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Medicine interviews, 2027 entry
Swansea Medicine Interview Questions (2027 Entry)
How Swansea University Medical School runs its assessment day: three longer face-to-face stations that may be interviews, presentations or role plays, held early in the New Year for graduate entry and the new A110 route. Then 53 practice questions grouped by the seven qualities Swansea publishes, with model answers.
Reviewed by Dr Akash Gandhi, NHS GP and a Cambridge and UCL graduate (GMC register) · Checked against Swansea's official pages: 26 October 2026
Swansea medicine interviews, 2027 entry
Swansea medicine interviews for 2027 entry are an assessment day of three face-to-face stations, each lasting 20 or 30 minutes, which may be interviews, presentations or role plays. Swansea says shortlisted applicants attend early in the New Year but publishes no dates. Offers rest on the assessment day alone, and no post-interview success rate is published.
- When
- Early in the New Year; Swansea publishes no 2027 datesUniversity's usual pattern, no year given
- Format
- An assessment day of three face-to-face stations, each 20 or 30 minutes; Swansea does not call it an MMIConfirmed for 2027 entrySwansea University, Medicine MB BCh (A110) course page: entry requirements and format of the assessment day (2027 entry (new course, September 2027 start))
- Station types
- Interviews, presentations or role-play scenarios; you may be asked about your personal statement in one or more stationsConfirmed for 2027 entrySwansea University, Medicine MB BCh (A110) course page: entry requirements and format of the assessment day (2027 entry (new course, September 2027 start))
- Delivery
- Face to face; no online option is describedConfirmed for 2027 entry
- Panel
- Trained clinicians, academics, medical students and members of the publicConfirmed for 2027 entry
- Qualities assessed
- Communication; problem solving; coping with pressure; insight and integrity; passion for medicine and resilience to succeed; organisation and research; ethics and valuesConfirmed for 2027 entry
- Which courses
- Graduate Entry Medicine (A101) and the new five-year MB BCh for south and west Wales (A110) describe the same assessment dayConfirmed for 2027 entrySwansea University, Medicine MB BCh (A110) course page: entry requirements and format of the assessment day (2027 entry (new course, September 2027 start))
- How offers are made
- Solely on performance at the assessment day; admissions test scores are considered no further once you are shortlistedConfirmed for 2027 entry
- Post-interview success rate
- Not published: Swansea publishes no interviewed countNot published by the universityAdmissions statistics on our Swansea profile (none held; Swansea publishes no interviewed count) (no figures held)
Entry requirements, test scores and fees are on our Swansea graduate entry medicine guide.
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 Swansea interview for medicine?
Swansea University Medical School calls its interview an assessment day. It consists of three face-to-face stations, each lasting 20 or 30 minutes, and each may take the form of an interview, a presentation or a role-play scenario. You may also be asked about your personal statement in one or more stations. Swansea says further details of the day, and anything you need to prepare, come with your invitation, and it reserves the right to change the station formats and the competencies assessed between cycles without notice.
The stations are run by a trained panel of clinicians, academics, medical students and members of the public. The faculty's Public and Patient Involvement volunteers list sitting on selection interview panels among their roles, so expect a patient or member of the public to be one of the people marking you.
Three long stations, not a circuit of short ones
Swansea does not use the term multiple mini interview. A 20 or 30 minute station is several times longer than a typical MMI station, so you need to sustain a conversation, a role play or a presentation and its questions. Practise talking for that long under observation. Our MMI preparation guide still helps with structuring answers.
Swansea does not publish the total length of the day, the topic of any station, or how stations are marked.
Source: Swansea University, Medicine (Graduate Entry) MB BCh (A101) course page: admissions tests and format of the assessment day (September 2027 start offered; admissions tests still stated for 2026 entry; assessment day section carries no year); Swansea University, Medicine MB BCh (A110) course page: entry requirements and format of the assessment day (2027 entry (new course, September 2027 start)); Swansea University, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science: Public and Patient Involvement (no year stated)
When are Swansea medicine interviews for 2027 entry?
Swansea has not published dates for the 2027 entry assessment day. Its graduate entry course page says the highest-scoring applicants are invited to the assessment day early in the New Year, so expect it from January 2027. The new A110 course page describes the same day but gives no timing at all.
