The Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT) is required by several universities across the UK, some countries in Europe, and even as far-reaching as Malaysia.
The test is an entry requirement at these universities for Medical, Veterinary and some Dentistry courses. Different Medical Schools use BMAT scores differently in admissions, so it’s important to get an idea of what types of scores are required to successfully pass the test. In this guide, we will cover how each Medical School uses the BMAT.
BMAT Medical Schools in the UK
There are 6 UK universities that require the BMAT:
- University of Cambridge
- University of Oxford
- Imperial College London
- Brighton & Sussex Medical School
- Lancaster University
- University College London
It was announced that the BMAT will no longer be run as of 2024 (along with various other admissions tests). As such, some BMAT universities, such as Imperial College London, will be changing to the UCAT in 2025, while others, like the University of Leeds and Keele University, have already switched to the UCAT for 2024 Entry.
As it stands, these universities will be using the BMAT for the last time in 2023, so let’s go through each UK university and see how they use the test.
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“All Standard Course (A100) applicants (including applicants to mature Colleges) are required to take the Biomedical Admission Test (BMAT) pre-interview.”
Cambridge generally Interviews 70% of candidates, but your BMAT score is still an important deciding factor of getting to the Interview stage and decisions made after, along with other factors such as your GCSEs and Interview performance.
Cambridge says that students who achieve higher BMAT results are more likely to be invited to Interview but there isn’t a ‘pass’ mark for the BMAT at Cambridge. As Medicine at Cambridge is very competitive (17% of applicants are accepted), having a high BMAT score is important when competing with fellow students who will have a very good BMAT score, supported by exceptional GCSEs and A-level predicted grades.
As a rough guide of BMAT scores to beat to give yourself a higher chance of receiving an offer, using a Freedom of Information Act Request, we can break down the 2020 BMAT scores for candidates who received an offer from Cambridge. These are the average BMAT Section scores across all colleges for offer holders:
Average Cambridge BMAT Score For Offer Holders
Oxford typically receives many applications each year (over 2,000 in 2020) and they use the BMAT to shortlist students for Interviews. The University generally Interviews around 25% of candidates so it is clear how competitive it is as only 1 in 4 applicants receive an Interview.
Oxford centralise their shortlisting process through an algorithm that uses applicants’ proportion of A*s/9 & 8s at GCSEs along with the BMAT score to rank all their applicants, and the top candidates are invited to Interview. BMAT Sections 1 + 2 counts for 40% each of your BMAT score whilst Section 3 counts for 20%. The applications of candidates who did not make the initial shortlist are then reviewed by admissions tutors who take into account any individual circumstances – both academic and non-academic.
As a rough guide of BMAT scores to beat to give yourself a higher chance of receiving an offer, using a Freedom of Information Act Request, we can break down the 2020 BMAT scores for candidates who received an offer from Oxford. These are the average BMAT Section scores across all colleges for offer holders:
Average Oxford BMAT Score For Offer Holders
Imperial College differs from other universities as they require their applicants to hit a minimum score on every section. If a minimum threshold is not hit in Section 1, 2 or 3, then you will not secure an Interview. This means consistency and ability across every section is equally important.
“BMAT cut-off scores are calculated each year, as a result of ranked candidate BMAT scores versus number of expected interview sessions. As a result, the absolute BMAT cut-off changes each year. However, the BMAT cut-off scores from previous admissions cycles may be used as a guide.”
Imperial College London BMAT Cut-Off Score
The cut-off scores differ each year, but for 2021 entry, home candidates were required to score a minimum of 3.5 in Section 1 and Section 2, with the sum score in these two Sections being at least 10.9. Applicants were also required to score a minimum of 2.5C in Section 3.
UCL is similar to Cambridge in its usage of the BMAT score. UCL place a fair weight on each part of the application process e.g. Personal Statement, GCSE scores and predicted grades.
UCL has stated that “Candidates with scores that are below the average for their cohort are less likely to be successful”, meaning you need to at least achieve average results (5.0), but we strongly suggest aiming for around 6.0 to help you secure your Medicine offer from UCL.
BSMS scores the BMAT out of 28 (9 marks for Section 1, 9 for Section 2 and 5 marks for each element of Section 3) and then rank all applicants according to their total score out of 28 and work down the rankings to fill their Interview places.
The Medical School automatically rules out candidates whose BMAT scores do not hit the below criteria:
- Section one: a score of at least 3 or higher
- Section two: a score of at least 3 or higher
- Section three: a score of at least 2.5 C or higher
Bridgton and Sussex BMAT Cut-Off Score
For 2021, applicants meeting the minimum academic and BMAT (16.4 out of 28) requirements were invited to Interview. Brighton and Sussex’s BMAT cut-off score varies each year but here are some historical data:
- 2020 entry: BMAT cut-off 14.7 or above
- 2019 entry: BMAT cut-off 16.1 or above
- 2018 entry: BMAT cut-off 16.4 or above
Applicants who meet the minimum academic entry requirements are ranked according to their total BMAT score. Lancaster calculates the total BMAT score by combining scores from Sections 1, 2 and 3. They do not use the quality of English score. Section 1 is scored out of 9; Section 2 is scored out of 9, and Section 3 is scored out of 5 (for quality of content)
Looking at previous average scores for offer holders, recently, students who received an offer had an average BMAT score of 17.2 – 8.9 with a cut-off score of 10.5.
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