Applying FAQs

If particular personal circumstances make it impossible for you to work outside of a specific region, you have opportunity to only be considered for programmes in your preferred area but will not do this at the application stage as, initially, you will only apply nationally. After application, if shortlisted, you will have the opportunity to preference specific programmes/regions which means you can limit what you will potentially be offered to only those for which you wish to be considered.

If you do not wish to apply to any other regions, then you should not select them when you choose your preferences. There is no benefit to including programmes which you would definitely not accept and this could even reduce your chances of being offered a programme you do want as, once an offer is declined, you can no longer be in contention for the specialty.  

If you can't be made an offer initially you will go on the reserve list and considered when declined offers are recycled. You are better to be on the reserve list than holding an offer you do not want and hoping for an upgrade. By the holding deadline you will need to decline the offer and be out of the running, whereas if you had not yet been made an offer you would remain in contention.

Special circumstances policy

In some cases you may qualify for the national ‘special circumstances’ policy which apply in specified circumstances. This applies to applicants where either: 

• the applicant is the primary carer for someone who is disabled, as defined by the Equality Act 2010
• the applicant has a medical condition or disability for which ongoing follow up for the condition in the specified location is an absolute requirement 

Full details about the policy are available in the applicants’ guide on the NHS Specialty Training website.

If you do not know or do not have the actual day for a particular entry, you should enter 01 for the day and then enter the correct month and year.

If your training status dictates that you need to provide an Alternative Certificate (see the core capabilities page of this website for more information), this must be completed and uploaded to your Oriel account prior to submission.

In most cases, applications submitted without evidence of core capability will be rejected as ineligible.

If exceptional circumstances prevent you from being able to have an Alternative Certificate completed and/or uploaded, you can note this on your application form and you are advised to contact the lead region for the specialty, to notify and explain the circumstances in question; it may be possible to make alternative arrangements.

However, please do be aware that this will only be possible in very exceptional circumstances.

In cases such as this it is acceptable to use the employment gap section of the form to overview your work experience during periods. When doing this you should enter the dates you are covering and then the text box to provide details on: the specialty(ies) and level of employment and the whole time equivalent you worked during the time period. What is most important is that recruiters can assess your experience against the minimum experience criteria so knowing how long you have worked and in which specialties is particularly important.

Recording your employment in this way is not generally permitted but it is recognised that in certain cases it would be very impractical to list all the details required by the form about lots of very short term locum posts and so this is acceptable in those instances.

This will depend on your circumstances. For most candidates the only potential documentation you will need to submit at time of application is evidence of your core capability; although this does not apply if you are applying direct from a core programme. 

However, there are some instances where you may need to submit something separate to your application. This would normally be attached to your application where prompted by the form and could include: 

• Fitness to practise details – if you answer ‘yes’ to any of the questions in this section of the form you are required to send information. This cannot be attached to the form and you will need to send it to the region managing your application at the time you submit your application.
• Reapplying to specialty training following premature withdrawal - if you prematurely left any UK specialty training programme, you will need to get a Support for Reapplication to Specialty Training form signed by the Training Programme Director/Head of School and Postgraduate Dean from the region you previously undertook training in. 
• Reapplying to the specialty – If you are currently in training and applying to continue training in the same specialty in another region, you must obtain a Support for Application to another region form signed by the Training Programme Director/Head of School of your current Specialty Training Programme. 
• Evidence of disability - this could be either to request special arrangements for the assessment process (e.g. a psychological assessment to request extra reading time due to a neurodivergent condition) or if you think you qualify for the Disability Confident Scheme  

If any additional documentation is required you will either be notified when you complete the form, or by the region managing your application during the process.

All evidence documentation relating to application form achievements will only need to be uploaded after application and you will be contacted with details about how to do this at the time your specialty requires it. Dates when each specialty anticipate requiring documents to be uploaded will be published on the 'Interview dates & posts' section of each specialty's page.

This will depend on your reason for not being able to upload such evidence.

UK core trainees

In the event you are currently undertaking a UK core training programme, you will not be required to provide any such evidence at this point (as you will not yet have completed the programme).

