When One University Is Really Two Different Degrees
Fifteen universities teach the same subject twice, in different cities, over different lengths, at different prices. Applying to Newcastle or Charles is not one decision.
Quick Answer
Because a university is not a program, and 15 of them on this site prove it. Fifteen university and subject pairs offer more than one route into what looks like the same degree — 33 programs in total. They come in four shapes. Some teach at several faculties in different cities, and the price differs by city: Charles University teaches medicine in English at four faculties across Prague, Pilsen and Hradec Kralove, and the University of Bath teaches its pharmacy MPharm in both Bath and Plymouth. Some run a graduate-entry route alongside the undergraduate one, usually shorter and dearer per year — University College Dublin charges €66,360 for the four-year graduate route against €63,890 for the six-year undergraduate one. Some add an accelerated or foundation option, and Newcastle's accelerated four-year program costs £57,300 a year against £47,000 for the standard five-year one. And two Italian universities run a dual engineering degree beside the medical one. If your shortlist has one line per university, it is wrong somewhere.
Source Status
Routes are counted from the program catalog, where each route is a separate record with its own official page. Fees are the published figure for each route as the university states it.
Quick Take
- 15 university and subject pairs offer more than one route into the same degree.
- Different faculties of the same university can charge different fees.
- The shorter route usually costs more per year and less overall.
Same university, different city, different price
The most common reason a university appears twice is that it teaches in more than one place, and the faculties price independently.
| University | Faculty or campus | Published fee |
|---|---|---|
| Charles University | Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen | CZK 390,000 per academic year |
| Charles University | Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove | 400,000 CZK per academic year |
| Charles University | Second Faculty of Medicine, Prague | 420,000 CZK per academic year |
| Charles University | First Faculty of Medicine, Prague | €24,250 per academic year |
| Comenius University Bratislava | Faculty of Medicine, Bratislava | €13,000 per academic year |
| Comenius University Bratislava | Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Martin | €11,500 per academic year |
Charles is the extreme case: four medicine faculties, three dentistry faculties, and a fee range wide enough that the difference inside the university exceeds the difference between most countries. Note also that three of the four quote in koruna and the First Faculty quotes in euros — the currency your invoice arrives in is a faculty-level decision, not a national one.
Comenius is the cleaner illustration. Same university, same degree, same six years, and Martin costs €1,500 a year less than Bratislava. Over the degree that is €9,000, decided entirely by which of two Slovak cities you live in.
The University of Bath does something different again: the same pharmacy MPharm, the same fee, taught in Bath and in Plymouth. Nothing about the money changes. Where you spend four years does.
The graduate route is shorter and dearer
Six universities run a graduate-entry or accelerated route beside the standard one. The pattern is consistent enough to state as a rule: fewer years, higher annual fee.
| University | Standard route | Second route |
|---|---|---|
| University College Dublin | 6 years, €63,890 | 4 years, €66,360 |
| RCSI | 5 years, €61,000 | 4 years, €62,500 |
| University College Cork | 5 years, €52,100 | 4 years, €56,100 |
| Newcastle University | 5 years, £47,000 | 4 years, £57,300 |
| University of Nicosia | Six-Year MD | Graduate-Entry MD, 5 years |
| University of Oxford | 6 years | 4 years (A101) |
The Irish figures are the ones worth doing arithmetic on, because they are flat annual fees rather than fees that change in the clinical years. Four years at UCD's €66,360 is €265,440. Six years at €63,890 is €383,340. The graduate route costs €2,470 more each year and about €117,900 less in total.
Newcastle is the tightest case. £57,300 for four years is £229,200; £47,000 for five is £235,000. The accelerated route saves roughly £5,800 and an entire year — which is a real saving, but a much smaller one than the two-year Irish gap, and it is easy to assume the shorter degree is dramatically cheaper when it is barely cheaper at all.
Two of these cannot be multiplied out and should not be. Oxford and the University of Manchester both publish a lower pre-clinical fee and a higher clinical one, so an annual figure times a number of years produces a number the university never charges. Twenty-nine programs on this site vary the fee by year, and the UK clinical jump is the largest of them.
