Brighton and Sussex (BSMS) Medical School Interview Questions – 2026 Entry
If you’ve got an interview invite from Brighton & Sussex Medical School (BSMS), take a breath — you’ve already done something hard. Now the goal is simple: show them you’re the kind of person they’d trust with patients, colleagues and responsibility.
This guide is written for 2026 entry applicants and covers:
✅ how BSMS chooses who gets interviewed
✅ what the BSMS MMI is actually like (timings, online vs in-person, scoring)
✅ when interviews happen + when offers come out
✅ how UCAT is used at BSMS
✅ 50+ BSMS-style interview questions (sorted by what they assess)
✅ BSMS-specific questions + real student-style comments + top tips
Let’s get you interview-ready. 💪
Key facts at a glance 🔎
📍 Medical school: Brighton & Sussex Medical School (BSMS)
🎓 Course: Undergraduate Medicine (A100)
👥 Expected places (September 2026 intake): 197 UK + 10 international
🧪 Admissions test: UCAT (Situational Judgement Band 1–3 required)
🧑⚕️ Interview style: MMI (Multiple Mini Interview)
⏱️ MMI length: ~ 1 hour total
🧩 Stations: 5 discussions, 10 minutes each, short breaks between
💻 Delivery: choice of in-person or online (Zoom) (dates differ)
📈 Interview scoring: each station scored /20, total /100
📬 Offers released: typically January to April (strong scorers earlier)
Introduction to BSMS 🌊🏥
BSMS is a joint medical school run by the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex, based in Brighton on the south coast. It’s known for training doctors who are patient-focused, compassionate and grounded in the realities of NHS care.
A few things that make BSMS stand out (and are worth knowing for your interview):
Early clinical contact (yes, really early) 👩⚕️
BSMS students start seeing healthcare in action from very early on — including placements in GP surgeries and hospitals from the start of the course. This shapes the “people side” of medicine early: communication, confidence, professionalism.
Cadaveric dissection 🧠
Not every medical school offers full cadaveric dissection. BSMS does, and students often mention how much it helps anatomy click in a real, human way.
A spiral curriculum 🔁
A spiral curriculum means topics come back around at a deeper level each time. You don’t learn something once and never see it again — you revisit it with more complexity, more clinical context, and more responsibility.
“Time for Autism” and community learning 🤝
BSMS has a programme where students spend time with a family affected by autism — it’s a clear sign BSMS values understanding lived experience, not just exam knowledge.
How BSMS decides who to call for interview 📩
BSMS uses a clear, test-led shortlisting approach — and it’s helpful because it means you can understand what matters.
Step 1: Check you meet the academic minimum 📚
First, BSMS checks whether you meet (or are predicted to meet) their academic requirements. Once you’ve met the minimum, extra grades don’t usually give you bonus points — it’s more about being eligible to move forward.
Step 2: UCAT shortlisting 🎯
After academics, UCAT is used to select candidates for interview.
Here’s what to know for 2026 entry:
Situational Judgement Test (SJT): BSMS requires Band 1, 2 or 3
UCAT scoring at BSMS for 2026 entry: BSMS scores UCAT out of 2700, using:
Verbal Reasoning (up to 900)
Decision Making (up to 900)
Quantitative Reasoning (up to 900)
BSMS then ranks applicants by UCAT score and “works down” the list until interview slots are filled.
⚠️ Important reality check: the UCAT “cut-off” can change every year depending on the applicant pool. So treat last year’s thresholds as guidance, not a guarantee.
Contextual data and widening participation 🌱
BSMS actively tries to widen access. They:
aim to offer a significant proportion of interviews to applicants with contextual flags, and
may use adjusted offers for eligible students.
If you have contextual data, it can genuinely matter at BSMS — and you should make sure you submit the evidence they ask for.
No personal statement scoring 🚫📝
BSMS is very clear that they don’t use the personal statement in their admissions process. That’s good news: you’re not being judged on who had the best coaching or the flashiest wording.
