Medicine @ Christ Church, Oxford in 2018

Interview format

4x 15-25 min interviews, over 2 days

Interview content

Interview 1: science, ethics; Interview 2: scientific article given beforehand, personal statement, another science question, ethics

Best preparation

BMAT guide book, free resources, papers; free online resources for interview prep

Advice in hindsight

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Final thoughts

In hindsight, would have voiced more suggestions.\

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: BMAT

Number of interviews: 4

Skype interview: No

Interview spread: 2 interviews, 2-3 hours apart, one day; the same the next day

Length of interviews: 15-25 minutes each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

At Christ Church:
1st interview: I underwent 1 line of questioning from each of the 3 interviewers. 2 were purely based on science and the other was based more on medicine (e.g. including ethics).
2nd interview: I was given 20 minutes beforehand to read a scientific article, and was questioned about it afterwards by 1 interviewer, who also briefly asked me questions about my personal statement. The second interviewer asked me purely science questions about light and light receptors. The third interviewer asked more medical ethicsy questions again, e.g. about gene editing in human embryos.

How did you prepare?

I used the '700 BMAT Questions' book, any free online resources, then all the past papers.

I also used any free resources that come online and on YouTube when searching from Oxbridge interview preparation/help. I received a mock interview from a teacher at school. I also tried to learn ahead quite a bit of the A-Level biology course that I hadn't done yet. This helped slightly but wasn't worth the effort it took probably.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

Looking back, what advice would you give to your past self?

I didn't know what to expect really. I didn't stress about the interviews that much compared to other medical schools where you can prepare for obvious questions, and as a result I was more calm in my Oxford interviews.

If I would do anything differently I would voice more of my suggestions instead of keeping them quiet in fear of embarrassing myself.