This student applied in the 2020/21 application cycle and therefore the selection process at Keele 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!
Our Summary
Course: Standard undergraduate entry
In-person MMI interview
Admissions Tests: UCAT, BMAT
Before I made my application…
Choosing to apply
When did you decide you wanted to apply to medicine?
When I was in primary school.
How did you choose what medical schools to apply to?
The area the universities were based and also the course structure.
Completing work experience
What types of work experience did you do?
GP surgery, Customer service role (voluntary)
How much work experience did you do?
A few weeks in a GP surgery and then then volunteered in a fencing club for 2 years.
How did you find your work experience opportunities?
Through asking someone I knew to take me on
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); Keele does not use the BMAT for its selection processes; BMAT will no longer be used after the 2023 admissions cycle. Read more here.
How did you prepare for your admissions test?
Used a UCAT practice book full of practice questions and then did a couple of online practice tests (for free) before my exam. For the BMAT I looked up what kind of questions they asked and then I went through all of my GCSE textbooks for the sciences and maths and then used the interview book for practice for the long answer question at the end.
Interviews
What type of interview did you do?
MMI: 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.
How did you prepare for your interview?
I read all of the information the medical school offered and then read multiple ‘Medicine MMI Interview’ books in preparation for my interview.
What happened during your interview?
We had multiple stations including role playing with an actor who was supposedly in a care home. As well as questions asking about why I want to medicine and why I would be the best fit for this medical school.
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.
Books: Don’t worry if you’ve not been able to find this particular book or afford to pay for it. You might be able to find secondhand copies online which are usually much cheaper, or at your local library (sometimes, libraries will order in books that you’ve requested, so check out this as a possibility too!). Bear in mind that some books may become out of date, so make sure you check when they were published, and if any changes to the relevant admissions tests/interviews have been made since then.
Role play: some interviews or interview stations may require you to engage in a bit of role play. You might have to act out being in a scenario where you might have to deliver bad news or a clinical decision.