How BSMS interviews (MMI style, structure, timings, delivery) 🎥➡️🚪
BSMS uses a Multiple Mini Interview (MMI). Think of it like five short interviews back-to-back rather than one long panel.
What the BSMS MMI looks like
✅ 5 stations (“discussions”)
✅ 10 minutes each
✅ Short break between stations
✅ Total time: roughly one hour
Online vs in-person
For 2026 entry interviews, BSMS allows applicants to choose:
In-person (typically early December or early January)
Online via Zoom (typically late January or early February)
Online MMIs involve:
joining a main Zoom room,
being moved into breakout rooms for each station,
showing photo ID, and
being asked to show your room (to confirm you’re alone and don’t have notes).
What’s the vibe?
MMIs are designed to feel fair. If one station goes badly, you get a reset at the next one. Interviewers will likely take notes — that’s normal, not a sign you’re failing.
When BSMS interviews are held (2026 entry) 🗓️
BSMS interviews for 2026 entry run December 2025 to February 2026.
In-person: early December or early January
Online (Zoom): late January or early February
What topics are covered in the BSMS interview 🧩
BSMS looks for future doctors who can handle both the science and the human reality of medicine.
Their published expectations for applicants include things like:
realistic understanding of medical training and clinical life
commitment to quality of care, compassion, and improving lives
communication and teamwork
empathy and respect for dignity
willingness to accept responsibility
In MMI terms, that usually becomes stations around:
H2 Topics you should prepare
Communication & rapport 🗣️
Empathy, respect & dignity 🤍
Teamwork & working with others 🤝
Motivation & realism about medicine 🎓
Ethics, professionalism & responsibility ⚖️
Patient safety & quality 🔐
Reflection, resilience & coping under pressure 🌧️➡️🌤️
Data, evidence & “thinking like a doctor” 📊
Interview scoring method at BSMS ✅
BSMS scores each station separately, then combines them:
Each station is marked out of 20
You receive a global score out of 100 (5 stations combined)
They describe assessors rating elements within a station from Excellent to Poor before awarding the mark.
How many people are interviewed — and how many get offers? 📈
BSMS publishes recent cycle stats and they’re eye-opening.
In a recent admissions cycle, BSMS reported:
1,284 applicants
809 interviewed
421 offers made
That means (roughly) about 1 in 1.5 interviewed applicants received an offer — BUT remember:
not everyone who gets an offer meets conditions,
some people decline offers,
and medical schools often offer more places than they actually have to fill.
For the September 2026 intake, BSMS expects 197 UK places and 10 international places.
When are BSMS offers released? 📬
BSMS typically makes offers between January and April.
Also worth knowing: applicants with very high interview scores may hear earlier, with remaining offers often confirmed after an Admissions Board meeting (commonly around March).
50+ example BSMS interview questions (sorted by what BSMS assesses) 🧠🔥
Below are realistic, BSMS-style practice prompts. Each is written as:
Statement: (what you’re told)
Question: (what they ask)
1) Motivation & realism about medicine 🎓
Statement: You’ve wanted to do Medicine for years.
Question: What’s your reason for choosing Medicine — and what would make you change your mind?Statement: Being a doctor looks impressive from the outside.
Question: What do you think is genuinely difficult about the job day-to-day?Statement: You’ve done some volunteering, but not in a hospital.
Question: What have you learned that is still relevant to being a doctor?Statement: You are academically strong and enjoy science.
Question: Why isn’t that enough on its own to make you a good doctor?Statement: You’ll be working in the NHS, not a TV drama.
Question: What do you think is the NHS’s biggest challenge right now, and why?Statement: Medicine is a long training pathway.
Question: How will you stay motivated through exams, placements and setbacks?
2) Communication & rapport 🗣️
Statement: A patient keeps interrupting you and seems anxious.
Question: How would you communicate so they feel heard, while still gathering the facts?Statement: Someone uses a lot of medical terms they found online.
