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Medicine interviews, 2027 entry
Leeds Medicine Interview Questions (2027 Entry)
How Leeds School of Medicine runs its multiple mini interviews (MMIs), the 4, 5 and 6 January 2027 dates, why the offer rests on the interview alone, and 58 practice questions grouped by the attributes and preparation areas Leeds itself publishes, with model answers.
Reviewed by Dr Akash Gandhi, NHS GP and a Cambridge and UCL graduate (GMC register) · Checked against Leeds's official pages: 16 September 2026
Leeds medicine interviews, 2027 entry
Leeds medicine interviews for 2027 entry are multiple mini interviews (MMIs): eight six-minute stations, each with two minutes' reading time, lasting just over an hour. Home applicants interview face to face on 4, 5 and 6 January 2027; overseas applicants interview online. Offers rest on interview performance alone. For 2024 entry, 40% of home interviewees received an offer.
- Format
- Multiple mini interviews (MMIs)2027 entry
- Stations
- Eight stations of six minutes, each with two minutes' reading time outside; one interviewer per station (Leeds' most recent published format)
- Length
- Just over an hour, after check-in and a short briefing
- Home applicants
- Face to face on campus, 4, 5 and 6 January 20272027 entry
- Overseas applicants
- Online; separate dates not published2027 entry
- Knowledge tested
- None: Leeds says the interview does not test clinical or scientific knowledge
- How offers are made
- Entirely on interview performance, not on predicted or achieved grades or the UCAT2027 entry
- Post-interview success, home, 2024 entry
- 40% (300 offers from 742 interviewed)2024 entry
- Post-interview success, international, 2024 entry
- 38% (12 offers from 32 interviewed)2024 entry
Free: The Medicine Interview Guide 2027 (PDF)
An eight-week plan, the frameworks for ethics and role play, five full worked answers with the follow-ups to expect, every school’s interview format, and 20 practice questions with a self-marking sheet. Written by our doctors and dentists.
How does Leeds interview for medicine?
Leeds School of Medicine interviews with multiple mini interviews (MMIs). In its most recent published format there are eight stations for Medicine (and for the Gateway Year to Medicine). Each station lasts six minutes, and before each one you get two minutes' reading time outside the door to prepare and make brief notes. One interviewer sits in each station, asks the questions and responds to your answers. The whole circuit takes just over an hour.
Leeds deliberately gives you time to think. The station outline and questions are available to read both outside and inside the station, the interviewer reads the instructions out to you, and you can ask for a question to be rephrased. Pens, paper and clipboards are provided.
The interview does not test clinical or scientific knowledge. Each station is marked against pre-determined, standardised scoring scales, and Leeds gives communication skills, ethical reasoning and problem solving as examples of the attributes it assesses.
Which pages describe the Medicine MMI
Leeds' MMI preparation pages were last written for the January 2026 round and carry no 2027 date, so treat the eight-station format as the latest published one and check your invitation. The School also has separate MMI pages for radiography and healthcare science courses, which describe six stations; those do not apply to the MBChB.
New to the MMI format? Our MMI preparation guide covers the circuit and how stations are marked, so this page stays on what is specific to Leeds.
Source: University of Leeds School of Medicine, Preparing for your MMI (no year stated; current guidance from the January 2026 round); University of Leeds School of Medicine, Schedule of the day: School of Medicine MMIs (no year stated; January 2026 round); University of Leeds School of Medicine, MMI FAQs (January 2026 round); University of Leeds, Medicine and Surgery MBChB course page (2027 entry)
When are Leeds medicine interviews for 2027 entry?
| Applicants | Dates | Delivery |
|---|---|---|
| Home | 4, 5 and 6 January 2027 | Face to face on the University of Leeds campus |
| Overseas | Not published | Online |
Leeds runs all of its face-to-face MBChB interviews on three days in the first week of January, so there is no choice of month. Leeds uses a gathered field for Medicine: applications are scored and ranked together after the 15 October deadline, so interview invitations follow that ranking. Leeds does not publish a date for invitations. In the last round, invited applicants booked a time through Eventbrite and Leeds confirmed it by email before the day.
In the last round the university closed from 24 December to 2 January and the admissions team checked its inbox only periodically, so sort out anything you need, such as ID or an adjustment request, as soon as the invitation arrives. Compare the Leeds window with every other school's in our UK medical school interview dates table.
Source: University of Leeds, Medicine and Surgery MBChB course page (2027 entry); University of Leeds, Admissions Policy for Clinical and Practice Courses in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences 2027-28 (application process) (2027-28 (2027 entry)); University of Leeds School of Medicine, Schedule of the day: School of Medicine MMIs (no year stated; January 2026 round); University of Leeds School of Medicine, MMI FAQs (January 2026 round)
How does Leeds decide who to interview?
