King’s College London Medical School: Overview

King’s College London is the name that all doctors will recognise in the UK. And not just because of its place in the Top 20 of all medical schools worldwide or membership in the prestigious Russell Group.

Known for its world-class teaching hospitals, picturesque Guy’s Campus in the very heart of London and cutting-edge research, King’s College London is a fantastic place to study medicine, especially if early patient contact and the fast pace of a London appeal to you.

💡 How To Prepare for Medicine Interviews at King’s College London?

Preparing for medical school interviews requires more than just reading an article or doing a mock interview. It requires intentionality, structure and commitment. Luckily, with Medfully it is simpler and more efficient than ever:

Pre-interview Selection:
🔢 How does King’s College London select students for interviews (2024 Entry)?

GCSEs: Obtained GCSE grades account for 40% of the total score. 10 points are given for a 5, 20 for a 6, 30 for a 7 and 40 for an 8 and above.

A-level Predicted Grades: King’s does not use your predicted grade beyond checking if they meet minimum entry requirements (pre-interview).

Personal Statement: The personal statement does not play a factor when selecting students for medicine interviews (as of 2023).

UCAT: UCAT is by far the most significant element of your medicine application at King’s College London and accounts for 50% of the ranking.

📊 What is the lowest required UCAT score to get an interview at King’s College London?

🇬🇧 Home Students: For 2022 entry, the lowest UCAT score to get an interview at King’s was 2330. However, don’t let that score fool you; King’s places very high emphasis on the UCAT and the mean for 2022 entry was 2920.

🌍 International Students: For 2022 entry, the lowest UCAT score to get an interview at KCL was 2670, but the mean score was 3040.

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📤 When does King’s College London send out interview invitations?

From early November until early May.

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 How many candidates get interviewed for Medicine at King’s College London?

🇬🇧 Home Students: For 2022 entry, 2853 students applied from the UK, and out of those 927 were interviewed (33%).

🌍 International Students: In 2021/2022 1087 international students applied, but only 92 (8,5%) were interviewed by King’s.

Interviews at King’s College London:

🗓️ King’s 2023 Medicine Interview dates:

Interviews at King’s College London (KCL) are usually held between November and May, with most happening between December and March.

💬 What’s the interview format at KCL?

Pre-Covid, King’s has been conducting MMI interviews, but during the time of remote interviews, they switched to the panel interview format. It’s not yet known whether King’s will switch back to MMIs in 2023, so make sure to follow KCL Medicine website for latest updates.

Pre-Covid MMIs:

• 55-70 minutes
• 7 stations, each 5-6 minutes long, with 1-2 minute breaks in between
• each station held by a different interviewer (admissions officers, doctors, nurses, medical students, laypeople, actors)
• here you can find a presentation issued by King’s College London Medical School about their MMIs

Panel Interviews (2021 and 2022 entry):

• held by 2 interviewers
• approx. 30 minutes

🏆 How likely is it I’ll be given an offer after an interview at King’s College London?

🇬🇧 Home Students: For 2022 entry, 927 students were interviewed and out of those 647 (70%) have received an offer to study medicine at King’s.

🌍 International Students: For 2022 entry, 97 international students were interviewed at King’s and out of those 77 (80%) have been given an offer to study medicine at King’s.

Overall, whatever pool you are applying from, once you have been invited for an interview at KCL, you stand a really solid chance to get in!

💅 What to do before the interview at KCL Medical School?

• prepare a formal interview outfit in advance, try it on and see if you feel confident and comfortable in it
• plan your journey - if you are invited for an in-person interview and have to travel from far away, make sure to arrive in London a day or two in advance, so that you can be fresh on the day of your KCL medicine interview
• read through your personal statement
• dedicate some time to prepare for a role play station (rumours has it that King’s was keen on conducting role plays in the past!)
• increase your confidence and interview knowledge by preparing using Medfully

⏳ How long it takes to hear back from KCL?

 King's usually replies to candidates on a rolling basis, within a few weeks of their interview.

🧠 King’s Medicine Interview Questions:

According to KCL’s official website, as a part of the interview process, interviewers at King’s College London will assess you in the following areas:

Communication Skills:

• How would you describe how to make tea to an alien who has never heard about water, cups or tea bags?
• Describe the way you took to get here from your home.

