Lincoln Medical School Interview Questions 2027 Entry: The Full MMI Guide

Written by The Blue Peanut Team

So Lincoln is on your UCAS form. Maybe the interview email has just arrived, or maybe you're refreshing your inbox every morning and trying not to think about it. Either way, this is the guide you want open.

Lincoln is unusual in one very helpful way. It publishes its whole selection formula: how many points your GCSEs are worth, how many your University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is worth, how much your Situational Judgement Test (SJT) band counts, and exactly how your interview score turns into an offer. Very few medical schools are that open. It means you can stop guessing and prepare for what actually decides your place.

This guide covers everything for 2027 entry: what makes Lincoln different, how it chooses who to interview, how its in-person Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) works, how you're scored, when offers come out, and 60 practice questions written the way Lincoln sets its stations. Grab a cuppa. ☕

🏥 An Introduction to Lincoln Medical School

Lincoln Medical School is based on the University of Lincoln's Brayford Pool campus, right in the middle of the city, on the waterfront and a short walk from the cathedral and the train station.

It was set up in 2018 with one very clear job: to train more doctors for Lincolnshire, and to keep them there. Lincolnshire is the second largest county in England, and before the medical school opened it was the largest English county without one. Its rural villages and coastal towns have long struggled to recruit general practitioners (GPs) and hospital doctors, and that mission shapes almost everything about the course.

🔄 A medical school that has just become independent

For its first few years, Lincoln ran in partnership with the University of Nottingham. Students studied in Lincoln but graduated with a Nottingham Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (BMBS) degree. The first cohort graduated in 2024.

From September 2026, Lincoln started running its own five-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) degree, after a General Medical Council (GMC) visit in June 2025 allowed it to recruit to its new courses. If you start in September 2027, you'll be in the second cohort of the independent Lincoln MBChB.

Like every new medical course, the degree is on a GMC accreditation journey. The GMC makes its final decision about adding Lincoln to its list of approved degree-awarding bodies in the final year of the course. Lincoln has a safety net in place: the University of Nottingham is the contingency school, so if approval wasn't granted, students would graduate with a Nottingham BMBS, which still allows provisional GMC registration and entry to the UK Foundation Programme.

🎓 Two routes into medicine at Lincoln

  • 🔵 A100 MBChB Medicine (5 years): the standard course for school leavers and eligible graduates. For 2026 entry there were around 80 places.
  • 🔵 A106 MBChB Medicine with Gateway Year (6 years): a widening participation (WP) route with an extra foundation year at the start. Around 20 places for 2026 entry. Applicants must meet WP criteria, such as being a care leaver, receiving free school meals or living in an area with low progression to higher education.

You can't apply for both in the same year. Both courses are open to UK applicants only.

✨ How Lincoln Medical School Stands Out From Other UK Medical Schools

Every medical school says it's friendly and patient-centred. These are the things that are genuinely different about Lincoln, and each one is worth knowing before your interview.

🧮 The most transparent scoring in UK medicine

Lincoln tells you exactly how many points every part of your application earns, and how they add up. You'll see the full breakdown later. Few schools publish this much detail.

🎯 Your SJT matters as much as your entire cognitive UCAT score

This is the big one. At Lincoln, an SJT Band 1 earns 15 points, the same as a cognitive UCAT score above 2,300. Most schools either ignore the SJT or use it as a simple pass or fail. Lincoln treats it as half of your UCAT.

📵 No predicted grades, no A level scoring

Lincoln doesn't score A levels or predicted grades at any stage of selection. Your GCSEs, UCAT and any contextual factors get you to interview. You still need to achieve the offer grades, of course.

🎤 The interview is worth 70% of your final ranking

After interview, your MMI score out of 70 is added to half your academic score. Even a modest academic score can be overtaken by a strong interview, and a high academic score won't save a weak one.

🌾 Built for rural and coastal medicine

The course is designed around the health of a large, rural county with an ageing population and coastal towns that face some of the worst health outcomes in England. It explicitly aims to develop your skills in research, leadership and public health in a rural and coastal context.

🏡 Placements beyond the hospital

You'll train with Lincolnshire's NHS hospital, community and mental health services, as well as in primary care. Lincoln also uses non-traditional community settings such as care homes, health charities and social prescribing services. That's a strong signal that it values generalist doctors who understand patients' whole lives.