Leeds ranks eligible applicants on a points score built from your top eight GCSEs, your top three predicted grades, your overall UCAT score and contextual information, and there is no fixed UCAT cut-off. The scoring, contextual criteria and past shortlisting scores are on our Leeds medical school profile, which is the page for that question.
Once you are invited, that score is set aside. Leeds states that the decision to make an offer after interview depends entirely on performance at interview, not on predicted or achieved grades or the UCAT.
Source: University of Leeds, Medicine and Surgery MBChB course page (2027 entry)
What does Leeds assess at interview?
Leeds carries out values-based recruitment. Its admissions policy says interviews assess your values and behaviours against the values of the NHS Constitution, and that your reflections on the values and behaviours the course needs, first set out in your personal statement, will be explored further at interview. The MMI guidance names communication skills, ethical reasoning and problem solving as examples of what stations assess, and asks candidates to prepare in four ways:
- Know your personal statement and what you have done to prepare for medical school.
- Research what it takes to be a good healthcare professional, using the Medical Schools Council's material.
- Keep up to date with developments in health and social care that are making headlines.
- Gain a basic understanding of key ethical concepts relating to healthcare.
The six themes below follow that guidance: motivation and your personal statement, values, communication, ethical reasoning, problem solving, and health and social care in the news. The questions are practice questions written by TheUKCATPeople from Leeds' published guidance. They are not real or leaked Leeds questions, and nothing here comes from students reporting what they were asked.
Source: University of Leeds, Admissions Policy for Clinical and Practice Courses in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences 2027-28 (application process) (2027-28 (2027 entry)); University of Leeds School of Medicine, Preparing for your MMI (no year stated; current guidance from the January 2026 round)
Leeds medicine interview questions, by theme
Grouped by what Leeds says it assesses. Each question has a note on what a strong answer covers, and the Leeds-specific ones have a full model answer. These are practice questions written by TheUKCATPeople from Leeds's published guidance, not real or leaked questions.
- Motivation, your personal statement and your preparation (1 to 10)
- Values and what makes a good healthcare professional (11 to 20)
- Communication skills (21 to 30)
- Ethical reasoning (31 to 40)
- Problem solving (41 to 49)
- Health and social care in the news (50 to 58)
Motivation, your personal statement and your preparation
What Leeds says: Leeds tells candidates to be familiar with the contents of their UCAS personal statement and what they have done to prepare for medical school, and says their reflections on the values the course needs will be explored further at interview. University of Leeds School of Medicine, Preparing for your MMI
Expect at least one station to start from what you wrote in your personal statement and then push past it. Reread the statement the week before and be ready to describe each experience in more detail than you had room for. Know the Leeds course too: the four strands that run through every year, the early clinical placements and the personal development plan are all on the university's own course page.
- 1
Why do you want to be a doctor, and when did you first test that idea against what the job is really like?
What to cover: Give your starting point in a sentence, then spend most of the answer on how you checked it: the placement, the volunteering or the conversation that could have put you off and did not.
- 2
Why Leeds?
What to cover: Choose two things the Leeds course actually does, such as clinical placements from the early years or planetary health in the curriculum, and explain why they suit you. A ranking or a nice city tells the interviewer nothing about you.
- 3
The Leeds course runs four strands every year: Fundamentals of Medicine, Clinical Practice, Professional Practice and Student Choice. Which do you expect to find hardest?
What to cover: Pick one and give a reason rooted in your own experience, then say what you would do about it. It shows you have read the course and can look at yourself clearly.
- 4
Choose one experience from your personal statement and tell me what you did there, day to day.
What to cover: Describe the routine, the people and one particular moment. Interviewers can tell quickly whether an experience was lived or only written up, and detail is what convinces them.
- 5
What have you done to find out what a doctor's working life is like, beyond watching one at work?
What to cover: Talk about conversations with doctors, reading about training, or caring work where you were useful yourself. Show that you know about the long hours, the exams after graduation and the shift patterns.
- 6
Why medicine and not nursing, or becoming a physician associate?
What to cover: Speak about those roles with respect and accuracy, then give a reason that is about the doctor's role in particular, such as diagnosis and carrying final clinical responsibility. Leeds rejects applicants whose motivation points to another vocational course.
- 7
Leeds students keep a personal development plan from their first year. What would you put in yours for the first term?
