2026 entry · Medicine interview
Imperial College London
Hybrid (panel + group/station elements) · format, dates and preparation
At a glance: That's 1 more stations than the average UK MMI (6).
Each station is shorter than the 7-minute UK average: practise being concise and getting to the point fast.
Interview timeline
When are Imperial College London medicine interviews?
| Invitations released | December to January |
|---|---|
| Interviews held | January to February |
| Delivery | Recent cycles run online |
How interview waves work
Interview invitations are not sent in one batch. Schools release them in waves across the cycle, so the date you hear back depends as much on when your application was processed as on how strong it is.
- Most invitations go out in waves from November to January, with interviews held between late November and March.
- A quiet December does not mean a rejection. Later waves are normal, and some schools (Southampton, King's, Brunel) run well into the new year or beyond.
- When an invitation arrives you usually have to respond fast, often within two weeks, or the place is released.
- A handful of schools interview early: St George's from November, Oxford and Aberdeen in mid-December.
What changes year to year
The biggest change year to year is delivery mode. Many schools moved online during the pandemic; some have stayed online (Bristol, Glasgow, Keele, Nottingham, Plymouth, Aston), while others returned in person (Aberdeen, Leeds, Anglia Ruskin, St George's). Exact calendar dates move by a few weeks each cycle, but the month-level windows below have stayed stable.
Cross-checked for 2026 entry. Windows are month-level and describe the most recent (2026-entry) cycle. Exact dates shift by a few weeks each year and are confirmed only in a candidate's official invitation email. Always treat the invitation as the source of truth. The Medic Portal and Blue Peanut interview guides (2026 entry)
The interview day
How it actually runs
Part 1
asynchronous recorded responses (up to 5 min each, scored out of 10: 6 content + 4 communication)
live MMI station count has varied 6-7 in recent cycles; exact format is confirmed only in the candidate's personal invitation
Assessment focus
What Imperial College London looks for
Real experiences
What applicants actually say about the Imperial College London interview
Gathered from applicant forums, weighted by how many independent sources agree. These are unverified community reports, not official university information, and can shift between cycles.
6 insights
Expect interview invites on a rolling basis from December into January; 2026-entry invitees posting on TSR reported UCAT scores from roughly 2370 (Band 1) up to 2530, and were able to pick an interview date within the 13-29 January window.
Several reports · 2 sources(2026 entry)
Expect interview invites on a rolling basis from December into January; 2026-entry invitees posting on TSR reported UCAT scores from roughly 2370 (Band 1) up to 2530, and were able to pick an interview date within the 13-29 January window.
"Students have been receiving interview invitations, with UCAT scores mentioned ranging from 2370 B1 to 2530 B2 (paraphrase of thread posts via search snippet)"
TSR 'Imperial A100 - 2026 Entry' thread (Dec 2025-Jan 2026, via search snippets)"Interview dates were provided for 13-29th January, with candidates having a choice of different days within that period (paraphrase via search snippet)"
TSR 'Imperial interview date' thread (Dec 2025-Jan 2026, via search snippets)After interview, be prepared for a wait of weeks rather than days: applicants across cycles report Imperial sends medicine offers in batches through to late March, with rejections tending to land only after the offer batches have gone out.
Several reports · 2 sources(spans several cycles)
After interview, be prepared for a wait of weeks rather than days: applicants across cycles report Imperial sends medicine offers in batches through to late March, with rejections tending to land only after the offer batches have gone out.
"Imperial tends to send offers in batches, and they seem to send rejections once all offers are sent (paraphrase of TSR discussion via search snippet)"
TSR 'Imperial Offer Holders 2026' thread (Feb-Mar 2026, via search snippets)"Offers are continually sent out after interviews are completed, but are usually sent by end of March (paraphrase via search snippet)"
TSR 'How long does it take to receive an offer from imperial after the final interview?' (older cycle)If you can get to London before interview season, applicants' parents rate Imperial's free all-day mock MMI prep day in late November (run for current-cycle Year 13 applicants). It ran 8 mock stations with verbal feedback plus emailed written feedback and an interview score.
Several reports · 2 sources(2026 entry)
If you can get to London before interview season, applicants' parents rate Imperial's free all-day mock MMI prep day in late November (run for current-cycle Year 13 applicants). It ran 8 mock stations with verbal feedback plus emailed written feedback and an interview score.
"Imperial offers a free all-day MMI in-person prep session to year 13s who have applied in this UCAS cycle"
Mumsnet Medicine 2026 part 2 thread, poster inae (Nov 2025)"They organised 8 stations. Apparently, on top of the verbal feedback, they will also provide written feedback by email, together with an interview score."
Mumsnet Medicine 2026 part 2 thread, posters inae and HelenofSparta (23 Nov 2025)Do not bank on the recorded asynchronous stage happening: 2026-entry applicants reported Imperial dropped the asynchronous video component this cycle and ran straight in-person interviews, with dates offered across 13-29 January.
Single report(2026 entry)
Do not bank on the recorded asynchronous stage happening: 2026-entry applicants reported Imperial dropped the asynchronous video component this cycle and ran straight in-person interviews, with dates offered across 13-29 January.
"They scrapped the asynchronous interview format for this year's cycle - interviews are now in-person; interview dates were given for 13-29th January (close paraphrase of thread posts surfaced in search snippets)"
TSR 'Imperial A100 - 2026 Entry' thread (Dec 2025-Jan 2026, via search snippets)Expect most interviewers to be warm and engaged but plan for one or two deliberately cold stations and frequent interruptions. One interviewee read the coldness as intentional pressure-testing and found heavy follow-up questioning made stations feel conversational but rushed.
Single report(older cycle)
Expect most interviewers to be warm and engaged but plan for one or two deliberately cold stations and frequent interruptions. One interviewee read the coldness as intentional pressure-testing and found heavy follow-up questioning made stations feel conversational but rushed.
"Most of them were extremely friendly and they were really engaged. A couple of them were very cold and I felt as though this was deliberate to see how you can deal with pressure... The interviewers also cut me off very frequently, which did feel rushed sometimes."
Applicant debrief quoted in Medic Mind Imperial interview guide (undated, in-person MMI cycle)Prepare for a long wait after arrival and a tighter physical setup than expected: the in-person MMI ran as one large room with stations separated only by barriers, which one applicant found close-quarters and slightly claustrophobic.
Single report(older cycle)
Prepare for a long wait after arrival and a tighter physical setup than expected: the in-person MMI ran as one large room with stations separated only by barriers, which one applicant found close-quarters and slightly claustrophobic.
"The waiting time was very long after I arrived... It did feel a little claustrophobic as there wasn't much space between myself and the interviewers at each station."
Applicant debrief quoted in Medic Mind Imperial interview guide (undated, in-person MMI cycle)Free prep guide
How to prepare for Imperial College London
- This format mixes panel-style conversation with MMI-style stations or group tasks: prepare for both a sustained conversation and shorter, sharper exchanges.
- Part of this interview is a recorded response with no live interviewer: practise speaking naturally to a camera, since there's no one to react to and keep you on pace.
Verified against the university's own admissions page.
Imperial College London: official MMI admissions page, corroborated by Blue Peanut Medical's Imperial interview guideResearched 2026-07-03 for 2026 entry. Formats can change year to year: next check due 2026-09-01.
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