Interviews

Preparing for your interview.

Interview booking and interview process

You will need to book an interview slot using your Oriel account. Slots are offered on a first come first served basis and will need to be booked by the deadline stated in the invitation to interview. Upon logging in to your Oriel account you will be able to access the remaining vacant slots to make your choice.

All interviews will be undertaken online using QPERCOM Video Platform between Tuesday 10 February and Wednesday 11 February 2026.

At the time of application submission, you will have agreed to complying with the 2026 Applicant declaration. The Declaration also contains a list of vital steps you must undertake before the day of interview.

Before the interview

As soon as the link to join the online interview has been received, you should ensure that you test this from the device you plan to use for your interview as you may need to source an alternative device to ensure connectivity. If you are unable to connect, you should contact the recruitment team at the earliest opportunity.  When testing the link, you should reach a screen that states that the host will commence the meeting shortly or similar wording. If you are unable to connect directly from the link, try pasting the URL link into the browser, or try using an incognito browser. 

Interview day

On the day of the interview, you should click on the link and join the call 5 minutes prior to your allocated time. Before the interview commences, you will be briefed on the interview process and will be required to confirm your identity (ID) with the interview administrator. It is therefore important that you have suitable photographic ID available (passport or UK photo driving license). You will also be required to move your camera to show the entire room where you are undertaking the interview, to confirm that nobody else is present. Once identity has been confirmed, the administrator will advise the interview panel that the interview process can commence.

You should ensure that your camera and microphone are turned on and working correctly prior to joining the call. Interviews will be terminated if the panel cannot see you.

The interview must not be recorded by either the applicant, the administrator or the panel members.

On completion of the interview, you should terminate the connection to the call and the interview process is complete.

Interviews

Further information on how to book an interview slot can be found in Oriel Applicant User Guide. You can book a slot subject to availability. Interview centre dates and venue information are available on the timeline above. Once you book a slot, you will receive an email confirming your booking and will be able to see details of this in your Oriel account.

If you encounter any difficulty booking your interview slot, please contact us via the applicant support portal as soon as possible and before the deadline.

In the event you are not able to attend your interview at the scheduled date/time, you should cancel the booking via Oriel as soon as possible. If you no longer wish your application to be considered, you should also withdraw your application on Oriel. This may allow your interview place to be offered to another candidate.

Interview format

The interview will consist of one 30-minute interview station with multiple panel members and possibly a lay representative with 3 sections. There is no break in between the questions, and they are asked by the panel members conducting the interview. The three sections will be completed in the following order and contain the following components:

OSCE  and communications (10 minutes)

• OSCE - Consent (5 minutes)
• OSCE  - Communication (5 minutes)

Clinical Scenario (10 minutes)

• Within the station you will be made aware of two clinical scenarios for discussion.

Structured interview (10 minutes)

Within the station you will be asked 2 or 3 questions for discussion.

Scoring

The scoring range for all sections is as follows.

• 0 - No evidence
• 1 - Poor
• 2 - Below average
• 3 - Average
• 4 - Good
• 5 - Outstanding 

OCSE – Consent (Criterion)

• Operative environment and anaesthesia
• Operative technique
• Postoperative regime
• Risks and complications
• Overall communication

OCSE – Communication (Criterion)

• Introduction
• History
• Examination
• Investigations planned
• Management plan

Clinical scenario

2 cases will be discussed in this station, the same criteria will be used to score.

• 0 - No evidence
• 1 - Poor
• 2 - Below average
• 3 - Average
• 4 - Good
• 5 - Outstanding 

Structured interview

2 or 3 questions in this station, the following criteria will be used to score:

• 0 - No evidence
• 1 - Poor
• 2 - Below average
• 3 - Average
• 4 - Good
• 5 - Outstanding

Preferences

Eligible applicants will be invited to preference available posts on Oriel prior to offers being made. The preferencing window will be confirmed in an email from the recruitment team. For guidance on how to rank/submit your preferences please refer to the Oriel Applicant User Guide.

When selecting your preferences it is important to think carefully about which programme preferences you wish to be considered for. If you do not wish to accept a Locum Appointment for Training post, please do not select this as part of your programme preferences.

By ranking a preference, you are stating that you would be prepared to undertake a training programme in that area. You should only preference or accept posts you are able to commence training in.

Offers to training programmes or post are made in rank order along with the preferences made by applicants to determine which offer, if any, they receive. Offers will continue to be recycled up until the upgrade deadline.

After the upgrade deadline, any vacant posts submitted will be offered to the next eligible applicant who has preferenced the post and who has not yet received an offer.

Any late post submissions will not be offered to applicants who have already accepted/declined a post. This includes situations whereby an applicant has accepted a Locum Appointment for Training post and an NTN post becomes available. You are advised to consider this when making your programme preferences.

Guidance on preferencing

Please read the following carefully before ranking your posts on Oriel.

Eligible applicants will be invited to preference available posts prior to offers being made. You are strongly advised to rank only posts you would be willing to accept. Under the current system, National Training Number (NTN) posts may continue to be released until the next application cycle, including after the upgrade deadline on Thursday 23 April 2026.

Locum Appointment for Training (LAT) posts

If you accept a LAT post with the option for upgrades, you will remain eligible for any higher-ranked posts that become available (due to rejection by a higher-ranked candidate) until Thursday 23 April 2026.

However, accepting a LAT post means you will not be eligible for any posts (including a NTN) released after Thursday 23 April 2026.

Posts released after Thursday 23 April 2026

If you have accepted an NTN post before this deadline, you will not be eligible for any NTN posts released after Thursday 23 April 2026.

Example

A candidate ranked third nationally selects London as their first preference and Birmingham first and second, the candidate will be only offered Birmingham to accept before Thursday 23 April 2026. If a London NTN becomes available in June, it will be allocated to a lower-ranked candidate. The original candidate will not be eligible for this newly released post.

Ranking, outcomes

Your ranking will be based on your total score after adding up weighted interview station and portfolio scores (see below for the current weighting of each section). Only applicants whose total score is above an agreed minimum will be eligible to be appointed to an ST3 post.

Following interview and ranking, applicants will either be deemed appointable or unappointable and will be informed of this via Oriel.

Appointable applicants will be invited to preference available posts on Oriel prior to offers being made. The preferencing window will be confirmed in an email from the recruitment team. For guidance on how to rank/submit your preferences please refer to the Oriel Applicant User Guide.

Station     

Structured interview

Contribution to final weighted score (%) - 25

Clinical scenario

Contribution to final weighted score (%) - 25 

OSCE

Contribution to final weighted score (%) - 30

Portfolio

Contribution to final weighted score (%) - 20

Offers, references and scoresheet

Offers will be made to successful candidates based on their interview scores/rank and availability of programme preferences selected. The first ranked candidate will be offered their first preference. Following initial offers being released, further offers will be made in subsequent iterations until there are no appointable candidates to offer to. 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.

Reference reports are not used at eligibility checking or at the selection centre but will be reviewed by the perspective employing Trust after offers have been made and prior to confirmation of appointment for successful applicants. This will only be requested electronically via Oriel when an offer has been accepted. Guidance on completing references is available via the Oriel resource bank.

Scoresheets will be released to all applicants (date to be confirmed). Therefore, you do not need to request your scoresheets after interview.

Allocation

Once offers has been accepted, appointee’s details will be passed on to the local training boards/programme director around 14 weeks prior to your start date and to the first Trust you have been appointed to 12 weeks prior to your start date. Therefore, you should not expect to receive any communication prior to this time.

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