A verified comparison of UCAT requirements at the UK's three most selective medical schools
Book a Free ConsultationOxford, Cambridge and UCL sit at the top of every medicine applicant's list, and for 2026 and 2027 entry they now share more in common on the UCAT than most students realise. Oxford uses the UCAT as its core shortlisting tool. UCL ranks every eligible candidate by total UCAT score. Cambridge, contrary to a persistent myth, also requires the UCAT for 2027 entry — but only the cognitive sections, with no Situational Judgement requirement and no published pass mark. Getting these distinctions right, and knowing the verified numbers behind each policy, is the difference between targeting the correct benchmark and wasting months preparing for the wrong one.
The UCAT itself changed for tests sat from 2025 onward (affecting 2026 entry): Abstract Reasoning was withdrawn, cutting the test from four cognitive subtests to three — Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, and Quantitative Reasoning — plus the separately banded Situational Judgement Test. This moved the maximum cognitive total from 3,600 down to 2,700. Any comparison of UCAT scores across cycles has to account for this rescale; a 2,800 in 2024 is not comparable to a 2,800 in 2026.
Around 37,000 candidates sit the UCAT each year across the UK and Partner Universities consortium, according to the UCAT Consortium's own published figures. Oxford, Cambridge, and UCL each draw from the very top of that distribution. Oxford's 2025 admissions cycle (for 2026 entry) attracted 1,156 UCAS applications for around 157 places. UCL receives more than 3,000 applications a year for 334 places. Cambridge's most recently reported cycle saw roughly 1,791 applicants compete for around 288 offers. At all three schools, a UCAT score in isolation is necessary but never sufficient — academic record, personal statement, reference, and interview performance all carry real weight.
Oxford does not publish a minimum UCAT score. Instead, it uses a combined UCAT-and-GCSE algorithm to rank every eligible applicant and shortlist from the top down, filling the interview list to roughly 425 places — about 2.5 candidates per available place. Oxford's own published admissions statistics for the 2025 cycle (2026 entry) confirm the real numbers: of 1,026 eligible applicants, 41.4% were shortlisted for interview. The mean overall UCAT score among shortlisted candidates was 2,377.5 (out of the new 2,700 maximum), rising to 2,407.1 among those who went on to receive an offer. For context, the mean UCAT score of all applicants that year was 2,217.5, and the national mean cognitive scaled score across all UCAT test-takers was only 1,891 — meaning even an unsuccessful Oxford applicant typically scores well above the national average.
Situational Judgement is not used at the shortlisting stage at all — Oxford explicitly states it looks only at the overall cognitive subtest score when ranking candidates for interview. SJT band is disclosed to colleges only after interviews, alongside the second college's ranking, when final offer decisions are made. The overall success rate in the 2025 cycle was 15.4% for male applicants and 18.1% for female applicants; independent school applicants succeeded at 25.8% versus 19.7% for state school applicants. Interviews are conducted by two separate colleges, with panels including at least one practising clinician, and colleges interview blind of both college preference and UCAT score.
Cambridge does require the UCAT for medicine. This corrects a widely repeated but outdated claim: since the withdrawal of the BMAT, Cambridge (course code A100/A101) sits within the official UCAT Consortium university list, and for 2027 entry all Medicine applicants must sit the test. The key difference from Oxford and UCL is scope: Cambridge uses only the three cognitive subtest scores (Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning) out of the new 2,700 maximum. The Situational Judgement Test is excluded from selection entirely, and Cambridge does not publish a minimum threshold score of any kind. UCAT results are used alongside academic record, personal statement, school reference, and interview performance when shortlisting and, in some cases, when making final offer decisions.
Because there is no published cut-off, a "safe" Cambridge UCAT number does not exist in the way it does for UCL. The safest approach is to treat the cognitive UCAT as one input into a strong overall application rather than a pass/fail gate: aim to sit comfortably above the national mean cognitive scaled score (1,891 in 2025) and focus equal energy on the college-based interviews, which are demanding and heavily weighted. Cambridge's most recently reported admissions cycle produced approximately 288 offers from around 1,791 applicants — an offer rate of roughly 16%. Interviews are conducted at college level, typically by two colleges per applicant (the preferred or allocated college, plus a pool interview in some cases), and are known for unseen problem-solving questions grounded in biology and chemistry data.
