King’s College London (KCL) Medical School Interview Questions 2026: Format, Dates, Stats & Expert Tips
If you’ve applied to King’s College London (KCL) Medicine, you already know it’s competitive. But here’s the good news: the interview is prep-able — not because you can memorise “perfect” answers, but because you can learn to think like a future doctor: calmly, ethically, and with real insight into people.
This guide is written for sixth form students applying for 2026 entry, and covers what King’s looks for, how the online MMI works, what topics come up, how offers are decided, and loads of KCL Medicine interview questions you can practise.
Key facts at a glance ✅
🔷 Course: Medicine MBBS (UCAS: A100)
🔷 Medical school: GKT School of Medical Education (Guy’s, King’s & St Thomas’)
🔷 Interview type: Online Multiple Mini Interview (MMI)
🔷 Interview season: November to May
🔷 Shortlisting considers: GCSEs, predicted/achieved A-levels, personal statement, reference, UCAT (incl. SJT)
🔷 UCAT cut-off: No fixed cut-off (used alongside the rest of your application)
🔷 Offers: No offers without an interview
🔷 Decisions: Usually by the end of May
🔷 Places: Around 300 places on A100 (varies year to year)
🔷 Competition snapshot (recent cycles): roughly ~3,000–4,000 applicants for A100 in a typical year, with ~1,000-ish interviews
A quick introduction to KCL Medical School (GKT) 🩺🌍
KCL’s Medicine course sits within the GKT School of Medical Education, with teaching linked to major London NHS partners — the kind of hospitals you’ve definitely heard of (and possibly walked past on a school trip).
What makes King’s stand out?
🟣 An integrated curriculum (science + clinical practice throughout)
🟣 Learning close to patients early on
🟣 Huge clinical variety — central London teaching hospitals, plus district general hospitals and lots of GP placements
🟣 A strong focus on developing doctors who are:
patient-centred
resilient and adaptable
collaborative team players
critical scientific thinkers
leaders in improving healthcare
So when you’re asked “Why King’s?”, it helps to go beyond prestige and talk about fit: how you learn best, what excites you clinically, and what kind of doctor you want to become.
How does KCL decide who to invite to interview? 🎯
King’s is very clear that selection is competitive and holistic — but also that some elements are particularly useful because they’re consistent and comparable.
What KCL considers for interview shortlisting
Expect shortlisting to draw on:
GCSE performance (or equivalent)
Predicted or achieved A-levels (or equivalent)
UCAT performance (including SJT)
Personal statement
Reference
Your context (they consider contextual information as part of assessment)
A practical way to think about this: King’s wants confidence that you can handle the academic workload and you’re developing the professional qualities needed for a healthcare career.
Important note on contextual offers
King’s states it does not make contextual offers for A100. If you’re eligible for contextualised admissions, they encourage looking seriously at the Extended Medical Degree Programme (A101) route as well.
How is the UCAT used at KCL Medicine? 🧠📝
The UCAT is required for KCL A100, and it must be taken in the year you apply.
Here’s how King’s uses it (in plain English):
✅ There isn’t a fixed UCAT cut-off published in advance.
✅ Your UCAT is used alongside the rest of your application when deciding who gets an interview.
✅ The overall UCAT score (across the four cognitive subtests) tends to matter more than obsessing over one subtest.
✅ The Situational Judgement Test (SJT) is also taken into account when shortlisting.
✅ The UCAT contributes to a ranking system used to decide who is progressed to interview.
What this means for you:
You don’t need to panic if your score isn’t TikTok-viral. But you do need to be realistic: in a high-demand course, a stronger UCAT can make shortlisting easier — especially when lots of applicants have top grades.
When are KCL Medicine interviews held for 2026 entry? 📅
KCL Medicine interviews typically take place between November and May.
A realistic application timeline looks like this:
🟦 By 15 October: UCAS submitted
🟦 Autumn/Winter: interview invites begin rolling out
🟦 Nov–May: online MMIs
🟦 By end of May: final decisions released (at the latest)
How does KCL interview? (Format, structure, timings, delivery) 🎥
Interview style: Online MMI
For 2026 entry, King’s uses an online Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) for interviews.
