Updated · 3 min read
Preparing for the Hull York Medical School interview
Key facts (2026-27)
- Format
- Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) consisting of a series of short interview stations
- Where
- In person at the Hull and York campuses for Home fee status; online for overseas fee status
- Stations
- In person (Home/EU): group exercise, two mini-interviews, student station and individual scenario station; online (overseas): three mini-interviews, student station, scenario station and group exercise
- Length
- 5 minutes thinking time before each in-person mini-interview or student station (2 minutes online); total duration not published
Dates for 2026-27
January in person for Home (UK) and EU candidates; December online for overseas fee status candidates
Interviews
Decisions issued by 31 March after all interviews are completed
Offers and decisions
Checked November 2026 against Hull York Medical School - Applying to Study Medicine: Interviews, Hull York Medical School - Medicine Interviews and Hull York Medical School - Selection Procedure. Confirm details in your invitation.
Hull York uses MMIs with a group exercise
Hull York Medical School uses Multiple Mini Interviews, including a group exercise. For 2027 entry, Home-fee candidates interview in person at Hull or York, while overseas-fee candidates interview online.
The official interview page describes different circuits.
- In person. In person, you'll have a group exercise, two mini-interviews, a student station and an individual scenario station.
- Online. Online, it lists three mini-interviews, a student station, an individual scenario and a group exercise.
- Group size. The group can include up to ten candidates in person or six online. Home-fee candidates aren't offered an online interview.
The school says it isn't testing medical knowledge. Prepare to explain your thinking and work with other applicants.
Confetto is independent of Hull York Medical School.
Practise participation without taking over
A group task needs a different rehearsal from a solo answer. You can't script how other people will contribute.
Set up the exercise
Gather a few friends, give everyone the same fictional problem and ask one person to observe without joining in.
Our fictional group prompt: A student society has funds for one event. Members disagree between a large evening talk and several smaller daytime sessions.
The group must recommend a plan and identify what it still needs to find out.
Use twelve minutes for this training exercise. This is our chosen rehearsal time, not a HYMS station duration.
Don't appoint a leader. Each participant should try to improve the discussion rather than win a vote immediately.
- Start by clarifying the objective. Is the event meant to reach the largest audience, support people new to the subject or create opportunities for discussion?
- Offer a reason for your suggestion. Separate what you know from what you're assuming about attendance.
- Respond to another person's reasoning. Ask what would change their view instead of repeating your preference more loudly.
- Near the end, help the group state its recommendation and remaining uncertainty. Don't claim agreement if someone still has a substantive concern.
What the observer looks for
The observer should record specific moments: an idea you added, an idea you developed from someone else, an interruption and a question that helped the group. Counting how often you spoke won't tell you whether you helped.
If you're quiet, practise making one early contribution that moves the task forward. If you tend to dominate, practise ending an explanation and waiting for another person.
Inviting someone to speak is useful when there's room for their answer; it sounds performative if you immediately continue talking.
Use reading time to identify the task
HYMS publishes five minutes of thinking time before the first question at an in-person mini-interview or student station, and two minutes before the first question in an online interview room.
Its scenario station uses a prerecorded video with questions during and after it. Check the station descriptions for your circuit.
For our reading drill, write two short notes: what the prompt asks you to decide, and what you don't yet know. Then practise opening with a direct response.
Background context belongs after that response, when it helps explain your reasoning.
For example, if a prompt asks how you'd respond to a disagreement, don't begin with everything you know about teamwork. State how you'd establish each person's concern, then explain what you'd do with that information.
Respond to a person rather than solve everything
This is our original scenario, not a school question: someone says their project partner has let them down and they want to quit the group. Practise a response that acknowledges what they've said and asks for the part of the story you need.
Try: “It sounds like you're frustrated about being left with the work. What had you agreed each person would do?”
That's a fictional opening to test, not a phrase to memorise. The next response should depend on what you hear.
Change the facts
Now change the facts. The partner has been ill and hasn't told the group.
Ask yourself which part of your initial assumption needs revising. You can recognise the pressure on the speaker while leaving room for the absent person's account.
Review the recording for premature promises. You can't guarantee someone will apologise or that a supervisor will accept your preferred solution.
Explain what you'd clarify and what support you'd seek within your role.
Original questions for individual practice
These prompts are ours and aren't reported HYMS questions.
- Tell us about a team where your contribution changed after someone challenged your idea.
- What has your experience taught you about an aspect of medical work you might find difficult?
- You aren't sure whether a group decision is fair. How would you raise the concern?
- How would you respond if another applicant interpreted the same information differently?
Use a real experience for the first question. Give enough detail for a listener to understand your initial position and the evidence that changed it.
Avoid turning the answer into a general claim that you're always open-minded.
Make your next rehearsal specific
Choose the format that matches your invitation. Practise a group discussion with people and use solo sessions for explaining your own experience.
Confetto's AI MMI practice offers mock interviews with follow-up questions and rubric-based feedback. Treat that as another chance to refine spoken answers; practise group interaction with other people as well.
Also applying elsewhere in the UK? See our new interview guides to University of Birmingham Medical School (an in-person MMI of six or seven stations with a calculation task) and Aston Medical School (an online MMI).
Also applying in the North East? Our University of Sunderland School of Medicine interview guide covers its in-person MMI and interview selection tool.
More UK guides: UK medicine interviews, school by school, UK medicine interview questions and how the MMI works.
Practice out loud with UK medicine mock interviews.