Medicine 2026 part 2

[mumsneedwine]

Thought I'd start another one.

Pre-interview online test? Haven’t heard of that before.

Newcastle has recruited a lot via clearing the last two years so it will be interesting to see if they make any changes this year.

I think it’s a numeracy test which you have to pass before proceeding to the interview stage.

As far as I’m aware only Sunderland do this

For those living in London or within commutable distance, Imperial offers a free all-day MMI in-person prep session to year 13s who have applied in this UCAS cycle.

registration: https://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/shop/csp/vision/mastering-your-medical-application-mma-day

Mastering Your Medical Application (MMA) Day 2025
Sponsored by The Medical Defence Union (MDU)
Date: Sunday 23rd November 2025
Time: 09:00 to 17:30
Location: Sir Alexander Fleming Building and Royal College of Science, Imperial College London
Ticket release: Tickets released
Ticket cost: Free – £5.00 deposit refundable upon attendance

Overview
For: Students that have applied to medical school this UCAS cycle
When: November annually
Capacity: ~330 students
Applying to medical school this October? Having applied to medical schools, many of you will be thinking about the next step of the application journey, interviews.
Join us in November for our flagship conference, Mastering Your Medical Application (MMA) Day, to help you boost your performance in your medical school interview!
What to expect
Subject to slight variation each conference
🏥 Current affairs in the NHS talk
🗣️ Interview top tips and strategies talk
🎓 Ethics talk
📚 Oxbridge talk
🔍 Walkthrough of MMI stations
💡 Mock MMI interviews with personalised feedback

I feel quite mixed about that. It sounds great if you are within shooting distance. But if it makes a difference, how is it fair?

I wondered if it was restricted to those who meet widening participation criteria? But I tried clicking on the ticket and it just seemed to want your name and payment, so anyone could apply for it. My DD is still yr 12 so it's not suitable for her, but I will suggest the other activities they have listed for year 12s to her.

I take your point about how is this fair, as when we were on a BSMS webinar one time they talked about how they put on MMI practice sessions for those who live in the local area. DD asked whether she'd be able to take part, living in the next county, she was told probably not! And I remember thinking how was that fair. So maybe, if there are enough of these medical schools putting on these type of events for their local students then hopefully most people can find one close enough to them?

Imperial is not a med school my DD plans to apply to, but we are close enough to London to make it feasible for her to attend this type of session next year if they run it again. It makes me feel better about how unfair I thought BSMS were by limiting their MMI sessions to Sussex residents. Are there any med schools near you that you could look into to see if they offer this type of thing? I must say I have found these two events out through word of mouth (mumsnet) or being on a webinar, rather than seeing them advertised. But I totally understand your feeling of it not being fair as I felt exactly the same when BSMS told us DD would not be eligible for theirs.

I'm afraid there is v little about this process that is fair. We do our best to help level the playing field (I could charge for my spreadsheet as could Medic Mentors) but unfortunately opportunities are not equal.

However, no reason this should stop you doing well at interviews. Know why you want to be a doctor. Why that Uni and City. How the NHS works (even though it doesn't), a few ethical issues and situations where you've shown resilience, team working and have failed (& how you dealt with it). Speak to strangers as much as you can, with a smile.

There are quite a few MMI free webinars (Leicester, Exeter, Imperial, Road2Med, etc.). KCL does a great free webinar series from Feb - Jul, which I believe includes interview prep, and they don't ask for contextual factors apart from being from a state school. Then there are many free summer schools that do include interview prep in person (Bristol, Oxford, Uniq, KCL, and so on.. but they usually require contextual criteria.

Imperial actually do a lot of WP activities in London schools and online. They also organize a few summer schools (but with contextual criteria).

On fairness... There are tens of companies doing interview/MMI prep for a hefty fee - we can't afford those - so we will grab whatever we can. DD has not applied to Imperial , but 3 of the med schools she has applied to do MMIs.

One of my DD's friend is in year 12, she's already done 4 weeks of medical experience, arranged by a relative who is a doctor. My DD has struggled to find work experience placements, but she found one in the end, and she also found a volunteering role. Her friend's indie school does 'free' MMI mocks and has a 'med school' advisor. DDs school didn't even have a medsoc until this year, when DD created one :) The parents of DDs friend have paid £7K for an expensive 2-week summer school, as they don't qualify for any other summer schools, and they feel it's unfair that they have to pay 😂. £7K seems nuts to me, but then DD did a 5-day Gold DofE med residential at Dorset Hospital, which we paid £800 for, which we could afford. It wasn't free, but some people would think that's too much... And perhaps they will judge it as being unfair.

I think we all do our best with what we can afford / can access where we live. And it's good that med schools have contextual offers so that those without resources have a bit of of an advantage over standard applicants.

@SuperSue77 I heard that their Junior Medic conference is good - it will be in December and registration opens soon. It's on the same link I posted.

I have done interviewing (not med students) and for most there is a clear yes/no and I can’t imagine coaching would change that much. So perhaps it doesn’t make much difference after all? If it did, you would hope the med schools would look again at their recruitment processes.

December could be too late for some interviews.

