Specialty training interviews in the United Kingdom
The questions specialty training panels ask, in the published formats of each programme, ranked by how often candidates report them, with the criteria panels score against.
Specialty Training Interview Questions, ranked, with guidanceHot topics this round
Which interview is yours?
Interviews Jan to Feb
UK CT1 Anaesthetics and ACCSThe candidate knows exactly how to manage the acute scenario and opens with the treatment. The panel is not marking the treatment. It is marking whether you went to see the patient, assessed, treated as you went, escalated with a clear request and said what you would reflect on. The content is fine. The structure is poor, so the answer is poor.
Interviews Jan to Feb
UK Internal Medicine TrainingThe candidate can manage the acute medical take in their sleep and loses marks on the shape: the scenario answered without the resuscitation, the handover that repeats the whole answer instead of saying what the registrar should do, the two minute presentation that is a CV read aloud. The content is fine. The structure is poor, so the answer is poor.
Interviews Jan to Feb
UK Core Surgical TrainingThe candidate knows the acute surgical scenario and describes the operation; the panel is scoring the resuscitation, the escalation and the SHO who knows their limits. The three minute presentation is a list of achievements with no argument. The portfolio answers have no result in them. The content is fine. The structure is poor, so the answer is poor.
Interviews Jan to Feb
UK ST1 PaediatricsThe candidate knows the sick child and gives the management without the assessment that comes first, explains to the parent before listening to them, and confronts the parents in the safeguarding scenario. The content is fine. The structure is poor, so the answer is poor.
Interviews Feb to Mar
UK ST4 AnaestheticsThe candidate can run the acute scenario in their sleep and tells it to the panel as a story with the decision missing. The panel scores the decision, the order and the aftermath. The content is fine. The structure is poor, so the answer is poor.
Interviews Feb to Mar
UK ST3 MedicineThe candidate can lead the take and answers the clinical station like an SHO: assesses thoroughly, then phones the consultant to be told what to do. The panel scores the decision, the prioritisation across the department and the conversation with the family, and hears none of them. The content is fine. The structure is poor, so the answer is poor.
Interviews Feb to Mar
UK ST3 SurgeryThe candidate can be the registrar on call and answers every scenario by asking the consultant what to do. The panel scores the decision to operate, the decision not to, and the complication owned. The content is fine. The structure is poor, so the answer is poor.
Interviews Feb to Mar
UK ST3 Emergency Medicine and PaediatricsThe candidate knows the resus and the sick child and tells the panel the treatment before the assessment, describes what they would say to the mother instead of saying it, and answers the overcrowded department as a clinical problem when it is a leadership one. The content is fine. The structure is poor, so the answer is poor.