You just need to add details of your current training status to your form. Any offer made to you subsequently will be subject to successful completion of core training.

Applicants with reduced access to documentary evidence of core capability

If you are in a position where you cannot gain evidence of your achievement of competence - for example, if you have refugee status - then select the appropriate options on the competence page of your application.

Then when asked if you can attach the alternative certificate, answer 'no'; a textbox will arise, in which you can give further details as required. However, please note that in most cases candidates will be expected to supply evidence with their application and their application will be rejected if this is not the case.

Technical issues

If you have access to electronic copies of evidence of core competence, but are not able to upload/attach it to your application due to technical difficulties you cannot resolve, please contact the PSRO or the recruitment team at the region managing applications for the specialty to which you are applying.

The most likely cause of this is that they have been uploaded under the wrong category for the section in question.

For instance, if you are not undertaking, and have not previously completed UK core training, you will be asked to attach an alternative certificate.

On your application form, only documents from those uploaded to your dashboard under the 'Alternative Certificate of Core Competence' category would initially be viewable. If you chose a different category you could either:

• Go back to your document upload section of Oriel and change the category.
• When choosing a document from your repository to upload to your application form, you can press the 'Show all your document(s)' button, which will show all documents and not just those of the required category. 

You should provide details of any offence for which you may go to court, or are awaiting a hearing in court. This includes incidents where you have been arrested and are waiting to hear if you will be charged.

If you are living in Scotland, all recent penalties must be declared.

The programmes for which you are applying are exempt from the 'Rehabilitation of Offenders Act', and therefore any cautions or convictions you may have received cannot be considered 'spent' and must always be declared.

You must adhere to Good Medical Practice, which requires that you do your best to make sure that any documents you write or sign are not false or misleading. As such, if you are in any doubt, please declare it.

Should you receive an offer of employment, you employer is obliged to carry out a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check at an enhanced level. If you do not declare something that subsequently comes to light, this will be taken very seriously and you may find yourself reported to the GMC.

Please note that the information on the fitness to practise page of your application will be kept strictly confidential to the members of the administrative staff registered to process your application, and to the dean or delegated officer(s) responsible for considering whether your declaration is, or is not, material to your application.

You are required to email the region managing your application the details of any issue noted on the application form. The dean or delegated officer(s) from the region managing your application may need to contact you to provide further information in some cases.

In the event that you are made an offer, the information you supply will be passed on - in confidence - to your new employer's human resources department.

Where material exceptions do arise, it does not necessarily mean that your application will be rejected.

An applicant may be accepted in cases where a material incident occurred several years ago and there is no evidence of any recurrence, and the applicant continues to be registered with the GMC.

Fixed penalty notices do not need to be declared, but those driving offences not dealt with via a fixed penalty notice do. If you have been given a fixed penalty notice this will be clear on the paperwork relating to that fine.

Parking tickets also do not need to be declared. Absolutely everything else must be communicated, including any other speeding/driving offences.

The literature with the ticket - including the ticket itself - should specify whether or not this is classed as a fixed penalty offence.

If in doubt, we advise that you include details on your application.

It is not likely this will cause any problem for your application but due to the (understandably) rigorous checks in place, it is better to include items which are not required than to exclude those which are.

It depends; fixed penalty notices do not need to be declared, but those driving offences not dealt with via a fixed penalty notice do. If you have been given a fixed penalty notice this will be clear on the paperwork relating to that fine.

Parking tickets also do not need to be declared. Absolutely everything else must be communicated, including any other speeding/driving offences.

The literature with the ticket - including the ticket itself - should specify whether or not this is classed as a fixed penalty offence.

If in doubt, we advise that you include details on your application.

It is not likely this will cause any problem for your application but due to the (understandably) rigorous checks in place, it is better to include items which are not required than to exclude those which are.

To communicate information as necessary - you should select 'Yes' from the appropriate menu on the application form's FtP section; and then add details to an email and send to the region managing your application, once you have submitted your application. Specific details of FtP issues cannot be submitted on the application form.

Some regions have specified particular email addresses for FtP information - as can be seen on the regions page of this website.

