Relieved after submitting your UK applications? Congratulations! It is a daunting task and you have made it so far.
The next step and possibly the scarier one is waiting to hear back from schools. While you do this, we strongly recommend preparing for the interviews to ensure you stand out!
In the last couple of years, a lot of schools have moved their interviews online and changed their format.
Here is a summary of the format as you start brushing up your interview skills.
| University | Interview Format |
|---|---|
| Aberdeen | Aberdeen interviews will be conducted in person from December to March. They will be using an MMI format where at each station, two interviewers will evaluate the student’s answer on a specific topic for 5 minutes. Beyond the answer’s quality in terms of content, the interviewers will also score the student’s communication and interpersonal skills. The MMI experience will last approximately 1 hour for each candidate. Students will have about 2 minutes to think about their responses. |
| Aston | Aston’s MMI for the 2023 intake will be held online. During the 8-minute stations, interviewers will be testing knowledge and qualities in accordance with the General Medical Council Guidebook and the NHS Constitution Framework. |
| Birmingham | While the MMIs for UK applicants will be held in-person this year, international students have the option of doing it over Zoom. Each MMI will consist of six or seven 8-minute stations that will test commitment, passion for medicine, critical thinking, communication skills (through role-plays), and interactions in healthcare settings. For international students, the interview will consist of two MMI stations - one on data interpretation and one from the other topics. |
| Brighton & Sussex | BSMS will be conducting interviews over Zoom like they have for the last 2 years. The interviews will follow an MMI format with five stations using breakout rooms. For the international students, the interview will take place in February 2023. |
| Bristol | The interviews will be conducted between December to February. Bristol assesses applicants using a formal online interview system with two assessors asking questions and marking responses separately. The whole interview should last about 30 minutes. |
| Brunel | Brunel will be conducting virtual MMIs in December, February and March. The MMIs will consist of a series of 6 mini-interview stations, each lasting 5 minutes and designed to assess an attribute according to the Good Medical Practice guidelines. |
| Buckingham | Buckingham’s process is fairly unique. The interviews are conducted in two stages. Stage 1 consists of Multiple Mini Examinations and is intended to judge personal attributes relating to suitability for practice as a doctor. It is a computer-based test, made up of a series of tasks intended to test students’ analysis, interpretation and judgment abilities related to 'Good Medical Practice', published by the UK General Medical Council. Each station is 7 minutes with about a minute to think. The students who perform well are invited to the next stage which will be the OSSE (objective, structured selection examination) stations, where they are face to face with an assessor answering questions also testing the students’ analysis, interpretation and judgment abilities related to ‘Good Medical Practice’, published by the UK General Medical Council. |
| Cambridge | The majority of Cambridge interviews will be held in the first three weeks of December. Some might be held a little earlier. Most applicants will be interviewed virtually. The interviews are technical and test your knowledge as well as passion for the subject. |
| Cardiff | Cardiff will conduct MMIs online over Zoom between December to February. It does include a written station and a few verbal stations. |
| Central Lancashire | Interviews are held at the campus typically between December to April. They use an MMI format. We would advise reaching out to the school to see if they offer an option to do them virtually. |
| Dundee | Dundee will be conducting interviews in person this year and international students have the option of attending them online if they prefer. Face-to-face interviews will be using the multiple-mini interview format with a few stations. For the remote interviews, there will be one panel discussing all 5 scenarios. |
| East Anglia (Norwich Medical School) | The interviews take place between November and February and use the MMI format. They are typically held on campus and international students are also encouraged to attend them in person if possible. You can reach out to the school if you are unable to travel or if government guidelines have changed. |
| Edinburgh | Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an assessment half-day, during which they will have an opportunity to find out more about studying medicine in Edinburgh, as well as undergoing a series of short interviews. |
| Exeter | They are using an MMI format. The interview may take place either in person or online. |
| Glasgow | Glasgow will conduct interviews virtually using a unique interview format. The interview session will last around 30 minutes in total, divided into two sections - a panel A and a panel B. Panel A will explore what being a doctor means and related topics around this. The panel B section will focus more on the applicant as a future doctor and will include discussion of an ethical scenario – applicants choose one of the two. |
| Hull York | Hull York will be conducting MMIs. The number of stations might vary but they typically include 3 mini-interviews, a group work station, a motivation station and an individual scenario station. They might be conducting online interviews this cycle. |
