Radiology ST1 application process

The radiology ST1 application process is nationally coordinated and applications are made via an online platform called ORIEL (see below). The application process has existed in its current form since 2016, when the Specialty Recruitment Assessment was first used to shortlist for interviews – prior to this, every candidate that applied would be interviewed, provided they were eligible.

Now, the application process can essentially be split into two main parts:

1. The Specialty Recruitment Assessment (SRA) – this is a general exam which applicants for other specialties (such as GP training) also take
2. Interview assessment – candidates are ranked by their SRA scores and then selected for interview based on it. The RCR have stated that there will be 600 interview places available. Interviews will be held in London (regardless of which deanery candidates have expressed a preference for). We’ve developed the Radiology ST1 Interview Question Bank to help you prepare for interview.

What is the application timeline?

8-30 November 2017:           Window for applications to be submitted

Mid December 2017:              SRA invitations sent out

4-13 January 2018:                 SRA assessment window

Late January 2018:                 SRA results released

Late January 2018:                 Interview offers sent

20-23 February 2018:           Interviews – (make sure you prepare properly for this!)

5 March 2018:                          Initial offers circulated

How are training programmes ranked?

Candidates can view all the available deaneries on the ORIEL platform – the number of available places per deanery will be listed, although more specific details on each deanery are limited. Candidates can then rank deaneries based on preference via the ORIEL platform – you do not need to rank every deanery and you can exclude yourself from specific deaneries if you wish. This ranking process takes place before the results of the interview.

What is the offer process?

Offers should be circulated by 1700 on 5 March 2018 (as per the RCR and ORIEL website). Essentially, candidates are ranked after their interview; based on this the top ranked candidate is offered their highest preference job that is available. This process is repeated for each candidate sequentially down the rankings until all jobs have been offered. If there are spare vacancies, there will be a clearing process.

Further reading

Try our other articles on the ST1 Radiology Interview.