Edinburgh Medicine Interview 2026-27: Format, Dates, Rates

By Michael Thompson · Education Specialist; 10 years teaching the IB at Bromsgrove School · Published 26 October 2026 · Updated 28 October 2026

The University of Edinburgh interviews for MBChB Medicine (6-year programme) with multiple mini interviews (MMI): three stations. Interviews run from November to January. On the most recent figures released (2025 entry), 44% of applications led to an interview and 70% of interviewees received an offer. This page sets out the Edinburgh medicine interview from the University's own course page and published figures: who is shortlisted, the format and timing, what the interviewers assess, how Edinburgh compares with other UK medical schools, and the questions applicants have reported.

Key Takeaways

Format: multiple mini interviews (MMI): three stations; online or in person.
Dates: interviews run from November to January.
Numbers: 44% of applications led to an interview; 70% of interviewees were offered a place.

1. The Edinburgh medicine interview at a glance

The University of Edinburgh interviews for MBChB Medicine (6-year programme) with multiple mini interviews (MMI): three stations. Interviews run from November to January. For 2025 entry, 44% of applications led to an interview (839 of 1,909), and 70% of those interviewed received an offer. That puts Edinburgh in the middle of UK medical schools at the interview stage: the median school interviews 53% of its applications.

Everything on this page is what the University of Edinburgh publishes on its course and admissions pages, read on 18 October 2026. The page on medicine interview dates by school puts Edinburgh beside every other school, and medicine interview rates compares the figures.

2. Who is invited

How Edinburgh chooses who to interview, as its pages describe it:

The top 800 or so applicants on combined academic score, UCAT decile and SJT band
UCAT total at least 1850 (Plus Flag widening-access applicants exempt)
SJT Band 4 not considered

The other steps it describes:

Academic record scored independently by two admissions staff
UCAT minimum 1850 (Plus Flag widening-access: any score, 10% uplift; Flag: 5% uplift; SIMD40: 10% uplift)
SJT Band 4 rejected
Final ranking academic 25%, UCAT decile 17.5%, SJT band 7.5%, assessment day 50%
Criminal record (PVG) check for successful applicants

3. The format: stations, timing and interviewers

	What the course page says
Format	multiple mini interviews (MMI): three stations
Length	half-day assessment day
Mode	online or in person
Interviewers	one selector per station
Dates	November to January

The course page does not state whether there is a task before the interview.

An MMI is a circuit: you move from station to station, each with its own interviewer and its own task, and each is scored on its own, so a poor station does not follow you to the next. Edinburgh runs three stations.

4. What Edinburgh assesses

The University of Edinburgh says the interview assesses the core attributes in the Medical Schools Council statement on core values and attributes.

These are the criteria the stations score against, and the reason to prepare examples from your own experience that show each one, rather than a speech about wanting to be a doctor.

5. How Edinburgh compares

Edinburgh medicine interview, in figures: bar chart: at Edinburgh 44% of medicine applications led to an interview against a UK median of 53%, and 70% of interviewees were offered a place against a median of 68%.

	Edinburgh	Lowest UK school	Median UK school	Highest UK school
Share of applications interviewed	44%	14%	53%	95%
Share of interviewees offered a place	70%	14%	68%	88%

The comparison is across the 32 UK medical schools that publish or have released interview counts for their standard-entry course (27 of them also give offers); the figures are applications, not people, because every applicant has up to four medicine choices. The nearest schools by interview share are Brunel (44%) and Dundee (43%).

6. Questions reported at Edinburgh medicine interviews

No question reported at Edinburgh can be traced to a university page or a first-hand account; our dataset holds 93 attributed to Edinburgh by preparation companies, which are not reproduced for that reason. The station types are the same across UK MMIs, so the sourced examples on MMI questions and medicine interview questions are the ones to practise with.

7. How this page was built

The format, timing, dates, shortlisting and assessment criteria come from the University of Edinburgh MBChB Medicine (6-year programme) course page, and the applications, interviews and offers from the school's own admissions figures. Each page was read on 18 October 2026 and the figures exported on 21 October 2026; nothing is estimated, and where the school does not publish a figure the page says so. Interview arrangements change between cycles, so the course page is the final word and this page is the comparison.

8. What to do next

Check the dates and the notice Edinburgh gives, then prepare for the format named above and nothing else: short stations reward a clear first sentence and an example, not a build-up. Work through the assessment list and write one example from your own experience against each criterion. Then practise out loud and timed, with someone who will play the interviewer. The guide to how to get into medicine covers the UCAT and the four-choice rule, and the hub page on Oxbridge and medicine interviews 2026 links every interview page on this site.

FAQ

What is the Edinburgh medicine interview format?

Multiple mini interviews (MMI): three stations; online or in person. The course page gives the length: half-day assessment day.

When are Edinburgh medicine interviews?

Interviews run from November to January.

What percentage of applicants get a medicine interview at Edinburgh?

For 2025 entry, 44% of applications led to an interview, and 70% of those interviewed received an offer.

What does Edinburgh look for at interview?