Interview FAQs

No - not in the same recruitment round. CT1 recruitment operates a single application and interview system to increase the chances of all candidates being interviewed; in round 1 in 2010 and 2011, 100% of eligible applicants were invited to interview.

Once the submission deadline for CT1 applications has passed, and all CT1 applications have been received, the applications will first be long-listed - ie checked for eligibility - and then scored on the basis of the answers you have given and the options you have selected on your application form.

Following this, all (eligible) applicants will be ranked nationally, and then invited to interview in order - so the highest-scoring applicant will be invited to interview at his/her first-choice deanery, 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 invited to interview, but the deanery that s/he has selected as first-choice preference has filled its finite interview capacity with higher-scoring applicants. In this instance, this candidate will then be invited to interview at his/her second-choice deanery; unless that deanery is also 'full' of higher-scoring applicants, in which case this candidate will then be invited to interview at their third-choice deanery, and so on.

All candidates were ranked on the basis of their score at short-listing. The short-listing assessment was made based upon the answers you gave on your application form.

Although you achieved the minimum acceptable standard, you were not ranked high enough to be allocated an interview place at your first-choice deanery/UoA; and so your application will have then been cascaded to one of your other preferences (should you have selected more than one preference).

Please note that you can only be interviewed - and subsequently offered a post - by this deanery/UoA; your scores will not be transferred back to your first-choice deanery/UoA preference.

Candidates will be invited to interview once the processes of long- and short-listing of applications has been completed. This will take place between the close of applications and the beginning of interviews - please see the calendar page of this website for details on dates.

Once your application has progressed successfully through long-listing - ie it has been found to meet all the necessary eligibility criteria; has been short-listed - ie scored on the basis of its content; then if your application has scored highly enough to progress to the interview stage at one of your deanery/UoA preferences, you will receive an invitation to book a place at interview.

Invitations will be sent via email, so please keep checking your inbox and your application portal. If you have any concerns, please contact the deanery/UoA you have specified as first choice. (deanery/UoA contact email addresses can be found on the deanery/UoA contacts page of this website.)

Within deaneries/UoAs, there is likely to be some variation in the time at which interview invitations are circulated to candidates; based on local circumstances within each deaneries/UoAs.

Once invited, candidates will have some time to act on these invitations, by booking themselves into an interview slot. Where possible, deaneries/UoAs will give candidates at least five days' notice of their invitation to interview, although this cannot be guaranteed in all cases.

Please be aware that if you do not reply to your invitation within the time specified in the email, it may be considered that you have withdrawn your application.

The exact dates of interview will vary between deaneries/UoAs; the dates on which each deanery/UoA will be holding CT1 interviews will be published on the interview dates page of this website as and when they are determined.

Should you have any queries relating to the scheduling of interviews within a particular deanery/UoA, we would advise contacting that particular deanery/UoA directly - see the deanery/UoA contacts page of this website for contact details.

The interview itself will last 45 minutes in total (approximately), and be divided into three sections, which will be undertaken in any order. Each section will last 10 minutes, with five minutes preparation & transfer time between each.

During the assessment there will be questions that test your clinical skills, communication skills, professionalism, decision-making skills, and general knowledge of governance within the NHS.

There will also be discussion of your application form, achievements, skills, experience and career aims.

Previous experience in CMT and/or ACCS-AM is not required for application to CT1 posts, and so questions will reflect generic competences that you would be expected to have.

At the interview, there is a standard scoring system which will be used to present an overall score for the assessment centre. This will then be added to the score awarded to your application form - with the two scores being weighted appropriately - to decide who is appointable, in rank order. All participating deaneries/UoAs will use the same scoring system.

For more information on the content and format of the interview, please see the interview page of this website.

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 - such as evidence of your qualifications, audit, publications, prizes, etc. Please see the information on 'Eligibility' and 'Evidence' folders on the interview page of this website for more details.