The extra year that is not a graduate route
Two universities run the opposite trade: a longer version of the same degree, for applicants who need the extra year.
The University of Lancashire teaches Medicine and Surgery over five years at £49,000 a year, and Medicine and Surgery with Foundation Year over six at £49,950. The foundation route costs more per year and adds a year, so it is about £54,700 dearer across the degree. That is what the extra year costs, stated plainly, and it is worth knowing before you decide whether you need it.
University College London does the same thing in pharmacy, and it produces the most consequential footnote on this site. UCL teaches a four-year Pharmacy MPharm and a five-year Pharmacy with Integrated Foundation Training, at the same annual fee. The five-year version is the only pharmacy program in the United Kingdom that runs five years, which makes it the only British pharmacy degree that clears the US duration threshold. Two routes, one university, and completely different answers to whether you can practice in the United States.
And two Italian universities run a dual degree alongside the medical one. Humanitas University teaches Medicine and Surgery and, with Politecnico di Milano, MEDTEC Medicine and Biomedical Engineering. Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome runs a standard English track and a MedTech track. In both cases the fee is the same and the curriculum is not.
What to actually do about it
Shortlist routes, not universities. If your list says "Charles University" it is missing four medicine faculties at four different prices. If it says "Bath" it is missing which city you would live in.
Check which route the fee you found belongs to. A published figure attaches to a route, not to an institution, and the gap can be large — £10,300 a year at Newcastle, €4,000 at University College Cork.
Check which route the entry requirement belongs to as well. University College Dublin publishes A-level A*A*A or IB 39 for undergraduate medicine and something completely different for graduate entry: an upper second class honours degree with a GAMSAT minimum of 57 or an MCAT minimum of 503. A threshold belongs to a route, and quoting the wrong one at yourself is how people rule themselves out of a program they qualify for.
If two routes lead to the same qualification, compare the total and the years, not the annual fee. And if you are weighing a graduate-entry route, the four-year programs are worth a guide of their own — there are more of them in Ireland than anywhere else in Europe.
FAQs
Why does the same university appear twice in program listings?
Because it teaches the same subject through more than one route. 15 university and subject pairs on this site do — 33 programs in total. The reasons are a second faculty in another city, a graduate-entry or accelerated route, a foundation-year version, or a dual degree taught with an engineering school.
Do different faculties of the same university charge different fees?
Yes, and the differences are not small. Charles University's four English-taught medicine faculties publish CZK 390,000 in Pilsen, 400,000 in Hradec Kralove, 420,000 at the Second Faculty in Prague and €24,250 at the First Faculty. Comenius charges €13,000 in Bratislava and €11,500 in Martin for the same six-year degree.
Is a graduate-entry medical degree cheaper?
Cheaper overall, more expensive per year. University College Dublin charges €66,360 a year for four-year graduate entry against €63,890 for six-year undergraduate entry — about €117,900 less across the degree despite costing €2,470 more each year. Newcastle's accelerated route is the narrowest case, saving roughly £5,800 in total plus a year of your life.
What is a foundation year and what does it cost?
It is an additional preparatory year at the start of the degree. The University of Lancashire runs Medicine and Surgery over five years at £49,000 and the same course with a foundation year over six at £49,950, so the foundation route costs about £54,700 more across the degree. University College London offers a five-year pharmacy route with integrated foundation training beside its four-year MPharm.
Does it matter which route I apply to for licensing back home?
It can matter enormously. University College London's five-year Pharmacy with Integrated Foundation Training is the only five-year pharmacy program in the UK, which means it clears the US duration threshold that the country's 36 four-year MPharms do not. Same university, same city, different answer on whether you can practice in the United States.
Can I apply to more than one route at the same university?
That depends on the route and the application system, and it is a question for the admissions office rather than a general rule. What matters first is knowing the routes exist, because the fee, the length and the entry requirement all attach to the route rather than to the university name.