MMIs are designed to be fair and structured:
You complete a series of short stations
Each station focuses on a different skill or attribute
You’re assessed by different interviewers across stations
You’re marked against a consistent scoring approach rather than “overall vibe”
How many stations?
In a recent admissions cycle, King’s described its MMI as 7 stations, each with one question, run by a different staff member.
For your year, always treat your King’s College London interview invite as the final word on station numbers, timings, and tech set-up.
Is it in-person or online?
For 2026 entry: online.
A detail that catches people out: “fit-to-sit”
King’s operates a fit-to-sit policy for interviews. In other words, if something happens during your interview that affects performance, you should raise it at the time (or immediately via the channels they provide), because they may not be able to consider later claims of mitigating circumstances.
What topics are covered in the KCL Medicine interview? 🧩
King’s interviews commonly assess:
🟩 Communication skills
🟩 Values and professionalism (what sort of colleague you’d be)
🟩 Ethical reasoning (safe decision-making, not “philosophy essay” vibes)
🟩 Understanding of medicine and healthcare (including topical issues)
🟩 Suitability for training as a health professional
🟩 How you might contribute to the university/community
🟩 Reflection — what you learned from experiences and how you’ve grown
How many people are interviewed, and how many get offers? 📊
There are two useful ways to look at this:
Across KCL medicine routes (overall picture)
King’s receives thousands of applications across its medicine programmes each year and interviews a significant number of candidates to fill its places.
For A100 specifically (published admissions statistics)
KCL has published recent A100 admissions cycle data showing (year to year) roughly:
~2,800–3,900 applications
~980–1,116 interviews
~553–762 offers
~320–338 enrolments
So yes — it’s competitive. But it also shows something encouraging: if you reach interview stage, you’re genuinely in contention.
What is KCL’s interview scoring method? 🧮
King’s uses an MMI approach with standardised interviewer scoring.
In practice, that means:
each station is scored (typically with a structured approach)
Scores are combined into an overall interview performance result
King’s published admissions data presents interview outcomes as percentage scores (for example, showing typical score ranges for interviewees versus offer-holders)
A key insight
King’s has stated that once you reach the MMI stage, their final decision is based on how you perform at the interview.
So treat your interview prep like it matters — because it does.
When are offers released? 📬
King’s aims to notify applicants of final decisions by the end of May at the latest.
(Some applicants will hear earlier — but don’t stress if you don’t. Medicine admissions move in waves.)
Example KCL Medicine interview questions (50+) organised by topic 🎓
Below are KCL-style MMI interview questions, grouped by what King’s is known to assess.
A reminder: MMIs reward structure. Practise speaking in a clear order:
What’s the issue?
What matters (values, safety, professionalism)?
What would you do — and why?
What would you do next?
1) Motivation for medicine & career insight 💡
Statement: You’ve worked hard for a medicine application and feel proud of your grades.
Question: Why medicine — and why now?Statement: A friend says, “Medicine is just a safe job with good status.”
Question: What do you think they’re missing?Statement: You’re asked to describe what doctors actually do day-to-day.
Question: What parts of the job appeal to you, and what parts worry you?Statement: You’re offered a place on a different healthcare degree.
Question: Why is becoming a doctor the right route for you specifically?Statement: Someone tells you empathy is “either natural or it isn’t”.
Question: Can empathy be learned — and how would you develop it as a medical student?Statement: A patient says they don’t trust doctors because of a past bad experience.
Question: How might medicine rebuild trust with individuals and communities?
2) Reflection on experience (work, volunteering, caring roles, wider life) 🔍
Statement: You haven’t managed to get hospital work experience.
Question: What experiences have helped you understand people, responsibility, and pressure?Statement: You supported someone who was anxious or distressed.
Question: What did you learn about communication and reassurance?Statement: You made a mistake while helping at a club/job/volunteering.
Question: What did you do next — and what did you learn?Statement: You saw a staff member handle a tense situation calmly.
