CT1 recruitment 2015

Applicants guide (round 1)

Version 1.0
Published 28 October 2014

Version control
Version

Publication date

Amendments

1.0

28 October 2014

(original)

Coordinated medical recruitment

In 2008, a specialty recruitment office (SRO) was set up at the Royal College of Physicians of London, working
with the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB), with the intention of designing and
managing a national process of recruitment to UK medical training vacancies.
Since then, the success of the project has seen it grow to include all four UK nations, 21
specialties/programmes (at present), with long and short-term posts included across two separate levels of
training.
In 2015, JRCPTB-SRO-coordinated recruitment to CT1-level posts will enter its eighth year.

Applicants guide and further information

This applicants guide is intended to act as a summary brief of the application and recruitment process. More
detailed information can be found on the CT1 recruitment website at www.CT1recruitment.org.uk.
Should you have any queries or comments relating to the CT1 recruitment process, please direct these to our
recruitment helpdesk via email at CT1recruitment@jrcptb.org.uk.

Disclaimers

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the regions to which you apply to judge your eligibility and
suitability for an offer of a training post; this will be based on the information you supply to them,
along with the manner in which you perform during the recruitment process.

The coordinated recruitment process described within this guide refers and applies only to first year
(CT1) posts. Recruitment to second-year (CT2) posts is not carried out via the JRCPTB-SRO
recruitment process in 2015; regions may undertake CT2 recruitment at a local level.

While the information in this guide may be considered appropriate/applicable to other specialties
application/recruitment processes, we must stress this is not intended to be a guide to anything
other than recruitment to CT1 posts in ACCS-AM/CMT programmes.

Candidates wishing to apply to other specialties should seek information from the appropriate bodies
managing recruitment to those specialties.

Some of the content in this guide makes reference to, or reproduces content from the NHS Specialty
Training Applicant Handbook 2015, produced by Health Education England (HEE) in conjunction with
the devolved UK nations.

Otherwise, the content of this guide is solely the work of the JRCPTB-SRO. Thus full citation and
credit should be given wherever any section or part of this document is re-printed or used
elsewhere.

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | i

Table of contents
1

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1

Timeline ................................................................................................................................ 1

Before applying ..................................................................................................................... 2

3.1

Consider the eligibility/entry criteria ................................................................................................... 2

3.2

Review all available information .......................................................................................................... 2

Applying to CT1 ..................................................................................................................... 3

4.1

The Oriel application system ................................................................................................................ 3

4.2

Account creation/registration.............................................................................................................. 3

4.3

Applicant registration........................................................................................................................... 4

4.4

The application form ............................................................................................................................ 5

4.4.1

The Evidence page ........................................................................................................................................... 5

4.4.2

Region preferences .......................................................................................................................................... 7

4.5

After applying........................................................................................................................ 8
5.1

Post-submission ................................................................................................................................... 8

5.2

Long-listing ........................................................................................................................................... 8

5.3

Short-listing .......................................................................................................................................... 8

5.4

Invitation to interview.......................................................................................................................... 9

5.4.1

5.5

Submitting your application ................................................................................................................. 7

Booking an interview slot ................................................................................................................................ 9

Post preferences ................................................................................................................................ 10

The CT1 interview ................................................................................................................ 11

6.1

Travel.................................................................................................................................................. 11

6.2

Dress code .......................................................................................................................................... 11

6.3

Interview documentation .................................................................................................................. 11

6.3.1

The eligibility folder ....................................................................................................................................... 11

6.3.2

The evidence folder ....................................................................................................................................... 12

6.3.3

Remove patient-identifiable information ...................................................................................................... 12

6.4

Interview structure & format ............................................................................................................. 13

6.5

Interview content ............................................................................................................................... 13

6.5.1

Station 1 ......................................................................................................................................................... 13

6.5.2

Station 2 ......................................................................................................................................................... 13

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | ii

6.5.3

Station 3 ......................................................................................................................................................... 13

6.5.4

Dyslexia adjustment ...................................................................................................................................... 14

6.6

Scoring & assessment ........................................................................................................................ 14

6.6.1

Scoring framework......................................................................................................................................... 14

6.6.2

Appointability status ...................................................................................................................................... 15

6.6.3

The overall assessment score ........................................................................................................................ 15

6.7

After the interview ............................................................................................................................. 16

Offers .................................................................................................................................. 17
7.1

Ranking ............................................................................................................................................... 17

7.2

Making offers ..................................................................................................................................... 17

7.3

Receiving offers .................................................................................................................................. 17

7.4

Responding to offers .......................................................................................................................... 18

7.4.1

Accept ............................................................................................................................................................ 18

7.4.2

Reject ............................................................................................................................................................. 18

7.4.3

Hold ............................................................................................................................................................... 18

7.4.4

Upgrades ........................................................................................................................................................ 19

7.5

Timing of offers .................................................................................................................................. 19

7.6

References.......................................................................................................................................... 20

7.7

Employment ....................................................................................................................................... 20

Clearing ............................................................................................................................... 20

Future recruitment .............................................................................................................. 21

9.1

2015 round 2 ...................................................................................................................................... 21

9.2

2016 recruitment ............................................................................................................................... 21

10

Finally .............................................................................................................................. 22

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | iii

1 Introduction
Welcome to the 2015 CT1 applicants guide!
This document is designed to give an overview of the process by which candidates apply to, are assessed for,
and are appointed to CT1-level training posts in the programmes of acute care common stem: acute
medicine (ACCS-AM) and core medical training (CMT) in 2015.
Glossary
We have attempted to keep this guide as free from jargon and un-expanded acronyms as is possible, but in
some instances this cannot be avoided.
Therefore, we have added a glossary page to our website, expanding on and explaining many of the common
terms used in CT1 recruitment: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/about-ct1/glossary.html
UK time
Wherever this guide refers to a time of day, this will be in 12-hr clock format, with am/pm specified, and will
reflect the time in the UK.
For the majority of this recruitment round, UK time will be aligned with GMT (UTC); as daylight savings time
for 2014 ended in October, and is not applied in 2015 until 29 March.

