Dear Mr Ward

This is to acknowledge receipt of your request below, made under the Freedom of Information Act. The College will respond to your request by 23 September 2021.

Kind regards,

Freedom of Information Team
Imperial College London

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Dear Mr Ward
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request, below, relating to BMAT
scores and other admissions information for A100 Medicine.

There is an extensive and thorough admissions process for A100 Medicine,
which is outlined below.

At an initial stage, all UCAS forms received by the deadline are checked
that candidates have, or are predicted to obtain, the minimum academic
entry requirements. (GCSE results are not taken into consideration except
that, as stated in the published admissions guidance
([1]https://www.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/stud...),
it is a requirement to have obtained a grade B in English).  Candidates
are then considered only if they have taken the BMAT admissions test in
the year of the application.

From the remaining applications, in order to select candidates for
interview, an individual’s BMAT scores are used. The College calculates
threshold BMAT scores each year as a result of ranked candidate BMAT
scores versus number of expected interview sessions. We would use a fixed
minimum score in each section (Section 1, Section 2 and Section 3) and
then use a combined score in Section 1 and Section 2 from which a
threshold is set. Those who achieve the minimum section score and meet
either the threshold score or above it, would be invited to interview.

There are different BMAT thresholds depending on the fee status of a
candidate, as well as if the candidate has been classed as a widening
participation applicant.

For 2021 Entry, Home candidates: Candidates were required to score a
minimum of 3.5 in Section 1 and Section 2, with the sum score in these two
Sections being at least 10.9. They were required to score a minimum of
2.5C in Section 3.

For 2021 Entry, OS/EU candidates: Candidates were required to score a
minimum of 4.0 in Section 1 and Section 2, with the sum of scores in these
two Sections being at least 13.3. They were required to score a minimum of
3C in Section 3.

For those students identified as Widening Participation or involved in
Imperial Outreach programme, a contextualised adjustment was made to the
sum of scores of Section 1 and Section 2. The adjustment reflected the
overall difference in performance between flagged and non-flagged
candidates.

Since 2019, the selection panel no longer routinely uses the UCAS form as
a part of the interview shortlisting process. It is only now in
exceptional circumstances that a candidate's application form is reviewed
as a means to shortlist for an interview. This would be to discuss all
aspects of the application, including for example evidence of motivation
and understanding of medicine as a career, evidence of extracurricular
interests, and the information provided by the referee's report.

Considerable emphasis is placed on the performance of candidates at
interview, and no offer is made to any applicant who has not attended a
competitive interview.

The format is multiple mini interviews (MMI), affording candidates an
opportunity to discuss a range of matters in some depth.  Although
questions and stations may vary through the years, these are the main
topics that candidates are asked questions on:

Team work and Leadership
Motivation to study medicine
Understanding the role of a doctor
Empathy and breaking bad news
Ethics scenarios
Imperial and contribution to School of Medicine
Resilience

Answers are given 7 points for content (what the candidate says) and 3 for
communication (how the candidate says it). Often there is no right or
wrong answer – the interviewers are assessing an ability to explain
thinking. And if a candidate changes their mind on a specific question
half way through a question, the interviewers will consider the
candidate's ability to reflect on their ideas and how they think on their
feet.

A candidate will receive a score for each interview station in the MMI.
For 2021 the total number of stations in a MMI was seven. Therefore, a
total of seven station scores will be received per candidate which are
then combined for the total interview score. The Admissions team will then
review the candidate's scores across the MMI to determine whether to make
an offer or reject.  The threshold score for an offer varies each year, as
well as if the candidate has been classed as a widening participation
applicant.

Please also see the considerable information available on the College's
website about Medicine applications:
[2]https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/ug/cour...
please see in particular the Selection Process and Interview sections.

The College also publishes detailed undergraduate admissions statistics by
programme for the last five years.  These are available on our website's
Transparency pages, under the heading Five Year Undergraduate Admissions
Statistics at the foot of the page:
[3]https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/ug/appl... .
The published figures are updated annually (usually in January/February).

With regard to question 7 of your request, the College is unable to
provide these figures, as to extract and collate them would take in excess
of 18 hours of work and is therefore exempt from disclosure under Section
12 of the Freedom of Information Act.

If you are unhappy with the way that we have handled your request, you can
ask us to conduct a review. Please make your representation in writing
within 40 days of the date you received this response. If you remain
dissatisfied with how Imperial College has handled your request you may
then approach the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Kind regards,

Freedom of Information Team
Imperial College London

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