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Medical school comparison

St Mary's Twickenham vs Sunderland

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

Side-by-side comparison

St Mary's Twickenham

Twickenham, London

Quick comparison

Location
Twickenham, London, UK
A-Level offer
AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics
TrueScore
St Mary's Twickenham TrueScore 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off
-
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
-
Decision date
March onwards

Sunderland

Sunderland

Quick comparison

Location
Sunderland, UK
A-Level offer
AAA at A-level including Biology or Chemistry, plus another designated science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics/Further Mathematics/Statistics) and a third academic subject. No use of predicted grades - Sunderland considers achieved grades only.
TrueScore
Sunderland TrueScore 1700
UCAT home cut-off
Expressed in deciles: your score must fall within the top 8 deciles of the cohort, with an SJT in Bands 1-3.
Interview format
Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance
All Home Applicants: 353/731 = 48% (2025). Not for international students - home only.
Decision date
Until May

St Mary's Twickenham vs Sunderland - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

St Mary's Twickenham requires AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics.

Sunderland requires AAA at A-level including Biology or Chemistry, plus another designated science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics/Further Mathematics/Statistics) and a third academic subject. No use of predicted grades - Sunderland considers achieved grades only.

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 Mary's Twickenham: Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science). Sunderland: Five GCSEs at grade 7/A or above, with a minimum of grade 6/B in Mathematics, English Language, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Dual Science may not be accepted - confirm with the school. GCSE resits…

Interview formats

Both St Mary's Twickenham and Sunderland 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 Mary's Twickenham interviews in December - March; Sunderland in December - January.

What makes each distinctive

St Mary's Twickenham: International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only, applying direct rather than through UCAS, so it costs none of your four UCAS medical choices. Weigh that against the accreditation risk: the MBBS is not yet GMC-accredited, and St Mary's contingency is that students would transfer to the University of Lancashire if accreditation is not achieved.

Sunderland: No use of personal statement. The interview-selection tool reviews up to 4 examples of paid voluntary work or caring experience (shadowing doctors does not count). Numeracy test now part of the interview process.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — St Mary's Twickenham feeds into the London foundation programme network; Sunderland 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

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 Mary's Twickenham guidance: International (non-UK/Irish) applicants only. No SJT use stated. Any quoted 'cut-off' for this school is guesswork - it has not yet completed an admissions cycle.. Sunderland guidance: Expressed in deciles: your score must fall within the top 8 deciles of the cohort, with an SJT in Bands 1-3..

Where to go next

St Mary's TwickenhamEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full
SunderlandEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Other medical school comparisons

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