Histopathology ST1 26th November 2024

Histopathology ST1 2025 Interview Guide

If you’re applying for Histopathology ST1 in the 2025 recruitment window, this guide has you covered with everything from the key dates to the interview structure and how offers are made.

For 2024 recruitment, there were 600 applications for 119 Histopathology ST1 posts, resulting in a competition ratio of 5.04. That means that more than five people applied for each post, an increase on the previous year. To help you beat the competition, we’ve put together our Histopathology ST1 interview guide.

Histopathology ST1 Application

For the 2025 recruitment window, the Histopathology ST1 application deadline is 21 November 2024. It’s important to submit your application well ahead of time, as those submitted after the deadline won’t be considered.

When looking at your application form, assessors will be making their judgements based on a few key areas, including:

• Qualifications
• Clinical skills
• Academic skills
• Personal skills
• Professional integrity
• Commitment to specialty

You must meet the essential eligibility criteria to be longlisted. More information on the selection criteria can be found in the Histopathology ST1 2025 person specification.

If you’re successfully longlisted, the self assessment section of your application will be used for the shortlisting process. You can find more information about this in the following section.

Histopathology ST1 Self Assessment

Part of the application requires you to complete a self-assessment and score yourself based on your achievements in a variety of domains. These include:

• Additional undergraduate degrees and qualifications
• Postgraduate degrees and qualifications
• Presentation / posters
• Publications
• Teaching experience
• Training in teaching
• Quality improvement (QI)
• Leadership and management
• Commitment to Histopathology as a specialty
• Histopathology related activities

Boost your Histopathology ST1 application by Training in Teaching

Training in teaching can earn you up to 5 Histopathology ST1 application points. For maximum points, you must have been awarded a master’s qualification in teaching. However, you might find this difficult to achieve before you submit your application. So, an easy alternative is to receive brief training in teaching methods. Our flexible, 2-day Teach the Teacher course should grant you 1 extra point towards your Histopathology ST1 application.

Teach the Teacher Course by Medibuddy

This two-day CPD-accredited online course will earn you 12 CPD points on completion. It’s entirely flexible, so you can complete it in two days or multiple sessions over a longer period. On completion of the course, you’ll receive a certificate for your portfolio that is accredited for CCT, interviews and appraisals.

Find out more

You should answer each question to the best of your ability, ensuring you provide accurate information at the time of filling out the application form. Remember, once you’ve submitted your application form, you won’t be able to amend the self-assessment section. Therefore, it’s important to take your time with this part of the application.

To back up your self-assessment answers, you must submit evidence documents during the evidence upload window, which is 27 November – 13 December 2024. Assessors will use your evidence to verify your self assessment score. Your verified score will then be used to rank your application for the purpose of shortlisting candidates for interview.

You can find more information about the self assessment process, scoring and verification here.

Histopathology ST1 Key Dates

The 2025 recruitment timeline for Histopathology ST1 is as follows:

*Subject to change

Histopathology ST1 Interview Format

If you’re shortlisted for interview, you will be invited to book this through your Oriel account. Interview slots are offered on a first-come, first-served basis and must be booked before the deadline.

For the 2025 recruitment window, interviews will take place online through the Qpercom video platform. So, make sure you have a working laptop microphone and camera. The specialty recruitment website provides guidance about the online process and how to use Qpercom.

The Histopathology ST1 interview consists of five questions across two stations. Each station lasts 15 minutes and is designed to test different aspects of your suitability for the specialty.

You can find the different interview topics below, and how long you can expect each question to last:

Station 1

This station is 15 minutes long and consists of the following two questions:

• Question 1 revolves around interpreting an image. For this question, you’ll be shown an image and asked questions relating to it. This will last a total of 5 minutes.
• Question 2 centres around Histopathology as a career. Here, you can expect questions about Histopathology and your experience of teamwork. This question will make up 10 minutes of the station.

Station 2

As with station 1, this station will last 15 minutes. It’s formatted into the following 3 question areas:

• Question 3 involves clinical knowledge scenarios and will make up 5 minutes of the total time.
• Question 4 will focus on questions relating to clinical error and audit. Again, this will be 5 minutes long.
• Question 5 is a case study, making up the final 5 minutes of the station.

Below is an example clinical knowledge scenario taken from our Histopathology ST1 Interview Question Bank.

The remote panel responsible for assessing your interview will consist of two consultants. There may also be a lay representative present, whose role will be to check for fairness and consistency.

Histopathology ST1 Offers

Before offers are made, preferencing will take place. This is your opportunity to state which posts you want the most, and those you want the least.

You’ll be deemed successful or unsuccessful depending on your interview performance and subsequent interview score. If successful, the score you achieved at interview will determine your final score and ranking. Offers will be made in rank order.

For 2025 recruitment, initial offers will be sent by 26 March 2025 to successful candidates who have declared their preference for a post. Once the offer has been made, you’ll have 48 hours to decide if you want to accept, reject or hold.

After accepting a Histopathology ST1 offer, you’ll be directed to the relevant region, who will contact you to complete the application process.

Good luck with your application and interview!