Specialty training applications: the 2027 entry timeline

For most CT1 and ST1 posts starting in 2027, applications close on 19 November 2026 at 16:00 UK time. The window is already open. Check the person specification, identify your evidence-completion deadline and submit through Oriel with time for a final check.

This guide was checked on 7 November 2026. The main 2027 dates are now published. The national recruitment timetable provides the round deadlines; your specialty's instructions provide the assessment, upload and booking details. Put them in the same calendar as your shifts, where they stand a chance against the rota.

Which round are you applying in?

Round 1 mainly recruits to CT1 and ST1, including the programmes most doctors apply to from FY2. Round 2 mainly recruits to higher specialty training at ST3 and ST4. Academic recruitment has a separate timetable. These are separate entry competitions: Round 2 is not a general second chance at any ST1 specialty you missed in Round 1.

The distinction between programmes also matters. In run-through training, you enter a programme and continue subject to satisfactory progress. Uncoupled programmes require a further competitive application for higher training. The Medical Hub overview explains both structures and identifies the lead recruiter for each specialty.

Applications open: Round 1, 22 October 2026, 10:00; Round 2, 19 November 2026, 10:00.
Applications close: Round 1, 19 November 2026, 16:00; Round 2, 10 December 2026, 16:00.
National interview window: Round 1, 11 January–2 April 2027; Round 2, 11 January–9 April 2027.
Initial offers by: Round 1, 6 April 2027, 17:00; Round 2, 13 April 2027, 17:00.
Hold deadline: Round 1, 9 April 2027, 09:00; Round 2, 21 April 2027, 13:00.
Upgrade deadline: Round 1, 14 April 2027, 16:00; Round 2, 22 April 2027, 16:00.

These are the published national dates in UK local time. Individual interview windows are narrower. Some specialty documents give different hold or offer hours, so follow the deadline in your Oriel message and resolve discrepancies before relying on a later time.

The national timetable says applicants can submit at most five applications per recruitment round in 2027. Do not assume Round 2 is exempt. Choose applications after checking that you meet the eligibility criteria and would take the training offered.

Round 3 is scheduled to open on 13 July and close on 29 July 2027, for later starts, generally in early 2028. Participation depends on the specialty and remaining vacancies or reserve lists. It is not a guaranteed route to an August 2027 job.

Before submitting: eligibility and foundation competence

Read each current person specification, even if you applied last year. Pay particular attention to when a requirement must be met. An experience cap assessed at application is different from one assessed at the advertised post start date.

For example, the radiology ST1 specification requires full GMC registration at application and a licence at post commencement. It caps radiology experience by the post start date. The paediatrics ST1 specification assesses its paediatric experience limit at application. Do not transfer one specialty's rules to another. Keep the relevant guidance open; this is an ambitious amount of admin to do from memory after nights.

Use the foundation competence applicant guide to identify your evidence route:

If you are completing a recognised UK Foundation Programme, follow the current-trainee route and its completion conditions.
If you have already completed it, an FPCC within the required three-and-a-half-year period before the post starts can provide evidence. An F3 year does not automatically require CREST.
If another route applies, check the CREST requirements, eligible signatory and supervision period. Only the accepted 2024 and 2027 versions can be used for this round, with the older version still needing to meet current eligibility requirements.

Where evidence must accompany the application, arrange it before submission. Keep employment dates and gaps consistent across the form and supporting documents. If a previous resignation or incomplete training programme requires an additional declaration, deal with that alongside the eligibility section.

Check prioritisation status after the deadline

The 2027 prioritisation guidance is published. It applies at interview invitation and training-offer stages for the usual specialty processes. ST1 Public Health is excluded; 2027 Round 1 ACF recruitment uses offer-stage prioritisation only. GP ST1 and core psychiatry CT1 have no interview, so prioritisation applies to their offers.

Eligibility for priority status depends on the specified medical qualification, qualifying UK programme or citizenship/immigration categories. The rules do not create a general entitlement after an assumed number of years in an NHS service job. Read the detailed criteria for your entry level.

Oriel is due to show your status the day after applications close. For national Round 1, request a review of an incorrect status by 24 November 2026 at 17:00; for Round 2, the deadline is 15 December 2026 at 17:00. Follow the published review instructions, including any evidence requirement. Priority status does not guarantee a place. Add the status check to your calendar before Oriel becomes a tab you keep meaning to reopen.

Evidence completion and evidence upload are different deadlines

Some specialties freeze achievements when you submit the application. Others allow qualifying work up to a later point. A later upload date, by itself, does not establish that you can complete new work until then.

These six examples match the rules used in DocFolio's portfolio self-assessment:

IMT: At your actual application submission, by 19 November at 16:00 at the latest. Fully accepted papers in press are an exception to needing publication.
Clinical radiology ST1: At actual submission. Papers must be accepted, presentations delivered and qualification outcomes awarded. The upload must support the achievements declared in Oriel.
Histopathology ST1: At application, subject to the individual scoring sections. Some unfinished qualifications or completed teaching modules and in-press papers can score.
Core Surgical Training: By 19 February 2027, when uploads open. The window closes on 24 February, but those additional days do not extend the achievement deadline.
Ophthalmology ST1: By your own evidence upload, within 18 January–2 February 2027, unless a scoring section allows otherwise. Accepted presentations and papers in press have specific provisions.
Paediatrics ST1: The written examples are fixed at submission. There is no separate universal project-completion date stated and no later scored portfolio upload. Describe the work you have actually done.

