Free practice questions for the Cambridge medicine interview, with the interview format taken from the university's own admissions pages.
Cambridge interviews at the college that considers your application, not on an MMI circuit. Most applicants have one or two interviews lasting a total of 35 minutes to an hour, usually with two or three interviewers. Interview format depends on your college: some colleges interview Medicine applicants in person, some online, and a few let UK-based applicants choose. Questions are science led and push your reasoning on problems you have not seen before, so thinking out loud is what gets marked. The main 2027 entry interview period runs 7 to 18 December 2026, with winter pool interviews in mid to late January 2027 and decisions from UCAS in January.
Original MedicHut practice questions. Real interviews may differ.
A drug is found to be highly effective at killing cancer cells in a petri dish, but has almost no effect when given to patients. Suggest as many reasons as you can for this discrepancy.
Follow-up: Which of your suggested reasons do you think would be easiest to test experimentally?
Look at the graph below. As the concentration of a substrate increases, the rate of an enzyme-catalysed reaction increases steeply at first, then levels off.
Explain what is happening at a molecular level to produce this pattern.
Follow-up: How would the graph change if you doubled the concentration of enzyme instead of substrate?
A researcher wants to test whether a new painkiller is more effective than an existing one. Design, in outline, an experiment that would let them draw a fair conclusion.
Follow-up: What sources of bias could still creep into your experiment, and how might you try to reduce them?
A student argues that because correlation does not imply causation, no observational study can ever be useful in medicine. Do you agree with this view? Explain your reasoning.
Follow-up: What features of a study would make you more confident that an observed association reflects a real causal relationship?
A hospital records that patients who receive a particular new drug recover on average two days faster than those who do not. However, the drug is only given to patients who are otherwise fit and healthy, while sicker patients receive the standard treatment. What conclusions, if any, can you draw about the drug's effectiveness?
Follow-up: How would you redesign this study to draw a firmer conclusion?
In a trial, a diagnostic test correctly identifies 90 out of 100 people who truly have a disease, but also incorrectly flags 15 out of 100 healthy people as having the disease. The disease is rare, affecting only 1 in 1000 people in the general population. If someone from the general population tests positive, how confident should they be that they actually have the disease? Explain your reasoning.
Follow-up: Why does the rarity of the disease matter so much to your answer?
Look at the graph below. It shows the rate of an enzyme-catalysed reaction at different temperatures.
Suggest a biological explanation for this pattern if the reaction is enzyme catalysed.
Follow-up: How would you expect the graph to differ for a reaction that is not enzyme catalysed?
A patient with a severe peanut allergy has a life-threatening reaction after eating a meal that did not appear to contain nuts. Using your understanding of the immune system, suggest what might have happened biologically, and what other explanations you would want to rule out.
Follow-up: Why do allergic reactions sometimes become more severe with repeated exposure rather than less severe?
A scientist claims that because humans share around 98 percent of their DNA with chimpanzees, humans and chimpanzees should be almost identical. Do you agree with this reasoning? Explain your answer.
Follow-up: What does this tell you about the relationship between genotype and phenotype more broadly?
Heart valves keep blood moving in the intended direction as the chambers of the heart fill and contract.
1. Explain why valves are essential for the heart to work as an effective pump.
2. What could happen if a valve did not close properly?
3. How might this affect blood flow during exercise?
Follow-up: What further information would help distinguish different causes of reduced exercise tolerance?
Explain why a person's body temperature stays remarkably constant even when the external temperature varies considerably, using the concept of negative feedback.
Follow-up: Can you think of a situation in the body where positive rather than negative feedback is useful?
A patient is told that their tumour is benign rather than malignant. From a biological point of view, what distinguishes a benign growth from a malignant one?
Follow-up: Why might a benign tumour still sometimes require treatment?
A gene that codes for a particular enzyme is mutated so that the resulting protein folds incorrectly. Explain how this single change at the DNA level could lead to a complete loss of enzyme function.
Follow-up: Why might some mutations have little to no effect on protein function at all?
You are given a scenario: a new strain of influenza spreads through a population where most people have never been exposed to it before. Using your understanding of immunity, explain why this population is likely to experience more severe illness than one previously exposed to a related strain.