👥 A small year group

With around 80 students a year on the main course, you'll know your year group and your tutors. Compare that with 300 or more at some of the bigger schools.

🏛️ Purpose-built teaching

Teaching happens in the Ross Lucas Medical Sciences Building, which has lecture theatres, labs, a clinical skills suite with mock consultation rooms, a prosection anatomy suite (where you study expertly prepared specimens rather than carrying out full dissection yourself) and a dedicated library. It's also the university's most sustainable building, with solar panels and a living wall.

🏆 University of Lincoln Rankings 2027: UK, World and Student Experience

League tables shouldn't drive your choice, but parents always ask, and interviewers occasionally do too. Here's where the University of Lincoln sits.

🇬🇧 UK league tables

  • 50th out of 130 UK universities, Complete University Guide (CUG) 2027
  • Named Modern University of the Year in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021

🌍 World rankings

  • 601st to 800th in the world, Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026
  • 801st to 850th in the world, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2026

💛 Teaching quality and student experience

  • 🥇 Triple Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023: Gold overall, Gold for student experience and Gold for student outcomes. That's the highest possible rating in every category.
  • 🏠 1st in the UK for student accommodation, Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2024
  • 💷 Lincoln was rated the most affordable student city in the UK in the NatWest Student Living Index 2025

🩺 What about medicine-specific rankings?

There aren't any yet, and that's normal. Until 2026, Lincoln's medical students graduated with Nottingham degrees, so subject tables and the National Student Survey (NSS) haven't had a standalone Lincoln medicine course to rank. Expect that to change as the independent MBChB matures.

The TEF Gold for student experience is the figure worth remembering. It's an independent, national assessment, and it tells you students at Lincoln are well supported.

🎯 How Lincoln Decides Who to Call for Interview

Lincoln ranks every applicant using a Combined Academic Score out of 60. The highest-ranked applicants are invited to interview. There's no fixed cut-off; the threshold moves every year depending on who applies.

Before we get to the maths, make sure you meet the minimum entry requirements.

📋 Entry requirements for A100 (2027 entry)

GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education)

  • At least six GCSEs at grade 7 or above, including Biology, and Chemistry or Double Science
  • At least grade 6 in English Language and Maths
  • GCSE resits are allowed, but they must be awarded by the time you apply

A levels

  • AAA, including Biology (or Human Biology)
  • AAB contextual offer, with the A in Biology, for eligible applicants
  • General Studies, Critical Thinking, the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), Global Perspectives and Citizenship Studies are not accepted
  • A level resits are allowed (AAA, usually within two years of the first attempt)

Work experience

Lincoln has no fixed work experience requirement, and clinical experience isn't required. It does expect you to have spoken to someone working in the National Health Service (NHS), to show a commitment to caring for people, and to have a realistic idea of what a doctor's job involves. It may ask about this at interview.

Personal statement

Your personal statement isn't scored for interview selection. It's checked after interview, before offers are made.

🧮 Part 1: Your GCSE score (up to 30 points)

Lincoln scores your best six GCSEs, which must include Biology, Chemistry or Double Science, Maths and English Language, plus your two highest other grades.

  • Grade 9 = 5 points
  • Grade 8 = 4 points
  • Grade 7 = 3 points
  • Grade 6 = 2 points
  • Grade 5 = 1 point
  • Grade 4 = 0 points

Six grade 9s gives you the full 30.

⚠️ Gap year students, read this. GCSEs are only scored if they're your most recent relevant qualification. If you've already finished your A levels, or you're applying with a degree, Lincoln doesn't score your GCSEs. Instead, your UCAT points are doubled to give a score out of 60.

🧠 Part 2: Your UCAT score (up to 30 points)

This comes in two halves, explained fully in the UCAT section below: up to 15 points for your SJT band and up to 15 points for your total cognitive score.