Swansea does not publish when invitations are sent. Its graduate entry page says the cut-off for interview is set once all applicants' test results are confirmed, so invitations follow after the October deadline. Compare every school's window in our UK medical school interview dates table.
Source: Swansea University, Medicine (Graduate Entry) MB BCh (A101) course page: admissions tests and format of the assessment day (September 2027 start offered; admissions tests still stated for 2026 entry; assessment day section carries no year); Swansea University, Medicine MB BCh (A110) course page: entry requirements and format of the assessment day (2027 entry (new course, September 2027 start))
Who does Swansea interview?
For Graduate Entry Medicine (A101), Swansea ranks applicants who meet its minimum requirements on their admissions test score and invites the highest scorers, with a cut-off set each year. The degree rules, the three tests and the published minimum scores are on our Swansea graduate entry medicine guide, which is the page for that question.
Swansea's new five-year MB BCh (A110) is open only to A-level applicants who live in, and went to school in, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion or Pembrokeshire; its rules are on Swansea's A110 course page. On both routes, once you are shortlisted your test score counts no further.
Source: Swansea University, Medicine (Graduate Entry) MB BCh (A101) course page: admissions tests and format of the assessment day (September 2027 start offered; admissions tests still stated for 2026 entry; assessment day section carries no year); Swansea University, Medicine MB BCh (A110) course page: entry requirements and format of the assessment day (2027 entry (new course, September 2027 start))
What does Swansea look for at the assessment day?
Swansea says its stations are designed around the personal and academic qualities needed as a doctor in the GMC's Good Medical Practice and the capacity to meet the GMC's Outcomes for Graduates. It lists them as:
- Communication skills
- Problem solving skills
- Coping with pressure
- Insight and integrity
- Passion for medicine and resilience to succeed
- Organisation and research
- Ethics and values
Swansea's interview tips page expands on each with the questions it wants you to have thought about, and says the presentation is the chance to show organisation and research. It introduces them as five key competencies but describes seven, so prepare for all seven. The seven themes below follow those headings and prompts. The questions are practice questions written by TheUKCATPeople from Swansea's own pages. They are not real or leaked Swansea questions, and nothing here comes from students reporting what they were asked.
Source: Swansea University, Medicine (Graduate Entry) MB BCh (A101) course page: admissions tests and format of the assessment day (September 2027 start offered; admissions tests still stated for 2026 entry; assessment day section carries no year); Swansea University, Tips for Medical School Interviews (no year stated); Swansea University Medical School home page (mission) (no year stated)
Swansea medicine interview questions, by theme
Grouped by what Swansea says it assesses. Each question has a note on what a strong answer covers, and the Swansea-specific ones have a full model answer. These are practice questions written by TheUKCATPeople from Swansea's published guidance, not real or leaked questions.
- Communication skills (1 to 8)
- Coping with pressure (9 to 15)
- Problem solving (16 to 22)
- Insight and integrity (23 to 30)
- Passion for medicine and resilience to succeed (31 to 38)
- Organisation and research, and the presentation (39 to 45)
- Ethics and values (46 to 53)
Communication skills
What Swansea says: Swansea's tips page asks whether you can communicate clearly and appropriately with people from all walks of life, how you would tell someone something life-changing, and about your written communication, and says you will need examples. Swansea University, Tips for Medical School Interviews
A role play at Swansea can run for 20 or 30 minutes, long enough for a conversation to change direction several times. Swansea names three things in its tips: people from all walks of life, life-changing news and written communication. Have an example ready for each.
- 1
Tell me about a time you had to tell someone news they did not want to hear.
What to cover: Describe how you prepared, the words you used, how they reacted and what you did next. Swansea asks how you would tell someone something life-changing, so show you know it is a process, not one sentence.
- 2
How would you prepare to give someone life-changing news?
What to cover: Right setting, enough time, find out what they already know, warn them, say it plainly, pause and listen, then plan next steps. Our breaking bad news guide sets out the SPIKES structure.
- 3
Role play: you are a first-year student on placement. A patient's daughter is upset that her father's discharge has been delayed again. Talk to her.