Follow-up: How does this reasoning relate to why flu vaccines are updated every year?
Medicine requires many years of formal training after which learning continues throughout a doctor's career. What do you think will motivate you to keep learning once you are no longer being formally assessed?
Before undertaking your work experience, volunteering or wider reading, you likely held certain beliefs about the medical profession.
1. Identify one specific misconception you held about a career in medicine.
2. Explain what event, observation or piece of reading caused you to change this view.
3. Discuss how this new understanding has affected your motivation to become a doctor.
Follow-up:
"A younger student tells you they want to study medicine because it guarantees a glamorous lifestyle and high pay. Based on your own reflections, how do you respond to them?"
Reflect on your personal development over the last year, both inside and outside of your academic studies.
1. Identify the most important thing you have learned about your own strengths or weaknesses.
2. Explain what specific event or experience prompted this realisation.
3. How will this insight help you cope with the demands of studying medicine?
"If you had to choose a completely different lesson you have learned about yourself recently, what would it be?"
Think about a time when you received constructive criticism that was difficult to hear.
1. What was the context of the feedback?
2. How did you process the criticism emotionally and practically?
3. What changes did you make to your approach as a result?
Follow-up:
"If you strongly disagreed with feedback given by a senior colleague or tutor, how would you handle the situation?"
Some people choose medicine because they enjoy science, others because they want to help people directly, and others for a mixture of reasons. How would you describe your own reasons, and how might they change over a long career?
Many doctors in the UK choose to pursue a career in academic medicine. This involves dividing time between scientific research, such as running clinical trials, and direct patient care on NHS wards.
1. Does the prospect of combining research with clinical practice appeal to you?
2. What are the potential benefits of this career path for a doctor and for their patients?
3. What challenges might a doctor face when balancing clinical duties with academic research?
"If you had to choose between being an excellent clinician who never publishes research, or a groundbreaking researcher who rarely sees patients, which would you prefer and why?"
Imagine you receive a letter today stating that you are permanently ineligible to study medicine in the UK. You must choose a completely different career path.
1. What alternative career would you pursue?
2. How does this choice reflect your core values and interests?
3. What aspects of working as a doctor would you miss the most in this alternative career?
"A sudden rule change means you are allowed to apply for medicine again, but you have already started training for your alternative career. Do you abandon your new path to start medical school?"
During a ward round, an NHS consultant tells medical students that they must understand the underlying science of a disease, rather than simply following clinical guidelines to treat it.
1. Why is a strong foundation in science important for a practising doctor?
2. How might a doctor use their scientific knowledge when a patient presents with an unusual set of symptoms?
3. How does an understanding of science help doctors communicate effectively with their patients?
"A patient tells you they have read an article online claiming that their prescribed medication is dangerous. How would you use your scientific training to manage this situation?"
Medical training in the UK typically takes at least five or six years before you qualify, with further years of specialist training after that. How do you feel about committing to such a long pathway before you can practise independently?
Academic work at Cambridge often involves being challenged directly on your reasoning in front of others, including in supervisions. How do you think you would respond to having your ideas questioned and criticised in this way?
You are a first year medical student. In a single week, you have a major science essay due, a meeting for a university society you help run, and a friend who is going through a personal crisis and has asked for your support.
How would you handle this situation? Please explain:
1. How you would prioritise these commitments.
2. The strategies you use in your own life to manage a heavy workload.
3. How you would ensure your own wellbeing is not compromised.
Follow-up:
"Your friend is upset because you said you need to finish your essay before you can see them. How do you respond?"
Medical training requires you to constantly absorb large amounts of complex information and master new practical procedures.
Tell us about a time you had to learn a difficult new skill outside of your standard school curriculum. Please outline:
1. What the skill was and why you found it challenging.
2. The specific steps you took to learn and improve.
3. How you dealt with frustration or setbacks during the process.
Follow-up:
"If you were asked to teach this same skill to another beginner, how would you adapt your approach?"
Cambridge Medicine is taught through a system of lectures, small group supervisions and college-based teaching, alongside a compulsory intercalated year. What appeals to you about this particular structure, and what might you find difficult about it?