Please be assured that all FtP information will be handled confidentially; normally interviewers will not have access to the FtP page of your application, and so will not be aware of this information.

If an FtP issue you declare is not raised with you, this is likely to be because it is believed that it need not be taken into account.

In this part of the form, a question asks 'have you been charged with any offence in the United Kingdom or any other country that has not yet been disposed of?'

Here, the term 'disposed of' means that any actions related to the offence have been completed, and that there is nothing outstanding to address.

A person does not need to be a consultant to act as your referee necessarily. You must provide contact details of three referees who have supervised your clinical training during the last two years of your employment or undergraduate training. One referee must be your current or most recent consultant or educational supervisor familiar with your clinical development.

Where possible, yes.

The primary concern for recruiters when seeking references is that they should be as up-to-date as possible; the purpose of seeking a reference is to ensure your candidature is suitable for the specialty, rather than to influence the decision when deciding to whom posts should be offered.

Thus a reference from a 'good' or 'notable' referee will garner no advantage to your application.

It is possible to change your referees after submission of your form should you start working with another supervisor who is more familiar with your recent experience. Information about when you can amend references is on the 'sections of the application form' tab of the application form page of the website.

In some instances, using a current/recent referee will not be possible (eg an academic supervisor can only act as a referee if they are your current supervisor); also some past supervisors may not be able or willing to give a reference (such as if they are out of the country, or have since retired).

In these instances, you should nominate your next-most recent supervisor as a referee in their stead.

Should you start working with other potential referees after submitting your form, you can change your referees up to a certain point. Information about when you can amend references is on the 'sections of the application form' tab of the application form page of the website.

In short, this is at your discretion.

While it is generally preferred that your referees relate to as current a period of your training as is possible, it is also appreciated that you may not feel comfortable nominating a supervisor you may not have even met.

It is possible to change your referees after you submit your form, so you can update them to a newer supervisor once you have been working with them for a longer period.

Information about when you can amend references is on the 'sections of the application form' tab of the application form page of the website.

Yes - even after your application has been submitted, you can log back in and change/update referees' details if need be.

So if you are not sure about nomination of referees, do not let this hold up your application. Add details of those you deem appropriate at present, and then if need be these can be changed at a later date.

Information about when you can amend references is on the 'sections of the application form' tab of the completing the application form page of the website.

When considering an application form section, trying to achieve the next-highest option score will add very little to the final score, once weightings are applied.

Because of this, it is therefore much more important to undertake activities which are relevant to your stage of training and to the service, rather than trying to score a few extra points in the application process.

At best, gaining a few extra shortlist points might make a very small difference to your ranking; while undertaking 'non-scoring' training can still be taken into account at interview as part of the overall assessment.

In the self-assessment section of the application form, a score is awarded (as shown on the application scoring page of this website) in each of several domains based on the option you select

Upon submission, these are then totalled to give an overall application score. This is then verified by a senior clinician and scores can be revised at this stage. You will be sent feedback of your reviewed scores and any explanation given for changes with the opportunity to appeal where justified. Once the appeals stage is completed, the scores are confirmed and are used in two ways:

Interview allocation

The shortlist score is primarily used to rank all candidates nationally and to allocate them to interview. Interview capacity and scores will be used to determine who will and will not be offered an interview. Details of the spread of scoring from previous years are available within each specialty page. 

Part of the final assessment score

Application scores are included as part of the total score which is used to rank candidates for offers. The interview & scoring page, within each specialty page on this website, details how this is done and the contribution towards the total score.

Commitment to specialty

If the specialty is including an assessment of commitment to specialty at the shortlisting stage, this score will contribute to the total used for interview allocation but will not carry forward into the final assessment score. This is because all specialties include commitment to specialty as part of their interview. 

It is important to remember that most candidates will find they will have one or more domains in which they do not score any points.

While it is advantageous to have achievements in as many domains as possible (which helps demonstrates a well-rounded doctor who is 'above the baseline'), it is quite possible to be offered a post even if you do not have any academic extras.

Unfortunately, the PSRO is not able to give specific guidance to candidates regarding the selection of particular options, as the completion of the HST application form must be solely your own work.

