The MMI interview: what happens at each station, and how to practise it out loud
One assessor, one scenario, one mark, then a bell and a clean slate. The MMI rewards people who can reset in sixty seconds.
Updated September 2026A Multiple Mini Interview is a circuit. You walk from room to room, and in each one you have a few minutes to read a prompt on the door, a few minutes to answer, and one assessor who scores you and never sees you again. Twenty-nine UK medical schools run one for 2026 entry, from Liverpool's four stations to Keele's ten, most at five to eight minutes a station. Schools use it because it's fairer than a panel: a nervous first station doesn't sink you, and a charming personality can't carry a weak ethics answer. The station types are remarkably consistent across schools because most of them draw on the same guidance: a role-play with an actor (an angry friend, a frightened patient), an ethical dilemma, a motivation station ('why medicine, why here'), an NHS or healthcare-insight station, a communication task, a teamwork exercise, a data or calculation station, and a 'tell me about a time' station on your own attributes. The pressure isn't the questions. It's the clock, the cold read, and the reset between rooms. This page walks through each station type with real-style prompts and what the assessor's checklist is looking for, and explains how to practise the talking stations out loud, one scenario at a time, with a follow-up you haven't seen.
Merra is not affiliated with any medical school, the Medical Schools Council, the GMC or UCAS.
Practise MMI-style questions
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 MMI-style questions2 free coaching sessions · available until used · no card needed · no subscriptionThe process
- 1Read the prompt outside the door: identify the station type in the first ten seconds (role-play, ethics, motivation, NHS, personal) because each has a different shape of good answer.
- 2Walk in, greet the assessor or the actor, and start; nobody rewards a long preamble.
- 3Role-play: listen first, acknowledge the feeling, explain plainly, agree a next step.
- 4Ethics: name both sides, name who'd be involved in the decision, take a position and say why, stay humane.
- 5Motivation and personal stations: one specific example beats three adjectives; give the situation, what you did, what happened.
- 6The bell goes mid-sentence sometimes. Stop, thank them, walk to the next door and let the last one go; the next assessor knows nothing about it.
How the circuit runs
Stations, timing, reading time, a bell, independent scoring at every door. Schools adopted the format because a single bad five minutes with one assessor no longer sinks the whole interview — the next station is scored by someone who knows nothing about the last one.
The eight station types
A role-play with an actor, an ethical dilemma, a motivation station, an NHS or healthcare-insight station, a communication task, a teamwork exercise, a data or calculation station, and a 'tell me about a time' personal-attributes station. Each is checked against its own mark sheet, real-style prompts for the talking stations are given throughout this page's practice questions.
Role-play without panicking
Listen, acknowledge, explain, plan — the shape that scores well. The three things that fail a role-play station: arguing with the other person, guessing at medical facts you don't know, and false reassurance ('it'll be fine') instead of a real next step.
Ethics stations have no right answer
Capacity, confidentiality, best interests, and the people affected by the decision — in plain words rather than as a memorised framework. Picking a side fast, before naming both, is what scores a two on the mark sheet.
Practising the reset
One scenario, one follow-up, move on — the skill an MMI actually tests. Merra's five-question sessions cover the talking stations, with role-plays run as 'what would you say to them' questions; they do not run a teamwork exercise or a data-interpretation station.
Example questions
Grouped by area.
Role-play, run as a talk-through
“You're on work experience on a ward. The doctor asks you to tell a patient their blood sample was mislabelled and needs taking again. How do you tell them?”
Follow-up: “The patient says, 'Why can't they just put the right label on it? I've always hated needles.' What do you say?”
Ethics
“An elderly man needs an amputation. He's confused and says no. One son agrees with him, the other says operate. How would you approach it?”
Motivation
“Why this medical school specifically?”
NHS
“Remote consultations, apps, AI reading scans. Where does technology help in healthcare and where does it hurt?”
Personal
“Tell me about a time you got feedback you didn't want to hear.”
Pricing
FAQs
How many stations are there?
Usually 6 to 10, at 5 to 8 minutes each, with one to two minutes' reading time; Liverpool runs 4, Keele and Dundee-style formats run up to 10. Check your school's page.
Does a bad station ruin the interview?
No. Each station is scored independently by a different assessor; that is the whole point of the format.
Is there always a role-play with an actor?
Most MMIs include one; Nottingham, for example, uses a trained actor. The skill being scored is listening, empathy and a plan, not acting.
Can I practise an MMI on my own?
You can practise every talking station type out loud with unseen prompts and a follow-up. Teamwork and data stations need a partner or a chart, so practise those separately.
Will practice predict my score?
No. It shows you which station types you're weakest on before an assessor does.
Official information
More medical school 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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Practise MMI-style questions2 free coaching sessions · available until used · no card needed · no subscription