🤝 Part 3: Contextual points (up to 12 points, A100 only)

Lincoln is committed to widening access. If you're eligible for a contextual offer, you can earn extra points:

  • 🔵 In receipt of a UCAT bursary: 6 points
  • 🔵 Multiple Equality Measure (MEM2) Quintile 1: 10 points
  • 🔵 MEM2 Quintile 2: 8 points
  • 🔵 Living in a Lincolnshire local authority area: 2 points
  • 🔵 Care leaver: 12 points
  • 🔵 Refugee status: 12 points
  • 🔵 Attended a Lincoln Medical School WP Summer School: 6 points

MEM2 is a measure provided by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). It combines several factors, including free school meals, where you live (using Participation of Local Areas, or POLAR4, data), the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) and the type of school you attended. Quintiles 1 and 2 are the groups least likely to go on to higher education.

If more than one applies to you, the points are added together, but the total is capped at 12. These points don't apply to the Gateway Year course, because every A106 applicant already meets WP criteria, and they don't apply to graduates.

➕ Putting it together

Your GCSE points, UCAT points and any contextual points are added up, to a maximum of 60. Applicants are ranked only against others applying for the same course. If two people tie, the one with the higher UCAT score (out of 2,700) ranks higher.

📝 Worked example 1

Sam's six counted GCSEs are 9, 9, 8, 8, 7 and 7. That's 5 + 5 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 = 24. Sam scored 2,100 on the UCAT (12 points) and got SJT Band 2 (10 points). No contextual factors.

Combined Academic Score: 24 + 12 + 10 = 46 out of 60.

📝 Worked example 2

Priya's six counted GCSEs are 8, 8, 7, 7, 7 and 6. That's 4 + 4 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 2 = 19. Her UCAT is 1,880 (9 points), but she got SJT Band 1 (15 points). She's in MEM2 Quintile 2 (8 points) and lives in Lincolnshire (2 points), giving 10 contextual points.

Combined Academic Score: 19 + 9 + 15 + 10 = 53 out of 60.

💡 Look at that. Priya's GCSEs and cognitive UCAT are both lower than Sam's, yet she ranks seven points higher. That's the power of a strong SJT and contextual factors at Lincoln.

🧠 How Lincoln Uses the UCAT for 2027 Entry

The UCAT is central at Lincoln. It makes up half of the Combined Academic Score for most school leavers, and all of it for gap year and graduate applicants.

🚫 SJT Band 4 means automatic rejection

If you score SJT Band 4, your application won't progress, whatever your other scores. That's true for both A100 and A106.

🟢 SJT points (up to 15)

  • Band 1 = 15 points
  • Band 2 = 10 points
  • Band 3 = 5 points
  • Band 4 = 0 points, application not progressed

🔢 Cognitive UCAT points (up to 15)

Your total cognitive score is out of 2,700 (Verbal Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Reasoning, each scored from 300 to 900).

  • Above 2,300 = 15 points
  • 2,170 to 2,290 = 14 points
  • 2,050 to 2,160 = 12 points
  • 1,970 to 2,040 = 11 points
  • 1,910 to 1,960 = 10 points
  • 1,860 to 1,900 = 9 points
  • 1,810 to 1,850 = 8 points
  • 1,750 to 1,800 = 6 points
  • 1,680 to 1,740 = 4 points
  • 1,580 to 1,670 = 2 points
  • Below 1,580 = 0 points

Lincoln says these bands are lined up with UCAT decile data from previous years and reviewed annually.

📏 What score do you actually need?

Lincoln doesn't have a set UCAT cut-off, and it doesn't publish the lowest Combined Academic Score it invited. Because UCAT is only one part of a 60-point total, there's no single "safe" UCAT number. A modest cognitive score can be rescued by top GCSEs and an SJT Band 1; a high cognitive score can be dragged down by Band 3 and weaker GCSEs.

What the table does tell you is where the points jump. Moving from 2,040 to 2,050 earns you a whole extra point, as does crossing 1,970 or 1,910. Between 1,750 and 2,160 every band is worth at least one point, so small differences in your score matter more here than at the very top.

⚠️ A word on old UCAT scores

Abstract Reasoning was removed from the UCAT from 2025 onwards, cutting the maximum cognitive score from 3,600 to 2,700. Any Lincoln UCAT figure from 2025 entry or earlier is on the old scale and can't be compared with today's scores. If a website quotes a Lincoln threshold in the 2,600s or 2,700s, it's using the old scale and is out of date.

Once your score gets you the interview

Your UCAT gets you the interview. The interview gets you the offer.

A mid-range score can win offers when your interview is strong, and even a high one can fall short without preparation. Our interview course is taught in small groups by NHS doctors, with realistic MMI practice and feedback on every station.

