Benchmarking, ranking and preferencing

Below is a summary of post interview processes.

Benchmarking, ranking and preferencing

Benchmarking means that all applicants must score over the appoint-ability threshold (currently 70% of the total weighted score) to be able to enter a training programme.

Please note if you have applied for industry or military benchmarking, you will be notified of the outcome of your interview on the same day as medical specialty applicants are informed. 

Following interview and benchmarking, applicants will either be deemed as successful (scoring over 70% of the total weighted score) or unsuccessful (scoring under 70% of the total weighted score) and will be informed of this via Oriel.

Applicants who are applying for an NHS (National Health Service) training post will be ranked based upon their total weighted score.

Preferencing of posts will be available prior to offers being made and applicants will be invited to rank posts based on their personal preference and likelihood of accepting an offer.

The exact preferencing window will be confirmed nearer to the time.

For guidance on how to submit your preferences please refer to the Oriel Applicant User Guide.

Industry or military applicant

Please note, industry and military applicants are not required to preference.

References and scoresheet release

Offers of NHS based training programme (this does not apply to Military and Industry only applicants):

Offers of NHS based training programme, will be made to those successful applicants that have ‘matched’ to a post and 
will be based on the applicant’s ranking and preferences.

Following initial offers being released, further offers will be made in subsequent iterations.

Applicants have 48 hours from the time of offer (excluding weekends) to confirm via Oriel whether they wish to accept, reject or hold their offer. Offers made after the hold deadline will only have the option to accept or reject.

Military or Industry Only applicants

Applicants who are applying to train in the Industry or Armed Forces are required to benchmark by attending the National Recruitment Interviews.

If you are applying to benchmark, please complete the benchmarking section on your Oriel application.

Once interviews are complete, the recruitment team will contact you to confirm your benchmarking status via Oriel, this can then be presented to your future training provider, employer, and you will be withdrawn from the NHS post matching process.

For applicants who have have chosen both the NHS and industry, the process is the same as NHS applicants. However if they are not allocated a training post in the NHS they can request a letter to confirm their benchmarking status via Oriel which can be then presented to their future training provider.

References

References will only be requested when an offer has been accepted via Oriel.

Scoresheets

Scoresheets will be released to all applicants on a specified date. The recruitment office will communicate this date to all the applicants, therefore you do not need to request your scoresheets after interview.

Industry or military applicants

Applicants who are applying to train in the industry or Armed Forces you are required to benchmark by attending the National Recruitment Interviews.

If you are applying to benchmark, please complete the benchmarking section on your Oriel application.

Once interviews are complete, the recruitment team will contact you to confirm your benchmarking status via Oriel.

This can then be presented to your future training provider, employer, and you will be withdrawn from the NHS post matching process.

For applicants who have chosen both the NHS and industry, the process is the same as NHS applicants. However, if they are not allocated a training post in the NHS, they can request a letter to confirm their benchmarking status via Oriel which can be then presented to their future training provider.

Allocations

This does not apply to industry or military applicants.

Once you have accepted an Occupational Medicine ST3 post, your information will be passed to the relevant region who will contact you directly to complete the allocation process. 

Further information on how to request a deferred start date or training less than full time (LTFT) can be found on the 2026 National Applicant Handbook on the Medical Specialty Recruitment pages.

Next steps, roles and responsibilities

This does not apply to industry or military applicants.

In line with national guidance, your details will be passed on to the local NHS England office/deanery. Applicants may be able to be start earlier than the advertised post start date subject to agreement with their employers and successful completion of their pre-employment checks.

Enquiries

Should you have any queries relating to the recruitment process for Occupational Medicine you can contact the National Recruitment Office.

We are committed to supporting you if you require additional support due to disability or health conditions. The process for 2026 is to submit all reasonable adjustments requests at the time of your application and on Oriel. All evidence will be uploaded. Details may change over the recruitment period.