Cambridge Medicine Interview 2026: Dates and Format

Cambridge Medicine Interview 2026: Dates and Format

Cambridge's main interview period for 2027 entry is 7 to 18 December 2026, with winter pool interviews around mid to late January 2027. Whether you interview online or in person depends on the College assessing your application, and most applicants have 1 or 2 interviews lasting 35 minutes to an hour in total.

That College rule is the first thing to act on. For a medicine applicant based in the UK, our count of Cambridge's 2027 table is 13 Colleges in person, 14 online and 1 where you choose. The second thing is how you practise. Cambridge says its interviews are "academic conversations", that interviewers want to see how you work out answers, and that paid interview-preparation companies "do not have access to any exclusive information". So the useful preparation is talking through unseen science aloud, not memorising question lists. If your interview also touches your statement, the UCAS medicine personal statement guide covers what you wrote.

Every Cambridge page quoted below was checked on 7 November 2026 and loaded in full. Its College format table is for 2027 entry. Your invitation from the College is the final word on your date and format.

On this page: dates and format · Colleges that interview in person · UCAT · what is assessed · a worked exchange · winter pool

Dates and format for 2027 entry

From Cambridge's interviews page:

"Main interview period: 7 December to 18 December 2026"

"Winter pool interviews: around mid to late January 2027"

"Most interview invitations are sent in November, but some might be sent in early December. The timing of your interview does not reflect your perceived strength as a candidate."

Three rules on the same page change your December plans:

• Keep the dates free. "You must keep the interview period free. We cannot reschedule interviews, unless under exceptional circumstances." The page gives hospital appointments, illness, religious observance and exams as examples.
• You do not pick the format. "You will not usually be able to request a particular format." A College may offer another format in exceptional cases, such as disability or a declined visa.
• Everyone with an offer was interviewed. "Not everyone interviewed will be offered a place, but everyone who is made an offer will have been interviewed."

Which Colleges interview medicine in person

Medicine is offered at every College except Hughes Hall, according to the course page. Here is Cambridge's 2027 format table regrouped for a medicine applicant. Clare and Jesus are online for most subjects but list Medicine as in person, so they appear in the in-person rows. The grouping is our arithmetic from the official table.

Two notes from the official table. Corpus Christi lets applicants based in the Republic of Ireland choose. Gonville & Caius offers the choice to applicants based in the UK and Ireland. If you made an open application, the format is set by the College you were allocated to.

Our view: check your College's row the day your invitation arrives and practise in that format from then on. An online interview with a stylus and shared whiteboard is a different skill from writing on paper across a desk. Cambridge's preparation page tells science applicants to practise "using a stylus and tablet to annotate a shared document or whiteboard" if their College says they will need one.

The countercase: a winter-pooled applicant may be invited to a second interview at a different College in January, in that College's format. It is rare: Cambridge says it "only happens occasionally", and 20 applicants were invited in January 2026. Keep your set-up for the other format ready rather than practising both from the start.

How UCAT and written work are used

From the Cambridge medicine course page:

"For UCAT results, we will look at an applicant's overall cognitive subtest score. We will not be using the situational judgement score as part of our assessment for 2027 entry."

"We assess applicants through a mixture of academic record, UCAT and interviews. There is no minimum threshold for UCAT score."

"You won't need to submit any written work before your interview."

So for 2027 entry the SJT plays no part at Cambridge, and there is no published cut-off to reach. UCAT results are used "as part of our selection for interview" and "may" be used when making offers. The course page lists 270 accepted and 6 applications per place for the 2025 cycle, and 22 places for overseas fee status applicants.

What Cambridge says the interview assesses

The interviews page lists what interviews help assess:

For medicine, the subject interview may also ask you to "explain your understanding of vocational aspects of the course". You may be asked about "recent topics from school or your personal statement". Some applicants also have a general academic interview, which "may be conducted by academics outside your subject area". The medicine interview personal statement guide shows how to turn each paragraph you wrote into questions.

The preparation page sets the tone. It says "the people interviewing you are interested in how you work out your answers and how you think" and "if you don't understand something you can ask your interviewers to explain it to you". Both lines describe the same habit: saying your reasoning out loud, including the parts you are unsure of.

A constructed problem-solving exchange

Constructed example, written by us, not a real Cambridge interview or a real applicant's answers.

Context (invented): the interviewer shows a simple diagram of the two kidneys and the heart.

Interviewer: We have two kidneys but one heart. Why might that be?

Applicant (weak): Because kidneys are more important to protect, so evolution gave us a spare.

Interviewer: Is the heart less important?

Applicant (weak): No, I suppose not. I'm not sure.

The weak version states a conclusion, then stops when challenged. Nothing is left to discuss.