See the medical interview course Add a mock MMI circuit

🎤 How the Lincoln MMI Works: Style, Structure, Timings and Delivery

🏢 In person, on the Brayford Pool campus

Lincoln interviews both A100 and A106 applicants in person on its Brayford Pool campus. Not online. Build travel time into your plans, and if you're eligible for WP support, ask whether help with travel costs is available.

No offer is ever made without an interview in the current cycle, but Lincoln doesn't interview every applicant.

🔄 The circuit

Lincoln's official guidance confirms the circuit has 7 stations in rotation, each scored across several domains, for a total interview score out of 70. That's 10 marks per station, all weighted equally.

Information Lincoln released through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request in September 2026, about the 2026 entry interviews, adds more detail:

  • ⏱️ 5 minutes per station, with 1 minute to read the written brief beforehand and 1 minute to move between stations
  • 🕐 The whole circuit takes just under an hour
  • 👋 It opens with a 1-minute icebreaker, which isn't scored
  • 🧑‍🏫 One interviewer per station, drawn from academics, clinicians, other healthcare staff and university and admissions staff
  • 📄 Interviewers see only your name, not your personal statement or UCAS application
  • 📝 Each station is marked on two domains, each scored from 1 to 5
  • 🎭 Stations can be interviewer questions, a role-play with an actor, a practical task or a mix
  • 📊 Recent circuits have included data interpretation, a calculation and a written task
  • 🗒️ You can make notes and take them into the station with you
  • ❌ Failing three or more stations rules out an offer, however high your total
  • ⏳ Applicants with extra time as a reasonable adjustment do a separate circuit with 6-minute stations and 2 minutes' reading

Applicants also describe a group briefing before the circuit and a campus tour afterwards.

2026 entry was the first year Lincoln ran its own interviews rather than Nottingham's. So if you read an older guide describing eight stations, online interviews or two student role-players, it's describing a previous system.

🪪 What to bring

Photographic identification (ID) is essential. Without it, you won't usually be interviewed. If you wear a face covering for religious, cultural or medical reasons, you'll be asked to briefly remove it in private for a female member of staff to check your ID, and you can then wear it for the rest of the day.

♿ Reasonable adjustments

If you need adjustments, you must tell Lincoln before booking or attending your slot. Requests are considered case by case.

📅 When Are Lincoln Medical School Interviews Held?

  • 🗓️ 24 September 2026: last UCAT test date for 2027 entry
  • 🗓️ 15 October 2026: UCAS deadline
  • 🗓️ Autumn 2026: applications checked and Combined Academic Scores calculated
  • 🗓️ Winter 2026 into early 2027: MMIs on the Brayford Pool campus

At the time of writing, Lincoln hasn't published its interview dates for 2027 entry. Last cycle, interviews began in December and continued into the new year. Keep your diary flexible over December and January, check your emails (including your junk folder) regularly, and book your slot as soon as the invitation arrives.

📚 What Topics Are Covered in the Lincoln MMI?

Lincoln says its interview gives you the chance to show the skills and attributes needed for a career in medicine, and insight into topics related to working as a doctor, as set out by the Medical Schools Council (MSC). Lincoln doesn't publish its stations and asks candidates not to share them. Based on its guidance, its course priorities and what applicants report, expect stations covering:

  • 🎯 Motivation and insight into a medical career
  • 🏥 Work experience and reflection: what you've seen and what it taught you
  • 💬 Communication and empathy, often through a role-play with an actor
  • ⚖️ Ethics and professionalism, linked to the GMC's Good Medical Practice
  • 🤝 Teamwork and leadership
  • 📊 Data interpretation and numeracy, including a calculation without a calculator
  • ✍️ Written or organisational tasks
  • 🌍 The NHS and wider health issues, especially rural and coastal health
  • 🧘 Resilience and self-awareness
  • 🏛️ Why Lincoln, and what you know about its mission

📊 How Many Applicants Are Interviewed and How Many Get Offers?

Here's the honest answer: Lincoln hasn't published applicant, interview or offer numbers for its independent course, and figures for 2026 entry weren't released in the FOI response.