What to cover: Name one or two concrete goals, such as settling into independent study or practising consultation skills, and say how you would know you had met them. Concrete goals show you have thought about how you learn.
- 8
What have you read, watched or listened to about medicine that changed your mind about something?
What to cover: Name one thing, say what it argued and what you now think as a result. One book you can discuss well is worth more than a list; our medicine reading list is a place to start.
- 9
What do you think will be hardest about the move from school to a medical degree?
What to cover: Choose something real, such as the volume of independent study or seeing patients in distress, and show you have already started to prepare for it. A candidate who expects nothing to be hard is not believed.
- 10
If you are not offered a place this year, what will you do?
What to cover: Give a realistic plan that keeps medicine as the goal, such as improving your experience and reapplying, and sound as if you have thought about it. A vague answer suggests you have not.
Model answer
Why Leeds?
The first reason is how early the clinical work starts. In the first two years at Leeds you go on placements in primary and secondary care and practise in simulation, so the science is learned next to the patients it applies to. When I volunteered at a care home I learned most from the residents themselves, and I want a course that puts me in front of patients early.
The second is the public health teaching from the start. Leeds covers health inequities, global health and planetary health in the early years. I grew up in a town where life expectancy changes a lot from one side to the other, and I want to understand why before I am treating the results of it.
And I like that every year has a Student Choice strand and a personal development plan. I know I learn best when I set my own goals and look back at them, and Leeds builds that in. The chance to intercalate after second, third or fourth year matters to me too, because I would like to try research.
Go deeper: How to answer "Why medicine?"
Values and what makes a good healthcare professional
What Leeds says: Leeds carries out values-based recruitment: its admissions policy says interviews assess an applicant's values and behaviours against the values of the NHS Constitution. Its MMI guidance asks candidates to research what it takes to be a good healthcare professional. University of Leeds, Admissions Policy for Clinical and Practice Courses in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences 2027-28 (application process)
Values-based recruitment means Leeds is looking for evidence that you already behave the way the NHS asks its staff to behave. Naming the values is the easy part. The station is scored on the example you give and on what you did when the value was difficult to live up to.
- 11
What qualities make a good doctor, and which of them have you already shown?
What to cover: Pick two or three qualities and give a short example for each from your own life. A list of ten qualities with no evidence scores far less than two that you can prove.
- 12
The NHS Constitution includes compassion and respect and dignity among its values. Tell me about a time you saw one of them tested.
What to cover: Describe a moment where living up to the value was hard, such as a rushed ward or a difficult patient, and what the staff member did. Then say what you took from it for your own practice.
- 13
"Everyone counts" is one of the NHS values. What does it mean in a busy GP surgery?
What to cover: Make it practical: an interpreter for a patient with little English, a longer appointment for someone with learning disabilities, or a home visit for someone who cannot travel.
- 14
Tell me about a mistake you made. What did you do next?
What to cover: Choose a real mistake with a consequence. Spend most of the time on what you did next: owning it, putting it right and changing how you work.
- 15
What does professionalism mean for a first-year medical student?
What to cover: Talk about attendance, reliability, confidentiality, how you treat people and looking after your own health. The GMC expects this from students on day one; our GMC guide for interviews summarises it.
- 16
A student on your course posts a photo from a placement on social media, and a patient is visible in the background. What do you do?
What to cover: Treat it as a confidentiality breach whatever they intended. Speak to them first and ask them to remove it, then escalate if they refuse. Our confidentiality guide covers where the line sits.
- 17
How do you look after your own wellbeing under pressure, and why does it matter to patients?
What to cover: Describe what you actually do and a time it was tested. Then link it to safety: tired or unwell doctors make more errors, and asking for help early is a professional duty.
- 18
Describe a time you were in a team that was not working well. What did you do?
What to cover: Focus on your own part: what you noticed, what you said and what changed. Blaming the others, however fair, uses up the time you need to show insight.
- 19
What does a doctor owe to the other members of the healthcare team?
What to cover: Talk about respect for other professions' expertise, clear communication and sharing the load. Our guide to the multidisciplinary team explains who does what.
- 20
Why do you think Leeds selects on values as well as grades?
What to cover: Explain that grades show you can learn the science, but patients are harmed when doctors lack compassion or integrity. Then show you have the values, with one brief example.
Model answer
Why do you think Leeds selects on values as well as grades?
Because good grades tell you someone can learn the science, and they say almost nothing about how that person will treat a frightened patient at three in the morning. Every applicant Leeds interviews already has strong grades, so the interview is where the differences that matter to patients show up.