Speaking of free resources. Plymouth Medical School has an e-Mentoring scheme where no contextual factors are required. Their summer school does ask for contextual factors, but the e-mentoring scheme does not. YPs are paired up with a medical student and you can communicate with them via an app, and ask questions about anything related to med school admissions, interviews, UCAT. DD used it in year 12 and found it helpful.

https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/study/outreach/medicine-dentistry-biomedical-healthcare/e-mentoring-scheme

@MouldyPeppers the 2025 Junior Medics conference is for current years 10-12, not for current year 13. I believe @SuperSue77 has an YP who is year 12 :)

Yes, that's right, I'm afraid I am an interloper in this thread, as I was in the 2025 entry one too! I find it helpful to learn from those going through the experience as I am scared of finding out stuff once it is too late. We've had some blows during my children's educational journey to date and it's made me feel that I was insufficiently prepared, and if only I had really known what it was like I could have prevented it, or at least been prepared for it. So I am deternined that DD won't miss out on her dream (or at least be delayed in getting there) due to lack of preparation/knowledge!

Thank you for the list @inae - adding to it BSMS also offer a free webinar (https://www.bsms.ac.uk/about/events/2024/11-04-preparing-for-a-medical-school-interview.aspx)

I imagine interviewers are looking to see individual personalities not rehearsed answers which may tick the right boxes but don't allow thought processes and reasoning to be seen. If I was interviewing I think I may find it a bit tedious to hear the same copy and paste answer over and over, but the applicant who had the odd miss-trip, anecdotes and personality would stand out as a colleague I would want.

I saw that DofE residential and was really keen for DD to do it - but she decided she was not doing Gold and I realised the dates we were looking at would clash with her UCAT preparation, but it looked really good, and much more affordable than those London based schemes - did she enjoy it?

I am off to share all this great info with the 2027 entry thread!

BTW - if anyone has any tips for writing to consultants to enquire about shadowing them, would be great to hear them! DD is keen on the GOSH Young Visitors Programme but seems as though the best chances of success are if you have already made a connection with a consultant there and your application matches up with their availability. She's identified someone in the field she is interested in and got the secretary's email address, but doesn't want to mess it up.

@SuperSue77 GOSH are pretty keen to take people without contacts. Its v competitive but fantastic if can get on it.

@SuperSue77 DD loved the Dorset residential - not only for the content & activities, but also for spending time with other aspiring medic students. It's a 5-day / 4-night stay in bunkhouses and apart from the 'intro to med' course and hospital time, they do evening activities (cooking, games, etc). She didn't know anyone (it's a condition of DofE residentials) but she made friends she is still in touch with, and they met up at open days this fall. I think it's good value for money. I can send you the daily schedule if you want, I think I still have it.

Yes it does clash with UCAT prep to some extent as it's in July, but that helped DD as she was getting mentally tired of UCAT practice. With advance planning it works.

PS. Quite a few the students on the Dorset residential weren't doing Golf DofE at all. They were there for the 'Intro to Med' course :)

DD has almost completed DofE, just needs to get her volunteer coordinator to complete the assessor report. Both the residential and the volunteering DofE sections were / are done in NHS hospitals, so they are featuring heavily in her PS.

Thanks for the feedback on the course. I won't be able to convince DD to do it as she doesn't want to stay away and won't want to spare the time. I'm hoping learning to drive will be the distraction from UCAT prep next summer. I do ask her how she thinks she will cope with uni if she doesn't want to stay away for just 4 nights! But she seems to think she will be fine with it then She has only recently turned 16, so I am hoping that the next 18 months will boost her confidence and maturity.

DD should be doing some ward volunteering in our local hospital soon. The volunteer mgr has 'welcomed her on board' and she's done her DBS and the mandatory training required (8 courses!) so hoping she gets started on that soon which will expose her to lots of different people and situations which I hope will be really beneficial. I find it tough because I was (and still am) a get out there and get stuck in sort of person, whereas she is more like her dad, and more reserved - I suppose I will just have to wait and see!

Hes got the pre- interview online test for Sunderland invitation but that’s his least favourite option!

DD got hers last week as well, although she really liked the look of the course when they had a school trip this time last year (we're in the NE).

Oh that’s encouraging to hear, we are NE aswell but it’s the choice he is least enthusiastic about!
It wasn’t a numeracy test like i thought, it was a form to list and reflect on any work or volunteering you have done.
i think the numeracy test comes after they are satisfied with that form.

hi! just to say, my son IS under the care of GOSH, and we have a very very supportive consultant, and he didn't get into that programme. I think because we aren't WP, and we don't live in London (although an hour away). So...

Hello gang! We're just back from a week's break in Greece! I feel refreshed, and happier with a bit of Vit D! DS is off at a driving lesson (it's inset day today). I'm panicking now, that he's not done alot of interview prep...EEK!!!

We received all the acknowledgements from all the 5 choices including an offer from his biomed option.

Thanks for the info - this is really helpful to hear. I thought that actually being under GOSH would have been a sure way of getting accepted so that's interesting that he didn't get it - and I'm sorry for him. DD is not WP either and we are a 40 min train journey from London. I think she will give it a go and see if she's successful second time round.