2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

Publication reference:

2024 Core

Surgical Training

CT1/ST1

Supplementary Applicant Handbook

 
 
 
2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1 
Copyright © 2023 NHS England  2 
Contents 
  1 
2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1  1 
Contents  Error! Bookmark not defined. 
Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 3 
Summary of 2024 recruitment .......................................................................................... 3 
Timeline and Key Dates ................................................................................................... 4 
Disability Confidence Scheme ......................................................................................... 5 
Reasonable adjustments ................................................................................................. 5 
Booking an interview with approved Reasonable Adjustments ........................................ 5 
Submitting an application ................................................................................................. 6 
Longlisting ........................................................................................................................ 7 
Special circumstances and Fitness to Practise ................................................................ 7 
Shortlisting ....................................................................................................................... 7 
MSRA .............................................................................................................................. 7 
Submitting Supporting Evidence ...................................................................................... 8 
Verification process (Portfolio Review) ............................................................................ 8 
Appeals ............................................................................................................................ 9 
Interview Booking and Interview Process ........................................................................ 9 
Interview format ............................................................................................................. 11 
Interview scoring criteria ................................................................................................ 11 
Benchmarking Candidates ............................................................................................. 12 
Preferencing ................................................................................................................... 12 
Training Posts ................................................................................................................ 13 
Offers, references and scoresheet ................................................................................. 13 
Allocation ....................................................................................................................... 14 
Next steps/roles and responsibilities .............................................................................. 14 
Enquiries and FAQs ....................................................................................................... 14 
Useful Links ................................................................................................................... 14 
 
 

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

Introduction

The National Recruitment Office for Core Surgical Training is London and Kent, Surrey and

Sussex.

London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex are recruiting to posts on behalf of England, Scotland,

and Wales.

Working alongside the Royal College of Surgeons we manage a centralised process aimed

at delivering a fair and consistent experience for all applicants.

For more information about Core Surgical Training please refer to the Royal College of

Surgeons' website.

For careers advice please visit the Health Careers Website.

Detailed information including person specifications, competition ratios and the national

medical specialty recruitment applicant handbook are available on the National Specialty

Training website: https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-

training

This handbook aims to provide applicants with information regarding the 2024 Core Surgical

Training CT1 recruitment process.

General information regarding recruitment to all specialty training posts is available on the

National Specialty Training website and in the 2024 Applicant Handbook. These can be

accessed via the links below:

https://www.oriel.nhs.uk/Web/PermaLink/ResourceBank

https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training

Please note that all communication with applicants will be via Oriel,

or via the contact details you provide as part of your Oriel

application. You must ensure that your contact details are correct

and kept up to date throughout the recruitment process.

Summary of 2024 recruitment

Details of the 2024 recruitment process are provided throughout this handbook in conjunction

with central guidance issued by the national recruitment team that applies across specialties.

You can find the central guidance in the resource bank of the Medical Specialty Training

website https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training

You must read both this Supplementary Handbook and the Medical Specialty

Applicant Guide before beginning your application.

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

CST recruitment will involve the following stages (which are outlined in more detail in the

relevant sections of this handbook):

As part of the Oriel application form you will be asked to provide a self-assessment score

depending on your personal achievements

Applicants will be invited to sit an MSRA exam.

All applicant sitting the MSRA exam will be invited to upload evidence of their achievements

to the Evidence Upload Portal.

Only the top scoring 1200 applicants at MSRA will be invited to interview and have their self-

assessment evidence and score reviewed by Surgical consultants for the Portfolio section.

They will verify that you have claimed the correct number of points and can change your

score if they feel your evidence merits a different score from your self-assessment. This

produces your verified evidence score.

A combination of your MSRA score, verified evidence score and scores at interview will be

used to determine your final total score and ranking.

Timeline and Key Dates

Core Surgical Training CT1 recruitment will follow the below timeline:

Activity

Date(s)* (All times GMT)

Advert appears

By 5pm Wednesday 25 October 2023

Applications open

At 10am Thursday 26 October 2023

Applications close

At 4pm Thursday 23 November 2023

Invitations to MSRA

No later than Tuesday 19 December

2023

MSRA Window

Thursday 4 January to Tuesday 16

January 2024

Evidence upload portal opens

Thursday 8 February 2024

Evidence upload portal closes

Wednesday 14 February 2024

MSRA scores released to applicants

Thursday 8 February 2024

Invites to Interview sent on

Thursday 8 February 2024

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

Interview Dates

Monday 19 February to Wednesday 28

February 2024

Preferences open date

By 5pm on Tuesday 13 February 2024

Preferences close date

Tuesday 5 March 2024

Initial offers released by London &

Kent, Surrey and Sussex (on behalf of

all regions)

By 5pm on Tuesday 26 March 2024

Hold deadline

At 1pm on Thursday 4 April 2024

Upgrade deadline

At 4pm on Tuesday 9 April 2024

Interview scoresheet release date

TBC

Please note that all dates are subject to change and applicants will be communicated with via oriel if changes occur.