2 Timeline
The table below gives the key dates in round 1 of 2015 CT1 recruitment:
Event

Date

Advertisements published

(by) Thursday 6 November 2014

Applications open

Tuesday 11 November 2014, 10am

Applications close

Thursday 4 December 2014, 4pm

Interviews held

Monday 19 January Wednesday 11 March 2015

Initial offers made

(by) Thursday 12 March 2015, 5pm

Offer holding deadline

Thursday 19 March 2015, 1pm

Offer upgrade deadline

Thursday 26 March 2015, 4pm

National clearing

(from) Monday 30 March 2015

Post start date

Wednesday 5 August 2015

To view the full 2015 CT1 recruitment round 1 timeline, please visit our website:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/dates-posts
Each of these stages will be examined further in this guide, as well as on our website.
CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 1

3 Before applying
While you will doubtless be keen to begin applying as soon as you can, there are a couple of steps we would
strongly advise you to consider before you first access the application system.

3.1 Consider the eligibility/entry criteria

Newly-updated person specifications have been published for 2015 for both the ACCS-AM and CMT
programmes, listing all the entry and selection criteria which must be met for a candidate to progress to a
CT1 training post.
All person specifications for 2015 have been published to the NHS medical specialty training website at this
link: http://specialtytraining.hee.nhs.uk/specialty-recruitment/person-specifications-2013/2015-personspecifications/
(Medical specialties are listed about halfway down the page.)
The entry criteria listed within each person specification are those which must be met for you to progress
through the main stages of the recruitment process.
We have published to our website a section dedicated to examining all these criteria, as well as giving
guidance on how to demonstrate you meet each of them: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/am-i-eligible

3.2 Review all available information

It is likely you will already know which of the two available programmes you wish to apply to, as well as
having an initial preference for a choice of the 16 UK regions, and have sought further information as need
be.
However, we would still advise you to review the information at the sources below in particular the
information on vacancy numbers and interview dates.

About ACCS: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/about-ct1/about-accs.html

About CMT: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/about-ct1/about-cmt.html

Data from previous rounds/years: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/about-ct1/previous-yearsdata.html

Regions: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/regions-uoas

Post vacancy numbers: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/dates-posts/post-numbers-interviewdates.html

Interview dates: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/dates-posts/post-numbers-interview-dates.html

We have published some summary information on the general recruitment process to our website at this
link: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/how-do-i-apply

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 2

4 Applying to CT1
Preparation aside, the first main stage of the recruitment process requires you to complete and submit a CT1
application form. For the first time, in 2015 this will be done via the Oriel application system.

4.1 The Oriel application system

From 2014-15 onwards, all recruitment to specialty training programmes at CT1/ST1-level and above will
involve applications completed, submitted and assessed via Oriel a single online application system which
can be used by recruitment offices and regions to manage all stages of the recruitment process.
The system can be accessed online at https://www.oriel.nhs.uk.
Oriel homepage
Upon accessing the system for the first time, you will see a number of options in the top bar (home, sign-in,
vacancies, etc.). These are examined further on the page of our website dedicated to the Oriel system, which
can be found here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-application-form/the-oriel-application-system.html
Of the options near the bottom of the screen, the sign-in option is fairly self-explanatory used to log back
in once your account has been created; applicant user guide is a handbook designed specifically to give
guidance on use of the Oriel system; while the third option is examined below:

4.2 Account creation/registration

The first time you come to the Oriel system, click on the account registration option; this will allow you to
create a personal account on the system, from which you can progress through the application/recruitment
process.
This stage is relatively short; after clicking this option, you will come to the account credentials screen,
where you will be asked to input your name and some contact details.
Email address & password
You will also be asked to give an email address here. Partly, this will act as your username; but this will also
be the primary method of communication between you and all other parties in CT1 recruitment.
As such, it is crucial you register using the address of an email account to which you have regular and easy
access, so that all such communications will be received in good time.
The requirements for the password you are asked to nominate are that it must be at least eight characters in
length, contain upper and lower case letters, as well as at least one numeric character.
More information on creating your account can be found on our website:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-application-form/the-oriel-application-system.html
Confirmation email
After completing this stage of registration, you will be sent an automatic email to confirm your account has
been created. Typically this will be within five minutes of registering, but should not take more than an hour
to arrive.
Should you not receive the email within this time, please check your spam/junk folders; if it is not located
there, please contact the JRCPTB-SRO via email at CT1recruitment@jrcptb.org.uk. As noted above, it is vital
your email account is able to receive Oriel communications promptly.
CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 3

