Pre-allocation and preferencing

This process ensures that if you have special circumstances and a requirement to train in a particular location, you are treated in a fair and consistent way.

If your special circumstances are approved you will be eligible for pre-allocation to the region or regions to which you are restricted.

Ranking programme preferences on Oriel 

During the recruitment process, you will be required to provide preferences in Oriel. In order to be pre-allocated to the region you are restricted to:

• You must rank at least one post in the region(s) you are restricted to.  If you do not rank any posts in the region(s) you are restricted to, you will not be eligible for pre-allocation. 

• You should rank any posts in the region(s) you are restricted to that you are able to accept, if offered.

• If there are posts in the region(s) you are restricted to that you would be unsuitable due to your circumstances, please do not rank these posts. 

• If you rank posts in another region higher than posts in the region(s) you are restricted to, these will not be pre-allocated to you. 

• Ranking a single post in the region(s) you are restricted to does not guarantee that you will be allocated it as there may be competition from other applicants with approved special circumstances who have ranked higher than you. 

Some specialties are unable to give precise details of location in the programme preference details.  You should preference any options which are within the area to which your special circumstances relate.  If you subsequently accept an offer, you should contact the training region as soon as possible thereafter to discuss your circumstances. 

You can preference posts outside of the region(s) you are restricted to, but you will only be considered for these posts if there are no posts available in approved region(s), You will not be pre-allocated into a post outside of your approved region(s) via the special circumstances process. 

The special circumstances allocation process will only determine your first post.  Future rotations will be determined by your Training Programme Director.  You are therefore encouraged to share your circumstances with them to enable them to consider these when determining your future training posts. 

How pre-allocation works

You will be pre-allocated to one of your preferenced programmes, subject to the following criteria being met:

• You must be deemed appointable at interview (if applying to General Practice or Core Psychiatry you must reach the required score in the Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment) 

• Your rank must be equal to, or higher than, the number of posts available nationally for the specialty (excluding Locum Appointent for Training posts). For example, if there are 10 posts available, you will need to rank in the top 10.

• Where there is competition for a post from multiple applicants with approved special circumstances, the applicant with the highest rank will be offered the post.

Please note:

• You are not guaranteed your first choice preference.

• You could be allocated any of your ranked preferences within the region(s) you are restricted to. 

• If you do not receive an offer for your first choice programme, you can choose to accept with the option to upgrade up until the national upgrade deadline. For further information please read our guidance about upgrading of offers.
• You will not be allocated to a programme that you have not ranked, even if it is in the region to which you are restricted.

If you do not receive an offer initially

If you are deemed appointable at interview, but do not score high enough to receive an offer initially, your special circumstances approval will remain valid, and recruitment teams will continue to consider you for pre-allocation each time offers are made.

A suitable post in the region you are restricted to must be available at the time offers are made in order to pre-allocate you. We will never remove an offer that has been made to another applicant in order to allow pre-allocation of an applicant with special circumstances approval.

The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026

Applicants with approved special circumstances will be pre-allocated as detailed above.

If you are not in the priority group, you may still be pre-allocated but only after all applicants in the priority group have been considered for offers. This may reduce our ability to pre-allocate you to a post in the region(s) you are restricted to.