The medical degree at Cambridge places a strong emphasis on foundational science. Students study subjects like anatomy, biochemistry and physiology in detail during their early years before moving to full time clinical placements.
1. Why does this highly scientific approach appeal to you?
2. How does this course structure suit your personal learning style?
3. How do you think this scientific foundation will prepare you for working with patients later in the course?
"Some UK medical schools introduce direct patient contact in the first few weeks of the degree. How do you feel about waiting longer to gain significant clinical experience?"
Cambridge medical students are members of a college as well as the university, and much small group teaching happens at college level. What do you think a college-based system might add to your medical education, compared with a more centralised course structure?
Many medical schools offer a traditional, science focused degree. Beyond the supervision system, what specifically attracts you to the Cambridge approach to medicine?
Please cover in your answer:
1. How the course structure matches your preferred learning style.
2. The specific parts of the preclinical curriculum that interest you most.
3. How you would manage the heavy scientific workload.
Follow-up:
"You realise halfway through your first term that you are finding the foundational science very dry. What do you do to maintain your motivation?"
A university researcher discovers that a colleague has quietly excluded some inconvenient data points from a published study, without disclosing this in the paper. The colleague says the results still support the same overall conclusion. What ethical issues does this raise, and what do you think should happen next?
Follow-up: Does it matter whether the excluded data would have changed the conclusion?
Should limited NHS funding for expensive new cancer drugs be allocated based on which patients are likely to benefit the most, or should every patient with the same diagnosis be treated identically regardless of their individual prognosis? Explain your reasoning.
A university admissions team is debating a new policy. The policy would allow applicants to use artificial intelligence tools to help write their personal statements, provided the final content accurately reflects the applicant's own views and experiences.
1. What are the potential advantages of allowing applicants to use artificial intelligence in this way?
2. What are the ethical concerns regarding fairness and authenticity?
3. How could a university ensure that applicants are still being assessed on their own merit?
"An applicant uses an artificial intelligence tool to perfect the written English in their statement. At interview, they struggle to communicate clearly. How should the admissions team view this discrepancy?"
A pharmaceutical company funds a large proportion of the research conducted at a university department, and one of its drugs is later shown, in a study by that department, to be highly effective. What concerns, if any, would you have about this situation, and how might they be addressed?
A medical student on placement overhears a senior doctor making a disparaging comment about a patient's weight while the patient is out of earshot. How should the student respond, and what factors would influence their decision?
A patient at a general practice clinic is unsure about receiving the seasonal flu vaccine. They tell you they do not understand how a vaccine works and are worried it will give them the flu.
1. How would you explain the mechanism of vaccination to this patient without using complex jargon?
2. What communication skills would you use to ensure they have understood your explanation?
3. How would you address their specific fear about getting the flu from the vaccine?
"The patient listens to your explanation but says they still do not want the vaccine. What is your next step?"
You are a first year medical student. A close friend comes to you and says they have found a lump on their neck. They are very anxious and ask you to examine it and tell them if it is cancer.
1. How would you respond to your friend in this moment?
2. What are the ethical and professional boundaries you must consider as a medical student?
3. How can you support your friend without giving medical advice?
"Your friend becomes upset and says, 'You are studying medicine, why will you not help me?' How do you reply?"
You are a volunteer at a hospital reception desk. The interviewer will act as an elderly patient who is highly distressed. They have missed their bus and will be late for a specialist appointment they have waited six months for.
1. Speak directly to the patient to explore their concerns.
2. Demonstrate how you would show empathy and de-escalate their distress.
3. Explain what practical steps you will take to help them.
Follow-up:
"The patient says: 'There is no point, they will just cancel my appointment and I will have to wait another six months.' How do you respond?"
The NHS has been expanding the use of artificial intelligence to help interpret medical scans such as X-rays and CT images. What do you see as the main benefits and risks of this approach?
Follow-up: Should a doctor ever be permitted to rely solely on an AI's interpretation without independently reviewing the scan themselves?
There has been ongoing debate in the UK about whether junior doctors' pay and working conditions properly reflect the training and responsibility involved in the role. What do you think are the main arguments on each side of this debate?
An ageing UK population means that a growing proportion of NHS resources are spent on managing long term conditions in older adults. What challenges do you think this creates for medical training and for how hospitals are organised?
