The dates when shortlisting is completed will vary depnding on the specialty. The specialties using the cascadable application model have a defined period when this will be which is published on the timeline section of the website. The timeline for other specialties will vary but will a minimum of seven days' notice before their interview date.
All candidates will receive emailed confirmation whether or not they have been shortlisted and for cascadable application specialties at which of their regional choices.
Following this the speed with which invitations are sent can vary. However, where possible, all candidates will be given a minimum of seven days' notice before their intercview date.
Interview dates are published to each specialty's page.
Please be aware that upon receiving an invitation to interview, there will be a stated deadline by which you must book your interview slot, otherwise the invitation will be withdrawn.
This varies depending on which recruitment model your chosen specialty you are using, and whether you are applying to round 1 or round 2:
Cascadable specialties
For cascadable specialties, all eligible candidates are ranked nationally, and then, if possible, allocated to a regional preference in rank order - so the highest-scoring applicant will be allocated to their first-choice region (or lead region if within a cluster), then the second highest-scoring applicant, and so on.
At some point during this process, it may be the case that a candidate comes to be allocated, but the region they have selected as first-choice preference has filled its interview capacity with higher-scoring applicants.
In this instance, this candidate will then be invited to interview at their second-choice region instead; unless that region is also 'full' of higher-scoring applicants, in which case, the candidate will be invited to interview at their third-choice; and so on.
Interviews will be held within the region to which you are allocated.
Single transferable score specialties
For single transferable score specialties all eligible candidates will apply for posts nationally, however you will be given the option of a number of different venues at which you can book your interview. The region/slots will be filled on a first come first served basis.
National specialties/Round 2
Interviews are held in one regional centre and shortlisted candidates will be invited to choose their preferred slot, subject to availability.
For more information on recruitment models and regional centres please see the 'planning your application' and 'interview dates & posts' sections of the relevant specialty page.
While we recognise this is unfortunate, in most cases it is not possible for any action to be taken. However, if you are applying for a cascadable specialty and believe exceptional circumstances are present in your case, please contact the PSRO to detail your situation, and this will be reviewed. It is possible in approved cases for you to be interviewed at an alternative region with your scores transferred back to your shortlisted region for consideration of offers.
Approval will depend on whether your circumstances are considered exceptional and if a change can be arranged.
You should contact us as soon as possible after you aware of the issue to increase the possibility that a change of interview region can be organised. However, it must be stressed that such changes are only approved in certain circumstances and you may be required to provide evidence of your circumstances.
Please note as there is only one interview centre for each national specialty it is not possible to be interviewed in another region in this case.
Pre-interview, all candidates are ranked on the basis of their score at shortlisting. The shortlisting assessment is based upon the answers given on your application form.
If you have applied to a specialty using the cascadable application recruitment model, if you do not score highly enough to be allocated an interview place at your first-choice preference region, your application will be cascaded to one of your other preferences (assuming you have selected more than one preference).
For national and single transferable score specialties, if you do not score highly enough to be offered a place at the interview centre(s) it will not be possible for you to be interviewed in this round of recruitment.
Your Oriel pin is the second-to-last number of the Application ID (discounting the zeroes at the start), for example in the full application ID given below, the PIN would be 2368.
PSRO-CT1/17-18/PWY/0091644987/CMT-1-R1R/000000 2368 /00001
Your Oriel PIN is also located in the summary section of your Oriel Dashboard in the top left hand corner.
You will not need to bring your full portfolio, but you will need to bring documents that back up any claims you have made on your application form. Claims made on the application form which are not backed up with appropriate evidence are taken extremely seriously and may lead to an application being rejected or even reported to the GMC.
It is important that you record all pieces of evidence in your Evidence Folder on the Evidence Summary Form (ESF) at the front of the folder.
Additionally, you will need to bring various pieces of documentation that prove your eligibility for an ST3 post.
In the event that your interviewing region require any additional documentation from you, they will make you aware of this in advance of the interview.
There are very specific requirements for the documentation to bring and how it should be presented; please see the interview preparation page of this website for more details.
Once you have booked your interview slot, up until the booking deadline, you can change your slot via your Oriel account to any not already taken by another candidate. If it is after the booking deadline you should contact your interviewing region to discuss possibilities, however, there is no guarantee that you will be able to change slot.
If you are unable to attend on the given date and time, and it is not possible to change your timeslot, you should withdraw your application as soon as possible so the interviewing region are aware of this.
Please note that if you do not attend the interview, your application cannot progress further.
If the date and time clashes with an interview or assessment for another specialty, you will be expected to confirm which you will attend.
The policy on refunding travelling expenses varies so you are advised to contact the region who will be conducting your interview. Contact details can be found on the region contacts page of this website.
Where expenses are paid this is normally 'reasonable travelling expenses'. You will be given information about how to claim when you attend.
For doctors attending from overseas, expenses will normally be paid only for travel from point of entry into the UK.
In all cases, payment of travel expenses will be solely at the discretion of the region in question.
Whilst it is natural that candidates may wish to discuss their experiences at interview with their colleagues, you must not share detailed information about the interview beyond that which is publicly available (ie which is available from this website) - specifically, the content and format of questions asked. Ultimately, this may reduce your own chances of success and is unfair to all other candidates.
That being said, interview assessments are competency-based, and there is published evidence demonstrating that prior knowledge of the content and context of assessment does not positively affect performance.
Individual questions are also changed regularly at each interview centre and candidates are advised against altering their behaviour based on the advice of other candidates.
A specialty/region can begin making offers to candidates once their interviews have been completed, all scores have been compiled and verified, and the closing date for programme preferences has passed.
The exact timing of when offers will start for your specialty/region will vary depending on a variety of factors.
Offers will be made at some point after programme preferences have closed and no later than the first offers deadline; this can be found on the recruitment timeline.This will depend on the recommendation made on your psychological assessment. However, where extra time is recommended this will be given. In most cases recommendations are for an extra 25% for reading.
All ST3 interviews include one or more stations where consideration of a scenario is required.
Prior to arrival at a station, candidates will be given a short piece of information (usually two/three sentences at most) on a medical situation, and asked to consider this for 3-5 minutes prior to entering the station, whereupon they and the station's interviewers will discuss this 'scenario'.
During the transfer time before moving to the station, you will be asked to review this information, and to consider the case (diagnosis, treatment, etc.), which will then be discussed upon your arrival at the relevant station.
The standard time for scenario consideration is five minutes; therefore the time would be adjusted to six minutes 15 seconds.
The exact adjustments will depend on: the recommendation, whether it can be considered a reasonable adjustment and documentary evidence of your circumstances.
NB - for adjustments to be made, candidates will need to provide evidence of their psychological assessment recommending the additional time to the recruitment team managing their application. A copy should be emailed, ahead of interviews, to the relevant region.
Whilst it is unusual for something to go wrong at interview, it is very important that if something does you raise it on the day, before you leave the centre. This will give the best possible chance to investigate and resolve the issue.
If you do not raise it on the day you should email st3medrecruitment@hee.nhs.uk as soon as possible after the interview. Unfortunately it may not be possible to do anything but the earlier you raise it the better; you should not wait until offers are made.