Older figures from the Nottingham partnership years, released through FOI requests, give a rough picture:

  • 📌 2021 to 2022: around 118 interviewed, around 103 offers
  • 📌 2023 entry: around 229 interviewed, around 159 offers (roughly 7 in 10)

Those numbers come from a different system with a different interview, so treat them as a guide, not a prediction.

🤔 What this means for you

With around 80 places, Lincoln makes more offers than it has places, because many offer holders choose another medical school. That makes your post-interview odds look decent. But remember who you're up against: everyone in the room has already cleared the same Combined Academic Score threshold, and the interview carries 70% of the final ranking. Getting the interview is the first hurdle. The MMI is where the place is won.

📝 How Is the Lincoln Interview Scored?

Here's how your interview turns into an offer:

  1. ✅ Each of the 7 stations is marked out of 10, giving an interview score out of 70.
  2. ✅ Your Combined Academic Score (out of 60) is halved, to give a score out of 30.
  3. ✅ The two are added together for a final score out of 100.
  4. ✅ Applicants are ranked, and the highest-ranked receive offers until the places are filled.
  5. ✅ If two applicants tie, the one with the higher interview score ranks higher.

Back to our worked examples. Sam's 46 becomes 23. Priya's 53 becomes 26.5. If Sam scores 58 out of 70 at interview and Priya scores 50, Sam finishes on 81 and Priya on 76.5. The interview has completely flipped the order.

A few more things to know:

  • 🔍 Your personal statement is checked after interview and before any offer.
  • 🩺 Every offer depends on your grades, a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and occupational health clearance.
  • 🤐 Lincoln won't tell you your interview score or give individual feedback.

📬 When Are Lincoln Medical School Offers Released?

  • 📨 Offers are made once all interviews have finished. Lincoln doesn't release offers on a rolling basis, so an early interview doesn't mean an early answer.
  • 📨 Some applications may be placed on hold after interview while Lincoln reviews numbers and replies. This isn't a rejection.
  • 📨 Lincoln works to the UCAS decision deadlines, so you will hear before the national cut-off.

Lincoln hasn't given a specific date. Schools that wait for all interviews to finish usually release decisions in spring, so a sensible expectation is March 2027 or soon after. Keep an eye on UCAS Hub.

❓ 60 Lincoln Medical School Interview Questions for 2027 Entry

Lincoln's stations come with a written brief and 1 minute of reading time, so the questions below are written as station briefs and interviewer questions, the way you'd meet them on the day. These are practice questions, not leaked Lincoln stations. Practise each one aloud against a 5-minute timer, with one minute's reading first.

👋 0. The Icebreaker (1 minute, unscored)

  • Q1. Tell me a little about yourself and how your journey here went today.
  • Q2. What's something you've enjoyed outside school this year?

💡 It isn't marked, but it sets your tone. Smile, keep it short and use it to settle your nerves.

🎯 1. Motivation and Insight Into Medicine

  • Q3. Brief: This station is about your understanding of a medical career. Interviewer: Why medicine, rather than nursing, paramedic science or pharmacy?
  • Q4. What do you think a first-year Foundation doctor actually spends most of their day doing?
  • Q5. What do you think will be the hardest part of being a doctor for you personally?
  • Q6. A friend says, "Doctors just follow guidelines now. Computers will do the thinking soon." How would you respond?
  • Q7. What's the difference between being a hospital doctor and being a GP? Which appeals more to you right now, and why?
  • Q8. Who have you spoken to who works in the NHS? What did they tell you that surprised you?

🏥 2. Work Experience and Reflection

Remember, the interviewer hasn't read your personal statement. If you want them to know about your experience, you have to tell them.

  • Q9. Brief: Think of an experience in a caring or healthcare setting. Interviewer: Describe one moment from it and what it taught you about yourself.
  • Q10. What did you notice about how professionals communicated with each other during your work experience?
  • Q11. Tell me about a patient, resident or member of the public who made you think differently about health or illness.
  • Q12. If you couldn't get any healthcare work experience, what did you do instead to understand the role of a doctor, and what did you learn?
  • Q13. Describe a time you saw something that didn't go well. What would you have done differently?

