Medicine @ Clare, Cambridge in 2019

Interview format

Biomedical Admissions Test; 2x Interviews.

Interview content

Questions relating to Medicine and work experience.

Best preparation

Revise A-level content and do some further research into the topics mentioned in your personal statement.

Test preparation

Do BMAT practice papers and look over the content specifications.

Final thoughts

Let the interviewers help you if you're stuck, and make sure to collect your thoughts before answering questions!

Remember this advice isn't official. There is no guarantee it will reflect your experience because university applications can change between years. Check the official Cambridge and Oxford websites for more accurate information on this year's application format and the required tests.

Also, someone else's experience may not reflect your own. Most interviews are more like conversations than tests and like, any conversation, they are quite interactive.

Interview Format

Test taken: Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT)
Number of interviews: 2
Time between interviews: 4 hours
Length of interviews: 20 minutes
Online interview: No

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

They asked me about the circulatory system, designing experiments/drug trials, control variables, genetics, and my work experience. I had to read an article about a drug trial in the interview and then talk about it. I was extremely nervous and I remember my voice was shaking, but the interviewers only seemed to be assessing the actual words I was saying rather than how I was delivering them, so it was fine. They helped me when I was stuck on something, although I got a few of the questions wrong simply from answering too quickly. I would recommend just taking a breath after getting asked a question to collect your thoughts.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

I made sure I was comfortable with the A-level content covered so far and did some further reading into topics I mentioned in my personal statement.

If you took a test, how did you prepare?

Lots of practice papers and looking over the content specifications.

What advice would you give to future applicants?

Don't give up! If you're stuck/don't know something, you can ask the interviewers questions and they will help. Try to take a breath before answering to collect your thoughts - I forget to do this and panicked several times during the interview. It's not the end of the world if you make a mistake, the interviewers will help you reach the correct answer.