What to cover: Let her speak, acknowledge her frustration, find out what she knows and what worries her most, and do not promise what you cannot deliver. Offer to find the person who can answer.
- 4
Describe a time you communicated with someone whose background was very different from yours.
What to cover: Swansea asks about people from all walks of life. Show what you adjusted, such as language, pace or assumptions, and how you checked it worked.
- 5
Swansea asks about written communication. Give an example of something you wrote that had to be clear to someone else.
What to cover: A report, handover note, instructions or an email at work. Say who it was for, how you made it clear and how you knew it worked.
- 6
Explain something from your degree, job or A-level studies to me as if I were twelve years old.
What to cover: Choose something you know well, use one everyday comparison and check understanding. This is what explaining a diagnosis feels like.
- 7
You realise a patient misunderstood what you told them yesterday. What do you do?
What to cover: Go back, apologise for the confusion, explain again more simply and check they have understood this time. Tell your supervisor if it affected their care.
- 8
How does the way you speak to a colleague differ from the way you speak to a patient?
What to cover: With colleagues, structured and precise; with patients, plain words, checking understanding and attention to feelings. Respect in both.
Model answer
How would you prepare to give someone life-changing news?
I would start before I walk in. I would make sure I have all the facts, find a quiet room where we will not be interrupted, turn off my bleep if I could, and ask whether they would like someone with them. If a nurse who knows the patient can come too, that helps.
In the room I would find out what they already know and how much they want to know, then give a warning that I have difficult news. I would say it plainly, without jargon, and then stop. The silence afterwards matters, because people need time before they can take in anything else.
Then I would follow their lead: answer questions truthfully, acknowledge how they feel, and agree what happens next, so they leave with a plan and a name to contact. In my job as a support worker I saw a nurse do this with a family, and what stayed with me was how little she said in the first minute after the news.
Go deeper: MMI role-play stations
Coping with pressure
What Swansea says: Swansea's tips page says having someone's life in your hands comes with pressure, and asks how you would balance conflicting pressures without compromising patient safety and how you would look after your own wellbeing, with examples, evidence and an explanation. Swansea University, Tips for Medical School Interviews
Swansea's course is accelerated: four years, with patients from the first term. Its tips page asks for examples with evidence and an explanation, so for each story say what the pressure was, what you did and why. Graduates and career changers often have strong examples from work; use them.
- 9
Tell me about a time you were under pressure from more than one direction at once.
What to cover: Name the competing demands, how you decided what came first and what you told the people who had to wait. End with the result and what you learned.
- 10
You are a junior doctor. A nurse asks you to review a patient whose breathing has worsened, a relative wants an update and your senior wants a discharge letter done now. What do you do?
What to cover: Patient safety first: see the unwell patient. Tell the others when you will get to them, and ask for help if you cannot do it all safely. This is Swansea's "conflicting pressures without compromising patient safety".
- 11
The Swansea course is accelerated. How will you manage the workload?
What to cover: Describe how you have handled heavy workloads before, the routines you use and when you would ask for help. Be realistic about the intensity.
- 12
What do you do to look after your own wellbeing, and how do you know when it is slipping?
What to cover: Give real habits and your own warning signs. Then link it to patient safety: doctors who are exhausted make more mistakes.
- 13
Tell me about a decision you made under time pressure. Would you make the same decision now?
What to cover: Show your reasoning at the time and reflect on it fairly, including what you would do differently.
- 14
A colleague seems to be struggling under pressure and has started making small errors. What do you do?
What to cover: Talk to them privately and kindly, find out what is wrong, encourage them to get support, and escalate if patients are at risk.
- 15
Swansea's new five-year route begins with a year as a paid Healthcare Support Worker. What pressures would you expect in that job, and how would you handle them?
What to cover: Physical work, shifts, distressed patients and being the most junior member of a team. Show you understand the role and would ask for help early.
Model answer
You are a junior doctor. A nurse asks you to review a patient whose breathing has worsened, a relative wants an update and your senior wants a discharge letter done now. What do you do?
The patient whose breathing has worsened comes first, because that is the one where waiting could cause harm. I would tell the nurse I am coming straight away and go and assess the patient.
