Interviews and admissions tests
Some courses decide on your form alone. Others add a test in the autumn and an interview in the winter. Knowing which applies to you — before the October deadline — is half the work.
Last reviewed August 2026
Check requirements before you choose
Test requirements are set course by course, and registration usually closes weeks before the test date, often around the same time as the mid-October UCAS deadline. Miss the registration and the application cannot proceed, however strong it is. Read the admissions page of every course on your list as soon as you shortlist it.
The main tests
| Test | Used for | What it assesses |
|---|---|---|
| UCAT | Most UK medicine and dentistry courses | Timed reasoning across verbal, decision making, quantitative reasoning and situational judgement. |
| LNAT | Law at a group of selective universities | Comprehension and argument in a multiple-choice section, plus an essay. |
| ESAT | Cambridge science and engineering courses, and some others | Mathematics and science reasoning at school level, applied under time pressure. |
| TMUA | Some mathematics, computer science and economics courses | Mathematical thinking and reasoning rather than recall. |
| Oxford subject tests | Many Oxford courses | Subject-specific aptitude, sat in the autumn at a registered centre. |
Test names and providers have changed several times in recent cycles — the BMAT, for example, was withdrawn — so confirm the current requirement on the course page and the provider's own site rather than relying on older advice.
How to prepare for a test
- Use the official practice material first. Every provider publishes past or specimen papers free. Those are the closest thing to the real test.
- Practise to the clock. Nearly all of these tests are speed-constrained; untimed practice teaches you the wrong habits.
- Review errors properly. Ten questions understood beats a hundred skimmed.
- Start early, in short sessions. Six weeks of half-hour sessions works better than a cramming week in the middle of term.
- Check access arrangements. Extra time and other adjustments must be applied for in advance.
What interviews are really testing
Academic interviews, of the kind Oxford, Cambridge and some other departments run, are closer to a short tutorial than a job interview. You are given a problem, a passage or a data set and asked to reason through it aloud. Being wrong is expected; refusing to engage, or defending a position after being shown a flaw, is what damages you.
Professional-course interviews — medicine, dentistry, veterinary, nursing, teaching — test motivation, ethics, communication and insight into the reality of the job. They frequently use MMI stations, including role play. Here your work experience and shadowing matter, because you are asked what you observed and what it taught you.
Portfolio and audition interviews for art, design, music and drama are led by your work. Prepare to explain choices, influences and what you would change.
Practical preparation that works
- Re-read your personal statement. Everything in it is fair game.
- Practise thinking aloud with a teacher or a friend on unfamiliar subject problems, and ask them to push back.
- For professional courses, be able to discuss one ethical issue and one current development in the field.
- Have two questions ready about the course — teaching, placements, or how the first year is structured.
- Test the technology if the interview is online, and choose a quiet place with a plain background.
If your experience or reading needs strengthening first, our Enrichment tool suggests lectures, talks and books by subject, and the AI Concierge can run practice questions with you.
Common questions
- Which courses require an admissions test?
- Medicine and dentistry courses in the UK generally require the UCAT. Many law courses at selective universities require the LNAT. Cambridge uses the ESAT for science and engineering courses and the TMUA for some mathematical subjects, and Oxford runs its own subject tests. Always check the specific course page, because requirements change between cycles.
- Do all universities interview?
- No. Oxford and Cambridge interview most shortlisted applicants, and interviews are standard for medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, teaching, nursing and many performance or art courses. For most other subjects the decision is made on the application alone.
- What is an MMI?
- A multiple mini interview, used widely for medicine, dentistry and some healthcare courses. You rotate through several short timed stations, each assessing one thing such as communication, ethical reasoning, role play or data interpretation.
- How do you prepare for an Oxbridge interview?
- Practise thinking aloud on unfamiliar problems in your subject, and get comfortable being pushed and corrected. Tutors are testing how you reason and respond to new information, not whether you already know the answer, so rehearsed speeches work against you.
- Do you have to pay for admissions tests?
- Some tests charge a fee, and bursaries or fee reimbursement schemes exist for eligible applicants. Check the test provider's website for the current fee and support arrangements before you register.
Official sources
Rules, wage rates and fee caps change. These are the official pages to check before you commit to anything.
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