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King's — Undergraduate medicine
Figures are on the current UCAT scale of 2700 unless a cell says otherwise.
King's 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? | No. The UCAT is folded into one overall score along with other things, so a lower UCAT can be offset by a stronger score elsewhere, and a high one can be dragged down the same way. |
| How to read the UCAT figures here | A lowest score and an average are both published. Judge yourself against the average. The lowest is one person. |
| What else counts | GCSEs are a gate. Meeting the minimum is what counts; beating it earns nothing.
No SJT rule is published. |
| Note | For 2023 entry the lowest score of an offer holder was 2470, exactly the same as the lowest score invited to interview, so the applicant who just reached the interview got an offer. In the two earlier cycles 83 and 68 per cent of those interviewed were offered places. The score gets you into the room and then stops working. The hard part is the room: about a third of applicants were interviewed. The ranking that decides that is improved by the number of GCSE A-stars and by contextual flags. |
Competition, as published by the Medical Schools Council
| Group | Applicants per place | Applicants per interview |
|---|
| Home | 6.7 | 2.0 |
| International | 27.6 | 10.2 |
Stage-by-stage odds, from King's own Applying to Medicine FAQ (July 2023)
| Stage | King's figure |
|---|
| Applicants interviewed | Approximately 30%, around 1,100 students |
| Interviewees who receive an offer | Approximately half |
| All candidates who receive an offer | Between approximately 10% and 25% |
| International places | Usually around 30 per year |
| Note | Dated July 2023, so the ratios may have moved. The 'no cut-off' position is a policy statement rather than a year-specific figure |
How selection works
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| UCAT | Contributes to a ranking system that decides who is progressed to interview. King's publishes no threshold, no decile cut-off and no statement of how the SJT is treated |
| GCSE | Grade 6 minimum in English Language and Maths. Functional Skills not accepted |
| A level | Grade A in Biology and Chemistry. General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills, Global Perspectives not accepted |
| Interview | Online Multiple Mini Interview |
| Personal statement | Used as one component in selection for interview |
| Resits | Considered but reviewed alongside applicants who achieved the grades within the standard timeframe. Second resits only with significant mitigating circumstances |
Historic UCAT figures recorded in the 2023 spreadsheet - NOT independently verified, and on the 3600 scale
| Measure | 2023 entry |
|---|
| Threshold | No cut-off applied |
| Lowest score accepted | 2520 |
| Average | 2935 |
| SJT | Bands 1 and 2 |
| Caution | Carried over from the original 2023 sheet for continuity. Treat as indicative until confirmed by King's or by an FOI response |
What is not in the public domain
| Item | Status |
|---|
| UCAT threshold or cut-off | None exists - King's states it does not operate one. This is a policy position, not a withheld figure |
| Weighting of UCAT against academic attainment | Unknown |
| SJT band treatment | Unknown |
| Applications, interviews and offers by cycle | Unknown - only the ratios above |
| Note | These gaps remain open. |
Summary of the selection model
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Scoring approach | UCAT contributes to a ranking system for interview selection. Personal statement used as one component in selection for interview |
| UCAT - how it is used | Contributes to a ranking system that decides who progresses to interview |
| UCAT threshold | None. King's states in its Applying to Medicine FAQ that there is no cut-off score, as the UCAT is used in combination with the rest of the application |
| UCAT lowest accepted | Lowest invited to interview, of 3600: 2450 for 2019 entry, 2400 for 2020 entry, 2470 for 2023 entry, which is about 1780 to 1810 on the current scale. For 2023 entry the LOWEST SCORE OF AN OFFER HOLDER WAS ALSO 2470, the same as the lowest invited, so the applicant who just reached the interview received an offer. Highest offer holder 3480. These pre-date the scale change and do not cover 2025 or 2026 entry, which is the subject of the internal review. |
| UCAT average accepted | MEAN invited to interview, 2023 entry, of 3600: 2997, which converts to above the 9th decile. That is the middle of the interviewed group and it sits a long way above the lowest invited of 2470. The 2023 sheet also records an average of 2935 and a lowest accepted of 2520, not independently verified. No mean is published for 2019, 2020, 2025 or 2026 entry. |
| Interview format | Online MMI |
| Interview to offer ratio | From King's own FAQ (July 2023): approximately 30% of applicants interviewed, around 1,100 students; approximately half of interviewees receive an offer; between roughly 10% and 25% of all candidates receive an offer; usually around 30 international places. Medical Schools Council: 6.7 home applicants per place and 2.0 per interview, against 27.6 and 10.2 international |
