Where are Ulster University Medical School and Worcester Medical School located, and how does that affect cost?

Ulster University Medical School is in Londonderry, UK. Worcester Medical School is in Worcester, 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?

Ulster University Medical School typically releases medicine decisions March onwards. Worcester Medical School 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

Ulster University Medical School vs Worcester Medical School

Q: How are GCSEs weighted at Ulster University Medical School vs Worcester Medical School?

Ulster University Medical School — Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science. Worcester Medical School — GCSE (or equivalent) at grade C/4 or above in Maths and English. Non-science graduates additionally need two science subjects at C/4 or above.

Ulster University Medical School and Worcester Medical School are both UK medical schools, but the path to an offer at each is meaningfully different. Ulster University Medical School is based in Londonderry (London) while Worcester Medical School sits in Worcester (England), 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: Ulster University Medical School and Worcester Medical School.
Comparison field	Ulster University Medical SchoolLondonderry	Worcester Medical SchoolWorcester
Quick comparison
Location	Londonderry, UK	Worcester, UK
A-Level offer	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree	Graduate entry - 1st or 2:1 in any subject (or 2:2 plus a Master's/Doctorate)
TrueScore	-	Worcester Medical School TrueScore 1900GEM
UCAT home cut-off	-	-
Interview format	Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)	Casper SJT + two panel interviews
Post-interview chance	-	-
Decision date	March onwards	March onwards

A-Level offer	Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree	Graduate entry - 1st or 2:1 in any subject (or 2:2 plus a Master's/Doctorate)
Contextual A-Level offer	-	-
Required A-Level subjects	-	-
A-Level resit policy	Resits accepted.	Resits accepted.
GCSE requirements	-	GCSE (or equivalent) at grade C/4 or above in Maths and English. Non-science graduates additionally need two science subjects at C/4 or above.
GCSE scoring methodology	-	-
Scottish Highers	-	-
Scottish Advanced Highers	-	-
International Baccalaureate	-	-
Graduate-entry degree requirement	2:1 (Upper-second-class Honours) or above in any honours degree (Arts, Science, Humanities all accepted)	1st or 2:1 undergraduate honours degree in any subject, held or predicted in the year of application. A 2:2 is acceptable when topped by a Master's or Doctoral degree.
Alternative qualifications	Graduate-entry only. UCAT NOT used - Ulster uses GAMSAT (Graduate Medical School Admissions Test). Recent GAMSAT thresholds have been ~61. Plus 2:1 honours degree and MMI interview. Strong Northern Ireland regional focus.	Graduate-entry only (4-year MBChB), taught at the Three Counties Medical School. UCAT or GAMSAT accepted - the applicant submits the better score. Applicants who have previously started a medical degree in the UK or overseas are not eligible. International applicants are welcome.

Contextual cut-off	-	-
Scottish (where applicable)	-	-
Rest of UK (where applicable)	-	-
International cut-off	-	-
Graduate cut-off	Not applicable - Ulster uses GAMSAT, not the UCAT. Recent thresholds have been around 61.	~1900+ /2700 (most recent shortlisted applicants scored above 1870 on UCAT)
SJT band	-	-
UCAT notes	GAMSAT is scored out of 100. Do not sit the UCAT for this course.	Graduate-entry programme accepting UCAT OR GAMSAT (applicant submits the better score). Partnership with Swansea University Medical School for degree accreditation while completing GMC accreditation.

Degree awarded	MBBS	MBChB
Course length	4 years (graduate entry)	4 years (graduate entry)
Teaching style	Integrated	Problem-based learning
Anatomy teaching	Imaging and models	Imaging and models
First patient contact	-	Year 1
Placement geography	Across Northern Ireland	Worcestershire and the Three Counties
Named placement sites	-	-
Intercalation	-	-
Course highlight	Based at the Magee campus in Derry~Londonderry, alongside other healthcare programmes.	Open to graduates of any discipline.

Interview window	December - March	January - March
Interview details	MMI format with multiple stations. Focus on serving Northern Ireland's healthcare needs alongside standard motivation, ethics and communication content.	Shortlisted applicants sit the Casper online situational-judgement test and attend two panel interviews; SJT and interview performance are combined into a single ranking for offers.

Specialities	Medicine, Community Medicine	Medicine, Community Healthcare, Primary Care, Patient-Centred Care
Established	2021	2023
Course type	Undergraduate	Undergraduate
What makes it different	New medical school serving Northern Ireland. Strong regional focus, with the course oriented around local workforce needs. Cut-offs have not yet stabilised.	Partnership with Swansea University Medical School (provides degree accreditation while Worcester completes GMC accreditation). Emphasis on community-based learning and serving local populations in th…
Official course page	https://www.ulster.ac.uk/courses/202627/medicine-41407	https://www.worcester.ac.uk/courses/medicine-graduate-entry-mbchb

Ulster University Medical School

Londonderry

Quick comparison

Location: Londonderry, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree
TrueScore: -
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Worcester Medical School

Worcester

Quick comparison

Location: Worcester, UK
A-Level offer: Graduate entry - 1st or 2:1 in any subject (or 2:2 plus a Master's/Doctorate)
TrueScore: Worcester Medical School TrueScore 1900GEM
UCAT home cut-off: -
Interview format: Casper SJT + two panel interviews
Post-interview chance: -
Decision date: March onwards

Ulster University Medical School vs Worcester Medical School - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Ulster University Medical School requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree.