On the way, I would tell the relative kindly that I have to see someone urgently and give them a realistic time when I will come back, so they are not left wondering. I would also let my senior know that the discharge letter will be delayed and why, in case they want someone else to do it.
If the patient is unwell, I would call my senior for help instead of trying to manage alone. Afterwards I would come back to the relative and the letter. Swansea talks about balancing conflicting pressures without compromising patient safety, and to me that means deciding quickly, telling people plainly what you are doing and asking for help when the load is more than you can handle safely.
Go deeper: MMI prioritisation stations
Problem solving
What Swansea says: Swansea's tips page compares human health to a puzzle and asks what skills you have that help you process complex information and what examples you can give of problem solving, adding that your examples do not all need to be clinical, academic or medical. Swansea University, Tips for Medical School Interviews
Swansea says your problem-solving examples do not need to be clinical, so use your job, your degree, a project or a hobby. What the panel wants to hear is your method: how you gathered information, what you tried, and what you did when the first idea failed.
- 16
What skills do you have that help you process complex information? Give an example.
What to cover: Name a skill, such as breaking a problem into parts or checking assumptions, and show it working in a real situation.
- 17
Tell me about a problem you solved. It does not need to be medical.
What to cover: Set out the problem, what you found out, the options you considered, what you chose and the result. Swansea says non-clinical examples are welcome.
- 18
Tell me about a time your first solution did not work. What did you do next?
What to cover: Show that you noticed, did not blame others and tried again with what you had learned.
- 19
How do you decide when you have enough information to make a decision?
What to cover: Balance the risk of waiting against the risk of acting, and say what you would do to stay safe while uncertain.
- 20
You arrive at a GP practice and find half the morning's patients were booked at the wrong time. What do you do?
What to cover: Find out the scale, tell the person in charge, prioritise anyone urgent and keep patients informed. Then think about how to stop it happening again.
- 21
Swansea teaches through case-based learning. How would you work through a case in a group when nobody knows the answer?
What to cover: Agree what you know, list what you need to find out, share the research and bring it back. Show you are comfortable not knowing at first.
- 22
How would you approach a problem where the information you have is incomplete or contradictory?
What to cover: Say what you would check, who you would ask and how you would keep the person safe in the meantime. Medicine often works this way.
Go deeper: Data interpretation questions
Interview preparation
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Insight and integrity
What Swansea says: Swansea's tips page says you will deal with people at the most challenging moments of their lives, so you must manage yourself with integrity and learn from mistakes, adding that honesty is the best policy. It asks how you would react to something going wrong and how you will learn from your mistakes. Swansea University, Tips for Medical School Interviews
Swansea says plainly that there will be mistakes in medicine. The panel is not looking for someone who never gets things wrong. It is looking for someone who notices, owns up, puts it right and changes how they work.
- 23
How do you react when something goes wrong? Give me an example.
What to cover: Describe your first reaction truthfully, then what you did: told the right person, fixed what you could and reflected.
- 24
Tell me about a mistake you made at work or in your studies. What did you learn?
What to cover: Choose a real mistake with a consequence. One sentence on the mistake, most of the time on what you did and changed.
- 25
There will be mistakes when you practise medicine. How will you learn from yours?
What to cover: Talk about reporting, reflection, discussing cases with seniors and changing practice. Swansea puts this question on its own tips page.
- 26
You realise you gave a patient the wrong information yesterday. What do you do?
What to cover: Tell your supervisor, contact the patient to correct it and apologise, and make sure it is recorded. Doctors have a duty to be open when things go wrong.
- 27
A coursemate asks you to sign the register for a teaching session they missed. What do you do?
What to cover: Decline kindly and explain why: it is dishonest, and professionalism applies to students too. Suggest they speak to the tutor.
- 28
What is your biggest weakness, and what are you doing about it?
What to cover: Choose a real one that matters for medicine, and show the steps you are already taking. Insight means seeing yourself accurately.
- 29
Tell me about a time you had to choose between what was easy and what was right.
What to cover: Give a specific example where doing the right thing cost you something, and say why you chose it.
- 30
How would people who have worked with you describe you, and would they be right?
