After submission

Once your application has been submitted, recruiters will begin to carry out 'longlisting'. There is not a set timetable that this will be completed by and this is often influenced by the interview date and how quickly that specialty needs to be prioritised. At the absolute latest, all specialties' longlisting will be completed no later than seven days prior to the first interview date for that specialty.

The region managing your application will check your application and any information accompanying it against the ST3 eligibility criteria (as described within the ST3 person specifications, and detailed on the am I eligible? section of this website). There are three possible outcomes during longlisting:

• Your application is found to be eligible and you can proceed to the next stage (see below).

• Your application is found not to be eligible, you will be emailed confirmation of this as soon as it is confirmed.

• More information is required to establish your eligibility. Where this is the case you will be given a deadline by which to repsond. It is highly important to respond by the deadline as otherwise your application is likely to be rejected. Upon receipt of the requested information it will be decided whether or not you can proceed.

If you do not hear anything during the longlisting period this is likely to mean that 'no news is good news' as recruiters only initially contact applications where they require clarification or they are not eligible.

Acceptance of application form

Once longlisting has been completed, eligible candidates will receive an email to confirm this and information about the next steps.

This is not a guarantee of eligibility - in the event information arises later in the process showing that you are not eligible, your application can still be rejected at that point.

For more information on the eligibility criteria and the process by which you can demonstrate that you meet them, please see the am I eligible? section of this website.

Shortlisting for all specialties will be carried out using the same method, that is:

• Using your application self-assessment .
• Verifying your achievements and re-scoring your application.
• Using verified scores to  invite to interview in score order.

There is no minimum score required and if a specialty has sufficient capacity, they will invite all eligible candidates to interview.

To view the scores awarded to all submitted applications, including average scores and distribution nationally, for previous years please visit the relevant  specialty's  page.

Timing of shortlisting

This will vary by specialty and we are not able to confirm exactly when each will complete this. The dates which it is anticipated you will be asked to load your evidence for verification are published in each specialties 'Interview & posts' section of their page. Shortlisting for a specialty will usually be completed after this date and no later than seven days prior to their first interview date, 

By this date, all candidates will be emailed confirmation that they will be  invited to interview  or have been placed on a reserve list. Reserve list candidates will be subsequently invited if places become available due to higher scoring candidates withdrawing their application.

Specialties with capacity to interview all

If a specialty can interview all who apply, in some cases they may choose to do evidence verification after shortlisting, and in some cases after interview. Whilst the application score will not be needed for shortlisting, a proportion of the score is used in the total score used for ranking and offers, so the verification will be completed before this.

Specialties with applications far exceeding interview capacity

If a specialty has a significantly greater number of applications than their interview capacity, they may choose to shortlist out candidates whose self-assessment score is too far away from the interview capacity cut off to have a chance of being shortlisted. Where this is the case, the specialty will withdraw candidates at an early stage, usually soon after applications close once numbers can be assessed against capacity.