💬 3. Communication and Empathy (Role-Play With an Actor)

  • Q14. Brief: You're volunteering on a hospital ward. A visitor tells you her father has been waiting all day to be seen and nobody has told her why. She's upset. Speak to her.
  • Q15. Brief: Your neighbour, who's in his eighties and lives alone in a village, tells you he's stopped going to his GP appointments because the bus only runs twice a week. Talk to him about it.
  • Q16. Brief: You're a medical student. Your housemate has been missing lectures and seems withdrawn. You've decided to talk to them. Begin the conversation.
  • Q17. Brief: You work in a café. A customer's order was wrong and they've waited 20 minutes. They're shouting. Deal with the situation.
  • Q18. Brief: Explain to a 10-year-old why they need a vaccination today, when they're scared of needles.
  • Q19. Brief: You borrowed a friend's laptop and accidentally broke it. Tell them what happened.
  • Q20. Brief: You'll see a simple diagram. Describe it to the interviewer so they can draw it without seeing it. You can't use your hands.

💡 In role-plays, the actor is giving you clues. Listen properly, check what they're worried about, show you understand, and agree a next step. Don't rush to fix everything in the first 30 seconds.

⚖️ 4. Ethics and Professionalism

  • Q21. Brief: A 15-year-old asks a GP for the contraceptive pill and asks the GP not to tell her parents. Interviewer: What are the issues, and what should the GP do?
  • Q22. A patient with capacity refuses a treatment that would very likely save his life. Should the doctor respect that?
  • Q23. Brief: While on placement, you see another medical student take a photo on the ward. A patient is visible in the background. Interviewer: What would you do?
  • Q24. You notice a senior doctor smells of alcohol before a clinic. How would you handle it?
  • Q25. A friend on your course asks to copy your assignment because they're struggling. What do you do?
  • Q26. Should patients who continue to smoke be treated differently when it comes to planned surgery?
  • Q27. Parliament has debated whether terminally ill adults should be allowed help to end their lives. What are the main arguments on each side, and what might it mean for doctors?
  • Q28. What does honesty mean for a doctor? Can you think of a situation where it would be difficult?

💡 A useful structure: who's involved, what the key tension is, what else you'd want to know, the options, and a balanced conclusion. The four pillars of medical ethics (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice) help, but use them naturally rather than reciting them.

🤝 5. Teamwork and Leadership

  • Q29. Tell me about a time you worked in a team that didn't get on. What did you do?
  • Q30. What's the difference between leading a team and being the loudest person in it?
  • Q31. Doctors work with nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, paramedics and many others. Why does it matter that doctors respect every member of the team?
  • Q32. In a team-based learning session, one group member never prepares and relies on everyone else. How would you deal with it?

📊 6. Data Interpretation and Calculation (No Calculator)

  • Q33. Brief: A ward has 28 beds. At 8am, 21 are occupied. Interviewer: What's the percentage occupancy? During the day, 5 patients are discharged and 9 are admitted. What's the occupancy now?
  • Q34. Brief: A child weighs 18kg. The dose of a medicine is 15mg per kilogram. The liquid contains 120mg in every 5ml. Interviewer: How many millilitres should be given?
  • Q35. Brief: A GP practice has three GPs. Each runs a morning clinic of 3.5 hours with 10-minute appointments. Last month, 15% of patients didn't attend. Interviewer: How many appointments are there each morning, and roughly how many are missed? What could the practice do about it?
  • Q36. Brief: A new test correctly picks up 90 out of every 100 people who have a condition. It also gives a positive result for 50 out of every 1,000 people who don't. Interviewer: What does this tell you? Would you use it to screen everyone?
  • Q37. Brief: You're on placement at a hospital 35 miles away. The bus averages 30 miles per hour and you need to arrive 10 minutes before an 8:30am handover. Interviewer: What's the latest time you can leave? What else might you plan for?
  • Q38. Brief: A graph shows that life expectancy in a coastal town is several years lower than the national average. Interviewer: What might explain the gap? What other information would you want before drawing conclusions?

💡 Answers to check yourself: Q33 is 75%, then 25 of 28 beds, about 89%. Q34 is 270mg, which is 11.25ml. Q35 is 63 appointments, with about 9 missed. Q36 is 90% detection, but with many false positives in a large population. Q37 means leaving by 7:10am (70 minutes' travel plus 10 minutes). Say your working out loud; the method earns marks too.