Disability Confidence Scheme

We are committed to supporting applicants who require additional support due to disability or

health conditions, you can apply for adjustments via Oriel, please note the Disability

Confidence Scheme (henceforth referred to as DCS) has replaced the previous Guaranteed

Interview Scheme. Please refer to the Medical Specialty training website

Reasonable adjustments

The process for 2024 is to request all Reasonable adjustments requests at the time of your

application and on Oriel. All evidence will be uploaded at the time you are submitting your

application. For further guidance on the details of evidence required please refer to the

Medical Specialty training website

Applications for any adjustments at interview will be made via Oriel. Please follow the

guidance in Oriel and the Medical Recruitment Applicant 2024 Guide for this process. All

evidence must be uploaded with your Oriel application. You will be notified of the outcome of

your application prior to interview.

If you have a situation that has occurred post the application window closing, please contact

us via the Applicant Support Portal to receive further guidance:

https://lasepgmdesupport.hee.nhs.uk/support/tickets/new?form_15=true

Booking an interview with approved Reasonable Adjustments

For any candidates with approved adjustments, you will receive an email from the

recruitment team by the Wednesday 7

February with a link to the Event Management

System (EMS) to book your preferred interview slot. Please note that Oriel will send you

reminders to book your interview, as you are using a different system to book your interview,

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

please ignore Oriel’s reminders. Once the booking window has closed your interview time

will be booked on Oriel by an administrator and you will be able to see this.

Submitting an application

All applications must be submitted on Oriel before the national deadline of 16:00 (GMT) on

Thursday 23

November 2023. Under no circumstances will late applications be accepted.

Please ensure you submit your application in advance of the closing date and re-check on

the closing date that your application form has been submitted.

Providing a self-assessment score is a mandatory part of your application form. Please see

advert-linked document ‘2024 CST Self-Assessment Guidance for Candidates’ for full

guidance on how to complete your self-assessment scoring.

Please note that it is the applicant’s sole discretion as to which response they select in the

self-assessment. Under no circumstances will the London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex

Recruitment Office will be able to advise you which option to choose.

It is crucial that you complete your self-assessment honestly and accurately at the time

of application. It is not possible to change your self-assessment score after you have

submitted your application under any circumstances.

Please note that the NRO team will not be able to make changes to your self-assessment

score after you have submitted your application and therefore any additional evidence

gained after the self-assessment upload period cannot be counted.

Any instances where applicants are found to have deliberately over-scored their self-

assessment may be treated as probity concerns. This may lead to you being removed

from the recruitment process or a referral to the GMC.

If you are a dual qualified (medical and dental) applicant, please note the following

when completing your employment history on the Oriel application form:

• If you are a dentistry first applicant, call your pre-medical jobs ‘Dental’ and avoid the

term SHO. Completing your MRCS does not preclude you from applying to CST.

• If you are a medicine first applicant and you have worked in surgical specialities

before dentistry, doing your second degree ‘resets the clock’ on the 18-month limit of

surgical experience. You may have to provide evidence of maintaining your

foundation training competencies whilst studying for your dental degree.

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

Longlisting

Longlisting is the process of checking that applicants meet the minimum requirements to be

eligible for a Core Surgical Training post. You can find the eligibility criteria on the person

specification here: https://specialtytraining.hee.nhs.uk/Recruitment/Person-specifications

More information about longlisting can be found on the Medical Specialty training website

Round Deadline for submitting a CREST

As a result of changes to the application process, only the 2024 version of the CREST

form will be accepted. It is anticipated that applicants will be able to provide a CREST at

time of application. If you are not able to provide a CREST at this time, you will be presented

with a window to submit a CREST within 72 hours of the application window closing (The

CREST upload window will close at 16:00 on Thursday 23

November 2023).

IMPORTANT: applicants who are required to submit a CREST must do so before the

deadline, failure to submit or you submit a CREST but have answered the questions

incorrectly will result in your application being withdrawn and your application will not

progress in this round of recruitment.

