Queen Mary (Barts and The London) Medicine Interview 2027.

Queen Mary publishes six areas its interview assesses (selection criteria):

1. Motivation and the reality of a medical career. Do you understand what doctors actually do day to day, including the hard parts?
2. Initiative, resilience and maturity. Have you taken on responsibility, coped with setbacks and learned from them?
3. Teamwork. Can you describe your own role in a team honestly, including when things went wrong?
4. Organisation and problem-solving. How do you manage competing demands and work through a problem step by step?
5. Contribution to university life. What will you bring to the medical school community beyond your studies?
6. Communication skills. Are you clear, respectful and easy to follow?

Queen Mary also asks applicants to have "people-focused experience of providing care or service" before applying. Shadowing a doctor is useful but not required. Paid or voluntary work in a care home or charity counts (selection criteria).

What this means for your answers: prepare real examples for each of the six areas. Panels like concrete stories: what happened, what you did, and what you would do differently. Your caring or service role is likely to be your strongest source of examples.

The school's history matters too. The London Hospital Medical College, one of the two schools that became Barts and The London, was founded in 1785 "to improve the health of east London's inhabitants" (Queen Mary: our history). Showing that you understand and care about the community you would train in is a natural fit.

1. First shortlisting. Your application must arrive by the UCAS deadline, meet the academic requirements and meet the UCAT minimum (fourth decile or above, SJT Bands 1–3).
2. Second shortlisting. Applicants are ranked on a weighted score that may include UCAT and UCAS tariff (or degree scoring for graduates). Scoring above the fourth decile does not on its own mean you will be interviewed.
3. Invitation. Invited applicants are sent details of the format and timing (Admissions Policy 2026-27).
4. The interview. You join online and meet a panel of usually two senior academic or clinical staff, sometimes with a lay selector. Questions cover the six areas above, and the panel may refer to your personal statement.
5. Final decision. After the interview, Queen Mary may consider your interview score, SJT, UCAS tariff (or degree score) and UCAT score together.
6. Outcome in March. You receive a conditional offer, a rejection or a place on the waiting list. Offers depend on an Enhanced DBS check.

Expect questions linked to the six published areas, for example:

• Motivation and insight: why medicine rather than another caring career, and what you learned from your care or service experience.
• Resilience and maturity: a setback, a mistake or a time you had to adapt.
• Teamwork: your role in a group, handling disagreement, supporting someone who is struggling.
• Organisation and problem-solving: balancing study with other commitments, working through a practical problem.
• Contribution to university life: clubs, volunteering, music, sport or community work you would continue.
• Current health topics: the NHS in England is working to the government's 10 Year Health Plan (July 2025), which describes three shifts: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention (GOV.UK). Thinking about what these mean for a busy, diverse area like East London is good preparation.
• NHS values: the NHS Constitution lists six values, including "working together for patients", "compassion" and "everyone counts" (NHS Constitution).

Worked example

Question: "You are in a group project at sixth form. One member keeps missing meetings, and the rest of the group is getting frustrated. What would you do?"

A strong answer would:

• Avoid blaming. Start by finding out privately and kindly whether something is going on for that person.
• Show you understand there may be a reason, such as illness, caring duties or stress, and offer practical support.
• Agree a fair plan with the whole group, such as sharing tasks or setting clear deadlines.
• Know when to involve someone else, such as a teacher, if the problem continues or the person seems unwell.
• Link it to medicine: doctors work in teams where people have bad days, and patient care depends on raising problems early and respectfully.
• Reflect briefly on what you have done, or would do, in a similar real situation.

Specific, sourced angles you can build on:

• Patients from week one. You "start seeing patients from your very first week", with a fortnightly GP placement in Year 1 in groups of eight (course page 2027).
• East London placements. Clinical placements include the Royal London, Homerton, Newham, Whipps Cross, King George and Queens hospitals, and Year 2 includes mental health teaching with East London and North East London Foundation Trusts (course page 2027).
• History and purpose. The London Hospital Medical College was "England's first official medical school", set up to serve East London (our history).
• Research. The course links to "bench to bedside" research, with intercalated BSc and MSc options and an MB PhD programme (course page 2027).
• Team-based learning. Years 1–2 use lectures, practicals and team-based learning across Whitechapel, Mile End and West Smithfield.

Choose one or two of these and connect them to something true about you. A general answer about "London" or "rankings" will not stand out.