Social and Ethical Issues:

• In your opinion, should physician-assisted suicide be legalised in the UK?
• Why do some people object to vaccinations? Follow-up: How could we increase trust in the Covid-19 vaccine among the UK population?

Medicine Hot Topics:

• What has been the greatest medical achievement in the last 10 years?
• Why do you think the UK has one of the highest numbers of obese individuals in the world? Follow-up: Explain the impact of obesity on the NHS.
• How could we tackle the challenges that come along with the ageing crisis?

Suitability and Motivations for Medicine:

• What are some of the most challenging aspects of medical school? How will you deal with them?
• Why would you make a good doctor?
• In your personal statement, you’ve written that the science aspect of medicine really appeals to you. Why did you choose to apply for medicine and not a more science-focused course then?

Contribution to King’s College London:

• Why would you like to study at King’s College London Medical School?
• Why would you make a good medical student?
• Why should we choose you?

Role Play:

• You are a fresh FY1, 2-weeks into your oncology. You are responsible for a 12-year old patient, who is suspected to have leukaemia. The patient's father, who is visibly anxious and stressed, stops you in the hospital hallway to ask you if the boy's results are available already. They say they are tired of the waiting and uncertainty. At this point, you realise you forgot to bring the blood sample to the lab and need to take the bloods again. Explain your mistake to the patient's father.
• One of your best friends is hosting her 18th birthday party on Friday evening. It's Thursday evening now. As you advise her on the outfit for tomorrow you realise you are responsible for interviewing a professor of cardiovascular surgery for members of your medical school's surgical society on Friday at 6 pm. Tell your best friend that you won't be able to attend their party tomorrow.

🚀 TOP Tip: Have a hard time answering any of the above questions? You’ll find insider tactics to tackle all of the above questions and formulate convincing and structured answers at Medfully - The Best Medicine Interview Preparation Resource.

Please note that these aren’t questions that have been asked at King’s in past years. Publishing such information would be against KCL’s policy. The above questions are adjusted for the interview style at King’s College London and are meant to give you a broad sense of the questions you may face.

✅ King’s College London Medical School Interviews: 3 Tips

Stay Up To Date With Latest Medical News

Before your King’s Medicine interview, keep up regularly with the latest advancements in the medical and science worlds, to prepare yourself for questions around those topics.

You can start by reading the BBC Health section every other day, which has short and accessible articles on all the most important events. You can also subscribe to our Newsletter (at the bottom of the page) and get all the latest medical news delivered directly to your inbox.

Research The Clinical Aspect Of King’s College Medical School

Being a part of the prestigious Russell Group, KCL Medical School places a large emphasis on the scientific side of medicine, also during their interviews. You can expect your interviewers to be directly related to medicine (doctors, nurses, scientists), as well as the topics that come up.

Therefore, make sure you know about the course structure at King’s medical school, the teaching hospitals, research facilities and research opportunities and can fluently talk about them in your interview. You’ll find some useful information about King’s College London Medical School in the 📚Useful Resources section below.

Prepare To Talk For Longer

Students who have sat their medicine interviews at King’s often say that the interview feels more like a discussion, rather than an interview where you feel you are being asked a list of pre-determined questions.

In other words, when you are asked about your work experience, you may be expected to talk about it in more detail and asked follow-up questions on what you’ve said. You’ll feel like the interviewer really wants to learn more about it, than just the surface.

Therefore, when doing mock interviews with King’s in mind, ask your interview partner to impersonate that “curious interviewer” and ask you more in-depth questions. At the same time, make sure you are actually filling the time with more specific information and not waffling and repeating yourself, just to fill the time.

📚 Useful Resources For Your King’s Medicine Interview (Updated for 2024 Entry):

Talking about my King's College London Medical Interview. - all you need to know about King’s College London interview day (video by Akshi Kumar)

Why We Chose King's College London | Med Students Answer - video by Kenji Tomita interviewing KCL medical students about the reasons they chose King’s

Medfully Interview Prep Tool - Get the knowledge, confidence and practice to ace your medicine interview at KCL

MEDICAL SCHOOL MMI INTERVIEWS: KING'S COLLEGE LONDON & BRISTOL | KharmaMedic - King’s College London medical student talking about his interview experience at King’s