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Medical school comparison

St Andrews vs Surrey (GEM)

St Andrews and Surrey (GEM) are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. St Andrews is based in St Andrews (Scotland) while Surrey (GEM) sits in Guildford (England), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination. St Andrews is the older institution (founded 1413); the other (founded 2024) has shaped its medical school around modern integrated-curriculum thinking.

Side-by-side comparison

St Andrews

St Andrews

Quick comparison

Location
St Andrews, UK
A-Level offer
AAA at A-level (offer and predicted) including Chemistry and one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics
TrueScore
1850
UCAT home cut-off
-
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
RUK Student (2025): 123/162 = 74%; Scottish + RUK: 411/505 = 81%; International (2023): 56/82 = 68%
Decision date
March 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

St Andrews vs Surrey (GEM) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

St Andrews 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. GCSE profile matters at both schools — St Andrews: Strong National 5 / GCSE profile. Biology required if not studied at A-Level (per Glasgow partnership rules). Surrey (GEM): Not applicable - graduate-entry programme. Requires a 2:1 honours degree.

Interview formats

Both St Andrews 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: St Andrews interviews in December - March; Surrey (GEM) in December - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

St Andrews runs a Traditional curriculum; Surrey (GEM) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — St Andrews delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Surrey (GEM) centres learning around clinical cases. Specifics: First 3 years at St Andrews leading to BSc (Hons) Medicine. Most students then transfer to a partner clinical school for years 4-6 of MBChB. Four-year accelerated graduate-entry MBChB. Surrey-based with South-East NHS placements. Intake size: St Andrews — RUK ~24 places, Scottish ~150, International ~30 (3-year pre-clinical only - clinical years at partner schools).; Surrey (GEM) — ~30-50 places per year (small newer cohort).. A larger cohort means more peer breadth; a smaller cohort means more tutor contact.

What makes each distinctive

St Andrews: Three-year pre-clinical course at St Andrews followed by transfer to a partner medical school for clinical years. SJT not used (was used many years ago, not now or in future). Scottish students face much lower cut-offs than RUK applicants. 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 — St Andrews feeds into the Scotland foundation programme network; Surrey (GEM) into the England network. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Surrey (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

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. St Andrews guidance: Top ~500 ranked applicants invited to interview. WP applicants get 10% UCAT uplift. SJT not used. A990 Canadian Programme ~1950+.. Surrey (GEM) guidance: New graduate-entry medical school (first cohort 2024 entry). UCAT required; no cut-off published yet..

St Andrews uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Surrey (GEM) 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 (St Andrews); December - March (Surrey (GEM)).

St Andrews requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology. Surrey (GEM) requires AAA including Chemistry and Biology. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: St Andrews — Resits considered with extenuating circumstances.. Surrey (GEM) — Not applicable to graduate entry..

St Andrews — Strong National 5 / GCSE profile. Biology required if not studied at A-Level (per Glasgow partnership rules). Surrey (GEM) — Not applicable - graduate-entry programme. Requires a 2:1 honours degree.

St Andrews's selection methodology: RUK 2024 entry: lowest UCAT for interview was 2500/3600, average 2892. Lowest UCAT given offer 2500, average ~2892. St Andrews delivers the first 3 years (BSc Medicine), then transfers most students to a clinical school (Glasgow, Manchester, Dundee, etc.). Surrey (GEM)'s selection methodology: New programme. UCAT + degree class + interview. Surrey-based graduate medicine. 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.

St Andrews is in St Andrews, UK. Surrey (GEM) is in Guildford, UK. Scottish-domiciled applicants funded by SAAS pay no tuition fees at Scottish medical schools — a substantial funding advantage worth tens of thousands of pounds over the degree. Rest-of-UK applicants still pay £9,250/year.

St Andrews typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Surrey (GEM) 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.

St Andrews runs a Traditional curriculum. Surrey (GEM) runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. St Andrews specifics: First 3 years at St Andrews leading to BSc (Hons) Medicine. Most students then transfer to a partner clinical school for years 4-6 of MBChB. Surrey (GEM) specifics: Four-year accelerated graduate-entry MBChB. Surrey-based with South-East NHS placements.

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.

School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 20 June 2026.