Special circumstances and Fitness to Practise

Please refer to the Medical Specialty training website for guidance on special circumstances.

Any candidate who answers 'yes' to one or more of the questions in the Fitness to Practise

section of the application form, must complete the London & KSS Recruitment Office

Fitness to Practise (FTP) declaration form providing further details regarding their

affirmative/positive answer.

Shortlisting

As part of the selection process for 2024 recruitment, all longlisted applicants will be required

to take a Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA). This will form the basis of your

shortlisting score.

Only the top 1200 applicants at MSRA will be invited to interview. All applicants that score

higher than the cut-off score but are not initially invited to interview will be put on a reserve list.

MSRA

As part of the selection process for 2024 recruitment all longlisted applicants will be required

to take a Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA). This will form the basis of your

shortlisting score.

The MSRA is a computer-based assessment, delivered in partnership with Work Psychology

Group and Pearson VUE, which has been designed to assess some of the essential

competences outlined in the Person Specification and is based around clinical scenarios.

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

The MSRA will be delivered at Pearson VUE test centres. Applicants will be invited to

centre no later than Tuesday 19

December 2023. For more information and to find your

nearest test centre can be found via the following link https://home.pearsonvue.com/nro.

You can find further information on the MSRA via the MSRA applicant guide. Any queries

related to the MSRA exam or Pearson Vue test centres are handled by the MSRA team at:

[email protected]; and the Pearson Vue team at

https://home.pearsonvue.com/Contact-Us.aspx

Submitting Supporting Evidence

Applicants who are invited to upload evidence will be provided with further instructions by the

deadline about how to upload evidence to the portal. Please check your Oriel messages for

updates during all stages of the recruitment process. Applicants should ensure that they

present the evidence in the requested format. Failure to do so will result in your evidence

being rejected and/or the self-assessment score being revised downwards.

Failure to submit all evidence by the stated deadline will result in your application form being

withdrawn by the recruitment team.

Recruitment administrators cannot upload evidence on behalf of applicants at any stage, and

once the deadline for submission has passed, applicant access to the portal will be withdrawn.

Recruitment administrators cannot update scores at all throughout the recruitment process.

This means that competencies/evidence gained after the application window has closed

cannot be accepted.io

If you have problems with uploading evidence, you must inform the London and Kent, Surrey

and Sussex Recruitment team before 5pm on the 9

February. process is completed, as the

scores will be scaled.

Verification process (Portfolio Review)

The self-assessment will be completed online as part of the Oriel application. Applicants will

be provided with further instructions about how to upload evidence to the evidence portal in

due course. Applicants should ensure that they present the evidence in the requested

format. Failure to do so could result in your evidence being rejected and/or the self-

assessment score being revised downwards.

Failure to submit all evidence by the stated deadline will result in your application form being

withdrawn by the recruitment team. The evidence upload window is from Thursday 8

February to Wednesday 14

February 2024.

Recruitment administrators will not be able to upload evidence on behalf of applicants and

once the deadline for submission has passed, applicant access will be withdrawn.

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

Submitted evidence will be verified against the self-assessment criteria. Where the evidence

submitted does not match the score awarded, the score will be adjusted accordingly.

On completion of the verification process, applicants will be sent their MSRA result.

Only the top 1200 applicants who have been verified will be sent their verified score,

together with the verification panel’s feedback explaining any changes to their score. Where

the verified applicant disagrees with the score awarded, they can lodge an appeal.

Appeals

Appeals against verified scores must be lodged within 72 hours of the scores being sent to

applicants. Please check your Oriel messages for updates during all stages of the recruitment

process. Applicants can only request a review of the evidence already submitted; you will

not be able to submit any further documentation as part of the appeals process. Your

appeal request should clearly explain why you feel that the score should be adjusted, based

on the evidence that was initially submitted and verified. Appeal requests received after the

72-hour deadline will not be considered.

Appeals will be reviewed by consultant surgeons who will decide whether verified scores

should be changed or not and you will be informed of the outcome following the same process

as above. Please read the feedback provided carefully and consider that if your upload

has not followed the guidance document, an appeal is unlikely to be upheld. The

outcome of the appeal is final and there is no further recourse for dissatisfied applicants.

Disagreements over self-assessment scores fall out of scope of the MDRS Complaints Policy.