| Data status | Three cycles held: 2019, 2020 and 2023 entry, all on the 3600 scale. For 2023 entry King's published the lowest and mean invited to interview, the lowest and highest offer holder, and 3,433 applications against 1,115 interviews. For 2019 and 2020 it published interviews, offers, acceptances and enrolments. Missing: any figure for 2025 or 2026 entry, the SJT rule, and the weighting of UCAT against academic attainment. Internal review of the current refusal is due 8 October. |
Source
Web: https://www.medschools.ac.uk/courses/kings-college-london-medicine-a100/ ; https://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm/assets/applying-to-medicine-faqs.pdf
UCAT, A100, three earlier cycles - all on the 3600 scale
| Entry year | Lowest UCAT invited to interview | Mean UCAT invited to interview | Lowest UCAT of an offer holder | Highest UCAT of an offer holder |
|---|
| 2019 entry | 2450 | Not given | Not given | Not given |
| 2020 entry | 2400 | Not given | Not given | Not given |
| 2023 entry | 2470 | 2997 | 2470 | 3480 |
Volumes, A100, three earlier cycles
| Entry year | Applications | Invited to interview | Offers | Offers firmly accepted | Enrolled |
|---|
| 2019 entry | Not given | 1040 | 867 | 452 | 318 |
| 2020 entry | Not given | 1122 | 764 | 386 | 338 |
| 2023 entry | 3433 | 1115 | Not given | Not given | Not given |
Selection method as described in those responses
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| UCAT cut-off | None. 'We do not have a specific UCAT cut off' and 'We did not have a requirement for UCAT score' |
| Ranking | Applicants meeting the entry requirements were ranked against the rest of that cycle's pool on UCAT score - described as average score and SJT band |
| GCSE (further detail) | Ranking improved by GCSE results, specifically the number of A-stars |
| Contextual | Ranking improved on widening participation and contextual criteria. Every application carrying a widening participation flag was reviewed before rejection |
| Interview | The top ranking applications were invited to interview |
| A level (further detail) | Entry requirement A-star A A. King's states it was most common for successful applicants to be two grades above that |
| Achieved grades | 310 unconditional offers made on achieved A level results for A100 in 2023 |
| Deferred entry | 6 deferred entries in 2023 |
| AS levels | Not considered. Offers made on three A levels only |
Why these older cycles matter
| Point | Detail |
|---|
| Not the cycles requested | These are 2019, 2020 and 2023 entry. They pre-date the scale change and do not answer the question about 2025 and 2026 entry. |
| But they answer a different question | King's refused the current request under sections 22, 43(2) and 21, on the basis that disclosure would prejudice its commercial interests. It has released the same categories of information at least twice before, to other requesters, and those responses sit publicly on WhatDoTheyKnow. |
| The specific overlap | Lowest UCAT at interview, mean UCAT at interview, lowest and highest UCAT of offer holders, application and interview volumes, offers, acceptances and enrolments, and the role of GCSE and contextual flags in ranking. Every one of those was refused and disclosed previously. |
| The stability of the figures | Lowest UCAT invited to interview was 2450, 2400 and 2470 across 2019, 2020 and 2023. A figure that moves by 70 points across four years is hard to characterise as market sensitive intelligence. |
| Use | This rests on King's own published disclosures. |
Source
King's College London FOI responses published on WhatDoTheyKnow: ref 604.24 of 17 September 2024 covering UCAS cycle 2023, and an earlier response covering the 2019 and 2020 entry cycles
Entry requirements
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Country | England |
| Course (UCAS code) | MBBS Medicine (A100) |
| Scottish Highers / Advanced Highers | AAB at Higher in one sitting plus AA at Advanced Higher including grade A in Chemistry and Biology |
| IB | 38 points including TOK/EE, or 19 from three HL subjects, with grade 6 minimum in HL Biology and Chemistry |
| English language | Band B: IELTS Academic 7.0 overall with 6.5 minimum in each skill. Taken within two years of the start date, all components from a single sitting |
| Resits accepted? | Yes, but judged against non-resit applicants; second resit needs mitigation |
Volumes, places and competition
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Figures cover | Places only: Office for Students maximum fundable limit, anticipated home students, 2025-26 entry cohort. This is the provider level limit across all of that provider's programmes in this subject, not a single course code. The OfS states it also applies for 2026-27 and beyond unless government asks for changes. |
| Places | 346 |
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 | Contributes to a ranking system that decides who progresses to interview UCAT contributes to a ranking system for interview selection. Personal statement used as one component in selection for interview |
Entry requirements and places, as shown on the comparison table
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| SJT - how the band is used | Unknown. King's states there is no cut-off score and does not publish an SJT rule. |
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