How do interviews differ between St Mary's Twickenham and Swansea (GEM)?

St Mary's Twickenham uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Swansea (GEM) uses Assessment day: Assessment Day. The two formats reward different skill sets. Plan separate prep streams for each, with at least 3 full mock interviews per format before sitting either. Interview windows: December - March (St Mary's Twickenham); March (Swansea (GEM)).

Where are St Mary's Twickenham and Swansea (GEM) located, and how does that affect cost?

St Mary's Twickenham is in Twickenham, London, UK. Swansea (GEM) is in Swansea, 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?

St Mary's Twickenham typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Swansea (GEM) releases medicine decisions Until May. 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 Mary's Twickenham vs Swansea (GEM)

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at St Mary's Twickenham vs Swansea (GEM)?

St Mary's Twickenham — Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science). Swansea (GEM) — No specific GCSE requirements published for graduate-entry MBBCh - academic competence is shown through the degree.

St Mary's Twickenham and Swansea (GEM) 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 Swansea (GEM) sits in Swansea (Wales), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

The interview formats diverge — MMI vs Panel — and the prep approaches for the two are fundamentally different.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: St Mary's Twickenham and Swansea (GEM).
Comparison field	St Mary's TwickenhamTwickenham, London	Swansea (GEM)Swansea
Quick comparison
Location	Twickenham, London, UK	Swansea, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics	Graduate entry programme - degree required
TrueScore	St Mary's Twickenham TrueScore 1700intl	-
UCAT home cut-off	-	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Assessment Day
Post-interview chance	-	-
Decision date	March onwards	Until May

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics	Graduate entry programme - degree required
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	Chemistry or Biology required, plus one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics	-
A-Level resit policy	Resits only considered in exceptional circumstances	Not applicable to graduate entry.
GCSE requirements	Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science)	No specific GCSE requirements published for graduate-entry MBBCh - academic competence is shown through the degree.
GCSE scoring methodology	-	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	36 points overall, 6,6,6 at Higher Level including Chemistry or Biology and a second science / Maths	-
Graduate-entry degree requirement	-	Minimum 2:1 in any subject; OR a Merit in an integrated master's; OR a 2:2 combined with a Pass in a postgraduate higher degree.
Alternative qualifications	New international-only medicine course for 2026 entry - first cohort. Applied to directly outside standard UCAS medicine route. UCAT contributes to combined admissions test + academic ranking. No SJT use.	Graduate-entry only, open to home and international applicants. Admission test may be UCAT (min 1900), GAMSAT (min 50 overall and 50 in Paper 3) or, for international applicants, MCAT (min 500). Selection day is three face-to-face stations; there is no separate written or SJT exercise. Pathways to Medicine applicants are not eligible.

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	No cut-off exists yet. UCAT contributes to the shortlisting rank, but the first cohort is September 2026 so no historic threshold exists.	International applicants may alternatively submit an MCAT score, minimum 500.
Graduate cut-off	-	1900+ /2700 minimum considered. Swansea accepts EITHER UCAT or GAMSAT - it is not a GAMSAT-only school.
SJT band	No usage mentioned in any selection policy	-
UCAT notes	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.	Three routes in: UCAT (min 1900), GAMSAT (min 50 overall AND 50 in Paper 3), or MCAT (min 500, international only). Selection day is three 20-30 minute face-to-face stations - there is no separate wri…

Degree awarded	MBBS	MB BCh
Course length	5 years	4 years (graduate entry)
Teaching style	Case-based learning	Case-based learning
Anatomy teaching	-	-
First patient contact	Year 1	Year 1
Placement geography	London, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire	Across Wales
Named placement sites	West London Trust, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Basingstoke), Practice Plus Group (Ilford), Royal Trinity Hospice, Princess Alice Hospice, Meadow House	-
Intercalation	-	-
Course highlight	Currently accepts international students only.	Unique in Wales, and one of just a handful of similar programmes open to graduates of any discipline.

Interview window	December - March	March
Interview details	Applications are scored on academic record and admissions tests to produce a shortlisting rank. Interviews are online Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs).	Two 20-minute panel interviews preceded by a 30-minute written situational judgement assessment. Panels cover personal statement, course-specific motivation and clinical reasoning.

Specialities	Medicine, International Medicine	Medicine, Graduate Entry Medicine, Rural Healthcare
Established	2025	2004
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	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 y…	Graduate entry programme with a written SJT exercise as part of the selection day. Personal statement and detailed course knowledge feature prominently - applicants should know Swansea's programme str…
Official course page	https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/mbbs-medicine-degree	https://www.swansea.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/medicine/medicine-graduate-entry-mbbch/

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

Swansea (GEM)

Swansea

Quick comparison

Location: Swansea, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry programme - degree required
TrueScore: -
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Assessment Day
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: Until May

St Mary's Twickenham vs Swansea (GEM) - 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.

Swansea (GEM) requires Graduate entry programme - degree required.

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). Swansea (GEM): No specific GCSE requirements published for graduate-entry MBBCh - academic competence is shown through the degree.

Interview formats

St Mary's Twickenham uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)); Swansea (GEM) uses Panel (Assessment Day). These two formats reward different skills — MMI emphasises breadth, station-recovery and structured answers under time pressure, while Panel rewards depth and consistency.

If your strengths lie in conversational depth, Swansea (GEM) may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, St Mary's Twickenham is the better fit.

Interview windows: St Mary's Twickenham interviews in December - March; Swansea (GEM) in March.

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.

Swansea (GEM): Graduate entry programme with a written SJT exercise as part of the selection day. Personal statement and detailed course knowledge feature prominently - applicants should know Swansea's programme structure in detail.

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; Swansea (GEM) into the Wales 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.. Swansea (GEM) guidance: Three routes in: UCAT (min 1900), GAMSAT (min 50 overall AND 50 in Paper 3), or MCAT (min 500, international only). Selection day is three 20-30 minute face-to-face stations - there is no separate written or SJT paper..

St Mary's Twickenham requires AAA prediction and offer requirements, must include chemistry or biology as well as one of biology/chemistry/physics/maths. Resits only considered in exceptional circumstances. GCSEs: grade 6 minimum in maths, English language, biology and chemistry (or dual award science).. Swansea (GEM) requires Graduate entry programme - degree required. Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school.

St Mary's Twickenham's selection methodology: shortlisting weight not fully disclosed; check the official admissions page. Swansea (GEM)'s selection methodology: GAMSAT-based selection (UCAT alternative for graduate-entry). Strong Welsh/regional focus. 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.

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

Swansea (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.