Medicine @ Worcester, Oxford in 2017

Interview format

4x 20 min interviews, over 2 days

Interview content

Ethics, scientific knowledge, problem solving / logic, introductory questions around personal statement

Best preparation

Answer questions about subject to friends, family, etc.

Advice in hindsight

-

Final thoughts

Don't worry about making mistakes in answers at interview.

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 on one day, 2 on the next

Length of interviews: 20 minutes each

What happened in your interview? How did you feel?

The interviewers were all very friendly and put me at ease immediately, even though the rooms used for interviews themselves were quite big and grand. There were 3 main aspects to the interviews: ethics, scientific knowledge, and problem solving / logic.

There was some discussion of my personal statement but it was more used at the beginning of the interviews as an introductory question. I felt very nervous at the start of the interview and so I just made sure I vocalised my thoughts to avoid awkward silences.

How did you prepare?

I used the online resources available on the BMAT website, as well as past papers.

I made sure I did some research on the things I had mentioned on my personal statement as I thought some knowledge of these would be expected. I think the most useful preparation was just answering questions about my subject to teachers, parents & friends. I think my preparation helped me to explain my thought process in the interview.

What advice do you have for future applicants?

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

I think if I was doing the interviews again I would make sure that I didn't get so frustrated about the mistakes I made. The interviewers don't necessarily need all the right answers, they can look things up for themselves; they're much more interested in a thought process and an opinion.