The Sunderland medicine interview format

The University of Sunderland School of Medicine interviews applicants for its five-year MBChB Medicine course (UCAS code A100) using multiple mini interviews (MMIs). Its applying for medicine page says interviews take place face-to-face in the School of Medicine's Murray Health building during December and early January, from the week commencing 7 December 2026, and that all interviews are in person. The course page says the MBChB is fully approved by the General Medical Council (GMC).

Sunderland says you will go through a series of short interview stations that examine a range of skills and aptitudes, and that stations may vary from a one-to-one traditional interview through to role-play and data analysis. As of October 2026, the applying for medicine page and the MBChB course page don't give the number of stations or how long each one lasts, so check your invitation email for those details.

Item	What Sunderland says
Format	Multiple mini interviews (MMIs)
Mode	In person, at the School of Medicine, Murray Health building
Dates	December and early January, from the week commencing 7 December 2026
Station types	From a one-to-one traditional interview through to role-play and data analysis
Number and length of stations	Not given on the applying for medicine or course pages (checked October 2026)
Shortlisting	Academic requirements, the interview selection tool and UCAT score
UCAT	Within the top 8 deciles of the cohort; situational judgement test in bands 1 to 3
Interview selection tool deadline	22 October 2026, 6pm GMT
Outcome	Expected in February, after all interviews are complete; offers follow your ranking
Places	117 per year; Sunderland can't accept international fee-paying applicants
Age	18 by 31 December of the year you start

What the Sunderland MMI assesses

Sunderland lists the attributes its MMI assesses as including:

Motivation and the experiences informing your decision to pursue medicine
Empathy and insight
Responsibilities and challenges of being a doctor
Awareness of ethical issues in health and society
Resilience
Comprehension
Communication

Work experience runs through the whole process. Sunderland says it uses work experience in two ways: to help select for interview, and during the interview itself, where it will ask you about your work experience and some stations will assess skills you developed through it. Go in able to talk about what you did, what you saw and what it taught you about the realities of caring for people.

Getting an interview: the selection tool and UCAT

Sunderland's process has three phases: an academic screen (September to November), shortlisting for interview (November to December) and the MMI (December to January). The UCAS deadline is 15 October, and the school says it can't consider late applications under any circumstances. The academic screen checks the A Level and GCSE requirements (AAA at A Level for the standard offer, including Biology or Chemistry and a second science), and Sunderland says it can't accept equivalent qualifications. You must also be 18 by 31 December of the year you start, because of early clinical placements.

Shortlisting is based on academic requirements, UCAT score and the school's own interview selection tool. The course page says the tool is issued from Thursday 8 October 2026 once your application is received, and the applying page gives a deadline of 22 October 2026 at 6pm GMT. The tool is a survey about your work or caregiving experience over the past two years (ongoing experience that started earlier can be included). You can list up to four experiences, but Sunderland says it looks at the total commitment you've shown rather than the number of experiences. You also give brief written answers about what you gained, and you must supply contact details for your most significant work experience provider (or a teacher who knows your family situation).

Sunderland counts hands-on, public-facing work, paid or voluntary, and significant caring responsibilities. It doesn't count clinical shadowing, school or college organised programmes (unless you helped develop them yourself) or short trips abroad organised for you, though the work experience element of the Duke of Edinburgh award does count. It says shadowing shouldn't go in the survey but is useful in preparing you for interview.

For the UCAT, scores must be within the top 8 deciles of the cohort and the situational judgement test must be in bands 1 to 3. Sunderland publishes adjusted minimum UCAT scores (with abstract reasoning removed) of 1670 for 2024, 1680 for 2023, 1650 for 2022, 1670 for 2021 and 1690 for 2020.

If you're in Year 12 at a First Choice school or college and meet its widening participation criteria, Sunderland's First Choice: Medicine scheme guarantees an MMI when you apply for the 2028 intake, provided you attend all its compulsory elements, meet the GCSE, A Level and UCAT requirements and complete the interview selection tool.