4.3 Applicant registration

Once your account is registered, confirmation email has been received and you can log in to the system, the
next stage is applicant registration.
Here, you can add further information to your account which will be required in any applications you make,
such as employment history, GMC status, qualifications gained, etc. This is your core information, and,
should you apply, will be used in applications to other specialties eg GP, core surgery, core psychiatry, etc.
Registration open
To complete this stage of the process, you do not need to wait until the official application opening date; you
can create your account and begin registering your applicant information right now, should you so wish.
Information added to new applications
Once you have added information to your account under the applicant registration section, it will be added
automatically into the corresponding fields of any application you begin subsequently; so as to save this
being re-added each time you begin an application.
Added only at time of beginning a new application
An important point to note is that this transfer of information only takes place at the time you begin a new
application, and only goes one way. So if you complete applicant registration, and then open a new
application, the information will be transferred into your new application.
However, if you open an application first, before you have added any data to the applicant registration
section, the application form will be blank; completing the applicant registration section afterwards will not
have any impact on the blank application either.
Similarly, entering data onto an application form will not have any effect on the applicant registration
information.
Therefore, we would advise you to complete applicant registration in full before you look to begin an
application.
Applicant registration is optional
It is not mandatory to complete applicant registration; if you wish, you can just go straight to the application
and simply add all your information there.
However we strongly advise you to complete the applicant registration stage. Obviously, if you are
intending to complete more than one application, this will save you a substantial amount of time and effort,
as you will only need to input this information once.
Even if you intend only to complete one application, we would still advice completing applicant registration.
You will still only need to input the information once, and so this will not require any additional work; plus
the information can be retained for use in subsequent rounds (eg 2015 round 2) should it be required.
Further information
More details on applicant registration can be found on our website at this link:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-application-form/the-oriel-application-system.html

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 4

4.4 The application form

Once you have created your account, registered information therein to your satisfaction, and the opening
date (11 November 2014, 10am) has passed, you are ready to begin an application form.
Log in to Oriel and access the Vacancies tab; this will then bring up a list of all specialty vacancies available in
the current recruitment period.
ACCS-AM vs CMT?
As you will be aware, the CT1 recruitment process coordinated by the JRCPTB-SRO is a single recruitment
process, coordinating recruitment jointly to CT1 posts in the training programmes of ACCS-AM and CMT.
However, so as to avoid confusion for candidates seeking CT1 posts in other programmes, we have labelled
our vacancy as CMT, as this represents the majority of posts available in this process.
Therefore, please locate and choose the Core medical training vacancy to apply to even if you will
ultimately be seeking a CT1 post in ACCS-AM.
We will also add an empty ACCS-AM vacancy on the system, so as to advise applicants of this.
Once you find the CMT vacancy, click on it; this will reveal further information on the programme, posts, etc.
To begin an application, as implied click the Apply here button to the right of the vacancy screen.
Application pages
Once in the application form, you will see this consists of nine different sections, each examining a different
area of your candidature, and each of which must be completed saved and marked as completed before
your application can be submitted.
General information on these pages, along with completing the application form more generally, can be
found on our website here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-application-form/completing-the-applicationform.html

4.4.1 The Evidence page

Of these nine pages, the most significant is that of the evidence page. Within this page, you will be invited
to give details of your achievements in various areas; upon submission, your application will be scored on the
basis of the content of this page.
Achievement categories
This page is structured in such a way that achievements are divided into seven different categories, listed
below, along with the maximum number of points available in that category:

undergraduate degrees & qualifications (maximum 10 points)

postgraduate degrees & qualifications (10pts)
additional achievements (10pts)
presentations / posters (6pts)
publications (8pts)
teaching experience (10pts)
clinical audit & quality improvement (10pts).

Thus, the maximum score which can be awarded to a CT1 application is 64 points.

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 5

Adding information
Each category gives a drop-down menu, which will include a series of different options describing potential
experience/achievements in that category. You will be required to open this menu and select the highest
available option which best describes your experience therein.
Each option will be worth a certain number of points.
To view a list of all options in all categories, the number of points awarded to each, and some initial guidance
on selection of options; please visit the scoring page of our website here:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-application-form/application-scoring.html
We strongly encourage you to read this page, before and/or while completing your application, so as to
ensure you are fully informed when choosing options here.
One point to note is that scores are awarded to applications automatically at the time of submission they
are not reviewed and physically short-listed by recruiters.
Giving further details & evidence
After selecting an option, depending on your choice you may then be required to expand on this further (eg
giving publication titles, dates of gaining qualifications, etc.) in a free-text box which will accompany the
drop-down menu.
As noted above, this information will not be reviewed at the short-listing stage; but it will be reviewed at
interview (see Section 6) by clinicians carrying out the interviews and regional recruitment staff.
In addition, at interview you will also be required to provide evidence to accompany any claims made within
this section of your application; eg if you state you have had an article published in a journal, you will be
expected to provide physical evidence of this publication when you attend interview.
Again, this will also be checked by interviewers and recruiters there; so please ensure your selection of
option is correct, your accompanying text on your application is accurate, and that you will be able to
support option & text with physical evidence at a later stage.
Over-claiming
Please note any instances of candidates trying to gain an unfair advantage by over-claiming and/or
exaggerating their achievements will be taken extremely seriously.
This could lead to an application being rejected, and in more serious cases, could be reported as a probity
matter to the GMC.
Helpdesk advice
In every recruitment round, the JRCPTB-SRO helpdesk receives a large number of queries from candidates
seeking advice on which of the available options they should select.
We must emphasise that our office is not able to give any such guidance; even in cases where we could
suggest which option is the most appropriate choice, we would be unable to do so it is crucial that each
application is solely the work of the submitting applicant, and so we cannot nominate choices here.
Issues with selection of options
One general point we do make regularly is that, obviously, a finite list of options can never fully cover the
possible range of achievements in a particular area, and so it is to be expected that some achievements will
not fit neatly under one option or another.

