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The principles described here apply to our standard process of selection for interview. The following categories of applicant each have amended processes, which are described elsewhere:

• Graduate
• Widening Participation

Graduate applicants who meet the threshold academic requirements will be ranked and shortlisted for interview according to UCAT score. Further information on these categories can be found in the relevant sections (see 'Entry Requirements').

For information on how we score international applications, please see the 'Selection for interview - 5-year MBChB (International)' section further down this page.

We will apply the following selection process to all standard applicants:

• Applications will receive an overall score, which is the sum of weighted scores for each of three components: academic, UCAT and contextual
• The weighting will be: 45% academic, 40% UCAT and 15% contextual. 
• We will not score your personal statement, but you must offer evidence of commitment to medicine (see 'Preparing to Apply')

Scoring an application

An application score is generated from GCSE and UCAT results as well as a contextual element as follows:

GCSE

Each application will receive a score for academic achievement based on results in seven GCSE (or equivalent) subjects. The subjects that will be scored are: English Language, English Literature, Mathematics (or one, but not both, of Methods in Mathematics and Applications of Mathematics), Biology and Chemistry (or dual award science), plus two additional GCSEs in any subject. We will not exempt anyone from requiring a score for all identified subjects.

For the subjects specified above a minimum of grade B/6 must be offered and the scores allocated to the different grades are as follows:

8 or 9/A* = 4

7/A = 2

6/B = 1

For each of the two unspecified subjects, a score of 2 will be allocated when an 8 or 9/A*grade has been obtained. Lower grades will not receive a score.

The total GCSE score will be scaled to a maximum of 4.5.

Because we rank applicants according to a total score, we cannot define a GCSE grade profile that will be acceptable.

UCAT

There is no minimum UCAT cut-off score. Your total UCAT score from the three subtests (i.e. excluding the band result for the Situational Judgment Test, SJT), will be ranked among those for all applicants. The scores will be segregated according to national deciles and we will allocate a score to each decile. For example, the top 10% of applicants’ scores will be in the top decile and will receive a maximum score of 4.0 in our process. For guidance, the national decile ranges for tests taken past years are available on the and the score we will allocate for each decile is listed below (converted to a 0 – 4.0 scale):

Guidance on UCAT scoring

Decile	Converted score
10th	4.000
9th	3.556
8th	3.111
7th	2.667
6th	2.222
5th	1.778
4th	1.333
3rd	0.889
2nd	0.444
1st	0.000

The band score for the Situational Judgment Test (SJT) component of UCAT will be used at the interview stage.

Contextual

Applicants must have attended a contextual school or have been in receipt of free school meals (FSM) during their secondary education to receive a score for this element. 

Since 2020/21 we have incorporated the contextual element into the algorithm used to score all applicants.

We describe elsewhere the mechanism we use for identifying a contextual school and an explanation of POLAR4 (see ‘Entry Requirements MBChB (5 year)’).

If you studied at a school that meets our contextual criteria for GCSEs or were in receipt of FSMs during your secondary education, you will receive a score for the contextual elementbased on the POLAR4 quintile for your home postcode (see below).

POLAR4

You can retrieve your POLAR4 quintile from the Office for Students website: .

We will allocate a score based on the following scheme:

POLAR4 scoring scheme

POLAR4 Quintile	1	2	3	4	5
Allocated score	1.5	1.5	1.2	0.9	0.6

How we select interview candidates

Selection for interview is determined by ranking applicants according to the total application score (combination of GCSE, UCAT and contextual scores, with a maximum of 10). We expect to interview over 1,100 standard applicants.

If this ranking does not allow us to identify an exact cut-off, we will rank applicants with the same score according to their UCAT results (focusing primarily on the score for Verbal Reasoning).

Please note that it is not possible to advise on the threshold score because this will vary each year according to the number and quality of applications we receive. For more detailed information regarding thresholds from previous application cycles, please see our application statistics document.

To ensure that we are identifying applicants with the necessary skills and aptitude, we will also consider all other information in an application, including your personal statement and reference, both before and after interview.

Please note that we do not calculate an application score for international applicants.

The following is taken into consideration when assessing an international application:

i) Academic

• Academic results will be studied to ensure minimum academic standards are met (see below for specified qualifications). Graduates must offer a 2:1 (equivalent) degree. These minimum standards may be raised through competition.
• All applicants who meet the threshold academic standards will go forward to the next stage of selection

ii) UCAT

• Applicants will be ranked according to total UCAT score from the three subtests  (excluding the SJT component). Information on threshold total scores for selection for interview in past application cycles can be found on our application statistics document

iii) Non-academic

• The final stage of selection for interview is an assessment of your non-academic qualities, which will be made based on the evidence provided in your personal statement (see '')

For more detailed information regarding thresholds from previous application cycles, please see our application statistics document.

We are unable to predict the threshold score because this will vary each year according to the number and quality of applications we receive. We have to consider the number of interview places and places on our MBChB programme available, along with the unknown factors such as who will apply, the quality of applicants' academic results and their UCAT test performance. Once these are all factored together in the way that we describe above, it is only then that we can define who to invite to interview.

We believe this to be the fairest way to decide who should be able to attend interview when viewing all applicants within the context of the whole pool of those who applied.

The threshold application scores for the current cycle will be published at the end of the admissions cycle (around September/October time). Unfortunately, we are unable to provide individual feedback on your application due to the volume of applications we receive and process.

Invitations to interview are normally sent out between December and January.  Your interview status will not show up on UCAS Track, so please ensure you check your junk mail and any alternative inboxes, or email addresses you have used as part of your application, regularly during this time in case an invitation to interview has been sent.

We aim to have all decisions on UCAS Track by mid-March, and these decisions are final.

If you are a Pathways to Birmingham applicant who applied before the deadline and have not received an update on your application by 1st January, please contact outreach@contacts.bham.ac.uk.