What to cover: Give a fair description, including one thing they might criticise, and show you have thought about it.
Model answer
There will be mistakes when you practise medicine. How will you learn from yours?
First, by being open about them. If I made a mistake that affected a patient, I would make the patient safe, tell my senior, and make sure the patient was told what happened and was given an apology. Swansea says honesty is the best policy, and I agree, because patients cannot trust a doctor who hides things.
Second, by reporting it properly. Most hospitals have an incident reporting system, and the point is not blame but finding out why it happened, because the same error may be waiting for the next doctor.
Third, by reflecting and changing something. In my last job I once sent a report with an out-of-date figure. I owned it, corrected it the same day, and since then I check the source date on every figure before I send anything. That habit is small, but I think learning from mistakes is mostly small habits like that, kept up for a whole career.
Go deeper: The GMC guide for interviews
Passion for medicine and resilience to succeed
What Swansea says: Swansea's tips page says medicine is not for the faint-hearted and asks you to tell the panel what is driving you to become a doctor, what your journey has been so far, and what would make you pick yourself up and carry on if you were unsuccessful. Swansea University, Tips for Medical School Interviews
Swansea's own three questions are the core of this theme: what drives you, your journey so far, and what keeps you going after a setback. Graduate entry applicants should be ready to explain why medicine now and what their first degree or career brings. Applicants to the new A110 route should know why a year as a Healthcare Support Worker appeals.
- 31
What is driving you to become a doctor?
What to cover: One clear reason, tied to something you saw or did. Swansea asks this directly, so make it specific to you.
- 32
Tell me about your journey so far towards medicine.
What to cover: Give the main steps and what each taught you. Show how your interest has been tested and grown.
- 33
Why medicine now, after your first degree or career?
What to cover: Explain what changed or what you learned that pointed you to medicine, and why you are ready for it at this point in your life.
- 34
What from your degree or work experience will make you a better doctor?
What to cover: Name one or two transferable skills, with examples. Swansea's graduate course is open to any discipline, so any subject can be relevant if you explain how.
- 35
If you are unsuccessful this time, what will make you pick yourself up and carry on?
What to cover: Swansea asks this itself. Show realistic resilience: what you would learn from the result and what you would do next.
- 36
Why Swansea?
What to cover: Choose two things Swansea actually offers: a small, supportive school, patients from the first term, case-based learning, the option to study part of the course in Welsh, or a research-led programme. Its stated mission is to improve the health, wealth and well-being of the people of Wales and the world.
- 37
Why medicine and not another health profession?
What to cover: Speak respectfully about other roles, then give a reason about the doctor's particular role, such as diagnosis and overall clinical responsibility.
- 38
Swansea's new five-year route starts with a paid year as a Healthcare Support Worker. Why does that appeal to you?
What to cover: Talk about learning how care works from the ward up, understanding the work of support staff and testing your commitment before the degree.
Model answer
Why medicine now, after your first degree or career?
I studied psychology, and in my final year I worked part time as a support worker for adults with learning disabilities. I went with them to GP and hospital appointments, and I kept noticing the moments when a good doctor made the visit work: speaking to the person, not to me, taking a little longer, explaining clearly.
After graduating I worked for two years in that role full time. It confirmed that I wanted to be the person responsible for the clinical decisions, and it showed me the hard parts too: long days, distressed patients and a system under strain. I did not apply straight from school, and I think I would have been a weaker applicant if I had.
Now I can bring what I learned: patience, how to communicate with people who find communication hard, and an understanding of research methods from my degree. Swansea's course, open to any degree and with patients from the first term, lets me build on that straight away.
Go deeper: How to answer "Why medicine?"
Organisation and research, and the presentation
What Swansea says: Swansea's tips page says organisation and research skills are indispensable for doctors and that its presentation is a great opportunity to show them: whether you can research your chosen topic, whether the presentation shows planning and organisation, whether your knowledge and delivery are clear and in line with the topic, and whether you manage time well. Swansea University, Tips for Medical School Interviews
Swansea's tips page refers to "your chosen topic" and "our presentation", and says details of anything to prepare come with your invitation, so read it carefully. Whatever the brief, the marks Swansea describes are for research, planning, clarity and keeping to time. Practise a short presentation on a health topic, timed, in front of someone who will ask questions.
