How do interviews differ between St Andrews and Surrey (GEM)?

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)).

How are GCSEs weighted at St Andrews vs Surrey (GEM)?

St Andrews — Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 7/A in one sitting (achieved A-level applicants may be considered with fewer). GCSE grade 5 in Biology, Mathematics, and English (Language or Literature) required if not offered at A-level. GCSE resit allowed. Used only as a minimum threshold - once met, shortlisting is entirely UCAT-based Surrey (GEM) — GCSE Maths and English at grade C/5 or above.

Where are St Andrews and Surrey (GEM) located, and how does that affect cost?

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.

When does each school release decisions?

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.

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

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: St Andrews and Surrey (GEM).
Comparison field	St AndrewsSt Andrews	Surrey (GEM)Guildford
Quick comparison
Location	St Andrews, UK	Guildford, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (offer and predicted) including Chemistry and one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject
TrueScore	St Andrews TrueScore 1850	Surrey (GEM) TrueScore 1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off	No threshold published. Applicants who meet the requirements are ranked on their UCAT global score, and roughly the top 650 are invited to interview.	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	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	March onwards

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (offer and predicted) including Chemistry and one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject
Contextual A-Level offer	AAB at A-level for widening-access applicants	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry plus one of Biology / Mathematics / Physics	-
A-Level resit policy	Resits considered with extenuating circumstances.	Not applicable to graduate entry.
GCSE requirements	Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 7/A in one sitting (achieved A-level applicants may be considered with fewer). GCSE grade 5 in Biology, Mathematics, and English (Language or Literature) required if not offered at A-level. GCSE resit allowed.	GCSE Maths and English at grade C/5 or above
GCSE scoring methodology	Used only as a minimum threshold - once met, shortlisting is entirely UCAT-based	-
Scottish Highers	Standard entry: AAAAB in S5, predicted to achieve at least BBB in Highers, Advanced Highers or a mix in S6. Minimum entry: AAABB in S5, predicted at least BB in S6.	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	Mix of Highers and Advanced Highers in S6 acceptable - minimum BB	-
International Baccalaureate	38 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level + 6,6,6 at Standard Level. Minimum: 36 points (6,6,5 HL + 6,6,5 SL). Must include HL Chemistry and HL in one of Biology / Mathematics / Physics. If Maths not at HL, applicants must have SL in Biology, Maths and English. Either Maths Analysis & Approaches or Applications & Interpretation accepted.	-
Graduate-entry degree requirement	ScotGEM applicants must have achieved (or be predicted to achieve) a 1st or 2:1 Honours degree in any discipline (Arts, Science, etc.). Plus: Chemistry Higher or A-level (grade A or B) or equivalent; Mathematics at Standard Grade Credit 1/2, Intermediate 2 (A or B), National 5 (A or B), or GCSE (B). GAMSAT required.	Minimum 2:1 UK honours degree (or equivalent) in any subject - all disciplines are given equal consideration.
Alternative qualifications	-	Graduate-entry only (4-year BMBS). GAMSAT is the general admission test; UCAT is accepted only from Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedical Science, Chemistry or Natural Sciences graduates. Open to UK and international applicants (IELTS 7.0 overall and in every component). The University of Exeter is the contingency awarding body while Surrey completes GMC accreditation.

Contextual cut-off	Widening-access applicants receive a 10% uplift on their UCAT score.	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	-
Graduate cut-off	-	GAMSAT is the general route. UCAT is accepted ONLY from applicants holding a degree in Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedical Science, Chemistry or Natural Sciences.
SJT band	No use of SJT (was many years ago but not any more or in the future)	-
UCAT notes	St Andrews warns explicitly that the 2025 UCAT changes - three subtests and a maximum of 2,700 - mean historical UCAT figures are not comparable with current cycles, so older "lowest invited" numbers…	No numeric cut-off is published; scores sort applicants into interview, waitlist or rejection. Do not assume a UCAT route - for most degree subjects GAMSAT is the only option.

Degree awarded	BSc (Hons) Medicine, then MBChB/MBBS elsewhere	BMBS
Course length	6 years (3 at St Andrews + 3 clinical)	4 years (graduate entry)
Teaching style	Integrated	Team-based learning
Anatomy teaching	Dissection	Prosection
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	St Andrews for three years, then a partner school	Surrey and the surrounding area
Named placement sites	-	Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, Surrey Heartlands ICS, Frimley Health and Care ICS
Intercalation	-	-
Course highlight	You graduate with a BSc Honours before you begin clinical training.	AI is integrated into the curriculum, and virtual reality surgical training runs through the VRiMS collaboration.

Interview window	December - March	December - March
Interview details	MMI format with chatty, casual interviewers across multiple stations. Topics include ethical scenarios, role-play and motivation for the unusual three-year BSc Honours course before transferring to a…	MMI format with multiple stations assessing communication, ethical reasoning and problem-solving.

Specialities	Medicine, Medical Sciences, Gateway to Medicine	Medicine, Healthcare Technology, Clinical Practice
Established	1413	2024
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	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 m…	New graduate-entry school taking a technology-forward approach to teaching. Still under GMC review, so the University of Exeter acts as the contingency awarding body until Surrey's own accreditation c…
Official course page	https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/subjects/medicine/medicine-bsc-a100/	https://www.surrey.ac.uk/undergraduate/medicine-graduate-entry

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: St Andrews TrueScore 1850
UCAT home cut-off: No threshold published. Applicants who meet the requirements are ranked on their UCAT global score, and roughly the top 650 are invited to interview.
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: Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject
TrueScore: Surrey (GEM) TrueScore 1700GEM
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

St Andrews vs Surrey (GEM) - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

St Andrews requires AAA at A-level (offer and predicted) including Chemistry and one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics.

Surrey (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject.

GCSE profile matters at both schools — St Andrews: Minimum 5 GCSEs at grade 7/A in one sitting (achieved A-level applicants may be considered with fewer). GCSE grade 5 in Biology, Mathematics, and English (Language or Literature) required if not… Surrey (GEM): GCSE Maths and English at grade C/5 or above.

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 school taking a technology-forward approach to teaching. Still under GMC review, so the University of Exeter acts as the contingency awarding body until Surrey's own accreditation completes - worth confirming before you accept an offer.

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: No threshold published. Applicants who meet the requirements are ranked on their UCAT global score, and roughly the top 650 are invited to interview.. Surrey (GEM) guidance: No numeric cut-off is published; scores sort applicants into interview, waitlist or rejection. Do not assume a UCAT route - for most degree subjects GAMSAT is the only option..

St Andrews requires AAA including Chemistry and one of Biology, Mathematics or Physics. Surrey (GEM) requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any subject. 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's selection methodology: Applicants who meet the academic requirements, provide a positive reference and can show relevant medically related work experience are ranked on their UCAT global score; roughly the top 650 are interviewed. Offers then turn on the interview score and the route applied for. St Andrews teaches the first three years (BSc Medicine) and most students then transfer to a partner clinical school such as Glasgow, Manchester or Dundee. Surrey (GEM)'s selection methodology: Degree class hurdle (2:1, any subject), then GAMSAT - or UCAT for bioscience/chemistry graduates only - sorting applicants into interview, waitlist or reject, then a virtual MMI lasting under an hour. 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 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.

Where to go next

St AndrewsEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Surrey (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 19 September 2026.