Where are St Mary's Twickenham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) located, and how does that affect cost?

St Mary's Twickenham is in Twickenham, London, UK. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is in Preston, 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. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) releases medicine decisions March - April. 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.

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Medical school comparison

St Mary's Twickenham vs University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at St Mary's Twickenham vs University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)?

St Mary's Twickenham — Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science). University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) — GCSE performance considered as part of the broader academic profile; specific scoring not published.

St Mary's Twickenham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) 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 University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) sits in Preston (England), and the regional context shapes everything from fee status to NHS-deanery destination.

Their A-Level requirements (AAA vs AAB) place them in slightly different academic-strictness tiers.

Side-by-side comparison

Show only differences

Side-by-side comparison: St Mary's Twickenham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).
Comparison field	St Mary's TwickenhamTwickenham, London	University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)Preston
Quick comparison
Location	Twickenham, London, UK	Preston, UK
A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics	AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants)
TrueScore	1700intl	-
UCAT home cut-off	-	UCAT used for home applicant shortlisting; no published cut-off
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance	-	-
Decision date	March onwards	March - April

A-Level offer	AAA at A-level (offer and prediction) including Chemistry or Biology and one of Biology / Chemistry / Physics / Mathematics	AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants)
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	-
GCSE requirements	Minimum grade 6/B in GCSE Mathematics, English Language, Biology and Chemistry (or Dual Award Science)	-
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	-	-
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.	-

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.	Cognitive subtests considered alongside academic and personal-statement assessment
Graduate cut-off	-	-
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.	UCLan publishes limited shortlisting detail. Threshold varies year-on-year; check the official course page closer to your application year.

Interview window	December - March	December - February
Interview details	Applications are scored on academic record and admissions tests to produce a shortlisting rank. Interviews are online Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs).	MMI of approximately 7-9 timed stations covering motivation, ethics, communication, role-play and data interpretation. Home and international applicants are interviewed on the same MMI structure.

Specialities	Medicine, International Medicine	Medicine, Community Medicine
Established	2025	2014
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…	One of the first UK universities to run a privately-funded medical school open to international students; substantial international cohort blended with a smaller home intake. Strong Lancashire regiona…
Official course page	https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/mbbs-medicine-degree	https://www.lancashire.ac.uk/

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: 1700intl
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)

Preston

Quick comparison

Location: Preston, UK
A-Level offer: AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants)
TrueScore: -
UCAT home cut-off: UCAT used for home applicant shortlisting; no published cut-off
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March - April

Compare different schools

St Mary's Twickenham vs University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) - 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.

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) requires AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants).

St Mary's Twickenham is the stricter A-Level offer; University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is slightly more forgiving. If your predicted grades are borderline, University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) carries the lower academic-rejection risk pre-interview.

Interview formats

Both St Mary's Twickenham and University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) 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; University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in December - February.

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.

University of Central Lancashire (UCLan): One of the first UK universities to run a privately-funded medical school open to international students; substantial international cohort blended with a smaller home intake. Strong Lancashire regional placement network.

Which is right for you?

For applicants with predicted A-Level grades at the lower end of the AAA-A*AA range, University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) is the lower-risk academic option. 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; University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) 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.. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) guidance: UCAT used for home applicant shortlisting; no published cut-off.

St Mary's Twickenham uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) 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 Mary's Twickenham); December - February (University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)).

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).. University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) requires AAB at A-level including Biology and Chemistry (home applicants). Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school.

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 University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)Entry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

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School data reviewed by the NextGen MedPrep editorial team — last reviewed 18 August 2026.