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 6

In these cases, we advise candidates to consider the potential choices and, using their professional
judgement, to select the one they deem to be the most appropriate. Recruiters and interviewers are aware
of the limitations of an application form, and so can give some flexibility here.
Plus, should your application progress to interview, you will be given the opportunity to discuss your
application there, and so can clarify any potential issues with choice of option.

4.4.2 Region preferences

Before submitting your application, you will need to give up to four preferences of regions at which your
application can be considered.
During short-listing see Section 5.3 your application will be allocated to one of these preferences, if
possible, based on your application score and each regions capacity; and it is at this region alone where you
will be in contention for posts during the main round.
Please give this a lot of thought also, as once applications are closed it will not be possible to amend your
region preferences or your allocation.
Allocation to first preference initially
Upon submission, all applications will be allocated to their nominated first-choice region to begin with; these
regions will carry out long-listing (see Section 5.2) to check applications against eligibility/entry criteria.

4.5 Submitting your application

Once you have completed all pages of your application, you can submit your form.
However, please be aware the majority of your application cannot be edited once it is submitted. So while it
is an obvious point, please do make sure you have checked your application in full, and are fully satisfied with
its content before you submit it finally.
This includes the scores awarded to the form: after submitting, if you decide an option you have selected is
too high or too low, this cannot be amended. So again, please check all of your options before submitting.
We cannot emphasise too strongly that you should try to submit your application well in advance of the
closing deadline (4pm on Thursday 4 December 2014).
Late applications cannot and will not be accepted under any circumstances.
Further information
Additional information on submitting your application, and the steps following submission, can be found on
our website at this link: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-application-form/after-submission.html

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 7

5 After applying
5.1 Post-submission
Confirmation emails
After you have submitted your application, you will receive an email confirming receipt. This should arrive
within 5-15 minutes of submission; although it can take longer in the busy periods near the application
closing date.
As with the auto-email sent after you created your Oriel account, please check you receive this, and that it is
delivered to your inbox rather than a spam/junk folder. A copy of this message will also be stored online in
the Messages tab on Oriel.
Post-submission changes
There are some areas of your application which can be changed after submission, should it be necessary: you
can amend your personal details (including email address & password), and also your referees details
these can be amended up until 31 March 2015.
Otherwise, no area of your application can be amended, under any circumstances.
Application progress
While logged in to the Oriel system, you will be able to track the progress of your application through the
recruitment process under the My Applications tab in the Oriel dashboard.

5.2 Long-listing
Once you submit your application it will be allocated to the region you have nominated as your first-choice
preference. This region will then carry out long-listing ie they will check your application and its content
against the CT1 entry criteria to verify you are eligible for posts in CT1.
If your application does not meet all criteria, you may be asked to provide further information to
demonstrate your eligibility. Should a region be unable to establish the eligibility of your application to their
satisfaction, then it will be rejected at this point, and not progress any further.
Completed
All long-listing will be completed by Monday 5 January 2015; ie by this date you will be notified of whether
or not your application has met all of entry/eligibility criteria, and can progress to short-listing.
More information on long-listing can be found on our website here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/howdo-i-apply/after-applying.html

5.3 Short-listing
Once it has been established which applications are eligible, short-listing will then take place. This process
will determine at which of your regional preferences your will be considered for CT1 posts during the main
recruitment round.
This will be done based on the application score achieved, regional preferences given, regional interview
capacity, and (of course) level of competition from other candidates.

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 8

Ranking & allocation

To begin with, all eligible applications will be ranked nationally, based on the score awarded to them upon
submission, high-to-low. They will then be allocated to regions in order.
When your application comes to be allocated to a region, where possible it will be allocated to your #1
regional preference.
However, if it is the case this regions capacity has been met and filled with higher-scoring applications, your
application will instead be allocated to your #2 preference (if you have given one). Should this region also be
full, your application will be allocated to #3; and so on.
Reserve list
In the event your application cannot be allocated to any of your regional preferences, it will be placed on a
reserve list.
Should a place at one of your regional preferences become available subsequently, it may be possible to
allocate your application at that point although this cannot be guaranteed.
Completion
The short-listing process will be completed by Thursday 8 January 2015; by this date, you will be notified of
whether your application has been short-listed for interview and if so, at which of your regional
preferences you will be in contention for posts.
Further details on short-listing can be found on our website here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/howdo-i-apply/after-applying.html

5.4 Invitation to interview

Once short-listing is complete, each region will begin inviting candidates to interview. Invitations will be sent
out via email, so please check your specified email account around this time. Bear in mind a copy of each
message sent to you will be retained in your Oriel account, under the My Messages tab.
Where possible, you will receive your interview invitation at least seven days in advance of interviews
beginning in the region.
In some cases, notice may be shorter; eg if a candidate could only be placed on the reserve list initially (see
above), but then could be short-listed at a later stage, the relevant region would invite them to interview as
soon as possible; but the seven-day notice period could not be guaranteed.
The region will specify a deadline within which you must respond to the invitation (ie book an interview slot
see Section 5.4.1 below); commonly this is a minimum of 72 hours from when the invitation was sent.

