University of St Andrews Medical School Interview

Teaching Overview

The University of St Andrews Medical School offers a unique experience, as you’ll complete the first three years of your course at St Andrews and the final three years at one of their partner medical schools:

• University of Aberdeen
• University of Dundee
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Glasgow
• University of Manchester
• Queen Mary University of London

During your time at St Andrews Medical School, the curriculum will be delivered through a variety of teaching methods, including:

• Lectures
• Laboratory-based practicals
• Small group tutorials
• Clinical placements
• Research projects
• Dissection

You can find out more information about the course structure and different modules covered here.

You’ll also gain the following clinical experience:

• Year 1: Contact with patients in the medical school environment and community-based clinical placements.
• Year 2: Community placements in primary health care settings.
• Year 3: Clinical placements in hospital.

Clinical experience throughout Years 4 – 6 will depend on partner medical school at which you're based. These are as follows:

• University of Aberdeen: You’ll undertake clinical placements in inner-city hospitals and remote and rural areas.
• University of Dundee: You’ll experience placements in hospitals and general practices.
• University of Edinburgh: You’ll undertake attachments in hospitals and general practices, and explore a range of specialities.
• University of Glasgow: You’ll “experience a diverse mixture of clinical attachments that range from national tertiary referral services to single-handed rural general practice”.
• University of Manchester: You’ll be assigned a base teaching hospital and spend the majority of your contact time in clinical settings, including placements in general medicine and surgery, clinical rotations focusing on different specialities, and community-based and general practice attachments.
• Queen Mary University of London: You’ll develop your expertise in a whole range of practical areas, including clinical, communication, observation, team work and management skills.

With each partner university, you’ll join the third year of their programme, with the exception of Edinburgh Medical School, which will be the fourth year. You can find out more information about the partner universities here or within their individual sections in this guide.

Extracurricular / Additional Opportunities

You’ll have the opportunity to experience interprofessional working through a ward stimulation learning activity within your third year. This will develop your teamwork skills and your “understanding of some of the roles and responsibilities of the healthcare team within a hospital ward environment”.

You’ll undertake a student selected component, which will give you the opportunity to explore an area of interest through a research project.

Selling Points

Following your three years at St Andrews, you’ll graduate with a BSc Honours degree, before progressing to one of the partner universities (listed above) and completing your final three years, following which you’ll graduate with a MBChB/MBBS.

Interview Information

St Andrews Medical School uses the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format for its interview. It specifies that the MMI “usually consists of four ‘mini’ interviews held at stations which last about six minutes each”.

The interview will assess your understanding of the medical profession and associated ethical issues, as well as your skills, such as the ability to think critically and communication and interpersonal skills.

For 2024 entry, the interviews are planned to take place online using Microsoft Teams and in person in St Andrews, between November 2023 and March 2024. You can find out more information about the interview process at St Andrews Medical School here.

Admissions Exam

Most medical schools require you to pass an admissions exam before you’ll be invited for interview.

Admissions exam for St Andrews: University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)

The UCAT assesses your characteristics, attitudes and professional behaviours against those required for medical school. The exam is divided into 5 sections: Abstract Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, Situational Judgement (SJT) and Verbal Reasoning.

St Andrews Med School rank applicants by UCAT score and invite around 500 candidates to interview each year.

To help you to successfully prepare for all sections, the free Medibuddy AI-powered, adaptive question bank carefully selects questions based on your strengths and weaknesses within the syllabus, to ensure that you’re focusing on areas which will have the biggest impact on your UCAT score.

You can also clearly see in the question bank dashboard the areas you have “mastered” and those which you need to focus more time on.

It’s crucial that you prepare well for all areas to ensure that you get the best UCAT score possible and secure your interview place!

For more information and guidance, see our complete guide to the UCAT and our UCAT preparation tips.