- 39
How would you research a health topic for a short presentation, and how would you judge whether a source is reliable?
What to cover: Start from trusted sources such as NHS, government or peer-reviewed material, check dates and who wrote it, and cross-check claims.
- 40
Talk me through how you would plan a presentation to fit a fixed time.
What to cover: One main message, three points at most, a timed practice run and a plan for what to cut if you overrun.
- 41
Give a five-minute presentation on a health topic you have chosen, then take questions.
What to cover: Pick a topic you can explain clearly and defend. Practise answering questions you cannot fully answer: say what you know and what you would find out.
- 42
Tell me about a project you organised that had a deadline.
What to cover: Show how you planned, divided the work, tracked progress and handled a problem along the way.
- 43
How do you manage your time when several deadlines arrive at once?
What to cover: Describe your method, give an example and admit what you would do differently. Swansea names time management in its tips.
- 44
What makes a research study trustworthy?
What to cover: Talk about sample size, a control group, how participants were chosen and whether results have been repeated, in plain words.
- 45
Swansea's course includes audit and research projects. What is a clinical audit, and how is it different from research?
What to cover: Audit checks whether care meets an agreed standard; research tries to find out what the best care is. Give a simple example of each.
Model answer
Talk me through how you would plan a presentation to fit a fixed time.
I would start by deciding the one thing I want the audience to remember, and build everything around it. For a short presentation that usually means an opening that says what the topic is and why it matters, three points that support the main message, and a short summary.
Then I would research each point from reliable sources and keep only what supports the message. Most first drafts are too long, so I would time myself out loud, not in my head, and cut until I finish with a little time to spare.
Finally I would plan for questions: I would note the obvious ones and prepare short answers, and decide in advance what I would drop if I started running over. Swansea says it is looking at research, planning, clear delivery and time management, and that structure covers all four.
Go deeper: How to read a medical paper
Ethics and values
What Swansea says: Swansea's tips page says ethics and values shape the doctor-patient relationship and every aspect of healthcare, and asks candidates to show an understanding of ethical principles in decision-making, a commitment to the highest standards of patient safety and treatment, and an acknowledgement of trust and credibility in the medical community. Swansea University, Tips for Medical School Interviews
Swansea names three things: ethical principles in decision-making, patient safety and trust. In a 20 or 30 minute station an ethics discussion can go deep, so be ready to explain your reasoning, hear a counter-argument and still reach a view. Our guide to answering ethics questions gives a structure.
- 46
What are the main ethical principles in medicine, and how do they help a doctor make decisions?
What to cover: Autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice. Show that they often pull against each other and that the skill is weighing them in a real case.
- 47
A patient with capacity refuses a treatment that would probably save their life. What should happen?
What to cover: Check capacity for this decision, make sure they understand, explore their reasons, then respect the choice. Our capacity guide explains the test.
- 48
Why does trust matter between doctors and patients, and how can a doctor lose it?
What to cover: Patients share private information and accept treatment because they trust doctors. Dishonesty, breaches of confidentiality and poor conduct, even outside work, can lose it.
- 49
You see a colleague skip hand hygiene between patients. What do you do?
What to cover: Speak up at the time if you can do so politely, because infection is a real risk. Swansea asks for a commitment to the highest standards of patient safety.
- 50
When is it right to break a patient's confidentiality?
What to cover: When there is a serious risk of harm to the patient or others, when the law requires it, or with consent. Our confidentiality guide covers the limits.
- 51
Should the NHS spend more on treating illnesses that people could have prevented?
What to cover: Weigh fairness, addiction and social causes against limited resources. Avoid blaming patients, and reach a reasoned view.
- 52
What does a commitment to the highest standards of patient safety mean for a first-year medical student?
What to cover: Knowing your limits, asking for help, raising concerns and following infection control. Students are part of the safety culture from day one.
- 53
A friend who is also applying asks you what your stations were about. What do you say?
What to cover: Decline kindly. Sharing content would give them an unfair advantage over other applicants, and integrity is one of the qualities Swansea assesses.