The inquiries into failures of care, such as Mid Staffordshire, found staff who were qualified but had stopped seeing patients as people. Selecting on the NHS Constitution values is a way of trying to catch that early, before someone spends five years in training.
For me, the value I have worked hardest at is respect and dignity. At my care home placement I learned to knock and wait, to explain what I was about to do even when someone could not answer, and to keep a resident covered while helping them. Those are small things, but they are what the residents noticed.
Go deeper: The six NHS core values
Communication skills
What Leeds says: Leeds names communication skills as an example of the attributes its MMI stations assess, marked against pre-determined, standardised scoring scales. University of Leeds School of Medicine, Preparing for your MMI
Some Leeds stations are likely to be conversations with someone playing a part, and you get two minutes outside to read the brief. Use that time to decide what the person probably needs from you and what you must not promise. In the room, the assessor is watching how you listen, what you ask and whether you adapt to the person in front of you.
- 21
You are a first-year Leeds student on a GP placement. A patient in the waiting room is upset that they have waited over an hour. Talk to them.
What to cover: Acknowledge the frustration first, find out whether anything about their health has changed, and then find out from staff how long the wait will be. Do not argue about whose fault it is.
- 22
Your flatmate on the course tells you they have failed an exam and want to leave medicine. Talk to them.
What to cover: Listen before you advise. Ask what happened and how they are feeling, check they are safe, and point them towards their personal tutor and student support. Avoid pushing them to stay or to go.
- 23
Your elderly neighbour has been prescribed a new medicine and is confused by the leaflet. Help them.
What to cover: Ask what they already understand, explain the main points in plain words, and check by asking them to tell it back. If anything is beyond you, send them to the pharmacist, and offer to go with them.
- 24
Explain to a nine-year-old why they need a vaccination.
What to cover: Use short words, one simple picture of how the body learns to fight a germ, and check they have understood. Be truthful that it might sting for a moment.
- 25
You accidentally broke something that belongs to your housemate. Tell them.
What to cover: Say it early and plainly, apologise once, and offer to put it right. The station is testing whether you can deliver unwelcome news without excuses.
- 26
A patient's daughter is angry that nobody has told her what is happening to her father. Talk to her.
What to cover: Let her speak, acknowledge that not knowing is frightening, and do not get defensive. As a student you cannot share his information without consent, so offer to find the doctor or nurse who can.
- 27
Describe a time you had to explain something complicated. How did you check the other person understood?
What to cover: Give a specific example, then describe the check: asking them to explain it back, or watching whether they could do the task. Asking "does that make sense?" is not a check.
- 28
How would you adapt a conversation with a patient whose first language is not English?
What to cover: Talk about using a professional interpreter, why family members are a poor substitute, short sentences, and checking understanding. Mention that written information can be provided in other languages.
- 29
What makes someone a good listener?
What to cover: Describe the behaviour: letting the person finish, asking open questions, summarising what you heard and noticing what they do not say. Then give a moment when you did it, or failed to.
- 30
A friend tells you they have been feeling low for weeks and asks you not to tell anyone. How do you respond?
What to cover: Take it seriously, listen, and encourage them to see their GP or student support. Be clear that you could not keep it to yourself if you thought they were at risk of harm.
Model answer
You are a first-year Leeds student on a GP placement. A patient in the waiting room is upset that they have waited over an hour. Talk to them.
"I'm sorry, an hour is a long time to wait, especially when you're not feeling well. I'm one of the medical students here today. Can I ask what you're here about, and whether you're feeling any worse than when you arrived?" I would listen properly, because if they are getting worse that changes everything and the reception team needs to know straight away.
If they are stable, I would be clear about what I can and cannot do. "I can't see you myself, but I can go and find out from the receptionist how much longer it is likely to be and come straight back to tell you." Then I would go and do exactly that, and give them an accurate time even if it is not what they want to hear.
If the wait is going to be much longer, I would ask whether that causes a particular problem, such as picking up a child or getting back to work, and whether reception can offer another option. I would not blame the doctors or promise anything I could not deliver.
Go deeper: MMI role-play stations
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Ethical reasoning
What Leeds says: Ethical reasoning is one of the attributes Leeds names for its MMI stations, and it advises candidates to gain a basic understanding of key ethical concepts relating to healthcare. University of Leeds School of Medicine, Preparing for your MMI
Leeds asks for a basic understanding of ethical concepts, not a philosophy degree. Use the two minutes outside the station to identify whose interests are at stake and what you would need to know. Then reason out loud: what matters, what you would do, and what would change your mind. Our guide to answering ethics questions gives you a structure.
- 31
A patient with capacity refuses a treatment that would probably save their life. What should happen?
