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Imperial — Undergraduate medicine
Figures are on the current UCAT scale of 2700 unless a cell says otherwise.
Imperial College London - Medicine
MBBS Medicine (A100)
How this university scores applications, with the figures it publishes.
High level summary
Simple summary. Excruciating detail below.
| Question | Answer |
|---|
| Is there a score to clear? | Yes. The university publishes a number, further down this page. Miss it and you are not shortlisted. It is reset every year, so last year’s figure is a guide, not a promise. |
| How to read the UCAT figures here | Only the lowest score is published. It belongs to one applicant, usually one who was strong somewhere else. Matching it is not the same as being competitive. |
| What else counts | GCSEs are a gate. Meeting the minimum is what counts; beating it earns nothing.
The SJT band is a gate. Clear it; a better band earns nothing more. |
| Note | Shortlisting is the UCAT alone. The figure Imperial gives as its threshold is the lowest score it actually invited that year, not a bar fixed in advance. |
UCAT thresholds - the lowest score invited to interview, published by Imperial
| Group | 2025 entry (of 3600) | 2026 entry (of 2700) |
|---|
| Home, non-contextual | 3020 | 2320 |
| Home, contextual / widening participation | 2810 | 2170 |
| Overseas | 2830 | 2310 |
| SJT | Band 3 minimum, band 4 discounted | Band 3 minimum, band 4 discounted |
How the threshold is set
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Not fixed in advance | Imperial calculates the threshold each year 'as a result of ranked candidate UCAT scores versus number of expected interview sessions'. It is an outcome of the pool, not a rule set before applications open |
| Shortlisting | On UCAT performance alone. No scoring matrix combines the UCAT with academic attainment |
| GCSE | English Language grade 6. No other GCSE requirements |
| Contextual | Meeting the minimum requirements and the lower contextual threshold guarantees an interview and, if criteria are met, a guaranteed offer at minimum entry level |
| Scale change | From 2026 entry the total cognitive score runs to 2700, each section 300 to 900. Do not read the 2025 and 2026 rows against each other |
Invited to interview, by year
| Entry year | All applicants | Of which international |
|---|
| 2020 | 1245 | 126 |
| 2021 | 1065 | 129 |
| 2022 | 902 | 146 |
| 2023 | 975 | 135 |
| 2024 | 844 | 226 |
| 2025 | 852 | 280 |
| 2026 | 870 | 253 |
| Item | Number |
|---|
| Target intake | 345 |
| Home | 271 |
| Overseas | 74 |
Still outstanding after IMPFOI-26-423
| Item | Status |
|---|
| Mean UCAT of applicants interviewed | Unknown. Only the lowest score is released |
| Decile or quartile distribution at interview | Unknown |
| SJT band counts at interview | Unknown |
| Any UCAT figure at offer stage | Unknown |
| Contextual split of application, offer and acceptance volumes | Unknown |
| Places allocated to the contextual route | Unknown |
| Note | Imperial answered under section 21 by pointing to published material. That material genuinely covers questions 1, 4, 5 and 7, but not the above. A narrowed follow-up was sent in September 2026 |
Summary of the selection model
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Scoring approach | Purely UCAT for shortlisting, with an SJT band gate - Imperial confirmed no matrix combines the UCAT with academic attainment. Only GCSE English at grade 6 is required, so there is no GCSE points scheme. Contextual applicants meeting the minimum requirements and the lower contextual threshold are guaranteed an interview and, if criteria are met, a guaranteed offer at minimum entry level. Personal statement used at interview |
| UCAT - how it is used | Shortlisting is on UCAT performance alone - no scoring matrix combines the UCAT with academic attainment. SJT band 3 is the minimum and band 4 is discounted. Thresholds are set after the fact each year by ranking applicant scores against available interview sessions, so they move with the applicant pool. From 2026 entry the total cognitive score runs to 2700, each section scored 300 to 900 |
| UCAT threshold | Published thresholds, recalculated each year from ranked applicant scores against the number of interview sessions available. 2026 entry (of 2700): 2320 home non-contextual, 2170 home contextual, 2310 overseas. 2025 entry (of 3600): 3020 home non-contextual, 2810 home contextual, 2830 overseas. SJT band 3 minimum throughout; band 4 is discounted |