Interview Booking and Interview Process

Applicants will need to book an interview slot using their Oriel account. Slots are offered on a

first come first served basis and will need to be booked by the deadline stated in the

invitation to interview. Further information on how to book an interview slot can be found in

Oriel Applicant User Guide: https://www.oriel.nhs.uk/Web/ResourceBank

All interviews will be undertaken online using Qpercom video platform between Monday

February to Wednesday 28

February 2024. The time indicated to you via Oriel is the

time you attend the document checking process, please do not try to access the link earlier.

You may need to wait in a virtual lobby until the administrator admits you.

At the time of application submission, you will have agreed to comply with the 2024 Applicant

declaration. The Declaration also contains a list of vital steps you must undertake before the

day of the interview.

Interviews will be undertaken through Qpercom video platform using in-built interview

stations with integrated scoring, a new system being piloted by London and Kent, Surrey and

Sussex Recruitment Team to provide a positive interview experience for applicants.

Applicants will need to register on the system when prompted by the London and Kent,

Surrey and Sussex Recruitment Team. They can register by clicking on the initial

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

applicants should see Core Surgical Training Interviews appear on their main page and click

the green button. Applicants will be taken to a diagnostics tool to ensure they meet the

connectivity and other requirements. Applicants should ensure they test this from the device

they plan to use for their interviews as they may need to source an alternative device to

ensure connectivity. Any applicants unable to connect should contact the recruitment team at

the earliest opportunity. Once they have passed the diagnostics tool, it will take them back

into their waiting area, where they will be met by a member of the admin team on the day of

interviews.

On the day of the interview, each applicant should login and click ‘choose’ 10 minutes prior

to their allocated time. Applicants will be kept in the waiting area where a member of the

recruitment team will meet them to perform ID checks, once this is completed, you will be

advised of your interview stations.

Applicants should ensure that their camera and microphone are turned on and working

correctly prior to joining the call.  Interviews will be terminated where the panel cannot see

the applicant. 

Before the interview commences, applicants will be briefed on the interview process and will

be required to confirm their identity with the interview administrator. It is therefore important

that applicants have a suitable photographic ID available (passport or UK photo

driving license). In addition, applicants will be required to move their camera to show the

entire room where they are undertaking the interview, to confirm that nobody else is

present.

Once identity has been confirmed, the administrator will advise the interview panel that the

interview process can commence. 

The interview must not be recorded by either the applicant, the administrator, or the panel

members. 

On completion of the interview, the applicant should terminate their connection to the call

and the interview process is complete.

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

Interview format

The interview will consist of two stations lasting 10 minutes each. Applicants will rotate

between each station in any order:

Management Station: Duration 10 minutes

• 1 pre-prepared 3-minute presentation.

• 2 minutes of questioning on presentation

• 1 management scenario question. The question is provided during the interview and

encourages the applicant to think on their feet.

• 5 minutes allowed to answer question

Clinical Station: Duration 10 minutes

• 2 x Clinical scenario questions 5 minutes each. These questions are provided during the

interview to encourage applicants to think on their feet.

The remote panel will be comprised of two consultants on each station and there may also be a lay

representative on the panel whose role is to check for fairness and consistency.

You will be contacted on additional Information regarding the process nearer to your interviews.

Interview scoring criteria

The different sections of the interview will be scored according to the following points

system:

Management Section:

Presentation

Content

0 – No Evidence

1 – Very Poor

2 – Weak

Presentation skills

3 – Satisfactory

4 – Good

5 – Excellent

6 – Outstanding

Questioning

Management Question

Probity & Professional integrity and

awareness of safety & ethics

0 – No Evidence

1 – Very Poor

2 – Weak

3 – Satisfactory

Judgement under pressure &

prioritisation

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

Communication

4 – Good

5 – Excellent

6 – Outstanding

Clinical Scenarios (each clinical question is scored separately according to the same

points framework):

Clinical skills & knowledge

0 – No Evidence

1 – Very Poor

2 – Weak

3 – Satisfactory

4 – Good

5 – Excellent

6 – Outstanding

Judgement under pressure &

prioritisation

Communication

Benchmarking Candidates

If you have been invited to interview for the purposes of Clinical Benchmarking only i.e.,

Academic only candidates who do not wish to take up a non-academic training post or

Defence Deanery, you will not be made an offer. At the time of offers you will have a score

uploaded to Oriel, but will not receive a rank, and your interview status will change to

interview unsuccessful. Your lead deanery will be notified about your score and whether you

were found appointable for benchmarking purposes.