What to cover: Check they have capacity for this decision and understand the consequences, explore their reasons, offer alternatives and record it all. Then respect the decision, because autonomy protects choices doctors disagree with.
- 32
A 15-year-old asks a GP for contraception and does not want her parents told. What are the issues?
What to cover: Consider whether she is competent to consent, her right to confidentiality, and whether there are any signs she is at risk. Our Gillick competence guide sets out the test doctors use.
- 33
Should people who smoke wait longer for surgery than people who do not?
What to cover: Separate the clinical argument, that smoking can make some operations riskier, from the moral one about blame. Discuss fairness, addiction and what the NHS commits to, and come to a reasoned view.
- 34
A friend asks you to look up their relative's test results on the hospital system. What do you say?
What to cover: Say no kindly and without hesitation. Viewing records with no clinical reason is a breach of confidentiality and the law, so help them ask through the proper route.
- 35
A patient asks you not to tell their family about their diagnosis. The family keep asking you. What do you do?
What to cover: The patient's wishes come first, so do not share. Be kind to the family, tell them you cannot discuss it, and gently encourage the patient to think about who they want to know.
- 36
Is it ever acceptable to lie to a patient?
What to cover: Explain why trust depends on truthfulness and why the GMC expects candour. Distinguish lying from choosing how and when to share difficult news, and from respecting someone who does not want every detail.
- 37
You smell alcohol on a doctor's breath at the start of a shift. What do you do?
What to cover: Patient safety comes first, so act today. Speak to the doctor privately if it is safe to, and tell a senior. Our whistleblowing guide covers raising concerns.
- 38
England uses an opt-out system for organ donation. Is that right?
What to cover: Lay out the case for it, more organs and lives saved, and against it, consent assumed from silence. Mention that families are still consulted, and come to your own view.
- 39
Should a doctor ever treat a member of their own family?
What to cover: Explain why the GMC advises against it except in emergencies: objectivity, confidentiality and the patient's freedom to speak openly. Then accept that a true emergency changes the answer.
- 40
A friend interviewing at Leeds the next day asks you to tell them about your stations. What do you do?
What to cover: Decline, and explain why. Leeds asks every candidate to sign a non-disclosure agreement and treats sharing station content as a breach of professionalism, because it is unfair to everyone else.
Model answer
A friend interviewing at Leeds the next day asks you to tell them about your stations. What do you do?
I would tell them no, kindly, and explain why. Before the interview Leeds asks every candidate to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and it treats sharing station content as a breach of professionalism. That alone settles what I should do, but I also think the rule is right.
The interview only works if everyone faces the same stations without notice. If I told my friend, I would be giving them an advantage over people who did not happen to know someone interviewed the day before, and some of those people might lose a place because of it. That is the same kind of fairness a doctor owes patients: the same standard for everyone, whoever they know.
I would offer to help in a way that is fair. We could practise general questions together, I could tell them how I prepared, and I could remind them about the reading time and the ID they need. And I would tell them that the station content would not help much anyway, because what is marked is how you think and talk in the moment.
Go deeper: The four pillars of medical ethics
Problem solving
What Leeds says: Leeds names problem solving among the example attributes its MMI stations assess, marked against pre-determined, standardised scoring scales. University of Leeds School of Medicine, Preparing for your MMI
A problem-solving station gives you a practical situation with more to do than you can manage, or a question with no obvious route to an answer. Use the reading time to sort the information: what is urgent, what is risky and what can wait. Then talk the interviewer through your reasoning in order, so they can mark how you got there as well as where you ended up.
- 41
You are volunteering on a ward. In the next ten minutes, a patient asks for water, a phone is ringing, a visitor is lost, a call bell is going and a nurse asks you to fetch a form. What do you do first?
What to cover: Rank the tasks by risk to patients, so the call bell comes first, and say who you would hand each other task to. Explain your reasoning as you go.
- 42
Your train to a 9am placement is cancelled. What do you do?
What to cover: Tell the placement early, find the next route and give them an accurate arrival time. Mention planning ahead for strikes and bad weather, which is a professional habit.
- 43
You have three coursework deadlines in the same week and then you fall ill. What do you do?
What to cover: Prioritise by deadline and weight, tell your tutor early, and use the university's process for mitigating circumstances. Hiding a problem until it is too late is the answer that loses marks.
- 44
One member of your group project has stopped replying to messages a week before the deadline. What do you do?
What to cover: Find out why before assuming the worst, because there may be a problem in their life. Then agree a plan with the group and tell the tutor if the work is at risk.
- 45
A GP practice has seen missed appointments rise this year. How would you find out why?
