The medical school interview: how MMIs and panels work, and how to practise out loud
Twenty-nine of the thirty-eight UK medical schools now interview with an MMI. The questions are more predictable than the pressure.
Updated September 2026A UK medical school interview is no longer one conversation with a panel. For 2026 entry, 29 of 38 schools run a Multiple Mini Interview: a series of short scenarios, each with its own assessor and its own mark, so a bad five minutes doesn't follow you into the next room. Four schools still run a panel (Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow and Barts), and a handful run a hybrid with a group task. Whatever the format, the schools are scoring the same things: why you want to do medicine and whether you understand the job, how you talk to a frightened or angry person, how you reason through an ethical dilemma with no right answer, what you know about the NHS, and whether you can reflect honestly on your own experience. Candidates rarely fail on knowledge. They fail on saying 'I want to help people' with nothing behind it, on lecturing a patient instead of listening, and on picking a side of an ethics question instead of weighing both. This page explains the formats, the five question types, what each school runs, and how to practise the only way that works: out loud, with questions you haven't seen, and honest feedback afterwards.
Merra is not affiliated with any medical school, the Medical Schools Council, the GMC or UCAS.
Interview format guides
Medical school interview guides
22 schoolsMerra: practise the format your school actually runs
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- 1Sign up free — no card, 2 free coaching sessions available until used.
- 2Practise out loud — answer unseen questions across the areas your school assesses.
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An AI interviewer runs a spoken mock across the talking stations, pushes once with a follow-up, then scores you on the areas your school actually assesses.
Practise a medical school interview2 free coaching sessions · available until used · no card needed · no subscriptionThe medical school interview process
- 1Invitations go out from November; check your school's format on its own admissions page as soon as yours arrives.
- 2MMI schools: you rotate through 6 to 10 stations of 5 to 8 minutes, with a minute or two to read the prompt outside each door; one assessor per station scores you on a checklist and a global mark.
- 3Panel schools: a 20 to 45 minute conversation with two or three interviewers, often starting from your personal statement.
- 4Every format draws from the same five question types: a difficult conversation, an ethics dilemma, motivation and commitment, NHS insight, and 'tell me about a time'.
- 5Practise each type out loud with an unseen question and a follow-up, then review where you lectured, hedged or went vague.
- 6Decisions follow in the new year; a strong interview is the last thing between you and an offer, so treat every practice run like the day.
MMI or panel: what your school runs
29 of 38 UK medical schools run a Multiple Mini Interview for 2026 entry; Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow and Barts still run a panel; Dundee, Edinburgh, Imperial, Southampton and Swansea GEM run a hybrid with a group task. Formats change between cycles — UCL and King's both switched to MMI this cycle — so the format changes how you should practise: an MMI rewards resetting cleanly between short scenarios, a panel rewards sustaining one line of thought over twenty to forty-five minutes.
The five question types every school uses
A difficult conversation (what would you say to someone upset, angry or frightened), an ethics dilemma with no right answer, motivation and commitment to medicine, NHS insight, and 'tell me about a time' on your own personal attributes. Every UK school draws from this same set, whatever it calls its stations or panels.
What assessors mark
MMI stations are scored on a checklist plus a global mark by an assessor who has usually never seen you before and never will again. 'I want to help people' with nothing behind it scores low because it shows no reflection; lecturing a patient instead of listening fails a communication station because the mark sheet is checking whether you listened first.
The mistakes that cost the most
Picking a side of an ethics question quickly instead of weighing both. Giving an itinerary of work experience instead of what it taught you. Answering 'tell me about a time' with a hypothetical instead of something that actually happened — assessors are trained to notice and to follow up until the hypothetical collapses.
How to practise it
Out loud, on unseen questions, with one follow-up, then honest review of where an answer lectured, hedged or went vague. Merra's five-question sessions cover the talking stations across all five question types; they do not run an actor role-play, a group task or a data-interpretation station.
Real medicine interview questions
Grouped by area.
Difficult conversation
“You borrowed a friend's camera for a school project and dropped it. It was an expensive birthday present and neither of you can replace it. They've just walked back in. What do you say to them?”
Ethics
“You're a doctor in a transplant centre. One liver, two matching patients: a seventy-five-year-old retired judge with cancer, and a twenty-two-year-old whose liver was destroyed in a crash she caused. Talk me through how you'd approach it.”
Motivation
“Why do you want to be a doctor?”
Follow-up: “And what's the bit that's specific to you?”
NHS
“What are the two biggest problems the NHS is going to face over the next twenty years?”
Personal
“Tell me about a mistake you made that mattered, and what you did about it.”
Pricing
Medical school interview FAQs
Is it an MMI or a panel?
For 2026 entry, 29 of 38 UK medical schools run an MMI; Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow and Barts run panels; Dundee, Edinburgh, Imperial, Southampton and Swansea GEM run hybrids with a group task. Check your school's page, formats change (UCL and King's both switched to MMI this cycle).
How long is an MMI station?
Usually 5 to 8 minutes, with one to two minutes to read the prompt first, and 6 to 10 stations in the circuit.
Is there a right answer to the ethics questions?
No. Assessors mark whether you weigh both sides, know who would be involved in the decision, and stay compassionate.
Are international applicants interviewed differently?
Most schools interview overseas applicants online, and you are not expected to know the NHS inside out; you are expected to have thought about it.
Can a mock interview predict my offer?
No honest mock predicts an offer. A good one shows you exactly which question types you're weakest on before an assessor does.
Official information
For official admissions guidance and interview policy.
More interview guides
Merra is not affiliated with any medical school, the Medical Schools Council, the GMC or UCAS. Merra’s feedback is advisory only — it is not a guarantee of any offer or admission outcome.
The medicine interview is spoken. Practise it that way.
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