5.4.1 Booking an interview slot

After you have been invited to interview, you will be required to log in to Oriel and choose one of the
available interview slots to book yourself into.
It is possible to change your slot as many times as you wish up until the booking deadline, subject to other
slots being available.
Further information
To see the dates on which UK regions will be holding CT1 interviews in 2015 round 1, please see our website
here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/dates-posts/post-numbers-interview-dates.html
CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 9

Some summary information on invitation to interview is given here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/howdo-i-apply/after-applying.html

Invitations and booking of slots is examined in more detail here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/theinterview/invitation-and-booking.html

5.5 Post preferences

At some point during the period between short-listing being completed and offers commencing, regions will
contact all their short-listed candidates to begin collecting post preferences.
Here, regions will add information on all of their post vacancies ACCS-AM and CMT to the Oriel system,
including (where possible) particular area/hospital locations, rotation content, specialties covered, etc.
You will then be asked to access your account on Oriel, consider these posts, divide them into two groups
preferences and not wanted; and then to rank all those for which you wish to be considered ie those in
the preferences category in your desired order.
Timeframe
Each region will set its own timeframe for when preferences must be given. In most cases, these will be
opened around the same time as interview invitations are sent out, and will be closed not long after
interviews are completed; but this will be confirmed in the initial message.
More information on preferences can be found on our website at this link:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/offers-beyond/post-programme-preferences.html

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 10

6 The CT1 interview

The next stage of the recruitment process is the CT1 interview, where the bulk of your assessment will be
carried out, and will thus be the most significant in whether your application progresses to be made an offer.
As such, we very strongly advise you to review all information given here and on our website
(http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-interview), so that you are as well-prepared as is possible.

6.1 Travel
Upon booking an interview slot, your first consideration will likely be travel to the venue. The email you
receive confirming your interview booking will contain details of the venues location; while information on
provision of travel expenses can be provided by the region at which your interview will be held.
[NB provision of travel expenses is at the discretion of the interviewing region in all cases.]

6.2 Dress code

Guidance on the appropriate dress code for both interviewers and interviewees has been produced, and can
be viewed at/downloaded from our website.
Further information
Details on dress code and travel expenses can be found on our website here:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-interview/preparing-for-interview.html

6.3 Interview documentation

By far the most substantial area of interview preparation is that of gathering and organising the
documentation you will be required to provide on the day.
All documentation required of you can be divided into two categories: eligibility documents, which, as
implied, prove you meet the CT1 entry criteria; and evidence documents, which back up the achievements
(etc.) you included on the evidence page of your application form.
You should thus provide two separate folders to hold these documents, labelled your eligibility folder and
evidence folder.
Some summary guidance on provision of these documents is given below; but we strongly recommend you
visit our website, where this is examined in much greater detail: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/theinterview/preparing-for-interview.html

6.3.1 The eligibility folder

Firstly, you should prepare a folder containing your eligibility documents ie documentation proving you
meet the CT1 entry criteria, such as your passport, primary medical qualification certificate, etc.
Ideally, this will be a lever-arch folder, with dividers used and labelled clearly, to allow
recruiters/interviewers to locate documents quickly and easily.
Please also make sure your folder is labelled clearly with your name, application (PIN) ID number and GMC
number (if you have one).

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 11

Photocopies
One important point to note about the eligibility folder is that for every document you include, you must also
provide one photocopy of that document. These will all be retained by the interviewing region as evidence
you have met the necessary entry criteria.
We would advise keeping these separate from your original documents so they will be easier for
recruiters/interviewers to review and retain.
NB if you are using a particular item/document for two purposes eg passport as personal ID and also as
evidence of eligibility to work in the UK then please make and include two photocopies of it.
Further information
Details on setting up and organising the eligibility folder, along with its required contents, can be found on
our website here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-interview/preparing-for-interview.html
While details on the entry criteria can be found here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/am-i-eligible

6.3.2 The evidence folder

You will also need to provide documentation showing proof of the achievements you cited in your
application form eg articles published, qualifications gained, etc.
As with the eligibility folder, we request you use a lever-arch folder, again labelled clearly with your name,
application ID (PIN) number and GMC number.
Organisation & content of your evidence folder
It is extremely important that you organise your evidence folder effectively and logically. If interviewers
cannot locate information backing up your application achievements, this can impact on your assessment.
To assist with this, we have published a presentation to our website giving guidance on how best to set up
your folder; this can be found on the interview preparation page at this link:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-interview/preparing-for-interview.html
No photocopies required
Unlike the eligibility folder, you are not required to make any photocopies of the documentation in your
evidence folder. Interviewers will review the original documents, and then return the folder to you.
Evidence summary form
When preparing your evidence folder, an item you must include is the evidence summary form (ESF).
Essentially, the ESF is a page which lists the contents within your folder, and notes where they can be found
similar to a contents page.
Interviewers will use the ESF to verify that the required contents of your evidence folder were present, and
then retain it as evidence of this, before returning the folder to you.
To download the ESF, and view some further information on its usage, please see our website:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-interview/preparing-for-interview.html

6.3.3 Remove patient-identifiable information

It may seem an obvious point, but please ensure none of the documentation you bring to interview contains
patient-identifiable data. Any such information should either be removed or redacted; not to do so would be
a breach of patient confidentiality, and further action could be taken as a result.