Question: What specific behaviours made a difference, and how would you copy them?Statement: You worked with someone very different from you.
Question: How did you adapt your approach, and what did you learn about yourself?Statement: You had to take feedback you didn’t agree with.
Question: How did you respond, and what would you do differently now?
3) Communication & empathy 🗣️❤️
Statement: A patient is angry about a long wait and raises their voice at reception.
Question: How would you respond in a way that de-escalates and stays professional?Statement: A patient avoids eye contact and gives one-word answers.
Question: How would you build rapport quickly and respectfully?Statement: A teenager refuses to speak while a parent answers everything.
Question: How would you involve the young person appropriately?Statement: A patient with limited English is struggling to understand instructions.
Question: What would you do to make communication safe and fair?Statement: You need to explain something complicated to someone with no science background.
Question: How would you structure your explanation to check understanding?Statement: A patient starts crying mid-conversation.
Question: What do you say and do in the first 30 seconds?
4) Values, professionalism & being “safe” ✅
Statement: You notice a classmate sharing answers to a mock exam in a group chat.
Question: What would you do, and why?Statement: A friend asks you to lie for them to avoid getting in trouble at work.
Question: How do you handle loyalty vs integrity?Statement: You’re exhausted and running late for something important.
Question: How do you prioritise safety and responsibility when you’re under pressure?Statement: You disagree with someone senior in a team.
Question: How would you raise concerns without being disrespectful?Statement: A colleague makes a joke about a patient that feels unkind.
Question: How would you respond in the moment?Statement: You receive critical feedback after trying your best.
Question: How do you stop defensiveness and turn it into improvement?
5) Ethical reasoning (classic MMI territory) ⚖️
Statement: A patient refuses a treatment that could save their life.
Question: How would you approach the situation ethically?Statement: A parent refuses a vaccine for their child.
Question: How would you balance respect, evidence, and safeguarding?Statement: There’s a limited number of ICU beds during a crisis.
Question: What principles should guide fair allocation of resources?Statement: A patient asks you not to tell their partner about a health issue that could affect them.
Question: How do you think about confidentiality and harm?Statement: A patient wants antibiotics for a viral illness.
Question: How do you explain your decision and manage expectations?Statement: A celebrity is admitted to hospital and staff are gossiping.
Question: What should confidentiality look like in real life on a ward?Statement: A patient posts misinformation about a treatment on social media.
Question: How should healthcare professionals respond without shaming patients?
6) Teamwork & leadership 👥
Statement: In a group task, one person dominates and others go quiet.
Question: What would you do to improve the team dynamic?Statement: A team member isn’t pulling their weight and deadlines are slipping.
Question: How would you handle it fairly?Statement: You’re made leader of a group with conflicting opinions.
Question: How would you make a decision and keep people onboard?Statement: Two teammates argue and the tension affects performance.
Question: How do you intervene without taking sides?Statement: You spot an error made by someone else on your team.
Question: How do you raise it in a way that protects safety and relationships?Statement: A teammate is struggling personally and their work is affected.
Question: How would you support them while keeping standards high?
7) NHS, healthcare & topical medical issues 🏥📰
Statement: Someone says, “The NHS is broken — nothing will fix it.”
Question: How would you respond, and what would you prioritise improving?Statement: A GP practice is overwhelmed with appointments.
Question: What solutions could help without lowering quality of care?Statement: You read about health inequalities in London.
Question: Why do health inequalities happen, and what can clinicians do about them?Statement: Mental health services have long waiting lists.
Question: How should the healthcare system respond, and what is a doctor’s role?Statement: A patient can’t afford to take time off work for appointments.
Question: How does this affect health, and how might care be made more accessible?Statement: There’s public debate about screening programmes.
Question: What are the benefits and downsides of screening?
8) Suitability for King’s: contribution, learning style, resilience 📚🧭
Statement: King’s asks how you’ll contribute to the university community.
Question: What would you bring to King’s beyond grades?Statement: You’re used to being top of your class, but medicine students are all high-achievers.
Question: How would you cope with comparison and pressure?Statement: Your first exam result at university is worse than expected.