Worcester Medical School requires Graduate entry - 1st or 2:1 in any subject (or 2:2 plus a Master's/Doctorate).

GCSE profile matters at both schools — Ulster University Medical School: Min 5 GCSEs at grade 6 (B) including Maths, English Language, dual-award Science. Worcester Medical School: GCSE (or equivalent) at grade C/4 or above in Maths and English. Non-science graduates additionally need two science subjects at C/4 or above.

Interview formats

Ulster University Medical School uses MMI (Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI)); Worcester Medical School uses Panel (Casper SJT + two panel interviews). 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, Worcester Medical School may suit you more. If you prefer discrete capsule answers under time pressure, Ulster University Medical School is the better fit.

Interview windows: Ulster University Medical School interviews in December - March; Worcester Medical School in January - March.

Curriculum and teaching style

Ulster University Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum; Worcester Medical School runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies are different — Ulster University Medical School delivers more didactic lectures with structured systems-based progression, while Worcester Medical School centres learning around clinical cases.

Specifics: Four-year accelerated MBBS for graduates. Clinical placements across Northern Ireland NHS sites (Magee Campus, Western HSC, Northern HSC). Five-year MBChB. Worcester-based with West Midlands NHS placements (Worcestershire Acute Hospitals).

Intake size: Ulster University Medical School — ~70 places per year (small cohort, NI-focused).; Worcester Medical School — ~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

Ulster University Medical School: New medical school serving Northern Ireland. Strong regional focus, with the course oriented around local workforce needs. Cut-offs have not yet stabilised.

Worcester Medical School: Partnership with Swansea University Medical School (provides degree accreditation while Worcester completes GMC accreditation). Emphasis on community-based learning and serving local populations in the West Midlands.

Which is right for you?

Regionally, the choice often comes down to cost of living and NHS-deanery preferences — Ulster University Medical School feeds into the London foundation programme network; Worcester Medical School into the England network. If you learn best in small-group case discussion, prefer Worcester Medical School; 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. Ulster University Medical School guidance: GAMSAT is scored out of 100. Do not sit the UCAT for this course.. Worcester Medical School guidance: Graduate-entry programme accepting UCAT OR GAMSAT (applicant submits the better score). Partnership with Swansea University Medical School for degree accreditation while completing GMC accreditation..

Ulster University Medical School uses Multiple Mini Interviews: Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI). Worcester Medical School uses Panel interview: Casper SJT + two panel interviews. 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 (Ulster University Medical School); January - March (Worcester Medical School).

Ulster University Medical School requires Graduate entry - 2:1 or above in any honours degree. Worcester Medical School requires Graduate entry - 1st or 2:1 in any subject (or 2:2 plus a Master's/Doctorate). Most successful applicants achieve these grades on first sitting with strong predicted grades from their school. Resit policies differ: Ulster University Medical School — Resits accepted.. Worcester Medical School — Resits accepted..

Ulster University Medical School's selection methodology: Graduate-entry only: a 2:1 honours degree in any discipline plus GAMSAT (recent threshold ~61 out of 100), then MMI. Strong Northern Ireland regional focus. Worcester Medical School's selection methodology: Newer programme (first cohort planned). UCAT + academic + interview. Strong widening-participation 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.

Ulster University Medical School runs a Integrated curriculum. Worcester Medical School runs a PBL curriculum. The teaching philosophies differ — pick the style that matches how you learn best. Ulster University Medical School specifics: Four-year accelerated MBBS for graduates. Clinical placements across Northern Ireland NHS sites (Magee Campus, Western HSC, Northern HSC). Worcester Medical School specifics: Five-year MBChB. Worcester-based with West Midlands NHS placements (Worcestershire Acute Hospitals).

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

Ulster University Medical SchoolEntry requirements, interview format and key dates in full

Worcester Medical SchoolEntry 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.

Ulster University Medical School vs Worcester Medical School

Side-by-side comparison

Ulster University Medical School vs Worcester Medical School - in detail

A-Level and academic profile

Interview formats

Curriculum and teaching style

What makes each distinctive

Which is right for you?

Common questions

What UCAT score do I need for Ulster University Medical School vs Worcester Medical School?

How do interviews differ between Ulster University Medical School and Worcester Medical School?

What A-Level grades do Ulster University Medical School and Worcester Medical School require?

How are GCSEs weighted at Ulster University Medical School vs Worcester Medical School?

How does each school actually shortlist applicants?

Where are Ulster University Medical School and Worcester Medical School located, and how does that affect cost?

When does each school release decisions?

What curriculum style do Ulster University Medical School and Worcester Medical School use?

Should I apply to both Ulster University Medical School and Worcester Medical School?

Where to go next

Other medical school comparisons