This student applied in the 2021/22 application cycle and therefore the selection process at Southampton 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
Sometimes students share information with us about their demographics, which may help put their application experience into a bit more perspective.
This student identifies as a British Asian man, and they went to a fee-paying school in the UK.
Our Summary
Course: Standard undergraduate
Online panel interview
Admissions Tests: UCAT, BMAT
Before I made my application…
Choosing to study medicine
When did you decide to apply to medical school?
In year 12
How did you choose which universities to apply to?
I looked at teaching style, cost of living and proximity to home
Completing work experience
What types of work experience did you do?
Care work (e.g. in residential care), Other healthcare setting e.g pharmacy, physiotherapy, Online work experience
How much work experience did you do?
I didn’t do traditional work experience – I volunteered in a hospital and care home mainly
During the application process…
Admissions tests
What admissions test did you sit?
University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT): https://www.ucat.ac.uk
Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT): BMAT is not used for selection at Southampton, and after the 2023 application cycle, will no longer be used at all!
How did you prepare for your admissions test?
I prepared at least an hour a day for both
What resources did you use?
Medify – it was incredible for UCAT
For BMAT I just used past papers
Interviews
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?
I asked older years for advice and then also read online on websites such as Blackstone Tutors for good example interview questions. I also had an interview book with loads of questions that had good answers and explanations as to what types of things to mention.
What happened in your interview?
I was asked about general questions to do with the course that allowed me to develop answers and bring in my own experiences and ideas.
Glossary
Clinical work experience: Not every student will complete clinical work experience before they apply to medical school. Don’t worry, this is not required to be able to apply. You can use non-clinical work experience (e.g. a caring role, like in a care home) or even reflect on paid work you’ve done (e.g. in customer service) in a productive way.
Medify: Medify is a popular website which provides resources for helping you prepare your medicine application. Medify has some free resources online but some are paid-for. There are good, free alternatives for preparation available online, so check out our subject guides and the university websites for details.
Insiders: Don’t worry if you don’t know people like this. Most students don’t have friends who have already been through the process or healthcare professionals that they know who might be able to support them. You can meet current medical students to speak to at open days, or via free mentoring schemes, but it’s not a requirement for you to be successful.