What to cover: Ask who is missing appointments, at what times, and how they were booked. Then speak to patients and staff before suggesting fixes such as reminders or more flexible booking.
- 46
You are running a health stall at a local school and only half your volunteers turn up. What do you do?
What to cover: Cut the plan to what you can do well, give each volunteer a clear job, and protect anything to do with safety or children's supervision. Then explain what you would change next time.
- 47
You notice the hand gel dispensers on your ward are empty every afternoon. What do you do?
What to cover: Report it to the person in charge and suggest a simple fix, such as a check at lunchtime. Explain why it matters: hand hygiene is one of the simplest ways to prevent infection.
- 48
Estimate how many GP appointments take place in Leeds on a weekday.
What to cover: The interviewer is marking the method. Start from a rounded population, estimate how often a person sees a GP in a year, divide by working days, and state each assumption out loud.
- 49
You are halfway through a task on placement and realise you have misunderstood what you were asked to do. What do you do?
What to cover: Stop, tell the person who asked you, and check what they need. Owning a misunderstanding early is safer than finishing the wrong task.
Go deeper: MMI prioritisation stations
Health and social care in the news
What Leeds says: Leeds advises candidates to keep up to date with developments in health and social care that are making headlines. University of Leeds School of Medicine, Preparing for your MMI
Leeds names health and social care together, so do not stop at hospitals. Pick three or four current issues and know them well: what is happening, why it matters to patients, and what a doctor can do about it. The Leeds course itself teaches health inequities and planetary health from the early years, which gives you an obvious place to start.
- 50
Which health or social care story in the news recently caught your attention, and why does it matter to doctors?
What to cover: Choose one story you can explain in detail, give the facts accurately and link it to patients. If you cannot explain a story in some depth, choose another.
- 51
Leeds teaches planetary health in its early years. What does climate change have to do with a doctor's job?
What to cover: Cover both directions: climate change harms health, through heat and air pollution, and healthcare itself has a large carbon footprint. Then give an example of what a doctor can change.
- 52
Why do people in the poorest areas spend fewer years in good health, and what can a doctor do about it?
What to cover: Explain the social causes, such as housing, income and education, and then the doctor's part, from referrals to advocacy. Our health inequalities guide covers the Marmot evidence.
- 53
Why do some patients stay in hospital after they are well enough to go home?
What to cover: Explain that many are waiting for social care or a care home place, and what that means for them and for A&E. Our guide to the ageing population and social care has the background.
- 54
What is the difference between health care and social care, and why does it matter?
What to cover: Health care is treatment from the NHS; social care is support with daily living, mostly arranged by councils and often means-tested. The gap between the two is where many patients fall.
- 55
What are the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence in the NHS?
What to cover: Give one real benefit, such as reading scans faster, and one real risk, such as bias in training data or unclear responsibility for errors. Our AI in medicine guide has examples.
- 56
Why are some resident doctors leaving the NHS?
What to cover: Talk about pay, rotas, training bottlenecks and burnout, with some balance. Then say what you think would help and why it matters for patients. Our resident doctors guide sets out the evidence.
- 57
Why is antibiotic resistance a problem, and what can a new doctor do about it?
What to cover: Explain how resistance develops and why few new antibiotics are coming. Then make it practical: prescribing only when needed and explaining to patients why. See our antimicrobial resistance guide.
- 58
NHS waiting lists are long. What would you do first to shorten them?
What to cover: Pick one lever, such as more diagnostic capacity or moving care into the community, and give its limits. Our guide to the NHS backlog has the figures.
Model answer
Leeds teaches planetary health in its early years. What does climate change have to do with a doctor's job?
It works in both directions. Climate change makes people ill: heatwaves kill older people and people with heart and lung disease, air pollution worsens asthma, and changes in climate shift where some infections spread. So doctors will be treating the effects of it whatever specialty they choose.
Healthcare also adds to the problem. The NHS is a large source of carbon emissions in the UK, from buildings and travel to medicines and equipment. Some inhalers, for example, contain propellant gases that are powerful greenhouse gases, and there are lower-carbon alternatives that suit many patients.
So a doctor can do something about it in ordinary practice: review inhalers with patients where a lower-carbon option is clinically suitable, avoid tests and prescriptions that are not needed, and support prevention, which keeps people out of hospital in the first place. I think that is why Leeds teaches it from the start.
Go deeper: Medicine interview hot topics
How is the Leeds MMI scored?
Each station is marked against pre-determined, standardised scoring scales, so every candidate at a station is judged on the same criteria by the same kind of scale. Leeds does not publish how station scores are combined. What it does state is that the offer decision after interview depends entirely on interview performance: your grades and UCAT score earned the invitation and play no further part.