Interviewer: We have two kidneys but one heart. Why might that be?

Applicant (stronger): Can I think aloud? My first idea is redundancy: you can live with one kidney, so a pair gives a reserve. But that would argue for two hearts as well, so redundancy alone can't be the answer.

Interviewer: Good. What's different about what each organ does?

Applicant (stronger): The kidneys filter blood, and filtering scales with surface area, so splitting the job across two organs works. The heart is a pump that has to keep two circuits in step, lungs and body. Two separate pumps would need to stay synchronised. So one organ with two sides might be simpler than two organs.

Interviewer: How would you test that idea?

Applicant (stronger): I'd look at animals with very different circulations and see whether the number of kidney-like organs tracks body size or filtering load. I don't know the answer, but that's where I'd look.

Why the stronger version works. It names its first idea, tests it against the question and drops it. It takes the interviewer's hint about function and builds on it. It ends with a way to test the idea instead of a claim to be right. Each move maps onto Cambridge's list: thinking independently, openness to new ideas, and showing how you work out an answer. The biology inside it is a hypothesis spoken aloud, not a fact for you to learn.

How to practise in the four weeks before December

1. Week 1. Read your personal statement and any reading it names. Cambridge's preparation page tells you to "Read your personal statement again".
2. Week 2. Do one unseen problem a day aloud: a graph, a diagram or a "why" question from a topic you have not revised. Record it and listen for silences longer than 10 seconds.
3. Week 3. Have a mock with someone who does not know you. Cambridge suggests a teacher "or someone who doesn't know you well".
4. Week 4. Practise in your College's format. Online: a pen, paper and, if your College says so, a stylus on a shared whiteboard. In person: plan the journey.

For the motivation and ethics parts, the UK medical ethics interview questions guide and the why medicine answer guide cover how to speak to them.

Winter pool and decisions

Cambridge's application decisions page explains the pool. If your College is impressed but has no place, it may put your application forward to other Colleges. These figures are for all subjects, not medicine alone:

• "Around 18% of applications received in October 2025 were placed in the winter pool."
• "In January 2026, 20 applicants were invited to a second interview."
• "In January 2026, 1060 pooled applicants (around 1 in 4 pooled applicants) were offered a place by a different College to the one they applied to."

You are not told in advance that you are pooled. You find out through a second interview invitation, an offer from another College, or a rejection after the pool. "All applicants who applied in October will find out the outcome of their application in late January." Keep your phone on and check your junk folder in January, because "The College will contact you by phone or email in January if they want to interview you."

If you are ill on the day, tell your College before the interview. The preparation page says illness "that you've reported after your interview won't usually be taken into account".

Questions about the Cambridge medicine interview

When are Cambridge medicine interviews in 2026?

The main period is 7 to 18 December 2026. Winter pool interviews are around mid to late January 2027.

Are Cambridge interviews online or in person?

It depends on your College. For UK-based medicine applicants, our count of the 2027 table is 13 Colleges in person, 14 online and 1 offering a choice.

Does Cambridge use the UCAT SJT?

No, not for 2027 entry. Cambridge uses the overall cognitive subtest score and has no minimum threshold.

How many interviews will I have?

Most applicants have 1 or 2, lasting 35 minutes to an hour in total. Some have 3 or 4, depending on subject and College.

Does the winter pool mean I have been rejected?

No. It means your application is being considered by other Colleges. In January 2026, about 1 in 4 pooled applicants across all subjects got an offer from a different College.

Is there written work for medicine?

No. The course page says you won't need to submit any written work before your interview.

Review the writing you send next

Cambridge says you may be asked about your personal statement, and a reapplication starts with a new one. Get a free Quick Review of your UCAS medicine personal statement: GradPilot's UCAS medicine rubric checks whether your three answers make an evidence-grounded case for medicine without repeating the same evidence.

More UK medicine interview guides:

• Oxford medicine interview: what to confirm on Oxford's pages and a worked think-aloud exchange.
• UK medical school interview formats for 2027 entry: MMI, panel and online rules at 11 schools.
• Medical school essays hub: every medical application guide.

Sources

Retrieved 7 November 2026.

• University of Cambridge, Cambridge interviews (2027 entry): dates, invitations, College format table, number of interviews, what interviews assess, results timing.
• University of Cambridge, Medicine MB, BChir (2027 entry; 2025 cycle figures): UCAT use, no threshold, no written work, Colleges offering medicine, applicant numbers.
• University of Cambridge, Preparing for your Cambridge interview (no year stated): preparation advice, online set-up, illness on the day.
• University of Cambridge, Application decisions (October 2025 applicants; January 2026 figures): pools, pool figures, outcome timing.