✍️ 7. Written and Organisational Tasks

  • Q39. Brief: You're a medical student on a busy day. In 5 minutes, put these tasks in order and explain why: revise for tomorrow's test, reply to a message from a struggling friend, attend a compulsory clinical skills session, finish a group project that's due today, and phone home because it's your mum's birthday.
  • Q40. Brief: Write a short note, in plain English, to remind a patient about a follow-up appointment and what they need to bring.
  • Q41. Brief: Read this short passage about loneliness in older people. Write down three key points, then summarise it aloud to the interviewer.

🌍 8. The NHS and the Wider Health Picture

  • Q42. What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the NHS at the moment? What would you change first?
  • Q43. Resident doctors in England have taken strike action in recent years. How should doctors balance their right to strike with their duty to patients?
  • Q44. The NHS 10 Year Health Plan talks about moving care from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. Which matters most, in your view?
  • Q45. What are health inequalities? Give an example from where you live.
  • Q46. More people are living with several long-term conditions at once. What challenges does that create for patients and doctors?

🧘 9. Resilience and Self-Awareness

  • Q47. Tell me about a time something didn't go to plan. How did you respond?
  • Q48. How do you look after yourself when you're under pressure?
  • Q49. Describe a time you received criticism. What did you do with it?
  • Q50. If your first station today went badly, how would you reset for the next one?

🏛️ Questions Specific to Lincoln Medical School

These are the questions that reveal whether you've done your homework or just changed the name on a generic answer.

  • Q51. Why Lincoln? What is it about our course, rather than the city, that appeals to you?
  • Q52. Lincoln Medical School was set up to train and keep more doctors in Lincolnshire. Why do you think rural counties find it hard to recruit doctors, and how might a local medical school help?
  • Q53. Lincolnshire has a long coastline. England's Chief Medical Officer has highlighted that coastal communities often have some of the poorest health in the country. Why might that be?
  • Q54. Our placements include care homes, health charities and social prescribing services, not just hospitals. What could a future doctor learn in those settings?
  • Q55. You'll be in the second cohort of Lincoln's independent MBChB. What are the advantages of studying at a newly independent medical school, and what challenges might you face?
  • Q56. We use case-based learning (CBL) and team-based learning (TBL). How do you learn best, and how would you adapt to these methods?
  • Q57. Lincolnshire is a large county with an older population and limited public transport in places. How might that affect the way patients use health services?
  • Q58. Our course aims to build skills in research, leadership and public health in a rural and coastal context. Which of those interests you most, and why?
  • Q59. We teach anatomy using prosected specimens rather than full student dissection. What are the benefits and limitations of learning anatomy this way?
  • Q60. We offer a Gateway Year and contextual points to widen access to medicine. Why might a more diverse medical workforce be good for patients?

💡 For Q51, pick two or three specific features (the Lincolnshire mission, community placements, the small cohort, case-based learning) and link each one to something about you. "It's near home" or "the cathedral is lovely" can be a bonus line, never the main reason.

💬 What Students Say About the Lincoln Interview (Anecdotal)

The points below are recurring themes from applicants and students, paraphrased and combined. They're not direct quotes or official guidance, but they come up often enough to be worth knowing.

  • 🗣️ "It felt organised and calm." Applicants describe a clear group briefing at the start, which helped settle nerves before the circuit began.
  • 🗣️ "The maths station caught people out." Several applicants say a calculation or data task was the one they least expected. Those who'd practised mental arithmetic felt far more relaxed.
  • 🗣️ "The role-play actor was very convincing." Applicants say the actors stay in character, so you need to respond to them as you would to a real person.
  • 🗣️ "The reading minute goes fast." A common tip is to decide on your opening sentence before you walk in, rather than trying to plan the whole answer.
  • 🗣️ "Nobody had read my personal statement." Some applicants were surprised that interviewers knew nothing about them, and wished they'd brought their experiences into answers more confidently.
  • 🗣️ "The tour sold it to me." Several people say the campus tour afterwards made them want Lincoln more, particularly the compact campus and the medical school building.

Students at Lincoln tend to mention the small year group, how quickly you get to know your tutors, and how everything on the Brayford Pool campus is within a short walk. Some also say placements can involve real travel across a big county, so it's worth thinking about that now.