| UCAT lowest accepted | These thresholds ARE the lowest scores invited to interview. 2026 entry (of 2700): 2320 home, 2170 home contextual, 2310 overseas. 2025 entry (of 3600): 3020 home, 2810 home contextual, 2830 overseas |
| UCAT average accepted | Unknown. Imperial releases the lowest score invited but no mean, no decile or quartile distribution and no SJT band counts, at either interview or offer stage. Requested under IMPFOI-26-423 and not covered by the material cited |
| Interview format | In-person and online MMI |
| Interview to offer ratio | Target intake 345 (271 home, 74 overseas). Invited to interview, all applicants: 2020 1245, 2021 1065, 2022 902, 2023 975, 2024 844, 2025 852, 2026 870. Of those, international: 2020 126, 2021 129, 2022 146, 2023 135, 2024 226, 2025 280, 2026 253 |
| Contextual offer | Guaranteed interview and guaranteed minimum-level offer for eligible contextual applicants |
| Resits | Not accepted |
| Data status | Complete for thresholds and method - Imperial publishes these. Mean and distribution of UCAT at interview and offer stage still outstanding |
Source
Web (cited by Imperial under section 21): https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/study/undergraduate/A100-FOI-FAQs-2026--v2.pdf ; disclosure log entry IMPFOI-26-350, 12 August 2026, 'Medicine, shortlisting of applicants and selection for interview' ; https://www.imperial.ac.uk/admin-services/strategic-planning/statistics/transparency-information/ | FOI: Imperial College London IMPFOI-26-423, 7 September 2026, section 21 response
Entry requirements
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Country | England |
| Course (UCAS code) | MBBS Medicine (A100) |
| A level | Minimum AAA including Chemistry and Biology plus one other, all in one sitting. Standard offer likely A*AA with the A* in Chemistry or Biology (contextual applicants may hold the A* in any subject) |
| Scottish Highers / Advanced Highers | Advanced Highers AAA including Chemistry, Biology, one science/maths and one further subject, plus one subject at Higher |
| IB | Minimum 38 points with 6 in HL Biology and Chemistry, in one sitting. Standard offer likely 39 with 7 and 6 in Biology/Chemistry |
| English language | IELTS Academic 7.0 overall with 6.5 minimum in all elements, achieved at a single sitting. IELTS single score retakes are not accepted. Home applicants also need GCSE English Language grade 6 |
| Resits accepted? | No |
Volumes, places and competition
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Figures cover | All applicants, 2026 entry. Interviews from Imperial's published FAQ; applications and offers are on its transparency pages |
| Interviewed | 870 |
| Interviews per place | 2.52 |
| Previous years - application year and UCAT figure | Lowest UCAT invited to interview, published by Imperial. 2025 entry (of 3600): 3020 home non-contextual, 2810 home contextual, 2830 overseas. 2026 entry (of 2700): 2320 home non-contextual, 2170 home contextual, 2310 overseas. SJT band 3 minimum throughout, band 4 discounted. Thresholds are set each year by ranking applicants against available interview sessions, so they move with the pool rather than being fixed in advance |
How the UCAT is turned into a score
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Is a UCAT points conversion published? | No points conversion has been published. What the University does say about the UCAT is in the row below. |
| How the UCAT is used, in the University’s own words | Shortlisting is on UCAT performance alone - no scoring matrix combines the UCAT with academic attainment. SJT band 3 is the minimum and band 4 is discounted. Thresholds are set after the fact each year by ranking applicant scores against available interview sessions, so they move with the applicant pool. From 2026 entry the total cognitive score runs to 2700, each section scored 300 to 900 Purely UCAT for shortlisting, with an SJT band gate - Imperial confirmed no matrix combines the UCAT with academic attainment. Only GCSE English at grade 6 is required, so there is no GCSE points scheme. Contextual applicants meeting the minimum requirements and the lower contextual threshold are guaranteed an interview and, if criteria are met, a guaranteed offer at minimum entry level. Personal statement used at interview |
Entry requirements and places, as shown on the comparison table
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| SJT - how the band is used | Band 3 is the minimum. Band 4 is discounted. |
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