title: Evaluation of the effect of socio-economic status on performance in a Multiple Mini Interview for admission to medical school.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Widening participation in Medicine is a key policy priority as it helps promote a diverse and representative workforce and improves patient care. The selection process employed can influence the socio-economic composition of the student cohort and this study therefore evaluated whether Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) performance was influenced by school type or area-level Higher Education (HE) participation rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  MMI performance for all UK applicants was recorded and consent to link performance with socio-economic data was requested using an applicant questionnaire. Station-level and total MMI scores, and offer rates were compared between applicants from non-selective, non-fee-paying schools and from selective and/or fee-paying schools; and between applicants from each quintile of area-level HE participation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  793 applicants were included in the analysis. MMI performance and offer rates were slightly higher for applicants from non-selective, non-fee-paying schools and/or from lower HE participation quintiles, but the effects were small and not statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The MMI did not favour applicants from selective and/or fee-paying schools, or from areas with high HE participation rates. Work to evaluate whether the relationship between MMI and medical school performance is the same for all sub-groups of students is now required.
authors.affiliation: The University of Birmingham , UK.
authors.forename: Celia A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Kathryn E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Austen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spruce
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009042:Motivation; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012570:School Admission Criteria / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D006113:United Kingdom