🚀 Top Tips to Succeed at the Lincoln MMI

🟢 1. Understand the maths. Know that your interview is worth 70 of the 100 final points. Whatever your academic score, the MMI is now the part you can change.

🟢 2. Use your reading minute well. Work out what the station is testing, jot down a three-point plan and decide your first sentence. Then walk in and start talking.

🟢 3. Bring your experiences in yourself. Interviewers only know your name. If you want credit for your volunteering or work experience, mention it and reflect on it.

🟢 4. Practise numeracy without a calculator. Percentages, ratios, unit conversions, dose-style calculations and reading graphs. Ten minutes a day for a fortnight makes a real difference.

🟢 5. Treat role-plays as real conversations. Listen, acknowledge feelings, check understanding and agree what happens next. Practise with a friend or family member playing the other part.

🟢 6. Be consistent across all seven stations. Failing three or more stations reportedly rules out an offer, whatever your total. One brilliant station can't carry you; steady, solid performance can.

🟢 7. Know Lincolnshire. Rural and coastal health, an older population, GP shortages, long travel distances and community care. Have one or two specific points ready.

🟢 8. Read Good Medical Practice. Pick three or four of the GMC's duties of a doctor and think of an example from your own life for each.

🟢 9. Have an ethics structure, not a script. People involved, the key tension, the facts you'd need, the options and a balanced conclusion.

🟢 10. Reset between stations. Each station has a new interviewer and a fresh 10 marks. Use the minute between stations to let the last one go.

🟢 11. Pack your photo ID the night before. No ID usually means no interview. Plan your journey too, and aim to arrive early.

🟢 12. Practise under real conditions. Seven stations, 1 minute's reading, 5 minutes per station and someone you don't know asking the questions. A mock MMI circuit is the closest you'll get to the real day. Blue Peanut's MMI mock circuits are staffed by current UK medical and dental students who've been through it themselves.

📌 Lincoln Medical School: Key Facts at a Glance

  • 🏫 Courses: A100 MBChB Medicine (5 years); A106 MBChB Medicine with Gateway Year (6 years)
  • 🎓 Degree: Lincoln's own MBChB, independent since September 2026 (Nottingham BMBS as contingency during GMC accreditation)
  • 👩‍⚕️ Places: around 80 on A100 and around 20 on A106 (2026 entry figures)
  • 🌍 Who can apply: UK applicants only
  • 📝 UCAS deadline: 15 October 2026
  • 📗 A levels: AAA including Biology; AAB contextual (A in Biology)
  • 📘 GCSEs: at least six at grade 7 including Biology and Chemistry (or Double Science); grade 6 in English Language and Maths
  • 🧮 Shortlisting: Combined Academic Score out of 60 (GCSEs up to 30, UCAT up to 30, contextual points up to 12, capped at 60)
  • 🧠 UCAT: SJT up to 15 points, cognitive score up to 15 points; SJT Band 4 is rejected
  • 📵 Predicted grades and A levels: not scored
  • ✍️ Personal statement: not scored; checked after interview
  • 🎤 Interview: in-person MMI, 7 stations, 10 marks each, total out of 70, on the Brayford Pool campus
  • ⏱️ Timings (2026 entry): 1 minute's reading, 5 minutes per station, just under an hour in total
  • 📅 Interview dates: not yet published for 2027 entry; last cycle started in December
  • 🏅 Final ranking: interview score (out of 70) plus half the Combined Academic Score (out of 30) = 100
  • 📬 Offers: after all interviews are complete; likely spring 2027
  • 🪪 Bring: photo ID
  • 🏆 Rankings: 50th in the UK (CUG 2027); TEF Triple Gold (2023); 601st to 800th in the world (THE 2026)

🔗 Useful Links

Blue Peanut interview course

Done reading about your score? Start preparing to win the offer.

Small-group interview and MMI preparation taught by NHS doctors, in Manchester, London or live online.

Medical interview course Mock MMI circuits
The Blue Peanut Team

This content is provided in good faith and based on information from medical school websites at the time of writing. Entry requirements can change, so always check directly with the university before making decisions. You’re free to accept or reject any advice given here, and you use this information at your own risk. We can’t be held responsible for errors or omissions — but if you spot any, please let us know and we’ll update it promptly. Information from third-party websites should be considered anecdotal and not relied upon.

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