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 12

6.4 Interview structure & format

Rather than one single, long interview, for CT1 the interview is divided into a series of shorter, independent
assessments; scores for which are later weighted and compiled to give a final overall assessment score.
Interview setup three stations
At interview, you will visit three separate stations in total. At each interview station, you will be assessed on
two separates areas; so you will be assessed on six areas in total (see Section 6.5 below).
Each interview station will be staffed by two clinical consultants who will act as your interviewers; and each
of them will award you a mark for each aspect they assess.
So with six areas assessed overall, and each aspect receiving two separate marks, this will see you receive 12
individual marks for your interview altogether (scoring is examined further over the page in Section 6.6).
Interview time
Every assessment area at interview will be covered for approximately five minutes, and so you will spend 10
minutes at each station. You will be given a short break between stations so in total the interview will last
40-45 minutes.
More information on this can be found on our website here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/theinterview/interview-structure-and-content.html

6.5 Interview content

The areas assessed at the three separate stations are as follows:
(NB you may not proceed through the stations in the order 1-2-3)

6.5.1 Station 1
Discussion here will focus on your application form and its content and reviewing your eligibility/evidence
documentation.
The two areas on which you will be assessed here are your suitability for & commitment to CT1, and your
achievements to date.

6.5.2 Station 2
Before arriving at station 2, you will be given a clinical scenario to review; this will be a short piece of
information, no more than a couple of sentences. Upon arriving at station 2, you will then discuss this
scenario with the interviewers there.
One mark awarded here will be for your responses to the clinical scenario as the discussion progresses; you
will also be assessed on your communication skills both in terms of how you communicate with the
interviewers, and also your hypothetical communication with any parties in the clinical scenario.

6.5.3 Station 3
You will discuss a further two scenarios at station 3. The first will be an ethical scenario; again, a short piece
of information provided in advance of your arrival there, which is then discussed at the station, and you will
be assessed on your responses to the ethical scenario.

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 13

For the second assessment area, interviewers will begin by asking you a question relating to the area of
professionalism & governance you will not be given this in advance of the station. During the subsequent
discussion, you will be assessed on your understanding and demonstration of these principles.
This station is underpinned by the principles of GMC Good Medical Practice.

6.5.4 Dyslexia adjustment

Where candidates have dyslexia, it is common practice for assessments to allow a 25% increase in reading
time.
This policy is also employed in CT1 interviews; should you have dyslexia, additional time can be allowed prior
to your arrival at stations 2 and 3 when considering the scenario information, as described above.
More details on dyslexia adjustment can be found on our website here:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-interview/interview-structure-and-content.html
Further information
For further guidance on the areas of assessment at interview, please visit our website at this link:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-interview/interview-structure-and-content.html

6.6 Scoring & assessment

6.6.1 Scoring framework
Each of the 12 scores awarded to you at interview will be whole numbers, between 1 and 5 (inclusive), and
are designed around an appointability framework.
In short, if your response to an assessment area is at the expected level for an F2 trainee, you would receive
a mark of 3/5; a better response would see a higher mark, a worse response a lower one as shown in the
table below:
Mark

Rating

Assessment

poor

not considered appointable

area for concern

performed below the level expected at foundation level; possibly

unappointable

satisfactory

performed at the level expected during F2; the candidate is suitable

for appointment

good

performed at the level expected upon completion of F2

excellent

performed at the level expected at CT1 or above

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 14

Compiling overall assessment scores

After the interviews are completed, a weighting factor is applied to the scores awarded for particular
interview subjects/questions, based on their significance in the recruitment process (as determined by
programme directors via the relevant national advisory committees), and also to your application score.
Once these weightings are applied, your scores for the various assessments undertaken throughout the
process will be combined to give you final, overall assessment score. This will form the basis on which you
can be ranked, ahead of offers being made (see Section 7).
Scoring and weightings are examined in more detail on our website: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/theinterview/interview-scoring.html

6.6.2 Appointability status

As well as the scores awarded to you during your interview, an appointability status will be given to your
application, to confirm whether or not you can be considered for an offer.
The intention of the appointability status is to ensure successful candidates have been able to display
competence consistently across all six areas of assessment at interview; rather than allowing outstanding
achievement in one or more areas to make up for sub-par performance elsewhere.
Raw interview score
Firstly, a significant factor in consideration of appointability status is that of your raw interview score (RIS).
In short, this refers to the sum of the 12 scores awarded to you during interview, before any weighting
factors are applied later on (see Section 6.6.3 below).
As each individual score will be between 1 and 5, your RIS will be between 12 and 60.
Appointable / not appointable
To be considered appointable, at interview you must receive:

no scores of 1/5

no more than two scores of 2/5

a RIS of 36 or above.

Should you meet all of these requirements, your application will be classed as appointable and may then
progress to be considered for a post offer.
If you fail to meet any of these requirements, your application will be classed as not appointable, and will
not progress any further in this recruitment round.
Further information
A more detailed examination of appointability status and interview scoring can be found on our website at
this link: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-interview/interview-scoring.html

6.6.3 The overall assessment score

After interview, your individual assessment scores are then analysed to produce your final, overall
assessment score.
For each of the six topic areas assessed at interview, as well as your application form score received earlier in
the round, a weighting factor will be applied; before all scores are then added together to give your overall
assessment score.
CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 15

The maximum assessment score which can be achieved is 96. It is on the basis of this score that you and all
other applicants will be considered when regions come to make post offers (see Section 7).
For full details of how your overall assessment score will be calculated, and the weighting factors applied to
different areas, please see our website at: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/the-interview/interviewscoring.html

6.7 After the interview

After interviews are completed, the JRCPTB-SRO will liaise with regions to compile and verify all assessment
scores awarded; this will include applying weightings to various interview scores depending on particular
subjects.
More information on this can be viewed online here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/theinterview/interview-scoring.html
Feedback
Once all CT1 interviews have been completed, we will make the breakdown of scores available to all
candidates via their Oriel portal and email notification of this to you.
We will publish data on assessment for all applicants to CT1 nationwide, allowing you to compare your
performance against other candidates. We anticipate this feedback will be available around the time of the
first offers deadline (12 March 2015).
Feedback beyond this may be available from the region at which your interview was conducted; please
contact them should you require further information.
Offers & notifications
The next stage of the process will be for regions to begin making offers to candidates, and to make
preparation for this.
Firstly, those candidates who were assessed as not appointable will be notified of their status, and that
their applications will not progress any further in this recruitment round.
Next, the appointable candidates will either be made an offer; or contacted to notify them that they are not
in line for an offer presently, and so have been added to a reserve list.
This is examined further in Section 7 over the page.

