Motivation for medicine
- Lead with a specific moment, not “I want to help people”
- Show you know the hard parts: shifts, uncertainty, lifelong exams
- Say why a doctor, not a nurse, paramedic or physio
- End with what you have done to test that decision
MMI & interviews · Canterbury, Kent
MMI mock interviews in Canterbury, Kent
Our MMI mock interviews put you through timed stations and give you clear, honest feedback after each one. Below: how every station type works, a 4-week practice plan and the mistakes that cost the most marks.
Timed stationsLive feedbackTailored to your schools
What is an MMI?
MMI stands for multiple mini interview. You move through a series of short stations, each with a new interviewer and a new task. One bad station does not sink you, because every station is marked separately.
Most UK medical schools use one: 41 of the 51 schools in our medical school comparison run an MMI. Timings and station types differ between schools, so check each school’s format before you practise.
The best practice feels like the real thing. See why students like MMI practice with a medical student who sat one recently.
An MMI in short
- Format
- Short stations, one after another
- Each station
- A new interviewer and task
- It tests
- Communication, judgement and values
- Marking
- Each station scored on its own
- Used by
- 41 of 51 UK medical schools
How to approach every station type
Learn one simple structure per station type. It gives you something to hold on to when your mind goes blank.
Ethics
- Name the tension first: whose interests pull against each other?
- Use the four principles: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice
- Give both sides fairly before you decide
- Land on a clear, safe answer and say what you would check next
Role play
- Introduce yourself and why you are there
- Ask open questions, then explore their ideas, concerns and expectations
- Name the emotion you see: “You seem really worried about this”
- Summarise and agree a next step before time runs out
Situational judgement
- Ask: is anyone at risk right now?
- Stay within your role and be honest about what you do not know
- Speak to the person involved before going over their head
- Escalate to someone senior when safety or honesty is at stake
Data and problem solving
- Read the title, axes and units before the numbers
- Say what the data shows, then what it cannot show
- Correlation is not cause: name other explanations
- Say what extra information you would want next
Teamwork and group tasks
- Agree the goal and a rough plan in the first minutes
- Build on others by name: “Adding to Sam’s point…”
- Invite quieter people in with a specific question
- Keep time and summarise decisions out loud
A 4-week MMI practice plan
Four weeks is enough to go from nervous to ready if you practise out loud, not just in your head.
- Week 1
Know the format and your stories
- List each school’s MMI format and timings
- Write six stories: motivation, teamwork, leadership, a mistake, a challenge, caring for someone
- Learn the six NHS values and the four ethical principles
- Week 2
Practise with structure
- One station type a day, untimed, using the structures above
- Record yourself on your phone and watch it back once
- Read two health news stories a week and form a view
- Week 3
Add the timer
- Do stations at real length with a friend or tutor
- Get one piece of feedback per station and fix only that
- Practise the reset: breathe, re-read, start fresh
- Week 4
Full mock circuits
- Run full back-to-back circuits
- Spend extra time on your weakest station type
- Plan the day: route, clothes, sleep, food
What to read around
Interviewers do not expect expert knowledge. They want to see that you follow what is happening in healthcare and can discuss it sensibly.
How doctors are expected to behave
- The GMC’s Good medical practice
- The six NHS values
- Confidentiality, consent and Gillick competence
How to read the news well
- Pick one story a week and summarise it in two sentences
- Ask: who is affected, and what are the trade-offs?
- Form a balanced view you could defend for two minutes
Common MMI mistakes
- Memorising scriptsPrepare ideas and examples, then speak naturally
- Rushing to an answerSpend ten seconds planning your structure
- Only saying what you didSay what you learnt from it
- Arguing one side of an ethics caseShow both sides, then decide
- Ignoring the actor’s feelings in role playName the emotion and respond to it
- Carrying a bad station into the nextReset. Read. Think. Start again
“The session was well structured and tailored to me. I would never have imagined securing 4/4 medicine offers so early.”
“Thanks to Haris, I walked into my interviews feeling prepared and ready to present my authentic self.”
MMI mock interview questions
As early as you can, but it is never too late. One of our students booked her mock a few days before her UCL and Barts interviews. If time is short, see last-minute MMI prep.
Yes. Tell us which schools you applied to and we shape the stations around what they say they look for.
Yes. We run paid one-to-one and group mocks, and once a year we run free MMI mocks. Message us to hear about the next one.
In person in Canterbury, Kent, or online.
Yes. Tell us what you need and we book your first session free. No commitment.
MMI mock interviews
Reading about MMIs is easy.
Doing one under a timer is the hard part.
Book a free first session and find out where you stand before the real thing.
In every mock:
- timed stations
- honest feedback
- ideas, not scripts
- a clear list of what to fix
Keep reading
Sources and further reading
Last checked: September 2026. Always check dates and requirements with the official source before you rely on them.