Interview day and after

Sunderland asks you to be available throughout the interview period. If you can't attend the date you're given, contact the Medical Admissions Office straight away (medicineapplications@sunderland.ac.uk), as slots are limited. It will only consider rescheduling under extenuating circumstances, with evidence, and it can't offer interviews outside the interview period: if you can't attend during it, the application is treated as unsuccessful. All interviews are completed before any offer decisions are made, so expect your outcome in February. Offers are based on your position in the ranking, and offer holders are invited to an Offer Holder Day in March.

How to prepare for the Sunderland interview

Know your work experience inside out. Sunderland says it will ask about it, so prepare two or three detailed examples of what you did, what went wrong and what you learned.
Match your selection tool. Reread what you wrote in the survey before interview so your spoken examples line up with it.
Practise role-play. Listen first, acknowledge feelings, then explain clearly.
Read data out loud. Practise describing a simple table or chart in plain words and drawing a cautious conclusion. Confetto's mock interviews don't include a data analysis task, so practise that part with printed tables and a timer.
Build an ethics routine. Name the issue, consider the people affected, weigh the options and say what you would do and why.
Plan the journey. Interviews are in person in Sunderland, and the school won't move you outside the interview period.

Sunderland practice questions (written by us, not the University of Sunderland)

Sunderland doesn't publish its stations. We wrote these around the attributes on its applying for medicine page. Aim for about two to three minutes each.

Tell us about the work or caring experience that taught you the most about what being a doctor involves.
What did you see in your work experience that a textbook couldn't have taught you?
Role-play: a friend tells you they have been struggling at school since a parent became unwell. Respond.
What do you think is the hardest responsibility a junior doctor carries, and how would you cope with it?
Describe a time things didn't go your way. What did you do next?
A table shows A&E waiting times at one hospital rising over six months. Describe what it shows and what you would want to know before drawing a conclusion.
Should patients who miss repeated GP appointments be charged a fee? Discuss both sides.
A patient's relative asks you, as a student, to tell them the patient's test results. What do you do?
What health challenges do you think matter most in the North East of England, and why?
How do you show empathy to someone whose choices you disagree with?
Explain what a vaccine does to a 10-year-old.
Why Sunderland, and why medicine?

For a wider set, see our practice questions with answers guide and our MMI practice and preparation guide.

A drill for an in-person MMI

Run six short stations with a partner: two about work experience, one role-play, one ethics scenario, one data question and one motivation question.
Give each station a strict time limit and stop when it ends, even mid-sentence.
Ask your partner to play a worried relative and stay in character for the whole station.
After each station, name the attribute it tested from Sunderland's list.
Repeat the work experience stations a week later with different follow-up questions.

If you don't have a practice partner, Confetto's AI mock interviews ask follow-up questions based on what you actually said and give rubric-based feedback afterward. The question bank has over 500 questions, and you can start with a 7-day free trial.

Sunderland interview FAQ

Is the Sunderland medicine interview an MMI?

Yes. Sunderland says its interviews take the form of multiple mini interviews.

Is the interview online or in person?

In person. Interviews are face-to-face in the School of Medicine's Murray Health building.

When are the interviews for 2027 entry?

From the week commencing 7 December 2026, during December and early January.

How many stations are there?

As of October 2026, the applying for medicine and course pages don't say. Your invitation should give details.

What is the interview selection tool?

A survey about your work or caregiving experience over the past two years, used with academic requirements and UCAT score to shortlist for interview. The deadline is 22 October 2026 at 6pm GMT, so submit well before it.

When will I hear back?

Sunderland expects to tell you the outcome in February, after all interviews are complete.

Applying to other northern schools too? See our guides to the Newcastle University School of Medicine, Hull York Medical School and Lancaster Medical School interviews, or our medical school interview prep page.

Sources: Sunderland applying for medicine, Sunderland MBChB Medicine course page, Sunderland First Choice scheme.

Confetto isn't affiliated with the University of Sunderland. Everything here about the school comes from its public admissions pages, checked in October 2026. Formats can change between cycles, so go by your invitation email.