There are no extra marks for a bad day. Leeds says that by checking in you are declaring that you are fit and well enough to take the MMI. If something unforeseen will affect you, use the absence form before you interview, so your referee can confirm the circumstances.
Source: University of Leeds School of Medicine, Preparing for your MMI (no year stated; current guidance from the January 2026 round); University of Leeds, Medicine and Surgery MBChB course page (2027 entry); University of Leeds School of Medicine, MMI FAQs (January 2026 round)
What happens on the day, and what should I bring?
- Where: in the last round, MMIs were held at The Edge, the sports centre on the University of Leeds campus, with check-in at The Edge gym on Willow Terrace Road. Your invitation will confirm the venue. There is no parking on campus.
- Timing: arrive at your booked time. Leeds says it does not have capacity to offer another slot to applicants who are delayed, so allow for winter weather and train disruption in early January.
- Photo ID: bring a valid passport (a photo of it is not accepted), a driving licence or a provisional driving licence. Without one of these, your interview will not go ahead. If you have none, your UCAS referee must email Leeds well in advance.
- Bring a bottle of water if you want one. Pens, paper and clipboards are provided; food is not.
- The day: check-in and an ID check, a short MMI briefing, the circuit of just over an hour, then an optional wrap-up with a short presentation and a chance to meet academics and student ambassadors. Parents and friends cannot enter the MMI hall.
- Dress smartly and comfortably; you will be moving between stations. Leeds says you do not need to buy anything new.
- Accessibility: the venue is fully accessible and there is a circuit with larger stations for wheelchair users. Request any adjustment following the instructions in your invitation, because adjustments cannot be considered after the interview.
- Travel costs: applicants from widening participation backgrounds can claim a travel bursary of up to £100.
Source: University of Leeds School of Medicine, Schedule of the day: School of Medicine MMIs (no year stated; January 2026 round); University of Leeds School of Medicine, MMI FAQs (January 2026 round); University of Leeds, Admissions Policy for Clinical and Practice Courses in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences 2027-28 (application process) (2027-28 (2027 entry)); University of Leeds, Medicine and Surgery MBChB course page (2027 entry)
The Leeds non-disclosure agreement
Before you attend, Leeds asks you to read and sign a non-disclosure agreement covering confidentiality and professional behaviour. Anyone found disclosing the content of stations, scenarios or questions, on social media or to teachers, friends, schools or private companies, is treated as breaching professionalism, which Leeds says may have serious consequences. You may not record any part of the interview or receive advice from anyone during it. This is one reason the questions on this page are written from Leeds' published guidance and nothing else.
Source: University of Leeds School of Medicine, Preparing for your MMI (no year stated; current guidance from the January 2026 round)
What happens after the Leeds interview?
Leeds does not publish a date for medicine offers. Because it uses a gathered field and ranks applicants against each other, expect decisions after the January interviews have finished, not on the day. The School usually runs a waitlist for applicants who narrowly missed an offer at interview, and contacts those invited onto it after the UCAS decision deadline in June. It does not normally enter Clearing for Medicine.
Unsuccessful applicants are given the reasons for rejection, but Leeds does not give personalised feedback on interview performance or respond to direct requests for it. For 2024 entry, 300 of the 742 home applicants interviewed received an offer (40%), and 12 of 32 international interviewees (38%). An offer is conditional on your grades, health and criminal record checks; it is not yet a place.
Source: University of Leeds, Medicine and Surgery MBChB course page (2027 entry); University of Leeds, Admissions Policy for Clinical and Practice Courses in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences 2027-28 (application process) (2027-28 (2027 entry)); Admissions statistics as published on our Leeds profile (Leeds does not publish interview figures on its own site) (2024 entry)
Practise a Leeds-style interview
A timed mock in the format Leeds uses, built from the themes Leeds publishes. Record yourself, then mark it against the pointers above.
Common mistakes at the Leeds interview
- 1
Revising science for the interview
Leeds says its interview does not test clinical or scientific knowledge. The time is better spent practising out loud on ethics, role play and current issues in health and social care.
- 2
Wasting the two minutes of reading time
You get two minutes outside each station and paper to write on. Use it to decide what the station is testing and to jot down two or three points, so the six minutes inside have a shape.
- 3
Sounding keener on another healthcare career
Leeds may reject applicants who show motivation and insight for another vocational course. When you discuss nursing or other professions, be respectful and accurate, and keep the reason for medicine clear.
