Medical School Interview / UCL Medical School
UCL medicine interview: how the MMI works and how to practise
Up to eight stations, five minutes each, one minute to read the brief. UCL marks every station on an iPad against six criteria and warns applicants not to memorise answers.
Updated September 2026UCL Medical School receives around 2,500 applications a year for 313 places (and about 800 for 24 international places), and it does not make offers without an interview. For 2026 entry UCL moved from its long-standing panel interview to a Multiple Mini Interview, citing published evidence that MMIs are fairer and more predictive. Home applicants interview on campus at the Rockefeller Building; overseas applicants interview online. The MMI has up to eight stations of five minutes, with one minute to read the instructions before each, and the whole thing takes about 50 minutes. Interviewers change at every station and include hospital and community clinicians, academics, professional services staff, current medical students and local school teachers. UCL is explicit that it uses an NHS values-based approach and that it is looking for people who can think on their feet rather than recite prepared answers.
Merra is not affiliated with any medical school, the Medical Schools Council, the GMC or UCAS.
Merra: practise it out loud before it counts
Merra's UCL practice is a spoken, MMI-style mock: five questions drawn from UCL's six marking areas, one follow-up each, about fifteen minutes, then spoken feedback and a written report. It is not a station circuit and there are no timers or bells. It covers the talking stations (motivation, values, ethics, communication, teamwork); it does not run role-play with an actor, group tasks or data stations.
- 1Sign up free — no card, 2 free coaching sessions available until used.
- 2Practise out loud — answer unseen questions across the areas this school assesses.
- 3Get readiness feedback — see what worked and what to fix, with a recording and transcript.
No card details required. Your first 2 coaching sessions are free.
Practise the UCL medicine interview
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 the UCL medicine interview2 free coaching sessions · available until used · no card needed · no subscriptionThe interview process
- 1Applications are screened and invitations go out on a rolling basis from December to the end of March. UCL gives at least one week's notice and asks you to acknowledge within five calendar days. Interview timing carries no advantage.
- 2Home applicants attend in person at the Rockefeller Building, 21 University Street; overseas applicants interview online. Arrive 30 minutes early for sign-in and a briefing, bring photo ID, and a water bottle is allowed.
- 3The MMI: up to eight stations, five minutes each. Before every station you get one minute to read the instructions; inside, the interviewer introduces themself and asks two or three questions on that station's theme. The full circuit takes about 50 minutes.
- 4Each station is marked on an iPad against UCL's six criteria: academic curiosity and interest in healthcare; motivation and understanding of the career; problem solving and reasoning; professional attitudes and values; team work, leadership and individual strengths; communication skills.
- 5The values UCL assesses are the NHS Constitution's: putting patients first, respect and dignity, commitment to quality of care, compassion, improving health and wellbeing, and everyone counts. An optional 45-50 minute campus tour follows the interview.
- 6Some initial offers are made in February and the bulk at the end of March. Feedback is available on request to unsuccessful applicants.
Interview questions
UCL does not publish its station questions. The questions below are Merra practice questions written to the six criteria UCL says it marks; they are not UCL's own.
“Why medicine, and why now? What did you see or do that turned an interest into a decision?”
“What's one thing about being a doctor that you think most applicants underestimate?”
“Tell me about a piece of healthcare news you've followed recently. What did you make of it?”
“A GP practice has 30 minutes of doctor time left and three patients waiting. How would you think about who's seen first?”
“A fellow student posts a photo from a hospital placement with a patient visible in the background. What do you do?”
“Which of the NHS Constitution values do you find hardest to live up to, and how do you know?”
“Tell me about a time a team you were in wasn't working. What did you do, and what happened?”
“Explain to me, as if I'm a worried relative, why a patient has been moved to a different ward.”
“A patient tells you they don't want their family to know about their diagnosis. Talk me through what you'd say.”
“What's a question about the human body you don't know the answer to but would like to?”
Pricing
FAQs
Is the UCL medicine interview an MMI or a panel?
An MMI. UCL used a panel for many years and moved to a Multiple Mini Interview for 2026 entry, citing evidence that MMIs are fairer and more predictive.
How many stations are there and how long is each?
Up to eight stations of five minutes, with one minute to read the instructions before each. The whole interview takes about 50 minutes.
Is it in person or online?
Home applicants interview in person at the Rockefeller Building in Bloomsbury; overseas applicants interview online.
What does UCL mark you on?
Six criteria: academic curiosity and interest in healthcare, motivation and understanding of the career, problem solving and reasoning, professional attitudes and values, team work and leadership, and communication skills, all against NHS Constitution values.
When are UCL medicine interviews?
Rolling from December to the end of March, with at least a week's notice. UCL says timing gives no advantage and that some offers go out in February with most at the end of March.
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.
Your first mock takes about 15 minutes: unseen questions, a follow-up, and feedback on what to fix. Free, no card.
Practise the UCL medicine interview2 free coaching sessions · available until used · no card needed · no subscription