UK CT1 Anaesthetics and ACCS: 2026 dates, format and scoring
Round 1 applications open in early November and close in early December on Oriel. Interviews run in February, online on the Qpercom platform, with invitations in January.
Updated 27 October 2026
- When to apply
- Round 1 applications open in early November and close in early December on Oriel.
- Round 2, where run, opens in late spring.
- When interviews run
- Interviews run in February, online on the Qpercom platform, with invitations in January.
- Offers are released in March.
- The format
- Two online stations of fifteen minutes each, about fifty minutes in total including identity checks.
- Clinical judgement station: a scenario given five minutes before with notes allowed, pitched at FY2 level. General interview station: training to date, commitment, teams and leadership, and the NHS as it affects the specialty.
- Who is on the panel
- Two assessors per station, scoring independently with a global rating.
- How it is scored
- Total score out of 100, with 60 required to be appointable.
- Domains: clinical judgement and decision making, reflective practice, working under pressure, professional behaviour and communication, teamwork, commitment to specialty. A veto applies for unsafe or unprofessional answers.
- What to prepare
- The five minute planning routine for the clinical scenario: problem, actions, SBAR, worsening, reflection.
- The ten acute scenarios at FY2 level with escalation and reflection.
- Evidence of commitment to anaesthetics or ACCS with what each item taught you.
- Three NHS pressures linked to anaesthetics and theatres.