- 4
Not knowing your own personal statement
Leeds tells candidates to know its contents. Reread it and prepare to go deeper on each experience, because an interviewer who asks about something you wrote expects detail.
- 5
Turning up without the right ID
A photo of a passport is not accepted, and without valid photo ID the interview does not go ahead. Pack the original the night before.
- 6
Arriving late
Leeds says it cannot offer another slot to applicants who are delayed. Plan your route to the campus the week before and leave time for January weather and trains.
- 7
Sharing or asking for station content
You sign a non-disclosure agreement, and Leeds treats disclosure as a breach of professionalism. Do not post about your stations or ask others for theirs.
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FAQs
Leeds medicine interview: common questions
Are Leeds medicine interviews online or in person?
Home applicants interview face to face on the University of Leeds campus, and overseas applicants interview online. For 2027 entry the face-to-face interviews run on 4, 5 and 6 January 2027. In the last round the venue was The Edge on campus; your invitation confirms it.
How many stations are in the Leeds MMI, and how long is it?
Leeds' most recent published format for Medicine is eight stations of six minutes each, with two minutes' reading time outside every station. The circuit takes just over an hour, after check-in and a short briefing.
One interviewer sits in each station. The guidance was written for the January 2026 round, so check the details in your invitation.
When are Leeds medicine interviews for 2027 entry, and when are invitations sent?
Face-to-face interviews take place on 4, 5 and 6 January 2027. Leeds does not publish the date invitations go out, or separate dates for overseas online interviews.
Applications are scored and ranked together after the 15 October deadline, and in the last round invited applicants booked a slot through Eventbrite. Compare other schools in our interview dates table.
How does Leeds choose who to interview?
Leeds ranks eligible applicants on a points score combining their top eight GCSEs, top three predicted grades, overall UCAT score and contextual information, with no fixed UCAT cut-off. The scoring and past shortlisting scores are on our Leeds medical school profile.
Does my UCAT score or predicted grades count after the Leeds interview?
No. Leeds states that the decision to make an offer after interview depends entirely on performance at interview, not on predicted or achieved grades or the UCAT.
How competitive is Leeds medicine after the interview?
For 2024 entry, 40% of home applicants interviewed received an offer (300 of 742), and 38% of international interviewees (12 of 32). Leeds does not publish these figures on its own website; they are from our Leeds profile.
I am an international applicant. How does my Leeds interview work?
Overseas applicants interview online, using the same MMI approach. Leeds has not published separate dates for online interviews or said whether the station count differs, so follow the details in your invitation.
Leeds decides whether you are considered as a home or international applicant by your fee status when shortlisting takes place. Our guide to online MMIs covers setting up for a remote interview.
What happens after the Leeds interview, and when do offers come?
Leeds does not publish an offer date, and because applicants are ranked against each other, decisions come after the January interviews are finished. Leeds usually runs a waitlist and contacts those invited onto it after the UCAS decision deadline in June.
Unsuccessful applicants are told the reasons for rejection, but Leeds does not give personalised interview feedback.
Can I reschedule my Leeds interview?
Only in advance, and it is not guaranteed. Leeds' admissions policy says it will accommodate requests for alternative dates where possible, but may not offer one if you fail to attend without telling the university first.
If you are late on the day, Leeds says it has no capacity to offer another slot. If you cannot attend once interviews have started, complete the absence form straight away; your referee is asked to verify it.
How should I prepare for the Leeds MMI?
Follow Leeds' own four points: know your personal statement and your preparation, research what makes a good healthcare professional, keep up with health and social care news, and learn the basic ethical concepts. Then practise answering out loud against a timer, using two minutes to plan and six to speak.
Our MMI preparation guide explains the format, and the practice questions above follow Leeds' themes.
Where these facts come from
- University of Leeds, Medicine and Surgery MBChB course page (2027 entry)
- University of Leeds, Admissions Policy for Clinical and Practice Courses in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences 2027-28 (application process) (2027-28 (2027 entry))
- University of Leeds School of Medicine, Preparing for your MMI (no year stated; current guidance from the January 2026 round)
- University of Leeds School of Medicine, Schedule of the day: School of Medicine MMIs (no year stated; January 2026 round)
- University of Leeds School of Medicine, MMI FAQs (January 2026 round)
- Admissions statistics as published on our Leeds profile (Leeds does not publish interview figures on its own site) (2024 entry)
Last checked: 16 September 2026. Universities change interview arrangements during the cycle, so confirm on Leeds's own page before you travel or book. The questions above are practice questions written by TheUKCATPeople from Leeds's published guidance; they are not real or leaked interview questions.
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