Preferencing

Preferencing of posts will be available prior to offers being made. You will be able to

preference posts by 5pm on Tuesday 13

February to Tuesday 5

March 2024. After the

first iteration of offers are made by 5pm on Tuesday 26

March 2024, preferencing will

reopen between offer iterations.

For guidance on how to submit your preferences please refer to the Oriel Applicant User

Guide.

For full guidance on enhanced preferencing, please refer to ‘Offer Exchanges/Enhanced

Preferencing on the Medical Specialty Training website: https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-

training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/overview-of-specialty-training/preferencing

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

Training Posts

Changes to training for IST

England

There have been some changes to training posts for 2024. Applicants may preference 2-

year Core Surgical Training posts in England, HEE have agreed to pause the recruitment

to ALL IST posts in England for 2024. The number of surgical training places will be

maintained as posts will be added back into core surgical recruitment.

Wales and Scotland will continue to recruit to run-through IST.

Scotland

Applicants can still preference uncoupled Improving Surgical Training Pilot Posts, run-

through IST posts (in General Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Urology or Trauma and

Orthopaedics), or a combination of any of these.

Offers, references and scoresheet

All applicants interviewed will receive a total score, a unique ranking and will be deemed

successful or unsuccessful and will be informed of this via Oriel.

Applicants’ final score will be a combination of MSRA (10%), verified evidence score (30%)

and overall interview score (60%). All scores are combined and appropriately weighted. The

MSRA is weighted at 10% of the overall selection score and scaled onto a 0–10-point scale.

The MSRA score is combined with the Management Score, Clinical Score and Verified

evidence Score, which are equally weighted to account for 30% of the overall selection score

and each scaled onto a 0–30-point scale. The scores are combined to produce an overall

selection score out of 100 points.

Offers will be made to those successful applicants that have ‘matched’ to a post and will be

based on the applicant’s ranking and preferences. Initial offers will be made via Oriel by 5pm

on Tuesday 26

March 2024.

Following initial offers being released, further offers will be made in subsequent iterations.

Applicants have 48 hours from the time of offer (excluding weekends) to confirm via Oriel

whether they wish to accept, reject or hold their offer. Offers made after the hold deadline will

only have the option to accept or reject.

References will only be requested when an offer has been accepted.

Scoresheets will be released to ALL applicants on TBC To be confirmed; therefore, you do

not need to request your scoresheets after interview as we will be unable to provide them

until the date above.

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

Allocation

Once an applicant has accepted a Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1 post, their information

will be passed to their relevant region who will contact them directly to complete the

allocation process.

Further information on how to request a deferred start date or training less than full time

(LTFT) can be found on the Medical Specialty training website

Next steps/roles and responsibilities

If you accept an offer of a training programme your details will be passed on to the local

training programme director around 14 weeks prior to your start date, and to the first trust

you have been appointed to 12 weeks prior to your start date. Therefore, you should not

expect to receive any communication from them prior to this time.

Enquiries and FAQs

Should you have any queries relating to the recruitment process for Core Surgical Training

you can contact the London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex recruitment team via our online

enquiries portal - https://lasepgmdesupport.hee.nhs.uk/support/home

Useful Links

NHS England - East

Midlands

https://www.eastmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/

NHS England - East of

England

https://heeoe.hee.nhs.uk/surgery/core-surgical-training-east-

england

NHS England - London and

KSS

https://london.hee.nhs.uk/

NHS England - North East

https://madeinheene.hee.nhs.uk/

NHS England - North West

https://www.nwpgmd.nhs.uk/Specialty_Schools/Surgery

NHS England – Peninsula

https://peninsuladeanery.nhs.uk/

NHS England - Severn

https://www.severndeanery.nhs.uk/

NHS England - Thames

Valley

https://thamesvalley.hee.nhs.uk/

NHS England - Wessex

https://wessex.hee.nhs.uk/

NHS England - West

Midlands

https://www.westmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/

NHS England - Yorkshire

and

Humber

www.yorksandhumberdeanery.nhs.uk/recruitment/

Scotland Deanery

http://www.scotmt.scot.nhs.uk/

Wales Deanery

https://heiw.nhs.wales/

Oriel 2 Resource bank

https://new.oriel.nhs.uk/Web/ResourceBank

Oriel 2 home page

https://new.oriel.nhs.uk/Web

2024 Core Surgical Training CT1/ST1

Specialty Training website

https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment

Royal College of Surgeons

website

https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/careers-in-surgery/trainees/