6 October 2021
By email:
[FYI request #16594 email]
Dear Mr Lee
We refer to your information request dated 1 September 2021 made under the Official Information
Act 1982 (Act). You have requested information regarding entry to the MB ChB (Medicine) and BDS
(Dentistry) programmes for international students via Health Sciences First Year (HSFY).
We set out our responses to each of your questions below.
1. Lowest successful UCAT score and GPA for MBChB and BDS for the last 4 years
including 2021 (HSFY entry only)
Please find below a table of the lowest successful academic score to receive an offer for entry into
the MB ChB and BDS programmes via the HSFY international category for the last 4 years. Please
note that not all eligible applicants who were above the minimum scores will have accepted their
offers – e.g. they may have elected to study a different course or at a different institution.
Please also note that for HSFY, academic scores are used instead of GPA scores.
Minimum academic score to receive an offer
For entry via the HSFY
international category
2018
2019
2020
2021
MB ChB
72.08
67.58
74.14
78.29
BDS
70.00
77.29
67.43
69.71
In relation to your request for the “lowest successful UCAT score”, the minimum UCAT requirement
to receive an offer for entry into the MB ChB and BDS programmes is meeting the thresholds set by
the Medical Admission Committee and the Dental Admissions Committee each year. UCAT was
introduced in 2020 and therefore there were no UCAT thresholds set for entry into 2018 and 2019.
The minimum threshold set for entry into 2020 and 2021 are as follows:
MB ChB – 2020:
- Verbal Reasoning: threshold set at the 20th percentile (scores in the bottom 20% were
declined)
- Situational Judgement: threshold set at the 10th percentile (scores in the bottom 10% were
declined)
- No threshold was set for Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning
BDS – 2020:
- Verbal Reasoning: threshold set at the 20th percentile (scores in the bottom 20% were
declined)
- Decision Making: threshold set at the 57th percentile (scores in the bottom 57% were
declined)
- Situational Judgement: threshold set at the 10th percentile (scores in the bottom 10% were
declined)
- No threshold was set for Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning
BDS – 2021:
- Verbal Reasoning: threshold set at the 25th percentile (scores in the bottom 20% were
declined)
- Decision Making: score of 640 and above met the threshold
- Situational Judgement: threshold set at the 10th percentile (scores in the bottom 10% were
declined)
- No threshold was set for Quantitative Reasoning and Abstract Reasoning
Please note that the Medical Admissions Committee decided that for entry into the 2021 MB ChB
programme, the required UCAT threshold would not apply for international students. The
Committee decided that the eligibility criteria would be an average of 70% across all core HSFY
papers and no individual paper mark of less than 55%. For entry into the BDS programme, the Dental
Admissions Committee decided that the eligibility criteria would be an average of 70% across all core
HSFY papers and no individual paper mark of less than 65%.
2. The number of successful applicants for MBChB and BDS for the last 4 years
Please find below a table of the number of international students admitted to the MB ChB and BDS
programmes for the last 4 years.
Please note that for the MB ChB programme the data represents the number of international
students new to the MB ChB programme in that year. For the BDS programme the data represents
the number of international students in their first year of the programme who were specifically
enrolled in HSFY in the year prior to enrolment.
Number of international students admitted to programme
2018
2019
2020
2021
MB ChB
10
8
10
8
BDS
12
14
24
13
3. Highest UCAT score and GPA for unsuccessful international applicants for MBChB and
BDS
Please find below a table of the highest unsuccessful academic scores for entry into the MB ChB and
BDS programmes via the HSFY international category for the last 4 years.
Please note that for entry into the 2021 MB ChB programme, all international student applicants
who met the eligibility criteria for entry were given an offer. Not al of these students accepted their
offers. Therefore, there is no highest unsuccessful academic score for entry into the 2021 MB ChB
programme via the HSFY international category, and we have marked this as being “N/A”.
As mentioned above, please also note that for HSFY, GPA scores are not used.
Highest unsuccessful academic score
For entry via the HSFY
international category
2018
2019
2020
2021
MB ChB
75.66
68.15
96.14
N/A
BDS
88.43
80.00
82.71
94.57
As also noted above, UCAT is a threshold measure. The minimum threshold set for entry into 2020
and 2021 for MB ChB and BDS is noted above. UCAT was introduced in 2020 and therefore there
were no UCAT thresholds set for entry into the 2018 and 2019 MB ChB and BDS programmes. As
noted above, the required UCAT threshold did not apply to international students for entry into the
2021 MB ChB programme.
4. Interview UCAT cutoff for international applicants for dentistry
For entry into the 2020 and 2021 BDS programme, the UCAT threshold was the same for all BDS sub-
category applicants, therefore international student applicants were required to meet the same
UCAT thresholds as all other HSFY admission applicants. To be considered for an interview, an
applicant must have met the UCAT threshold set by the Dental Admissions Committee.
The UCAT threshold for admission into the BDS programme is noted above.
We trust that this information will be helpful.
Yours sincerely
Kelsey Kennard
Official Information and Compliance Coordinator
Office of the Registrar
