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Medical school comparison

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) vs Surrey (GEM)

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) and Surrey (GEM) are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Queen's University Belfast (QUB) is based in Belfast (Northern Ireland) while Surrey (GEM) sits in Guildford (England), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) is the older institution (founded 1849); the other (founded 2024) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

Queen's University Belfast (QUB)

Belfast

Quick comparison

Location
Belfast, UK
A-Level offer
A*AA at A-level including Chemistry and Biology (or Maths/Physics - see subject rules)
TrueScore
1700
UCAT home cut-off
~1700+ /2700 with 9× grade 9s GCSE (~35/45 target). Lower UCAT viable with stronger GCSE.
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
Home: 332/778 = 43%; International: 51/214 = 24%
Decision date
April onwards

Surrey (GEM)

Guildford

Quick comparison

Location
Guildford, UK
A-Level offer
AAA including Chemistry and Biology
TrueScore
1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off
-
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
-
Decision date
March onwards
Compare different schools

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) vs Surrey (GEM) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology.

Surrey (GEM) requires AAA including Chemistry and 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.

Interview formats

Both Queen's University Belfast (QUB) and Surrey (GEM) 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: Queen's University Belfast (QUB) interviews in January - February; Surrey (GEM) in December - March.

What makes each distinctive

Queen's University Belfast (QUB): Less weight on NHS hot topics than most schools. Stronger emphasis on reflective examples of personal qualities. SJT may be used if borderline before or after interview, but in 2025 anyone with 30/42 received an interview regardless.

Surrey (GEM): New graduate-entry medical school with focus on innovative teaching methods and the use of technology in healthcare delivery.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Queen's University Belfast (QUB) feeds into the Northern Ireland foundation programme network; Surrey (GEM) into the England 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

Where to go next

Queen's University Belfast (QUB)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in fullSurrey (GEM)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 4 August 2026.