This student applied in the 2020/21 application cycle and therefore the selection process at Sheffield may have changed since then. You should read all the information a University sends you about the selection process to get the most up to date details!
Remember to check out the glossary at the bottom of the page for our explanations of all the jargon we medical students like to use!
More about this student
Gender: Woman
Ethnicity: White British
I went to a grammar or selective state school.
Our Summary
Course: Standard Undergraduate
Online panel interview
Admissions Tests: UCAT
Recommended Resources
Medify
Before I made my application…
When did you decide you wanted to apply for medical school?
Year 12.
How did you choose what medical schools to apply to?
Based on location and course structure
What types of work experience did you do?
Hospital shadowing
Care work (e.g. in residential care)
Customer service role (voluntary)
Customer service role (paid)
How much work experience did you do?
One week shadowing
6 months volunteering at a hospital
3 years brownies volunteering
How did you find your work experience opportunity?
Through asking someone I knew to take me on
During the application process…
What admissions test did you sit?
University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT): https://www.ucat.ac.uk/
How did you prepare for your admissions test?
Lots of practice questions.
What resources did you use?
Medify- really useful for UCAT prep, good value for money (*this is one student’s opinion and may not reflect yours!)
What type of interview did you do?
Panel: This type of interview is a ‘traditional’ sit down interview where you’ll be interviewed by a group of people, usually academic tutors and doctors. This differs from an MMI interview, which is based around ‘stations’ which have themes or scenarios attached to them.
How did you prepare for your interview?
We were provided with the questions beforehand so I practiced going through these with my parents. I also did research about the medical school and Sheffield as the question of why I wanted to go there came up.
I’d recommend going through the uni website and info on the med school/surrounding area. Especially any medical research they may be involved in! Check NHS values, medical news, and have opinions on these.
What happened in your interview?
Had two interviewers – one student, one member of staff. Asked general questions about me, why I wanted to go there, problem solving
Glossary
MMI Interview: Multiple Mini Interview. This type of interview usually includes several short interviews or ‘stations’ which may involve different types of questions and scenarios. This is different compared to a panel interview, which may cover the same scenarios/types of questions but be a more ‘traditional’ sit-down interview.
Support networks: Don’t worry if you’ve not had the opportunity to ask your family or friends to help you prepare. While not every student will have a support network to help them prepare, there are plenty of other ways to prepare for your admissions tests and interviews, such as through free online resources, like on our website.
NHS Values: The NHS Values guide healthcare education and careers. It’s important to know and understand these values to help you be as successful as possible in your application. They can help you answer questions in your interview, or guide what you write about in your personal statement. Find out more here: NHS Values
