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King’s College London School of Medical Education Interview

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MEDISTUDENTS TEAM
december 15, 2022

Teaching Overview

King’s College London School of Medical Education adopts a fully integrated curriculum, which supports learning through the following teaching methods:

  • Lectures
  • Seminars
  • Tutorials
  • Cadaveric dissection
  • Small group and case-based teaching within clinical blocks

Within the programme, you’ll undertake clinical placements in a range of hospital and community care settings, including “general practices and district general hospitals located in south London and south east England”. This will include the following clinical contact time:

  • Stage 2 (Year 2 & 3): 44% of the programme is made up of placement time.
  • Stage 3 (Year 4 & 5): 81% of the programme is made up of placement time.

More information about the programme can be found here. Note: this information is relating to 2022 entry, with details for 2023 entry published from 1 September 2022.

Teaching Hospitals / Clinical Partnerships

King’s College London’s partners hospitals include “three of the most renowned and busiest teaching hospitals in London”; these are as follows:

  • Guy’s Hospital
  • King’s College Hospital
  • St Thomas’ Hospital

Throughout your studies, you’ll also experience clinical placements within “district general hospitals located across the south east of England and over 350 general practices”.

Extracurricular / Additional Opportunities

During ‘Stage 3’, you’ll have the opportunity to undertake elective study abroad.

King’s College London also offers the opportunity to undertake an optional intercalated degree; this allows you to complete an additional BSc degree between Year 3 and 4 of your MBBS degree.

You can find more information about the elective programme and intercalated degree here.

Selling Points

You’ll receive a diverse clinical experience, with placements within London and the surrounding areas, including Kent and Sussex.

Interview Information

Previously, King's College London has used the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format for its interview, as well as remote interviews due to Covid-19 restrictions.

For 2023 entry, interviews will take place between November 2022 and May 2023. No further details about the format or whether it will be conducted online or in person have been provided at this stage.

However, the interview information provided on King College’s London website confirms that applicants will be assessed on the following:

  • Communication skills
  • General social and ethical issues
  • Suitability for the programme and as a health professional
  • Contribution to the university as a whole

More information about how the interview is assessed and details of the selection process can be found here.

Admissions Exam

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

Admissions exam for King’s College: University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)

The UCAT aims to assess the skills, characteristics and professional behaviours required for medical school. The exam is divided into 5 sections: Abstract Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Reasoning, Situational Judgement (SJT) and Verbal Reasoning.

King’s College uses your UCAT score, alongside your GCSE and A Level grades, personal statement and reference, for the purpose of interview selection. Candidates’ average scores across all subtests and SJT bands are used when shortlisting for interview. Therefore, it’s essential that you perform well across all areas of the UCAT to give yourself the best possible chance of securing an interview.

Our adaptive UCAT question bank will help you to prepare effectively. Using artificial intelligence, our algorithm assesses your individual learning needs and provides questions based on the areas of the syllabus which you need to develop. This means you’ll be focusing on the areas which will improve your UCAT score and not wasting time answering questions which will not have a positive impact on your UCAT performance.

Using the question bank dashboard (below), you can also easily identify areas which you’ve “mastered” and those which you need to dedicate more time to.

Remember, it’s your average score across all sections which will be used by King’s College, so it’s important that you perform well in each subtest. The dashboard makes it simple for you to see if one area is negatively affecting your overall performance and gives you the tools to address this.

For more advice on preparing well for the UCAT, check out our step-by-step guide and quick tips, on our UCAT page.

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