Model answer
Why does trust matter between doctors and patients, and how can a doctor lose it?
Medicine depends on trust. Patients tell doctors things they would not tell anyone else, let them examine them and accept treatments they cannot judge for themselves. Without trust, people hold back information or avoid care altogether, and that is when harm happens.
A doctor can lose it in obvious ways, by lying, covering up a mistake or sharing someone's information carelessly. But it can also be lost in small ways: not listening, talking down to people, or behaving badly outside work. Swansea talks about trust and credibility in the medical community, and I think that means each doctor's behaviour affects how the public sees all doctors.
So the way to keep it is consistent: be truthful, including about uncertainty and errors, keep confidences, explain clearly and treat every patient with the same respect. I would rather tell a patient "I am not sure, I will find out" than give them false certainty.
Go deeper: The four pillars of medical ethics
How Swansea decides offers after the assessment day
Once interviews are complete, Swansea assesses the overall performance of each candidate and, because selection is very competitive, offers places only to those who scored highest. Your admissions test score, which earned the invitation, is considered no further: any offer rests solely on your performance at interview.
Swansea does not publish a date for decisions, how many applicants attend the assessment day, or how many receive offers, so no post-interview success rate can be given. All offers are subject to occupational health and fitness to practise clearance, an enhanced DBS check and a check of the Medical Schools Council Excluded Students Database. Swansea does not accept deferred entry on either route.
Source: Swansea University, Medicine (Graduate Entry) MB BCh (A101) course page: admissions tests and format of the assessment day (September 2027 start offered; admissions tests still stated for 2026 entry; assessment day section carries no year); Swansea University, Medicine MB BCh (A110) course page: entry requirements and format of the assessment day (2027 entry (new course, September 2027 start))
Swansea's Pathways to Medicine and the guaranteed interview
Swansea runs Pathways to Medicine degrees, such as Applied Medical Sciences, Medical Pharmacology and Psychology, designed to fill the fifth choice on a medicine UCAS application. Students who complete a pathway successfully (a 60% average in Year 1, 60% in the module Doctors, Patients and the Goals of Medicine, and a valid GAMSAT or UCAT score) are guaranteed an interview for Graduate Entry Medicine in their final year. The guarantee can be used once.
Source: Swansea University Medical School, Pathways to Medicine (no year stated; A110 described as new for 2027)
Adjustments and what Swansea does not publish
If you have a disability, declare it on your UCAS form, and tell the admissions team if you are eligible for special consideration during interviews. Swansea says disclosure does not affect how your application is screened.
- Swansea does not publish 2027 assessment-day dates, or when invitations are sent.
- It does not publish the length of the whole day, the topic of any station or whether the presentation is prepared in advance; your invitation gives the details.
- It does not publish how stations are scored, a decision date, a rescheduling policy or whether feedback is given.
- It does not publish how many applicants are interviewed or receive offers.
Source: Swansea University, Medicine (Graduate Entry) MB BCh (A101) course page: admissions tests and format of the assessment day (September 2027 start offered; admissions tests still stated for 2026 entry; assessment day section carries no year)
Practise a Swansea-style interview
A timed mock in the format Swansea uses, built from the themes Swansea publishes. Record yourself, then mark it against the pointers above.
Common mistakes at the Swansea interview
- 1
Preparing for short MMI stations only
Swansea's stations last 20 or 30 minutes. Answers built for five-minute stations run out quickly; practise sustaining a role play or a discussion, and taking questions after a presentation.
- 2
Ignoring the invitation's instructions
Swansea sends details of the day and anything you need to prepare with your invitation. Read it twice and prepare exactly what it asks for.
- 3
A presentation that overruns
Swansea says it looks at planning, clear delivery and time management. Rehearse out loud with a timer and know what you would cut.
- 4
Forgetting your personal statement
You may be asked about it in one or more stations. Reread it and be ready to go deeper on everything you wrote.
- 5
Giving examples without evidence
Swansea's tips ask for examples with evidence and an explanation. Say what happened, what you did and why, not only what you believe.
- 6
Hiding mistakes
Swansea says there will be mistakes in medicine and that honesty is the best policy. A candidate who claims never to have made a mistake shows no insight.