Question: How would you explain the situation clearly without sounding patronising?Statement: You need to ask a sensitive question (e.g., alcohol, sex, drugs).
Question: How would you phrase it and why?Statement: A relative demands information, but the patient asked for privacy.
Question: What do you say in the moment?Statement: A patient is angry about waiting times.
Question: How do you respond, and what do you do next?Statement: A patient doesn’t speak fluent English.
Question: What steps would you take to communicate safely and respectfully?
3) Empathy, respect & dignity 🤍
Statement: A patient refuses to make eye contact and answers in one word.
Question: How would you respond without making assumptions?Statement: Someone is embarrassed about a symptom.
Question: How do you preserve dignity and still do your job properly?Statement: A patient is tearful after receiving bad news.
Question: What would you say in the first 30 seconds?Statement: You witness a colleague speaking sharply to a patient.
Question: What do you do — and why?Statement: A patient’s beliefs affect their health choices.
Question: How do you balance respect with your duty of care?Statement: A patient complains they felt judged by staff.
Question: How would you handle the complaint and reflect on it?
4) Teamwork & working with others 🤝
Statement: You’re in a team project and one person isn’t pulling their weight.
Question: How do you handle it without creating drama?Statement: You disagree with a teammate’s plan, but time is tight.
Question: What’s your approach to speaking up?Statement: You make a mistake that affects the team’s outcome.
Question: What do you do next?Statement: A team member is struggling personally and performance drops.
Question: How would you support them while keeping the team safe and effective?Statement: Healthcare is multidisciplinary.
Question: What does “good teamwork” actually look like on a ward?Statement: You notice tension between two staff members in front of patients.
Question: How should a professional team handle conflict?
5) Ethics, professionalism & responsibility ⚖️
Statement: A competent adult refuses a life-saving treatment.
Question: What principles guide your response?Statement: You overhear a student discussing a patient in a café.
Question: What do you do, and what should they learn from it?Statement: A friend asks you to look up their relative’s medical record “just to help”.
Question: What’s your response and why?Statement: A patient asks you not to tell their partner about a diagnosis.
Question: How do you decide what to do?Statement: You’re asked a question you don’t know the answer to.
Question: What’s the professional way to handle that?Statement: A doctor makes a dark joke that upsets a patient.
Question: How do you interpret professionalism here, and what action is needed?
6) Patient safety & quality 🔐
Statement: You notice a potential medication error being made.
Question: What should you do immediately?Statement: A patient’s condition is deteriorating and the team seems busy.
Question: How would you escalate concerns appropriately?Statement: A colleague seems exhausted and makes small mistakes.
Question: What’s the safe and professional response?Statement: A patient falls on the ward.
Question: What happens next, and what can be learned?Statement: You spot poor hand hygiene practice.
Question: How do you challenge it in a realistic way?Statement: A clinic is running late and staff suggest “skipping” checks to catch up.
Question: What’s your view, and what would you do?
7) Reflection, resilience & coping under pressure 🌧️➡️🌤️
Statement: You fail an important assessment.
Question: How would you recover — practically and emotionally?Statement: You receive critical feedback that feels unfair.
Question: How do you respond in the moment, and what do you do afterwards?Statement: You’re juggling school, caring responsibilities and UCAT prep.
Question: How do you organise yourself to prevent burnout?Statement: You witness something upsetting in a care setting.
Question: What would you do afterwards to process it safely?Statement: Medicine involves uncertainty.
Question: How do you cope with not having perfect answers?Statement: A patient complains about you personally.
Question: How do you stay professional and learn from it?
8) Evidence, data & “thinking like a doctor” 📊
Statement: You’re shown a simple graph of disease rates rising in one area.
Question: What questions would you ask before jumping to conclusions?Statement: Two treatments exist: one is cheaper, one slightly more effective.
Question: What factors should influence a decision in the NHS?Statement: A headline claims “New study proves chocolate cures depression”.