A local NHS trust introduces a new policy. It requires all doctors to spend five minutes of every patient consultation discussing lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise, regardless of why the patient is visiting.
1. What are the potential benefits of this approach to public health?
2. What practical difficulties might doctors face when implementing this policy in a busy clinic?
3. How might patients react to unsolicited lifestyle advice during an unrelated appointment?
Follow-up:
"A patient presents with a sprained wrist and becomes highly offended when the doctor brings up their weight. How should the doctor handle this?"
Think about a piece of work experience or volunteering where you observed a doctor communicating with a patient or a colleague.
1. Describe the setting and the specific communication skills you observed.
2. Explain what made this interaction successful or unsuccessful.
3. Discuss what you learned from this about the daily realities of being a doctor.
Follow-up:
"Imagine you are a medical student on a ward round. You observe a senior doctor communicating very poorly with a vulnerable patient. How would you handle this situation?"
Reflect on your work experience or volunteering in a health or care setting.
What was the most challenging aspect of gaining this experience or operating in that environment? Please discuss:
1. The specific challenge you faced.
2. How you approached and managed this difficulty.
3. What this taught you about the reality of working in the NHS or a care environment.
Follow-up:
"If you could go back to the start of that experience, what advice would you give yourself to handle the challenge better?"
Think about a specific time during your work experience, volunteering or shadowing where you observed a healthcare team working together effectively.
Please explain:
1. The situation and the different roles of the team members involved.
2. The specific actions or communication styles that made their teamwork successful.
3. How this observation has influenced your understanding of multidisciplinary teams in the NHS.
Follow-up:
"What happens to patient care when a team fails to communicate effectively? Have you ever witnessed this?"
During your work experience or shadowing, you will have seen doctors performing various duties.
Beyond the clinical tasks of diagnosing and treating illness, what other responsibilities does a doctor have? Please consider:
1. Their role in education and mentoring.
2. Their involvement in leadership or administrative duties.
3. How they support patients and families emotionally.
Follow-up:
"Which of these non-clinical responsibilities do you think you would find the most difficult to balance with your clinical workload, and why?"
Think about a time when you were part of a team that had a significant disagreement.
1. Briefly outline the situation and why the disagreement occurred.
2. Explain what steps were taken to resolve the issue.
3. Describe your own contribution to this resolution.
"Looking back, is there anything you would change about how you handled the situation?"
A medical team on a busy NHS ward is struggling with low morale. Staff are frequently calling in sick, and communication between doctors and nurses has broken down. A new consultant is appointed to lead the team.
1. What qualities would the new consultant need to be an effective leader in this situation?
2. How should they begin to address the problems within the team?
3. Why is good leadership essential for patient safety?
"Some people argue that the best clinical expert should always lead the team. Do you agree?"
You are part of a study group for a university science project. One member of your group has consistently failed to complete their share of the work. They have just told you privately that they are struggling with their mental health and finding the workload overwhelming.
1. How would you support this team member?
2. How would you ensure the group project is still completed to a high standard?
3. What boundaries should you maintain in your role as a peer?
Follow-up:
"The project deadline is tomorrow morning and the missing work is essential. What immediate actions do you take?"
You are a junior member of a clinical skills group preparing for an assessment later today. Another student has taken the lead, but their plan is confusing and they are assigning tasks that do not match the strengths of the group members.
1. How do you approach the leader about your concerns?
2. What steps can you take to support the team without completely taking over?
3. Why is being an effective follower important in a healthcare setting?
Follow-up:
"The leader ignores your feedback and insists everyone sticks to their original plan. What do you do next?"
Cambridge uses this format for medicine: College academic interviews. Interviews may be in person or online.
Interview timing for Cambridge: Main period 7 to 18 December 2026; winter pool interviews mid to late January 2027; decisions in January 2027. Always check the university's own admissions pages for this year's dates.
Cambridge assesses: Scientific reasoning, Applying knowledge to new problems, Critical thinking, Motivation for medicine.
No. They are 50 original MedicHut practice questions, written to match Cambridge's published interview format. Universities do not share their real questions, so your interview may differ.
No. Every question is free with no sign-up. A free account just lets you save your notes and progress across devices.
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