Multiple mini interviews (MMIs)
As a shortlisted candidate, you have been invited to attend an interview with us. All applicants must attend an interview to be considered for a place on the course.
The interview will take the form of multiple mini interviews (MMIs). You will pass through four timed stations, each of which has a different interviewer.
Interview length
Each station will be seven minutes long, and there will be a two-minute gap between stations. In the two-minute gap, you will be provided with some information about the next station so that you can begin to prepare your thoughts.
The whole process of completing all four stations will take around 40 minutes.
There are no rest stations. The station where you start will be allocated at random and you will then pass along from station to station until you have completed them all.
There will always be a member of staff outside the stations should you need any assistance. You will be escorted to the interview floor from the ground floor arrival point.
Interviewers and discussion points
The interview is a formal but friendly process. Interviewers will either be lecturers on the course or practising clinicians from the local area.
MMIs are not a test of your academic knowledge, as they take a wider view of your suitability.
The pre-interview screening process operated by the Admissions team, which is based on academic grades, your personal statement and reference, is designed to establish that you have sufficient academic potential.
The interviewers appreciate that you may be nervous. It is natural to be nervous and we will, of course, make allowances for this.
We cannot tell you the exact content of the stations, but you can expect some or all of the following points to be included:
- details in your non-academic experiences detailed in your personal statement;
- motivation to study speech and language therapy as a career;
- communication and ability to empathise;
- problem solving;
- capacity for self-reflection;
- capacity for logical thinking;
- understanding of professional responsibility;
- capacity for team working;
- ability to discuss issues of a wider nature in the field of healthcare.
What we evaluate
An enhanced level of communication ability is essential to the practice of all aspects of speech and language therapy.
We expect you to be able to express your ideas clearly and coherently and to be able to follow a reasoned argument. We also expect you to be a careful and empathetic listener who can appreciate another person’s perspective.
Spontaneous yet well-thought-out answers to the specific questions posed are more likely to impress the interviewers than obviously rehearsed and 'coached' responses.
This is an obvious but vital question. It is also the question to which candidates most frequently reply with a coached and practised answer.
We will seek specific evidence of the experiences that have influenced your decision to study speech and language therapy.
Your experiences in a caring role will be of great interest.
As we make clear on our website and at open days, we know that it is not possible for everyone to gain first-hand experience of the work of a speech and language therapist.
This means that we do not expect first-hand experience, but we do expect that you will have had experience engaging with children and/or adults who have communication or swallowing difficulties.
The interview is an opportunity for you to relate not only to the facts and details of your experiences, but also your emotional responses to them and what you believe you have gained from them.
You will not be expected to have detailed knowledge of healthcare and specifically speech and language therapy practice.
However, the interviewers will expect you to have an intelligent layperson's view on contemporary aspects of healthcare, particularly those of current media interest.
Ethical issues may be raised by the interviewers, but only to assess your ability to coherently summarise the issues at stake.
You should be reassured that neither the interviewers nor the University take a position on any ethical issue.
It is not your ethical views that the interviewers may be interested in, but how coherently you express the ethical dilemmas facing healthcare practitioners.
You will not be asked questions in any of the following areas: gender, sexuality, marital or parental status, race, religion, social background.
Preparing for the interview
You should look over the following documents, available on the website of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) which is the professional regulatory body for speech and language therapy:
You should also take a look at the NHS Constitution.