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 16

7 Offers
Once interview assessments are complete, each region will be left with a pool of candidates which has been
assessed as both eligible and appointable for positions on CT1 programmes. The next stage will be to match
candidates to preferred positions, and to make post offers.
Summary information is given below; fully-expanded guidance is given on our website here:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/offers-beyond

7.1 Ranking
If you have been interviewed at a region which has found you to be both eligible for and appointable to CT1,
you will be given a ranking, based solely on your overall assessment score (see Section 6.6.3). So the
candidate with the highest overall score in the region will be ranked #1, the next-highest #2, and so on.
Tie breaker criteria will be applied in the event of any candidates receiving equal assessment scores.

7.2 Making offers

Regions will then work through this ranking list of candidates and begin making offers where possible.
Offers made in order of ranking
This will proceed in a similar fashion to the allocation of applications to regions in short-listing (see Section X)
earlier in the process: each candidate will be made their offer in turn, highest-ranked first, and offered their
highest available post preference where possible.
Highest preference offered where possible
In the event a region comes to make you an offer, but your first-choice post preference has been offered to
another candidate, you will instead be offered your second-choice. If that has also gone, you will be offered
your third-choice; and so on.
Please note the offer you receive here may be upgraded to a higher preference later on in the round;
please see Section 7.4.4 for more information.
Further information
More information on the making of offers can be found on our website at this link:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/offers-beyond/how-are-offers-made.html

7.3 Receiving offers

Should you be made an offer, you will be sent an email notifying you of this (which will also be retained in
your Oriel accounts My Messages section, as usual).
This email will include details of the post offer, the post itself, the options available to you, how to respond
to the offer (see Section 7.4 over the page), and any further steps to take.
Further information
Our website gives more guidance on this at: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/offers-beyond/how-are-offersmade.html

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 17

7.4 Responding to offers

Response deadline
First of all, please be aware that you must respond to an offer within 48 hours of it being made. Take note
that this is 48 hours from when it was made not when it was received, or when you first became aware of
it.
This also includes weekends and bank holidays so if an offer is made at 2pm on Friday, for example, you
would need to respond by 2pm on Sunday.
If you do not respond to an offer within this deadline, the offer and your application will both be withdrawn,
and you will receive no further offers in this round.
Responding & response options
To respond to the offer, you will be required to log in to your Oriel account and access your CT1 application,
where you will be able to access your post offer. You will be presented with three response options: accept;
reject; and hold; with a further option, allowing you to be considered for upgrades.
These options are examined briefly below; please see our website for more details on each:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/offers-beyond/responding-to-offers.html

7.4.1 Accept
This option is fairly self-explanatory; but do be absolutely certain you wish to accept a post before choosing
this.
While it is an obvious point, please bear in mind that Oriel coordinates and synchronises all applications
across all specialties/programmes in this round; so if you have made any other CT1/ST1 applications in this
round, they will be withdrawn automatically if you accept this ACCS-AM/CMT offer.
(And vice versa accepting a GP offer, for instance, would cause your ACCS-AM/CMT application to be
withdrawn.)

7.4.2 Reject
Again, this option does as it implies! But bear in mind that rejecting your offer will see your application
withdrawn, and you will receive no further offers in this round (including clearing [Section 8]). So again,
please consider your decision carefully.
However, any applications you have made to other specialties/programmes will not be affected.

7.4.3 Hold
The third option is that of holding an offer. Essentially, this allows you to delay making a final decision on an
offer beyond the standard 48-hour deadline, and until later in the recruitment process.
Response deadline still applies
Even if you wish to hold an offer, you must still respond to the initial offer, choosing the hold option, within
the original 48 hours. As noted, if you fail to do this, both your offer and your application will be withdrawn.
Only one offer can be held
It is only possible for one offer to be held long-term in this fashion. So if you receive one offer, opt to hold
it, and then receive another, both cannot be held.

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 18

So within 48 hours of receiving the second offer, you must choose to reject at least one of them; choosing to
hold a second offer will automatically reject the first held offer.
Holding deadline
There is a national deadline put in place for holding of offers 1pm on Thursday 19 March 2015.
After this point, any offers being held and the applications holding them will be withdrawn, so if you
choose to hold an offer, you must decide whether to accept or reject it by then.
Offers made after this deadline will no longer contain the option to hold.

7.4.4 Upgrades
There is also a fourth option present within the offers process which acts as an addition, rather than
alternative to the others that of upgrades. This option becomes available if you choose to accept or hold a
post offer you receive.
Upgrading offers
As noted, if a region comes to make you an offer, this will be the highest-ranked of all your post preferences
which is still available at that point ie which has not previously been offered to higher-scoring candidates.
However, if you choose to be considered for upgrades, then if later in the round, one of your higher-ranked
preferences becomes available, and you are the highest-ranked candidate in line for it, then your post offer
will be upgraded automatically to your higher preference post.
Changing preferences
If you accept/hold an offer and choose the upgrade option, you can still change your post preferences after
that point. So if you wish to limit the number of posts to which your post could possibly be upgraded, you
can do this.
In addition, you can opt out of the upgrades process at any time; although do be aware that you would not
be able to opt back in again afterwards.
Upgrade deadline
Upgrading will only take place until the national upgrade deadline 4pm on Thursday 26 March 2015. After
this point, offers will not be upgraded regardless of whether posts become available; and options made after
then will not include the option to upgrade.