| Imperial | Imperial conducts multiple mini interviews where they test your values in accordance with NHS guidelines and qualities like empathy, communication skills, leadership, and teamwork. This year the interviews will be held face to face and online. |
| Keele | The Keele interviews are usually held at the School of Medicine building on the Keele University campus. Each candidate will have a similarly structured multiple mini-interview. The format for interviews for 2023 entry is currently to be confirmed, but will be held between December 2022 to March 2023. |
| Kent & Medway Medical School | KMMS will be conducting MMIs. The interviews were held remotely last year but the information for this year hasn’t been released. |
| King's College London | King’s will be holding virtual MMI’s with 4 stations, each asking 2 questions on different topics. |
| Lancaster | Lancaster will hold multiple mini interviews consisting of 12-14 different ‘stations’, most of which will be 5 minutes long. Some stations will consist of a short interview, where you may be asked questions about your career choice, work experience or suitability for a medical career. At others, you may be asked to read a short paragraph or watch a short video clip, take some notes and then discuss at a subsequent station. An additional 20 minute station will involve group work and will assess your suitability for our problem-based learning curriculum. |
| Leeds | Leeds will be conducting virtual MMIs for the 2023 intake. There are eight rounds and the format of each round might vary as they test different qualities. |
| Leicester | Leicester will conduct virtual MMIs between December to February. Through these they will evaluate a range of qualities such as empathy, leadership, teamwork, ethics, resilience, problem-solving etc. |
| Lincoln | For 2023 entry, all interviews are likely to be online using Microsoft Teams. |
| Liverpool | The format for 2023 intake is still under review. |
| Manchester | Manchester conducts MMIs and information for 2023 intake will be released soon. |
| Newscastle | For home applicants, Newcastle conducts MMIs in-person. There are seven stations of 7 minutes each which typically include one role-play. For international students, the university offers a virtual panel interview or an option to attend the MMI in-person. |
| Nottingham | For 2023 intake, the interviews will be held online. For the past few years, they have conducted MMIs with about eight stations, each taking six minutes, one minute to read instructions and five minutes to respond. |
| Oxford | Interviews for Oxford will be held between December 1-20 online. |
| Plymouth | All interviews for the 2023 intake will be conducted online using an MMI format. |
| Queen Mary London (Barts) | The QMUL interview is typically 15-20 minutes. The interview panel usually consists of two members of senior clinical or non- clinical staff and a current student. They are likely to be held online for 2023 intake. It generally includes an article that students are sent beforehand and asked to discuss in the interview. |
| Queen's Belfast | Selected candidates are invited for an interview (Multi-mini interview) which will take place between January and March in Belfast for home and EU applicants. Staff from the Medical School visit South East Asia in late January/February to interview and international applicants from other countries are encouraged to travel to Belfast for interview, as they will benefit from a tour of the Medical School and the University. |
| Sheffield | Sheffield typically holds MMIs with 8 stations, each lasting 8 minutes. It is the only school to share the list of questions with students in advance to provide everyone a fair opportunity. If Covid restrictions are still in place, they might conduct online panel interviews. |
| Southampton | For the 2023 intake, Southampton’s selection process includes an interview and group task. If you’re invited to attend you will be emailed full event details 2 weeks beforehand. For 2023 entry, all selection days will be held in-person in Southampton. |
| St Andrews | Like many other schools, St Andrews conducts interviews on dates in late November and early December and then in the following January, February and early March. For 2023 entry, interviews will be held both online using Microsoft Teams and in-person in St Andrews. Overseas applicants (for fee purposes) will be invited to attend an online interview, and all other applicants will be invited to attend an in-person interview. The interview will consist of six stations of about 6 minutes each. |
| St George's | St George’s will be conducting in-person MMIs for the 2023 intake. They typically interview between 750-950 students. They typically have 6-8 stations of 5 minutes each. They are still working on updating the guidelines for this cycle. |
| UCL | UCL will be holding interviews online for international candidates in January 2023 and in-person for home applicants. |
Information updated on 25 October
We recommend reviewing information on the school’s website and reading instructions from the school carefully as there could be changes.
As you wait for interview invites, start preparing. As a starting point, please see the GMC documentation on Good Medical Practice and the values enshrined in the NHS constitution. Review your personal statement and take some time to reflect on your experiences. Medical schools want to get to know you and it is an opportunity to showcase your qualities that would make you a good fit. It is also a good time to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of healthcare and the challenges. Don’t wait to start!
