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Southampton — Undergraduate medicine
Figures are on the current UCAT scale of 2700 unless a cell says otherwise.
Southampton - Medicine
BMBS Medicine BM5 (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. Applicants are put in order by UCAT score and the university works down the list until the interview places run out. The line moves with the field each year. Any contextual adjustment is below. |
| 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.
The SJT band does not affect shortlisting. |
| The odds | Of every 100 who applied, about 64 were interviewed and about 35 were offered a place. |
| Where it is decided | Both stages. About half the field goes before interview, so the score and the interview each do half the work.
Of those interviewed, about 54 in 100 were offered a place. |
Summary of the selection model
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Scoring approach | Ranked on the total UCAT score alone. GCSEs and A levels are a minimum requirement only and are not converted into points. The SJT is not used at all. Contextual school leavers are ranked in a separate stream. Offers are decided on the selection day, not the UCAT |
| UCAT - how it is used | Applicants who meet the minimum entry requirements are ranked on their total UCAT score and the top ranked fill a fixed number of interview places. Southampton states the cut-off "is simply last person invited to interview", so the published cut-off is the lowest score interviewed. There is no weighting and no scoring matrix. The SJT is not used, and deciles are not used. UCAT plays no part at offer stage: offers are made on interview performance alone |
| UCAT threshold | No fixed threshold is set in advance. The cut-off is whatever score the last person invited to interview held, so it moves every cycle |
| UCAT lowest accepted | 2026 entry, of 2700: home school leavers 1950, contextual 1920, international 2020. 2025 entry, of 3600: home school leavers 2610, contextual 2500, international 2760. These are cut-offs, and because the cut-off is the last person invited they are also the lowest score interviewed |
| UCAT average accepted | Not held. Southampton states it does not hold a mean, because it uses only the combined total score |
| Interview format | Selection day with traditional panel interviews and group exercises |
| Contextual offer | AAB including Biology and one additional science for school leavers meeting two contextual flags, with the same GCSE requirement as non-contextual applicants. Contextual school leavers are ranked in a separate stream. No fixed number of places. The concession has narrowed: worth about 80 points for 2025 entry, 30 points for 2026 entry |
| Resits | Maximum one resit per subject, three subjects maximum. No GCSE resit restrictions |
| Data status | Cut-offs, application volumes and places complete for 2025 and 2026 entry from FOI F-26-0266. Mean, distribution and SJT counts are not held |
Source
Southampton FOI response F-26-0266, 18 September 2026; https://www.southampton.ac.uk/ ; Office for Students, medical and dental maximum fundable limits, 2025-26 entry cohort
UCAT cut-off, by entry year and group
| Group | 2026 entry (of 2700) | 2025 entry (of 3600) | 2025 entry restated on 2700 |
|---|
| BM5 home school leavers | 1950 | 2610 | ~1930 |
| BM5 contextual school leavers | 1920 | 2500 | ~1850 |
| BM5 international | 2020 | 2760 | ~2040 |
| BM4 graduate entry | 1820 | 2570 | ~1900 |
| BM6 | Not used | Not used | Southampton states the UCAT was not previously used to rank applicants for BM6 |
| What changed | The contextual concession has narrowed sharply. On the same scale it was worth about 80 points for 2025 entry and 30 points for 2026 entry | | |
BM5 volumes, from the FOI response
| Stage | 2025 entry | 2026 entry |
|---|
| Applications received | 1384 | 1455 |
| Interviewed, school leavers | 780 | 812 |
| Interviewed, of which contextual | 102 | 118 |
| Interviewed, graduates | 46 | 52 |
| Interviewed, mature non-graduates | 15 | fewer than 10 |
| Interviewed, overseas | 72 | 74 |
| Offers, school leavers | 393 | 438 |
| Offers, of which contextual | 45 | 50 |
| Offers, graduates | 30 | 38 |
| Offers, mature non-graduates | 10 | fewer than 10 |
| Offers, overseas | 35 | 35 |
| Places | About 160 home plus 11 international | About 160 home plus 11 international |
BM6, the six year widening participation programme
| Stage | 2025 entry | 2026 entry |
|---|
| Applications received | 405 | 416 |
| Invited to interview | 202 | 207 |
| Offers made | 118 | 121 |
| Places (further detail) | 37 | 37 |
| UCAT | Southampton states the UCAT was not previously used to rank and score applicants for BM6 | |
What Southampton says it does not hold
| Item | Position |
|---|
| Mean UCAT | Not held. Only the combined total score is used |
| Decile or quartile distribution | Not held. Deciles are not used |
| SJT band counts | Not held. The SJT is not used |
| UCAT at offer stage | Not used. Offers are made on interview performance |
| Application stage breakdown by fee status or contextual route | Not held. Southampton reviews only as many applications as it needs to fill interviews and states it never looks at the rest |
| Scale maximum for each figure | Asked for and not given. The scales here are inferred from the magnitude of the numbers and the test cycle each entry year draws on |
Entry requirements
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Country | England |
| Course (UCAS code) | BMBS Medicine BM5 (A100) |
| GCSE | Seven GCSEs at grade 6 or above including English Language, Maths and science. Graduates and mature non-graduates: four GCSEs at grade 4 in the same subjects |
| A level | AAA including Biology and one additional science, with a separate practical endorsement pass. Acceptable second sciences: Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, Environmental Studies, Geography. No tariff equivalents |
| Scottish Highers / Advanced Highers | Offers based on S6 exams; S5 qualifications reviewed contextually. Contact Faculty Admissions |
| IB | 36 points with 18 at HL, including 6 in Biology and one additional science |
| English language | GCSE English Language required for all applicants |
| Resits accepted? | Yes, with conditions - one resit per subject, max three subjects |
Volumes, places and competition
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Figures cover | BM5, 2026 entry, from FOI F-26-0266. Places are about 160 home plus 11 international. Interview and offer counts are minimums: two small groups were suppressed as fewer than ten. Separately Southampton has 60 places on BM4 and 37 on BM6 |
| Applications | 1455 |
| Interviewed | 938 |
| Offers | 511 |
| Interviews per place | 5.49 |
| Offers per interview | 0.54 |
| Previous years - application year and UCAT figure | 2025 entry, of 3600: home school leavers 2610, contextual 2500, international 2760. BM5 1,384 applications, 913 interviews, 468 offers Approximate current-scale equivalents, out of 2700: 2610 is about 1930, 2500 is about 1850, 2760 is about 2040. |
Totals as shown on the comparison table
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| Places (further detail) | 171 |
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 | Applicants who meet the minimum entry requirements are ranked on their total UCAT score and the top ranked fill a fixed number of interview places. Southampton states the cut-off "is simply last person invited to interview", so the published cut-off is the lowest score interviewed. There is no weighting and no scoring matrix. The SJT is not used, and deciles are not used. UCAT plays no part at offer stage: offers are made on interview performance alone Ranked on the total UCAT score alone. GCSEs and A levels are a minimum requirement only and are not converted into points. The SJT is not used at all. Contextual school leavers are ranked in a separate stream. Offers are decided on the selection day, not the UCAT |
Entry requirements and places, as shown on the comparison table
| Item | Detail |
|---|
| SJT - how the band is used | Not used at all. |
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