7.5 Timing of offers

A region can begin making offers as soon as their interviews are complete, and scores are compiled and
verified for that specialty. However, it is difficult to give a specific estimate on when offers will be made, as
this will depend on a wide variety of factors (not least among these being numbers of candidates assessed).
To give a very rough estimate, we would note that in previous years, regions have begun making offers
within 10-14 days of their interviews finishing, on average. However, please note this is only a rough
estimate, and this does vary significantly between different regions.
Offers deadline
That said: there is a national deadline in place by which all regions must have begun making offers to
candidates this is 5pm on Thursday 12 March 2015.

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 19

This means if a region has 50 posts, for example, then they must have offered all 50 posts to (at least) 50
candidates by this deadline (assuming sufficient eligible/appointable candidates are available to receive
offers at that region).
Further information
Further details on this can be found on our website here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/offersbeyond/how-are-offers-made.html

7.6 References
References will be requested directly from referees for those candidates who accept an offer of a CT1 post.
You do not need to provide references at any stage.
You can amend your references via your Oriel account at any point up until 31 March 2015; giving you
opportunity to add more recent supervisors since completing your application should you wish to do so.

7.7 Employment
If you choose to accept an offer, then the region in which the post is based will then contact you with details
of a contract of employment.
More information on employment can be found on our website here:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/offers-beyond/employment-and-post-start.html

8 Clearing
As the recruitment round draws to a close, after the offers upgrading deadline, a period of national clearing
will be introduced. This will allow those candidates who qualify for clearing to have their applications
transferred for consideration outside of the region at which they were assessed.
Should you meet the qualifying criteria (essentially eligible and appointable, but yet to receive a post offer),
the JRCPTB-SRO will invite you to participate, and to rank all ACCS-AM/CMT post vacancies which remain
nationally in order of preference.
Candidates will again then be ranked in order of their earlier assessment score, high-to-low, on a national
scale this time; and offers can then be made to candidates in order of this ranking, again offering highestpreference posts where possible.
Timeline
The final date for regions to make offers before clearing is Friday 27 March 2015. After this point, all posts
will be collated and eligible candidates will be invited to preference within approximately one week of this
date.
All offers in round 1 will be made via national clearing after this deadline.
Further information
Further details on clearing can be found on our website here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/how-do-iapply/national-clearing.html

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 20

9 Future recruitment
9.1 2015 round 2
As well as the upcoming round of recruitment, there will also be a second, new round of recruitment to 2015
CT1 posts, which opens in March 2015.
A full timeline for this round can be viewed on our website here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/datesposts (at the foot of the page)
Re-applying
Round 2 is mostly independent of round 1; that is to say, by and large, the two rounds are separate to each
other, and round 2 starts recruitment from scratch.
Therefore, applying in round 1 is no barrier to applying in round 2; if you wish to re-apply in round 2, you are
quite welcome to do so.
New applicants
Similarly, there is no need to have applied in round 1 to be eligible to apply in round 2.
Overlap with round 1
As can be seen, when round 2 begins, round 1 will still be going on so there is some overlap between round
2 and the offers period and clearing in round 1.
This will not be an issue; in the event you were to re-apply in round 2, this would not prevent you receiving
an offer relating to your round 1 application at a later date; and similarly, accepting the round 1 offer would
not prevent your round 2 application from progressing.
Further information
More details on round 2 are available on our website here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/how-do-iapply/future-recruitment.html
As round 1 draws to a close and round 2 approaches, our website will be updated to give information more
specific to round 2; and we will also publish a round 2 version of this applicants guide.

9.2 2016 recruitment

We will begin to make specific information available on 2016 CT1 recruitment in summer/autumn 2015, as
that recruitment period approaches.
That being said, the existing 2015-specific information available via our website and this handbook can be
taken as a useful guide for how recruitment will be undertaken in 2016, as we would not expect significant
changes to be made to the recruitment process.
Any further information on 2016 recruitment will be published initially to our website here:
http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/how-do-i-apply/future-recruitment.html

CT1 recruitment applicants guide (2015, round 1) JRCPTB 2014

Page | 21

10 Finally
We have endeavoured to make the process of recruitment to ACCS-AM and CMT CT1 posts in 2015 as fair,
transparent and streamlined as is possible for all parties and for applicants in particular.
We have consulted widely with trainees groups of all levels, consultants, Health Education England, the
devolved UK nations, all deaneries/LETBs, JRCPTB and all three royal colleges, core training advisory
committees, as well as recruitment offices and groups for other specialties/programmes.
Further information
As noted, full information on CT1 recruitment is available on our website: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/
Should you have any queries relating to the recruitment process at any time, our website contains a section
giving details on the most frequently-asked and most pertinent questions relating to CT1 recruitment, which
can be found here: http://www.ct1recruitment.org.uk/header_links/faqs.html
Otherwise, please email our recruitment helpdesk with any queries at CT1recruitment@jrcptb.org.uk.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you luck with your application,

The Specialty Recruitment Office

Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board