Read each band's requirements as well as the general rule. Participation in an ongoing project can be a different achievement from leading a completed project. Never claim work you have not done because you expect to finish it later.

There is an unresolved histopathology upload conflict: its timetable gives 23–30 November 2026, closing at 10:00, while its scoring page gives 23 December at 10:00. Prepare for the earlier window and check the recruitment instructions; do not treat December as an extension. The achievement rule remains application-time. This national histopathology guidance covers England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland applicants should check their separate process.

Keep the documents for each claim together and identify what still needs a supervisor's confirmation. A certificate saved somewhere on an old NHS desktop makes an unhelpful treasure hunt. Check the required file format and submission step before the portal opens. A prepared file is useful only if it is uploaded and submitted through the specified route by the deadline.

January and February: MSRA and interview preparation

If your specialty uses the MSRA, establish which sitting you must take and how the score affects selection. The MSRA overview confirms two windows: January for all participating specialties, and February reserved for applicants applying only to GP and/or core psychiatry. Some of the latter applicants may be allocated January because of capacity. Withdrawing an application does not let you switch your allocated window.

The GP timetable gives 5–20 January and 10–18 February 2027. Radiology requires January. The CST timetable currently gives 5–18 January, differing from the wider first window; follow your allocated sitting and booking invitation.

The assessment consists of Professional Dilemmas and Clinical Problem Solving papers. Start with the official format and practice material, then plan preparation around your rota. A previous year's score or interview cutoff may not carry over; check the specialty rule before relying on it. Give your revision plan some allowance for nights; the rota is unlikely to show reciprocal consideration.

When invited, follow the Pearson booking process and confirm that your appointment is booked. Allow for travel and any agreed adjustments. The MSRA expenses guidance says applicant expenses are not reimbursed by the MSRA team.

Not every specialty has the same sequence. GP and core psychiatry select on MSRA performance without an interview, subject to eligibility and prioritisation. Paediatrics uses its written application and interview instead. Nor is there a universal final score combining MSRA, portfolio and interview: each recruiter publishes its own method.

Use your specialty's interview window

The six programmes below have published these 2027 windows. Links lead to the relevant timetable:

IMT: England, Northern Ireland and Wales vacancy: 18 January–12 February.
Histopathology: 1–4 February.
Paediatrics: 2 February–25 March.
CST: 1–10 March.
Radiology: 11–17 March, excluding weekends.
Ophthalmology: 22–23 March.

IMT applicants to Scotland should use the separate Scottish vacancy guidance. For every specialty, a window is not a promise of a slot on each day. Book from your invitation and check whether an applicant declaration must also be returned.

Use DocFolio's timeline to keep the stages visible. Prepare examples against the person specification, practise aloud and test your interview equipment in advance. Read the format for this year's round before paying for resources based on a previous format. A practice call is a useful time to discover that your headphones have chosen the wrong microphone.

April: preferences, offers and upgrades

Decide which programmes you would take before the first offer arrives. Check the full rotation geography, travel, support and any constraints on moving. Include the outlying hospital in your route planning; it will still be outlying on an early shift. Your preferences determine which available posts can match to you; they do not improve the selection score you achieved.

The national offer guidance gives a usual response period of 48 hours, excluding weekends but including bank holidays. Some specialty pages use different wording. Use the deadline displayed in Oriel and act early.

The main choices are:

Accept: secure the offer, subject to the required checks. This normally ends other applications in that round, apart from any applicable hierarchical upgrade arrangements.
Hold: keep one offer while other applications continue, until the hold deadline.
Accept or hold with upgrades: allow an automatic change to an eligible preferred programme before the upgrade deadline. Check and save your upgrade preferences; you cannot revert to the old offer afterwards.
Decline: leave that specialty's offer process for the round.

An unanswered offer can expire. Holding is not a way to keep several offers simultaneously. Read the current rules before responding, particularly if you are applying across specialties or using hierarchical upgrades.

Prioritisation affects the order in which applicants are considered for offers; it does not alter the rank awarded for selection performance. A priority applicant can still miss out, and a non-priority applicant may receive an offer where suitable vacancies remain. Only preference posts you would actually undertake.

After an offer, or if you need another plan

An accepted training offer remains conditional on the required pre-employment checks. Respond to requests about references, occupational health, registration and other documents. Ask the receiving training organisation about LTFT arrangements or any permissible deferred start through its published process; acceptance does not settle those arrangements automatically.

If you are appointable but receive no initial offer, monitor the recycling process and keep your preferences accurate. Being on a reserve list is not a guaranteed job, so make practical plans for your current employment as well.

If you do not progress, read the feedback for the stage at which your application ended. An eligibility problem, insufficient shortlist score and unsuccessful interview call for different preparation. Identify the specific gap before committing to another course, project or exam resource. An anxious evening with the course-booking tabs open can get expensive. Check later vacancies individually rather than assuming that every specialty will recruit again.

For an FY1 or medical student planning a later application, the dates above illustrate the work involved but do not establish your future round's rules. Explore specialties, keep evidence of work as you complete it and leave time for projects that depend on others. When your own guidance is published, check the scoring and deadlines again before deciding what to claim.