Guides · Updated 1 November 2026

The Oxford and Cambridge Medicine interview

Oxford and Cambridge Medicine interviews are academic conversations with tutors, like their interviews in other subjects, rather than the multiple mini interviews (MMIs) used at schools such as Imperial and UCL. Both require the UCAT. Oxford shortlists only around 425 applicants a year and last year interviewed each one at two colleges online; Cambridge interviews online or in person depending on the College.

Expect science and data you haven't seen before, reasoning about health and disease, and questions on why medicine and what a doctor's work involves. Below are both formats, questions Oxford medicine tutors have published, a worked example and how to prepare.

Oxford and Cambridge Medicine compared

What Oxbridge medicine tutors look for

Oxford says students are selected for their scientific ability and aptitude for Medicine, and must show a realistic understanding of what a medical career involves and the potential to become effective and caring doctors. All Oxford colleges use a common set of selection criteria. Cambridge assesses through academic record, UCAT and interview, and in subject interviews asks you to apply knowledge to new problems and to explain your understanding of the vocational aspects of the course.

Questions Oxford medicine tutors have published

From Oxford's sample interview questions page (source: University of Oxford, sample interview questions):

• "Put these countries in order by their crude mortality (deaths per thousand of the population): Bangladesh, Japan, South Africa, the UK." The tutor says it's a public health and epidemiology question you can approach without specialist knowledge, and that getting the right answer alone isn't the point.
• "The viruses that infect us are totally dependent on human cells for their reproduction; is it therefore surprising that viruses cause human diseases?" The tutor says strong candidates engage with the paradox, and may be asked whether harmless human viruses could exist and how you'd find them.

A worked example: the crude mortality question

• What a strong answer does: asks what "crude" mortality measures before ranking anything. Deaths per thousand people depend on two things: what people die of, and how old the population is.
• The key move: realising that a rich country with an old population can have a higher crude death rate than a poorer, younger one. The tutor says he'd steer the discussion towards exactly that.
• Weak answer: ranking by wealth alone ("poorer countries have more deaths") and stopping there.
• What usually comes next: how you'd make a fairer comparison between countries, which leads you to age-standardised rates.

Questions about medicine as a career

How to prepare for a Medicine interview

1. Revise core biology and chemistry. Tutors build on school science: cells, physiology, enzymes, rates of reaction.
2. Practise reading data aloud. Take a graph from a news story or textbook: say what it shows, what it can't show, and what you'd ask next.
3. Know your experience well. Be ready to say what you learned about medicine from anything you mention, not just what you did.
4. Work through published questions out loud. The two Oxford questions above are a good start. Ask yourself the follow-up the tutor describes.
5. Don't over-prepare MMI scripts. Oxbridge interviews are conversations; rehearsed answers sound rehearsed.

Applying elsewhere too? Many UK medical schools use MMIs. See the Imperial interview guide and the UCL interview guide.

AdmitMock is an AI mock interview app for Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL and US college alumni interviews: an AI interviewer asks the questions out loud, follows up, and shows you what to fix.

AdmitMock is not affiliated with the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge or any of their colleges. We use published formats and questions, not insider information.