UCAT Cut-Off Scores 2025
Understanding How UK Medical Schools Use the UCAT in Admissions
If you are applying to medicine and dentistry in the UK, you will need to take the UCAT entrance exam. The only medical school that does not look at the UCAT score is the private medical school, Buckingham.
Each medical school will use UCAT in different ways to shortlist candidates for interview and give them an offer. Some medical schools put great emphasis on it, such as Sheffield, while others will use it alongside academic grades and personal statements, such as Keele.
Not every medical school will use a UCAT cut-off, which is a minimum score required for a student to be invited to the next stage, the interview process. Some medical schools, such as St. George’s, will have their UCAT threshold on their website; these vary year to year and are usually decided post-application based on the UCAT scores of that year.
New UCAT Format
As of 2025 abstract reasoning was removed, leaving 4 subsets: Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Situational Judgement. They are scored out of 900 marks, and a student’s performance in each subset is scaled between 300 and 900. This results in a total score out of 2700, compared to previous years where it was out of 3600. For SJT, a separate banding system is used with Band 1 being the highest, and Band 4 being the lowest.
What is a good score?
Deciles are used to rank UCAT scores compared to others who have taken it in the same cycle. Each decile represents 10% of the number of all students who took the exam, so a student whose score is 6th decile means it is in the top 60%.
It is generally considered that if you are above the 8th decile, this is a good score. However, this does not mean that everyone above the 8th decile will get a place in medical school. There is no one universal cut-off. Med School Entry predicts a score of 2200 and above to be considered a top score. For those universities that emphasise a high UCAT score, such as Oxbridge this threshold is likely to be increased. As a rough guide, most medical schools will be looking for a UCAT score between 1850 and 2200.
Historical deciles can be seen on the official UCAT website, which has removed AR to reflect the new changes.
Warning about SJT bands
Medical schools such as Manchester will automatically reject candidates with a band 4, regardless of other aspects of the application, such as predicted grades or overall UCAT score. If you scored a band 3 or 4, it is worth checking the entry requirements for but university. Medical schools such as King’s will look favourably on those who achieved band 1.
Medical Schools that take a low UCAT score
A low UCAT score can limit the medical schools you can apply to. Avoid the universities which weigh UCAT heavily in their shortlisting process, such as Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial. Instead, go for those which look at other factors when inviting candidates for an interview. These include Sunderland and Keele, which favour long-term volunteering, as well as some of the newer medical schools such as Brunel.
