade 4/C or above, including English Language, Mathematics and two science subjects (or Dual Award).

Used only as minimum threshold - wholly UCAT-based shortlisting once academic… 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

Both Peninsula (Plymouth) and St George's 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: Peninsula (Plymouth) interviews in Not available; 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

Peninsula (Plymouth): Plymouth publishes the qualities they assess: communication, decision making, reflection and self-insight, motivation and commitment, integrity and inclusivity, resilience and adaptability, and teamwork. Personal statement and work experience are NOT considered in interview selection.

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 — Peninsula (Plymouth) 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. Peninsula (Plymouth) guidance: Not published in advance. Peninsula states the threshold alters each year with the number and quality of applications, and that it cannot confirm the cut-off until all applications have been received and assessed.. 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..

Peninsula (Plymouth) uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). St George's 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: Not available (Peninsula (Plymouth)); November - February (St George's).

Peninsula (Plymouth) — Seven GCSEs at grade 4/C or above, including English Language, Mathematics and two science subjects (or Dual Award). Used only as minimum threshold - wholly UCAT-based shortlisting once academic minimums met. Personal statement and work experience explicitly NOT considered. 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

Peninsula (Plymouth)'s selection methodology: UCAT + academic + Multiple Mini Interview. Strong South-West focus with rural/community placement strand. 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.

Peninsula (Plymouth): All Applicants: 434/761 = 57% (2025). 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

Peninsula (Plymouth)Entry 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.