In the event that your interviewing deanery/UoA require any additional documentation from you, they will make you aware of this in advance of the interview.

It is necessary for each claim made on your application form - be it an article published, audit undertaken, course attended, etc. - to be backed up by a piece of evidence in your Evidence Folder. Claims made on the application form which are not backed up appropriate evidence are taken extremely seriously and may lead to an application being rejected or even reported to the GMC.

In many cases this piece of evidence may be a 'summary' of a larger document - for instance, if you state on your application form that you have had an article published, the executive summary will suffice as evidence of this - it is not necessary to bring the whole article.

The method by which larger pieces of evidence are summarised is at your discretion; if you wish to verify the suitability of a particular piece in advance of your interview, please contact your interviewing deanery.

No, not of all documentation. Where you are providing evidence regarding your eligibility and identification - such as by providing FACD certificates, visas, passports, driving licences, utility bills, etc. - it is necessary for you to take to interview the original versions of all documents, as well as two photocopies of each document - these photocopies will be retained by the deanery.

However, this is the only documentation where photocopies are required. For evidence being provided to back up and 'prove' achievements, qualifications, etc. you have listed on your application form - such as attendance at training courses, prizes, audits, etc. - it is necessary to include one piece of documentation in the Evidence Folder for each claim made on your application form, but no photocopies of this evidence are required.

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. Interviewers will use the ESF to verify all evidence listed is present; and will then retain this post-interview and return the Evidence Folder and its contents to you.

If you are invited to interview, you will be required to bring certain documentation to demonstrate your eligibility. You will need to provide either:

• Two forms of photographic information, and one document confirming your address;
• Or one form of photographic information, and two documents confirming your address.

The most appropriate documents to use to confirm your address would be recent utility bills and/or bank/building society statements.

Acceptable forms of photographic personal information include:

• Current UK (inc. Channel Islands & Isle of Man) or Irish passport; or EU/other nationalities passport
• Passports of non-EU nationals, containing UK stamps, a visa or UK residence permit showing the immigration status of the holder in the UK
• A current UK photocard driving licence
• A national ID card and/or other valid documentation relating to immigration status and permission to work.

In most cases, deaneries/UoAs will contact your referees directly; this is the 'default' option. Deaneries/UoAs may contact you if they experience any difficulty in contacting referees.

Some deaneries/UoAs will ask candidates to bring referee information with them to the interview; a sample reference form will be made available from the downloads section of this site. If your interviewing deanery/UoA has not notified you otherwise, you will not need to take any action to provide references. However, do please check all correspondence carefully to make sure that you bring all the correct documentation to interview.

Once you have booked your interview slot, please note that it is not usually possible for an alternative date or time to be arranged. If you are unable to attend on the given date and time, please inform the interviewing deanery/UoA so that you can make alternative arrangements if possible, and also so that the original slot can be offered to another candidate.

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.

Please also do bear in mind your fellow applicants here. If you decide that you do not wish to attend an interview for which you have already booked a slot, please notify the deanery/UoA as soon as possible, so that the interview slot can be offered to someone else who has not yet been invited.

Reasonable travelling expenses my be paid for attending interview. 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.

If you have any queries regarding expenses, please contact the deanery/UoA at which your interview is being/was held. Contact details can be found on the deanery/UoA contacts page of this website.

In all cases, payment of travel expenses will be solely at the discretion of the deanery/UoA in question.

Obviously, candidates will wish to discuss their experiences at interview with their colleagues, as is natural.

However, 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.

However, the assessments therein 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 assessment centre, and we would counsel candidates against altering their behaviour based on the advice of other candidates.

To be eligible for the Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS) you must have a disability or long-term health condition that is expected to last for at least 12 months and which puts you at a significant disadvantage in either obtaining or keeping jobs. You do not have to be registered as a disabled person to apply under this scheme.

Those candidates who are eligible for the GIS (and eligible for CT1) will be invited to attend interview automatically.

For more information, please see the Eligibility Act 2010.