UCL is the clearest of the three schools to benchmark against because it publishes exact minimum scores each year. UCL adopted the UCAT from the 2024/25 application cycle, replacing the BMAT, and uses the total UCAT score to rank every eligible candidate; where scores are tied, the SJT band is used as a tie-breaker only. UCL's own published table shows the minimum total score invited to interview by category:
| Applicant Category | 2025 Entry (out of 3,600) | 2026 Entry (out of 2,700) |
|---|---|---|
| Home applicants | 2,800 | 2,190 |
| Overseas applicants | 3,060 | 2,300 |
| Access UCL (contextual offer) | 2,600 | 2,080 |
UCL is explicit that these figures are cohort-dependent and not a promise for future cycles, but they are the only officially published, year-on-year comparable thresholds among the three schools. With applications typically exceeding 3,000 for 334 places (24 of which are reserved for Overseas applicants), and every eligible candidate required to have sat the UCAT in the year of application, UCL's process rewards a high raw score more directly than either Oxford's algorithmic shortlisting or Cambridge's holistic review. Interviews at UCL use the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format — typically six to eight short stations of five to eight minutes each, covering ethical scenarios, communication tasks, and role-play — a markedly different skill set from Oxford's and Cambridge's panel-style questioning.
| Factor | Oxford | Cambridge | UCL |
|---|---|---|---|
| UCAT role | Shortlisting (cognitive + GCSE algorithm) | Required for 2027 entry; part of holistic review | Primary ranking tool |
| Published cut-off | None (mean shortlisted score 2,377.5, 2026 entry) | None | Yes — Home 2,190 (2026 entry) |
| SJT used? | Not at shortlisting; disclosed before final offers | No — excluded from selection | Tie-breaker only |
| Interview format | Two college panel interviews | College-based, typically two interviews | MMI, 6–8 stations |
| Applications (latest cycle) | 1,156 (2025 cycle) | ~1,791 (2024 cycle) | 3,000+ per year |
| Places | ~157/year | ~288 offers/cycle | 334 (24 Overseas) |
| Approx. success rate | 15.4% male / 18.1% female | ~16% | Not published |
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Because Abstract Reasoning has been removed and the scoring scale rebased to 2,700, historical advice built around 3,600-point targets is now out of date. Here is what matters for 2026 and 2027 entry specifically:
Yes. Contrary to a common but outdated claim, Cambridge does require the UCAT for 2027 entry. Cambridge (course codes A100/A101) is a full member of the UCAT Consortium's university list. The key difference from Oxford and UCL is that Cambridge uses only the cognitive subtest score — Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, and Quantitative Reasoning — and excludes the Situational Judgement Test from selection entirely. Cambridge does not publish a minimum threshold score, so UCAT preparation should focus on the cognitive sections rather than a specific target number.
Oxford does not publish a minimum score, but its own 2025-cycle admissions statistics show the mean overall UCAT score among shortlisted candidates was 2,377.5 out of the new 2,700 maximum, rising to 2,407.1 among candidates who received an offer. The national mean cognitive scaled score across all UCAT test-takers that year was only 1,891, so a genuinely competitive Oxford application typically sits several hundred points above the national average. Situational Judgement is not scored at shortlisting but is reviewed before final offers are made.
UCL publishes exact minimum scores each cycle. For 2026 entry, on the new 2,700-point scale, the minimum total score invited to interview was 2,190 for Home applicants, 2,300 for Overseas applicants, and 2,080 for Access UCL contextual-offer applicants. These compare to 2,800, 3,060, and 2,600 respectively on the old 3,600-point scale used for 2025 entry. UCL is explicit that these figures are cohort-dependent and not guaranteed to repeat in future cycles.
It matters differently at each school. Oxford does not use SJT at the shortlisting stage but discloses SJT band to colleges before final offer decisions are confirmed. Cambridge excludes SJT from selection entirely for 2027 entry. UCL uses SJT band only as a tie-breaker when two candidates have identical total UCAT scores. None of the three treats SJT as a standalone pass/fail gate in the way some other UK medical schools do, but it can still influence a marginal decision at Oxford or UCL.
Abstract Reasoning was withdrawn from the UCAT for tests sat from 2025 onward, cutting the maximum cognitive score from 3,600 to 2,700. This means every historical benchmark below 2025 needs rescaling before comparison. Oxford confirmed it did not publish comparative statistics between its 2024 (out of 3,600) and 2025 (out of 2,700) cohorts for exactly this reason. UCL's published table shows both scales side by side: a 2,800 Home threshold on the old 3,600 scale becomes 2,190 on the new 2,700 scale for 2026 entry.
Leading Tuition offers targeted UCAT and interview preparation matched to the specific selection method used by Oxford, Cambridge, and UCL. Our specialist tutors build personalised study plans around the post-2025 scoring scale, provide full timed mock tests, and prepare students separately for panel-style Oxbridge interviews and UCL's Multiple Mini Interview format. Rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot, we have supported hundreds of students applying to the UK's most selective medical schools. Book a free consultation to discuss your preparation timeline and target universities.
If you are preparing for the UCAT or planning your medicine application, the following resources may be useful: UCAT preparation with Leading Tuition, Oxbridge interview preparation, and our Medicine Preparation hub.
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