Radiology 5th December 2024

Radiology ST1 Interview Overview 2025

The Radiology ST1 interview is a key hurdle in an increasingly competitive application process. In the 2024 Radiology application cycle, there were a total of 3719 applicants for 312 training posts across England, Scotland and Wales. With an 11.92 competition ratio, this means nearly twelve people are applying for each post!

Evidently, making a good impression and standing out in the interview is vital in securing a radiology training number – don’t let your hard work revising for the MSRA go to waste! In addition to helping you prepare for the interview, as we’ve done in this blog, we’ve written guides to support you through the Radiology ST1 application process and self-assessment criteria.

What is the Radiology ST1 interview format?

The format of the radiology interview has changed again for 2025, and we have recently updated our question bank to reflect this. 

Previously, the interview consisted of one station lasting 15 minutes, aimed at assessing a candidate’s “commitment to radiology and communication skills”. This could involve asking candidates about a range of topics within radiology, from their understanding of the training pathway to what they thought about teleradiology. Candidates would also be scrutinised on their portfolio. Having a detailed understanding of what is present was crucial to answering the relevant portfolio based questions.

However, for 2025, the interview includes 2 stations lasting up to 10 minutes each, covering different criteria from the person specification. It will assess your commitment to radiology and your communication skills.

We have split our question bank into three sections to cover “Commitment to Specialty”, “Personal skills” and “Clinical Prioritisation”. We will discuss each of these in turn. For 2025, your interview is worth 60% of your overall score, which is an increase yet again this year.

Commitment to Radiology

There are a variety of topics this can encompass, which range from purely factual questions, for example, the training pathway in radiology, FRCR exams or curriculum requirements. Or they may ask opinion-based questions, such as your thoughts on skills mix in radiology, or your reasons for wanting to do radiology. In all questions, the aim is to demonstrate that you have a clear understanding of the topic being asked, gained through your personal experiences of time spent within the radiology department through taster weeks, audits, clinical placements or conferences. In recent years, there has not been a dedicated portfolio station, so this question presents a great opportunity to bring to light all the amazing elements of your portfolio! Be sure to do so when it is relevant to the question being asked.

Below is a snippet from our Radiology ST1 Interview Question Bank dashboard, displaying just some of the scenarios included.

Communication Skills 

Previously, communication skills were covered in a more general “Personal Skills” station. For 2025, it states specifically that communication skills will be assessed, but it is worth noting this change and expecting for a broader discussion of skills in which your communication skills will also be assessed. The interviewers may ask you about what skills you possess, or they may want you to discuss a particular attribute or skill and for you to give an example of a time you have demonstrated it. Conversely, they may want to assess if you know what skills are important for a radiologist to have and would expect you to refer back to your taster weeks to discuss what skills you saw the radiologists exhibit. This could range from communication skills in MDTs or teaching sessions, but could also be skills in manual dexterity and anatomical spatial awareness when conducting ultrasound-guided procedures. The list is endless! It’s all about how you discuss it and the relevant details you can delve into. 

Clinical Prioritisation

For the 2024 interviews, a “Clinical Prioritisation” station was announced approximately a week before the interview! Understandably, this caused a lot of panic as applicants tried to prepare very last minute for this completely new station. We swiftly reacted and added five Clinical Prioritisation stations to the Medibuddy Radiology Interview Question Bank in an attempt to help with this. Following the 2024 interviews, these have been updated to more accurately represent the 2024 interview experience, and an additional five have been added to them. Although a “Clinical Prioritisation” station has not been announced for the 2025 interviews, we have left these in the Question Bank, in case they are a last minute addition again this year!

Note for 2025:

It’s worth bearing in mind, the interview structure is fairly broad, and can encompass a variety of topics. For ‘commitment to speciality’, this may be as simple as ‘why do you want to be a radiologist?’ or it may require some prior reading on radiology specific topics like skills mix, teleradiology and REALM meetings just to name a few. These have always been fair game for radiology interviews and the new format is no different. For your ‘communication skills’, they will likely want to assess skills that make an effective radiologist and examples of when you have exhibited them. Additionally, they may give you an ethical scenario and identify how you would manage the situation appropriately.

How can I prepare for the Radiology ST1 interview?

The 2025 will be conducted remotely via a software called Qpercom Recruit. You will likely be unfamiliar with this, so make sure you have practised using it beforehand. Ensure you have good screen hygiene with a clean background and central framing with your camera near eye level. This may sound pedantic, but it makes a big difference! Practice answering questions whilst looking into your camera, rather than the screen (it can be harder than it sounds!). The more you can make second nature, the easier it will be on the day.

Spending time practising possible questions will provide you with confidence and the knowledge to tackle any questions that may arise in the real interview. Practice with a range of people to receive the most variety of feedback for you to work on. This may be fellow applicants to radiology or other specialities, previous successful applicants or even friends and family. It’s all about getting the miles in and getting used to structuring your answers to maximise your marks. The Medibuddy Radiology Interview Question Bank has been updated to bring it in line with the current interview structure and features a wide range of practice questions covering frequently assessed topics, covering the key points that examiners are looking for. Our Radiology ST1 Interview Question bank is written by high-scoring Radiology trainees who have gone through the process you are about to embark on!

If you are reading this blog to get an idea about the interview, but you haven’t yet taken your MSRA, check out our adaptive, AI-powered MSRA question bank to help you prepare.

Good luck!

Useful Resources

• Radiology ST1 Person Specification 2025
• Mind The Bleep – Applying to Radiology
• MSRA Complete Guide
• Medibuddy Radiology Interview Question Bank