The guidance we can provide is published on the application scoring section. The general advice we give is to consider the options available, the guidance on the website and your experience/achievements in this area, and then use your professional judgement to select the highest available option you deem to be appropriate. Subsequent to this, provide all additional information required within the form, so as to make a case as to why you have selected this particular option and ensure you have evidence to back up your claim when required to upload it.

After application, all scores will be reviewed and re-scored and an assessor will check at that stage and decide if they feel it is justified. If they feel it should not be claimed they will re-score it accordingly and it is not likely to be considered a probity issue unless it is a very clear case of trying to gain an unfair advantage. Assessors recognise that candidates' experiences/achievements will not always fit neatly under one option or another; and so do employ a degree of flexibility when reviewing/assessing application forms. 

Essentially, an original research publication is an item published in a peer-reviewed (PubMed-cited) publication, based on original research carried out by the candidate in question. Meta-analyses can be included in this section, as although they pull together different pieces of research, they are still answering a specific question that has been put forward by their author, and contribute to the body of knowledge on the subject.

This is intended as a relatively broad definition. Recruiters/interviewers are seeking information on the act of candidates having items published, and the content of such publications, and are less strict on the exact boundaries on what does and does not count as an original research publication. 

That is to say: if, according to your professional judgement, you feel an item you have published would come under this description, then by all means you can include this; whether an item is appropriate for inclusion is more related to whether you could 'make a case' for its inclusion, rather than crossing boundaries/ticking boxes/etc.  

That being said - please note that there are certain criteria which must be met for items to be eligible: in particular, if an option requires explicitly that a publication be PubMed-cited, then this citation must be available. The only exception to this is a Cochrane review.

Please see the application scoring section of this website for more information.

You cannot select a scoring option on your application form based on an achievement not yet completed at time of application submission; any qualifications not yet gained, courses not yet taken, publications not yet published, etc. should not be included.

However, you can add information about this to the text box accompanying that area of the form to make interviewers aware. For example, if you are currently undertaking a masters degree, in the postgraduate qualifications section of the form you would select 'none/other', but could use the text box to explain what you are studying.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to make changes to application forms after submission, including the points awarded to applications. This is because the only way that points scoring can be applied consistently is to make the submission date the cut off.

Firstly, please check the spam/junk folder of the email account with which you registered.

It is important to make sure emails relating to your application are being delivered to your inbox, for the rest of the recruitment process.

Please also note there can be a delay between submission and your email being sent, particularly around the closing date when the majority of applications are submitted, so please allow some time for this to happen.

In addition, you can log in to the application system and view the status of your application in your dashboard. Once logged in, click on 'dashboard' and go to the 'My applications' area. You will see a summary of all your applications there, including the status of each application you have made; your application status will no longer say 'In progress' and will have been updated to 'Applied'.

As well as this, you can go to the 'Messages' area, where copies all emails sent to you via the application system are stored; so you can check a confirmation email has been sent by looking in here.

If you check these areas and are sure a confirmation email has not been sent, nor received, please contact us and we will investigate further

There are a number of stages after applications close and before interview. The order can vary by specialty but a typical order will be:

• Longlisting - applications are checked against the eligibility criteria to determine if they meet the entry requirements.  
• Evidence upload - you will load the evidence documents to justify your self-assessed application score.
• Shortlisting - your evidence and self-assessment will be verified by an assessor to confirm your shortlisting score. 
• Invite to interview - once verification is complete, candidates will be invited to interview on the basis of their shortlisting outcome and score, with invitations being sent no more than seven days prior to the start of the interviews for which they are being invited. 

For more information on the post-application period, please see the after submission section of this website.

Essentially, no. There is not a set minimum score required for interview; all that happens is that if for example there are 50 interview spaces available for your specialty, the highest-scoring 50 candidates will be invited. 

Without knowing the scores of all applicants and the capacity, it is not possible to give certainty on the score required.

There is data published within each specialty page from previous years to show the distribution of all scores nationally for a specialty. This can be used along with the self-assessment application scoring page to get an idea of the percentile where you are likely to rank.