In short: 34 of the 41 UK medical schools use multiple mini interviews (MMIs) or a similar multi-station format. Six use panel or college interviews: Oxford, Cambridge, Queen Mary, Glasgow, Keele, and Southampton, which adds a group task. Dundee uses a group discussion. Twelve interview Home applicants online, 21 in person, and five let you choose or vary by college. Find your schools in the table below.
Interview invitations go out from November, and interviews run until about March. Most applicants prepare as if every school ran the same interview. They don't. A Keele interview is two 15-minute conversations on Microsoft Teams. A Dundee interview starts with a 30-minute group discussion. Leicester includes a numeracy station. Hull York has a station run by its own medical students.
This guide gives the format at every school in our medical school matcher, the same 41 schools with a school-leaver (A100-type) route. It also shows how many of the people interviewed at each school go on to get an offer, which tells you how much the interview itself decides.
The short answer
Five more schools let you choose, or vary by college: Cambridge, Manchester, Exeter, Brighton and Sussex, and Cardiff. Imperial, Newcastle and Edge Hill don't say on their own pages whether Home interviews are online or in person, so check your invitation.
MMI or panel: what it means for your preparation
An MMI is a circuit of short stations, usually five to nine, each lasting about five to ten minutes with a different interviewer. Each station tests one thing: a role-play, an ethical scenario, a question about why you want to do medicine, or a data task. A bad station costs you only that station, so the skill is to reset quickly and treat the next room as a fresh start. Practise answering out loud against a timer, because running out of time is the commonest way to lose marks.
A panel is one longer conversation with two or three interviewers, and they can follow up. Expect to be pushed further on whatever you say, including anything in your personal statement. At Oxford and Cambridge the questions are often scientific and problem-based. Some schools add a group task, so practise discussing a problem with others: listen, build on their points, and don't talk over people.
Every UK medical school's interview, at a glance
Schools are in alphabetical order. Each name links to the school's own interview or admissions page. Interviewees offered a place is the share of people interviewed who received an offer, where the school's figures allow it. Evidence shows where the interview numbers come from: the school's own publications (School), a Freedom of Information disclosure (FOI), or compilations citing the school (Reported).
| School | Format | Home applicants | Stations and timing | Interviewed | Places | Interviewees offered a place | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxford | Panel (college interviews) | Online | Usually 2 interviews at each of 2 colleges | ~425 | 158 | 37% | School |
| Cambridge | Panel (college interviews) | In person or online, by college | 1–2 interviews, 35–60 min in total | – | 300 | – | School |
| Imperial College London | MMI | Not stated | 6 stations × ~5 min | ~875 | 345 | – | School |
| UCL | MMI | In person | Up to 8 stations × 5 min (+1 min reading) | ~1,000 | 337 | – | Reported |
| King's College London (GKT) | MMI | Online | 7 stations | 796 | – | 77% | School |
| Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) | Panel | Online | 1 interview, usually 2 interviewers (~15–20 min) | – | ~400 | 73% | Reported |
| Bristol | MMI-style structured interview | Online (Zoom) | 6 stations, ~30 min in total | – | 185 | – | School |
| Birmingham | MMI | In person | 7 stations × 8 min (2 min prep + 6 min) | ~1,300 | ~400 | 58% | School |
| Manchester | MMI | Your choice: campus or Zoom | 5 stations × 8 min; one may become a group task | 1,858 | 401 | – | School |
| Newcastle | MMI | Not stated | ~7–8 stations × ~7 min | – | – | 33% | School |
| Leeds | MMI | In person | 8 stations × 6 min (+2 min reading) | ~875 | 274 | 40% | Reported |
| Sheffield | MMI | In person | 8 stations, scored with your SJT band (max 45) | ~1,200 | 315 | 70% | School |
| Nottingham | MMI (scenarios) | In person | 6 scenarios incl. a role-play, up to 1 hr | – | 215 | – | Reported |
| Leicester | MMI | In person | 7 stations × ~10 min, one is numeracy | 1,590 | 293 | 55% | School |
| Liverpool | MMI | In person | ~7 stations × ~6 min | – | 332 | – | Reported |
| Southampton | Panel + group task (Selection Day) | In person | ~20 min panel + a group task | 834 | 310 | 69% | Reported |
| Exeter | MMI | In person or online | Not yet published for 2027 | 693 | 225 | 60% | Reported |
| Hull York Medical School (HYMS) | MMI | In person | 5 stations incl. a group exercise and a student-run station | 904 | – | 88% | School |
| Keele | Two interviews (not MMI) | Online (Teams) | 2 × 15 min, about 2 hrs apart | ~600 | 164 | – | School |
| Lancaster Medical School | MMI | Online (Teams) | Stations of ~5 min | 584 | 130 | 50% | Reported |
| Norwich Medical School (UEA) | MMI | In person | 6 stations × 5 min (+1.5 min prep) plus an SJT, ~45 min | 712 | 208 | 67% | Reported |
| Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) | MMI | Your choice: in person or Zoom | ~5 stations × ~10 min | – | 200 | – | Reported |
| Plymouth (Peninsula Medical School) | MMI | Online | 5 stations, ~55 min in total | 679 | 167 | 62% | Reported |
| City St George's, University of London | MMI | Online; may be pre-recorded | ~6 questions × ~5 min | – | – | – | Reported |
