Applying

Before you apply for Specialty Training you should check that you're eligible.

How to apply

The vacancy will be advertised on Oriel. All relevant information is provided in the 2025 Plastic Surgery ST3 advertisement.

Further programme and rotation information will be available at the point of preferencing at a later date in the process (see recruitment timeline for key dates). Information will be sent to your Oriel account and copied to your registered email inbox with instructions on how to complete preferencing. In addition, indicative post numbers for each HEE local office/nations and indicative dates for interviews will be made available when the application window opens.

Applications will only be accepted through Oriel between 10am on Thursday 14 November 2024 and 4pm on Thursday 5 December 2024. Please be aware applications received after this time will not be accepted and there will be no exceptions to this. Please do not leave it to the last minute to apply or submit evidence, under no circumstance will late applications for any reason be accepted.

To register on Oriel, you must ensure you have a valid email address. Communication between the recruitment office and applicants will be primarily via Oriel. You should check your Oriel and personal email account at least once every 24 hours.

Disability Confidence Scheme 

We are committed to supporting applicants who require additional support due to disability or health conditions, you can apply for adjustments via Oriel, please note the Disability Confidence Scheme (henceforth referred to as DCS) has replaced the previous Guaranteed Interview Scheme. Please refer to the guidance on the Medical Specialty Recruitment pages for more information.

Reasonable adjustments 

The process for 2024 is to request all Reasonable adjustments requests at the time of your application and on Oriel. All evidence will be uploaded at the time you are submitting your application. For further guidance on the details of evidence required, please refer to the guidance on the Medical Specialty Recruitment pages for more information.

Applications for any adjustments at interview will be made via Oriel. Please follow the guidance in Oriel and the Medical Recruitment Applicant Guide 2023 for this process. All evidence must be uploaded with your Oriel application. You will be notified of the outcome of your application prior to interview.

If you have a situation that has occurred post the application window closing, please contact us via the Applicant Support Portal to receive further guidance.

Eligibility and longlisting

It is important to note that your application is likely to be rejected prior to the interview stage should you fail an eligibility criterion assessed at longlisting. Please refer to the person specification for full details of entry criteria.

Your application will be longlisted against the entry criteria as outlined on the person specification. Please be advised there have been some changes to MRCS. Applicants must have successful completion of MRCS examination by offer date. Please be aware that applicants may still be withdrawn from the application process at any stage if found to be ineligible to apply even if an offer has been made.

All applicants applying to specialty training are required to have essential competences or equivalent depending on the level they are applying for. For more information on competences please refer to the national Plastic Surgery ST3 person specification.

Fitness to Practise

Any candidate who answers yes to one or more of the questions in the Fitness to Practise section of the application form, must complete the Fitness to Practise (FTP) declaration form providing further details regarding their affirmative/positive answer.

Please refer to the guidance and relevant forms which can be found within our applicant support portal.

Further information on how to request a deferred start date or training less than full time (LTFT) can be found in the 2025 Applicant Handbook on Oriel.