The Student Room Group

Oxford Med Interview Prep Qs

Hi all,
I am a y13 aspiring medical student and I decided to try and give Oxford a shot: I have 3 A*s (in chem, bio and history) predicted, an A* in EPQ, 99999999988 (+A in FSMQ) at GCSE and a 2490 B1 UCAT, so I feel pretty confident in my chances of getting an interview (although I guess you can never be sure). I want to start my preparation over this half term but I’m struggling a bit to prioritize what is most important. Of course there are the more obvious things like reading my EPQ again and having confidence discussing everything on my personal statement, but when it comes to learning and revising a-level content and practicing the type of thinking that is needed during the interview I get a bit stuck. What sections of my chemistry and biology a-level should I focus on covering? My advisor at school said to avoid plant parts of biology (which makes sense) but also to revise the organic parts of chemistry (right now I’m struggling to discriminate between the two sides as a lot of the organic stuff relies on basic principles from the inorganic side). Also, what else apart from mock interviews can I do to practice being put outside of my comfort zone on the spot? Any advice would be much appreciated xx thanks in advance!

Reply 1

Hey there, thanks for posting a question in the Medicine forum.

The Medicine forum gets a high volume of questions being posted, and some of these are already answered by the resources and Megathreads that members of the community and volunteers have created. This is an automatic post which is designed to highlight these resources. Below is a list of threads and articles that could answer your question (you should be looking in the original post of the megathreads). If one of the below threads is a more relevant place to ask your question, please post a reply in that thread to ask your question. If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked below, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.


Megathreads (Please read the first post before posting any further questions you have within that thread.)
The "Which Medical School Should I Apply To?" Uberthread
The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread
Medicine A-Level subjects queries
Work Experience and Voluntary Work
GANFYD's "Which medical schools accept retake A-Levels" list

2026 Applicants :
Official Thread: (Undergraduate) Medicine 2026 entry
Official Thread: Graduate Entry Medicine 2026 Entry
Medicine 2026 entry for resit/retake/gap year applicants
International Students for Medicine 2026 Entry (overseas students applying to the UK)
UCAT 2026 Entry Discussions Megathread
GAMSAT Megathread 2026/2027 entry
GAMSAT Megathread 2025/2026 entry
2026 entry A100/ A101 Medicine fastest and slowest offer senders
Medical Schools Index 2026 entry
Medical Schools Index 2025 entry

UCAS Extra and Clearing:
Medicine UCAS Extra for 2025
Medicine UCAS Clearing for 2025

Other application years:
Official Thread: (Undergraduate) Medicine 2027 entry
Official Thread: Graduate Entry Medicine 2027 Entry
Official Thread: Graduate Entry Medicine 2028 Entry

Current Medical Students and Doctors:
Guidance on posting in this subforum
So, you're going to medical school.... MKII
OSCE Tips and Advice
Increase in the NHS Bursary and expenses for placement
The postgraduate exams thread

Useful Articles:
Work Experience as a Graduate or Mature student
Medicine Personal Statement Advice
Medicine Personal Statement Advice (Graduate Entry)
Interview Frequently Asked Questions
MMI Medicine Interview Tips
What to do after an unsuccessful first application
Funding medicine as a second degree

Our Community:
Medicine Community Feedback and Suggestions
Medicine Gap Year Stories
Project: Minimum UCAT Score Trends

If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked above, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.

Reply 2

Original post
by elenat0708
Hi all,
I am a y13 aspiring medical student and I decided to try and give Oxford a shot: I have 3 A*s (in chem, bio and history) predicted, an A* in EPQ, 99999999988 (+A in FSMQ) at GCSE and a 2490 B1 UCAT, so I feel pretty confident in my chances of getting an interview (although I guess you can never be sure). I want to start my preparation over this half term but I’m struggling a bit to prioritize what is most important. Of course there are the more obvious things like reading my EPQ again and having confidence discussing everything on my personal statement, but when it comes to learning and revising a-level content and practicing the type of thinking that is needed during the interview I get a bit stuck. What sections of my chemistry and biology a-level should I focus on covering? My advisor at school said to avoid plant parts of biology (which makes sense) but also to revise the organic parts of chemistry (right now I’m struggling to discriminate between the two sides as a lot of the organic stuff relies on basic principles from the inorganic side). Also, what else apart from mock interviews can I do to practice being put outside of my comfort zone on the spot? Any advice would be much appreciated xx thanks in advance!


Hello! I interviewed at Cambridge not Oxford but everything you've listed so far is the main thing - I know you said besides mock interviews but I would really say those are what make the difference. Try and get as many as you can, specifically with teachers and ask them to test you on things that you have never seen before. You will essentially be put in a situation where an academic is discussing high level medicine and expecting you to give your thoughts on it at a fundamental level.

Also, I would say for med don't neglect the non academic things like ethics and Starr questions, etc.

There tend to be a lot of graph questions as well, though this might be more Cam than Oxford.

I would also say if you get your interviewer's names then research their specific areas of interest and have some basic knowledge on that, e.g. If they are a cardiologist know the basics of the heart.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions and best of luck xx

Quick Reply

How The Student Room is moderated

To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.