| Glasgow | Panel | Online | Panel A + Panel B, ~30 min in total | 1,128 | 341 | 64% | School |
| Edinburgh | Assessment Day | In person | 2 individual stations + 1 group station, half a day | ~800 | 290 | – | School |
| Aberdeen | MMI (modified) | In person | ~5 min stations, ~1 hr in total | 1,168 | 298 | 78% | Reported |
| Dundee | Group discussion (not MMI) | In person | ~30 min group discussion, then a discussion led by an assessor | 844 | 218 | 68% | School |
| St Andrews (BSc Medicine) | MMI | In person | Usually 4 stations × ~6 min | 366 | 160 | – | Reported |
| Cardiff | MMI | In person or online | ~6–9 stations × 6–7 min | – | 300 | 70% | Reported |
| Bangor / North Wales Medical School | MMI | In person | 6 stations, 2 questions each, ~1 hr | – | – | – | Reported |
| Queen's University Belfast | MMI | In person | 9 stations × 5 min | ~700 | 236 | – | Reported |
| Aston Medical School | MMI | Online | Several stations, each scored | 363 | 120 | 45% | Reported |
| Anglia Ruskin University | MMI | In person | 6 stations × 7 min (+2 min reading) | ~500 | – | 49% | FOI |
| Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS) | MMI + group exercise | In person | 6 stations × ~7 min + a 40-min group exercise | 404 | 110 | 51% | Reported |
| Brunel Medical School | MMI, pre-recorded | Online | 6 stations × ~5 min, ~40 min | – | 107 | – | FOI |
| Edge Hill University | MMI | Not yet published | Details to be confirmed | – | – | – | Reported |
| University of Sunderland | MMI | In person | 6–8 stations + a 40-min online numeracy test | 731 | 117 | 48% | FOI |
| University of Lincoln Medical School | MMI | In person | 7 stations | 118 | 100 | 87% | School |
| University of Lancashire (formerly UCLan) | MMI | In person | 6–10 stations (often 8) | – | – | – | Reported |
| St Mary's University, Twickenham | MMI, pre-recorded | Online | One sitting of ~1.5 hrs | – | – | – | New school |
Scroll sideways on a phone to see every column. Figures are from the most recent cycle each school has published, and some cover Home applicants only. A dash means the school hasn't published that figure. Formats checked against each school's own page in November 2026; several schools haven't yet updated theirs for 2027 entry.
The interview is where it's won
At some schools, getting an interview is the hard part. At others, the interview is the real contest, because most of the people in the room with you won't get an offer.
Where fewer than half of interviewees get an offer: Newcastle (about a third), Oxford (37%), Leeds (40%), Aston (45%), Sunderland (48%) and Anglia Ruskin (49%). Lancaster sits at about half. At these schools you need to beat most of the people interviewed alongside you, so preparation for the interview itself matters most.
Where most interviewees get an offer: Hull York (88%), Lincoln (87%), Aberdeen (78%), King's (77%) and Queen Mary (73%). Here reaching the interview is most of the battle. Don't relax, though. A poor interview still ends the application.
Two schools combine the interview with your earlier scores. Sheffield adds your UCAT SJT band to the eight interview sections. Norwich weights your UCAT and your interview score equally when making offers.
What happens before the interview
What the schools do with your application before inviting you also tells you what they might ask:
- Interview places decided mainly on UCAT: UCL, Imperial (once you pass its threshold), Southampton, Glasgow, St Andrews, Lancaster, City St George's, Bangor and Anglia Ruskin, after their academic checks.
- Personal statement scored before interview: Keele, Birmingham and the University of Lancashire.
- Personal statement used in the interview itself: Imperial gives it to the interviewers at its first station. Oxford and Southampton use it to shape questions. Aberdeen draws on it in a dedicated station. Lancaster and St Mary's also use it to frame the interview.
- Interviewers don't see it: Sheffield, Exeter and Brighton and Sussex don't read the statement at all, and Queen's Belfast assessors typically haven't read it.
There's more detail in what all 41 schools do with personal statements and what they do with your reference.
What to do this week
- Find your four schools in the table and note the format, whether it's online or in person, and the station length.
- Read each school's own interview page. The invitation will have the final details, and several schools change their format between cycles. Manchester, for example, says one station may become a group task this year.
- Practise timed answers out loud, ideally with someone who can interrupt you. Use the station length your schools use. Our list of questions applicants were asked at past interviews is a good place to start.
- Re-read your personal statement if any of your schools use it at interview, and be ready to expand on anything in it.
- Keep your predicted grades on track. Almost every offer you get will depend on your A-level results, and mock exams fall in the same months as interviews.
Based on the alevelbiologytutor.com medical school matcher research, checked November 2026. Interview formats change from year to year, so confirm the details on each school's own site and in your invitation.
Applying to medicine?
• Which medical schools should you apply to? (free matcher)
• Do medical school personal statements matter?
• Does my reference matter?
• All medicine guides →
Need an A* in Biology for your offer?
One-to-one lessons and weekly AQA and OCR A group classes with a tutor of 30 years' experience.