How we can help
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FAQs
Swansea medicine interview: common questions
Does Swansea interview for medicine?
Yes: Swansea invites shortlisted applicants to an assessment day of three face-to-face stations, and offers are based solely on performance there. The same assessment day is described for Graduate Entry Medicine (A101) and the new five-year MB BCh for south and west Wales (A110).
When are Swansea medicine interviews for 2027 entry?
Swansea has not published dates; it says the assessment day is held early in the New Year, so expect it from January 2027.
Your invitation will give the date and details. Compare other schools in our interview dates table.
When will I hear whether I have a Swansea medicine interview?
Swansea does not publish a date for invitations.
Its graduate entry page says the interview cut-off is set once all applicants' test results are confirmed, so invitations come after the October deadline and before the assessment day early in the New Year.
Are Swansea medicine interviews online or in person?
Swansea medicine interviews are in person: Swansea describes three face-to-face stations. It does not describe an online option for any applicant.
How many stations are at the Swansea assessment day, and how long is it?
There are three stations, each lasting 20 or 30 minutes, which may be interviews, presentations or role plays.
Swansea does not publish the length of the whole day, and it does not call the format an MMI.
What does Swansea look for at interview?
Swansea assesses seven qualities: communication; problem solving; coping with pressure; insight and integrity; passion for medicine and resilience to succeed; organisation and research; and ethics and values.
Its interview tips page gives prompts for each, and the themes on this page follow them.
How does Swansea choose who to interview for medicine?
For graduate entry, Swansea ranks eligible applicants on their admissions test score and invites the highest scorers above a cut-off set each year. The tests and minimum scores are on our Swansea graduate entry medicine guide.
How competitive is the Swansea medicine interview?
Swansea does not publish how many applicants it interviews, so no post-interview success rate can be given.
Swansea itself describes selection as very competitive and says only the highest-scoring candidates at the assessment day receive offers.
Are international applicants interviewed differently at Swansea?
No: Swansea describes one assessment day of three face-to-face stations and no separate format for international applicants.
International graduates can apply to Graduate Entry Medicine and may use GAMSAT, UCAT or MCAT; the new A110 route is limited to applicants from five local authority areas in south and west Wales.
When will I hear from Swansea after my assessment day?
Swansea does not publish a decision date.
It says it assesses each candidate's overall performance once all interviews are completed and offers places only to those who scored highest.
Can I reschedule a Swansea medicine interview?
Swansea does not publish a rescheduling policy for the assessment day.
Contact the admissions team as soon as you know you cannot attend, and keep your invitation to hand.
Do I need to prepare a presentation for the Swansea assessment day?
Possibly: Swansea's tips page refers to its presentation and "your chosen topic", and says anything you need to prepare is confirmed in your invitation.
Swansea says the presentation shows research, planning, clear delivery and time management, so practise a timed presentation on a health topic and taking questions on it.
Is Swansea medicine only for graduates?
No, not from 2027: alongside Graduate Entry Medicine (A101), Swansea launches a five-year MB BCh (A110) for A-level applicants from Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire.
A110 students spend a year as a paid Healthcare Support Worker and then join the four-year course, and the route uses the same assessment day.
Where these facts come from
- Swansea University, Medicine (Graduate Entry) MB BCh (A101) course page: admissions tests and format of the assessment day (September 2027 start offered; admissions tests still stated for 2026 entry; assessment day section carries no year)
- Swansea University, Medicine MB BCh (A110) course page: entry requirements and format of the assessment day (2027 entry (new course, September 2027 start))
- Swansea University, Tips for Medical School Interviews (no year stated)
- Swansea University Medical School, Pathways to Medicine (no year stated; A110 described as new for 2027)
- Swansea University, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science: Public and Patient Involvement (no year stated)
- Swansea University Medical School home page (mission) (no year stated)
- Admissions statistics on our Swansea profile (none held; Swansea publishes no interviewed count) (no figures held)
Last checked: 26 October 2026. Universities change interview arrangements during the cycle, so confirm on Swansea's own page before you travel or book. The questions above are practice questions written by TheUKCATPeople from Swansea's published guidance; they are not real or leaked interview questions.
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