Question: What would you do in the first week after getting the result?Statement: You’re placed in a new clinical environment and feel out of your depth.
Question: How do you learn fast while staying safe?Statement: A friend on your course is burned out but won’t seek help.
Question: How would you support them and encourage safe choices?Statement: You’re balancing intense study with life outside medicine.
Question: What routines help you stay resilient and consistent?
9) Critical thinking & structured decision-making 🧠🧩
Statement: You’re given two competing explanations for the same health problem online.
Question: How would you decide what information is trustworthy?Statement: A patient wants to try a treatment they found on TikTok.
Question: How do you respond respectfully while staying evidence-based?Statement: You’re given a simple graph showing disease rates rising in one area.
Question: What questions would you ask before jumping to conclusions?Statement: A new health policy sounds good but might have unintended consequences.
Question: How would you evaluate it fairly?Statement: A patient asks, “What would you do if it were your family?”
Question: How do you answer honestly without crossing professional lines?Statement: You have to make a decision with incomplete information.
Question: How do you stay safe and minimise risk?
Questions that are especially “KCL” 📍👑
These are the ones that reward a bit of research into GKT, King’s clinical links, and the way the course is built:
Statement: You have offers from two London medical schools.
Question: Why is King’s the better fit for you?Statement: King’s emphasises integrated science and clinical learning.
Question: How do you learn best, and why does the King’s approach suit you?Statement: You’ll learn across major teaching hospitals and community settings.
Question: What do you think you’ll gain from both central London and peripheral placements?Statement: King’s talks about patient-centred care and long-term conditions.
Question: Why is long-term care such a big part of modern medicine?Statement: You’re told King’s values students who can grow into leaders and innovators.
Question: What does leadership look like in healthcare when you’re not “the boss”?Statement: King’s highlights quality improvement in later stages of the course.
Question: What is quality improvement in the NHS, and why does it matter?Statement: You’re joining a diverse university in a diverse city.
Question: How would you work effectively with people from backgrounds very different from your own?Statement: You want to intercalate (or you don’t).
Question: How would you decide whether an intercalated year is right for you?Statement: King’s expects you to develop professionally from the start.
Question: What does “professionalism” mean for a first-year medical student?Statement: You’re asked what you’ll do if you don’t get into medicine this year.
Question: What’s your Plan B — and what would it teach you?
What students often say (the unofficial, anecdotal bit) 💬
Every cohort is different, but these are common themes applicants and offer-holders tend to mention after a King’s-style MMI:
🟨 “It’s fast-paced.” The stations move quickly — you don’t get time to overthink, which is kind of the point.
🟨 “It felt fair.” Different stations mean one wobbly answer doesn’t define you.
🟨 “They liked structure.” The strongest answers sounded calm and organised, not dramatic.
🟨 “They wanted reflection, not a CV.” People who explained what they learned (and how it changed them) came across best.
🟨 “Knowing King’s helped.” Not in a cringe “memorise the prospectus” way — more in showing genuine fit and motivation.
Top tips to succeed at the KCL Medicine interview 🏆
🟩 Practise MMI timing out loud. Your brain works differently when you’re speaking — train that version of you.
🟩 Build a “go-to” answer structure (e.g., Situation → Options → Principles → Decision → Reflection).
🟩 Don’t try to be flawless. Be safe. Medicine interviews love honesty, insight, and professionalism.
🟩 Make your personal statement come alive. If it’s on your UCAS, it’s fair game for probing questions.
🟩 Prepare for ethics without memorising scripts. Focus on principles: safety, consent, capacity, confidentiality, fairness.
🟩 Stay current — lightly. Know a few NHS issues (waiting lists, mental health, inequalities, prevention), and have balanced views.
🟩 Use real examples — but keep them short. Then reflect: “What did that teach me?”
🟩 For online interviews: test your tech, lighting, camera angle, and practice eye contact with the lens.
🟩 Bring warmth. You can be serious and kind. Future patients want both.
🟩 After each practice station, ask: “Did I actually answer the question?”
