Overview of Specialty Recruitment

This guidance will help you make the best possible application, from choosing the right specialty to guiding you through the entire application process.

You must ensure that you read any specialty specific guidance for the specialty/specialties to which you are considering making an application. Specialty specific guidance will be available from the Recruitment Leads for the individual specialties and from their specialty specific webpages.

NHS England Local Offices

Most specialty recruitment is organised nationally by a lead NHS England local office or devolved nation Deanery on behalf of all local offices and deaneries. This means that you complete one online application and state your preferred geographical location(s), rather than submitting multiple applications.

Lead Recruiters

Specialty	Level	Lead Recruiter
Specialty Acute Internal Medicine (AIM)	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Acute Care Common Stem (ACCS) Emergency Medicine	Level ST1	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Allergy	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Anaesthetics and ACCS Anaesthetics	Level CT1 / ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - West Midlands
Specialty Audiovestibular Medicine	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Cardiology	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Cardiothoracic Surgery	Level ST1	Lead Recruiter NHSE - Wessex
Specialty Chemical Pathology	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - East Midlands
Specialty Child and Adolescent Psychiatry	Level ST1	Lead Recruiter NHSE - North West
Specialty Clinical Genetics	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Clinical Neurophysiology	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Clinical Oncology	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Clinical Radiology	Level ST1 / ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Combined Infection Training	Level ST3 / ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Community Sexual and Reproductive Health	Level ST1	Lead Recruiter NHSE - East of England
Specialty Core Psychiatry Training	Level CT1	Lead Recruiter NHSE - North West
Specialty Core Surgical Training	Level CT1	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Dermatology	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Diagnostic Neuropathology	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Emergency Medicine - Direct Route of Entry and ACCS	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - Yorkshire and the Humber
Specialty Emergency Medicine	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - Yorkshire and the Humber
Specialty Endocrinology and Diabetes Mellitus	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Gastroenterology	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty General Practice	Level ST1	Lead Recruiter GP National Recruitment Office
Specialty General Surgery	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Genitourinary Medicine	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Geriatric Medicine	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Haematology	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Histopathology	Level ST1	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Immunology	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Intensive Care Medicine	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - West Midlands
Specialty Internal Medicine Training and ACCS Internal Medicine	Level CT1	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Medical Oncology	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Neurology	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Neurosurgery	Level ST1 / ST2	Lead Recruiter NHSE - Yorkshire and the Humber
Specialty Nuclear Medicine	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Obstetrics and Gynaecology	Level ST1 / ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - North West
Specialty Occupational Medicine	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Ophthalmology	Level ST1	Lead Recruiter NHSE - South West
Specialty Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery	Level ST1 / ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - South West
Specialty Otolaryngology (ENT)	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - Yorkshire and the Humber
Specialty Paediatric and Perinatal Pathology	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Paediatric Cardiology	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - Wessex
Specialty Paediatric Surgery	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - Yorkshire and the Humber
Specialty Paediatrics	Level ST1 / ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - West Midlands
Specialty Palliative Medicine	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Plastic Surgery	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Psychiatry of Learning Disability	Level ST1	Lead Recruiter NHSE - North West
Specialty Psychiatry - Higher Training	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - North West
Specialty Public Health	Level ST1	Lead Recruiter NHSE - East Midlands
Specialty Rehabilitation Medicine	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Renal Medicine	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Rheumatology	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Sport and Exercise Medicine	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Specialty Thoracic Surgery	Level ST4	Lead Recruiter NHSE - Wessex
Specialty Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - Yorkshire and the Humber
Specialty Urology	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - Yorkshire and the Humber
Specialty Vascular Surgery	Level ST3	Lead Recruiter NHSE - London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex

Further information on the Lead Recruiters can be found on the Recruitment Leads page of the Oriel recruitment system.

Responsibilities of recruitment office

Each recruitment office is responsible for some or all of the following responsibilities. 

• Advertising vacancies

• Providing information on the recruitment process

• Receiving applications

• Longlisting applications against a set of agreed eligibility criteria

• Shortlisting based on set criteria and scoring systems

• Interviewing and selecting successful applicants

• Making offers and receiving acceptances

Communication should be at an acceptable professional standard from recruiters to applicants and from applicants to recruiters. While you may not always agree with selection processes in place or the outcome of those selection processes, it is important that communications do not become unprofessional. Where communications become unprofessional, recruiters and/or clinical assessors will cease communication with you and will escalate the issue to the national Medical and Dental Recruitment and Selection (MDRS) team. 

National recruitment rounds

Specialty recruitment is split into 4 recruitment rounds throughout the year. It is important that you familiarise yourself with which round the specialty that you wish to apply to is being recruited in.

Breakdown of different recruitment rounds

Round	Description	Date of advertisements
Academic recruitment	Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) posts in England are advertised and recruited. This round encompasses appointments to ACFs at all levels.	Adverts will appear in October 2024
Round 1	This encompasses recruitment to all CT1/ST1 specialty training programmes, across the UK and some run through specialties at higher entry levels. Posts appointed in this round will normally start in August 2025 and generally no later than December 2025. Where specialties only recruit once per year, posts could start as late as April 2026.	Adverts will appear in October 2024
Round 2	This is the first time that ST3 and ST4 specialties in uncoupled training programmes will be advertised. Posts advertised in this round will normally commence between August 2025 and December 2025. Where specialties only recruit once per year, posts could start as late as April 2026.	Adverts will appear in November 2024
Round 3	This round encompasses all recruitment for posts starting later than December 2025 and no later than April 2026. Generally, posts advertised in this round will have a commencement date of February 2026. Not all specialties will advertise in this round. This round includes adverts for posts at all entry levels and is not limited to CT1/ST1 or ST3/ST4 like some of the earlier recruitment rounds.	Adverts will appear in July 2025

Types of programmes

There are 2 types of training programmes.

A run through training programme is one where you apply for your post at the start of the programme and, subject to satisfactory progress, continue for the full duration of the training programme without the need to make a further application. On successful completion of the training programme a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) will be awarded.

Examples of run through specialties include General Practice, Paediatrics and Ophthalmology.

Uncoupled training is for specialties where you must apply at core level and be successful again to enter higher specialty training.

Examples of uncoupled specialties include Anaesthetics and Internal Medicine Training.

Competition

When deciding which posts and specialties to apply for, you are advised to consider carefully the likely levels of competition involved and be prepared to be flexible about your specialty choices. Not all applicants will be successful in getting a place in their first choice specialty and/or region.

Direct links to competition ratios from previous recruitment rounds are available.

These figures do not show what will happen in future years but offer a broad indication of the most and least subscribed specialties and areas in the previous recruitment year.