Question: How would you evaluate the claim?Statement: A patient brings internet print-outs and demands antibiotics.
Question: How do you use evidence while keeping the relationship intact?Statement: You’re told BSMS students do research projects.
Question: Why does research matter for a practising doctor?Statement: You’re asked to explain risk to a patient (e.g., 1 in 100).
Question: How would you communicate risk clearly and responsibly?
Questions specific to BSMS (these often impress) 🌊🎓
These are the “Why BSMS?” questions that can separate a generic answer from a convincing one:
Statement: BSMS is a partnership between two universities.
Question: Why does that matter to you, and how might it shape your training?Statement: BSMS students start clinical exposure very early.
Question: Why is early patient contact important — and what might be challenging about it?Statement: BSMS includes cadaveric dissection.
Question: What do you think dissection teaches that textbooks can’t?Statement: BSMS runs “Time for Autism”.
Question: Why is learning from families’ lived experience valuable for doctors?Statement: BSMS follows a spiral curriculum.
Question: How do you learn best — and why does the spiral model appeal (or not appeal) to you?Statement: BSMS teaches around health inequalities, cultural humility and safety.
Question: Why should a medical student care about those topics as much as anatomy?Statement: Brighton is diverse and has specific local health needs.
Question: What might “community medicine” look like in a place like Brighton or Sussex?Statement: BSMS students complete research projects.
Question: What area of medicine would you love to research, and why?Statement: BSMS expects students to live NHS values.
Question: Which NHS value matters most to you, and how have you shown it?Statement: Medicine is demanding and BSMS emphasises professionalism.
Question: What support systems would you use at university to stay well and effective?
What students often say about BSMS (anecdotal) 💬
Because BSMS is quite open about what student life and learning is like, a few themes come up again and again:
“Anatomy feels real here.”
Students often describe dissection as intense but meaningful — not just learning structures, but developing respect and professionalism.
“You revisit concepts until they stick.”
The spiral curriculum tends to suit students who like building confidence over time: you meet an idea, apply it, then come back to it later with more depth.
“Brighton is welcoming — and busy.”
Many students love the city’s energy and diversity, but also mention that balancing study with life takes organisation (you’ll thank yourself for good routines).
“Patient-centred learning shows up early.”
Programmes like Time for Autism give students a human perspective early — which links directly to what BSMS wants at interview: empathy, respect and insight.
Top tips to succeed in the BSMS interview 🏆
1) Don’t “perform doctor” — be a safe future student-doctor
BSMS isn’t looking for a polished speech. They’re looking for someone who is:
thoughtful,
respectful,
honest about what they don’t know,
and able to learn quickly.
2) Use simple structure in every answer 🧱
Try:
Acknowledge the issue
Explain your reasoning
Action: what you would do
Reflect: what you’d learn / why it matters
3) Practise out loud (timed!) ⏱️
Ten minutes is longer than you think — until nerves hit. Practise speaking in clear sentences under time pressure.
4) Prepare for both online and in-person
If you choose Zoom:
practise looking at the camera,
have strong lighting,
keep notes out of reach (don’t risk it),
and practise staying calm if tech glitches.
5) Know BSMS properly (not just “it’s in Brighton”)
Mention specific features naturally:
early placements,
dissection,
Time for Autism,
spiral curriculum,
focus on professionalism and patient-centred care.
6) Build a “reflection bank” 📓
Have 6–8 real experiences ready (volunteering, part-time job, club/sport, caring responsibilities, school leadership, difficult situation). For each one, know:
what happened,
what you did,
what you learned,
what you’d do differently next time.
7) Remember: BSMS offers are interview-led
UCAT gets you in the door. The MMI score is what tends to decide offers — so your prep here genuinely matters.
Relevant links 🔗
Hand-picked, authoritative resources to help you prepare for the BSMS interview (2026 entry). Each link opens the official guidance.
💡 Tip: Open these in separate tabs and pull out 3–5 key points to weave into your answers (without sounding scripted).
