Prepare for the 2026 Immunology ST3 Interview with Structured, Specialty-Specific Practice Questions

Immunology ST3 Interview Questions are the focus of this question bank, built for doctors preparing for the 2026 joint Allergy and Immunology ST3 interview run through PHST recruitment. You’ll find comprehensive coverage of every station in the online multi-station panel, written by high-scoring trainees and registrars who recently sat the interview themselves.

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Updated for 2026

What to Expect from the Immunology ST3 Interview

Immunology ST3 is a small, sharply contested programme. NHS England’s published competition data recorded 37 applications for 5 posts in the 2025 round, a ratio of 7.4:1. With single-digit post numbers, a few marks decide outcomes. Recruitment runs nationally through the Physician Higher Specialty Training (PHST) office, and because Allergy and Immunology recruit jointly, you’ll sit the same structured interview as candidates applying to Allergy ST3.

For the 2026 round, the interview is delivered online via Qpercom VIDS. PHST publishes the structure: two stations, each 20 minutes, made up of four questions marked 1 to 5, with each station run by a separate panel of two interviewers (occasionally a third clinician assists with questioning). Panellists are consultants from Allergy and Immunology, recruited through specialty society calls including BSACI. The full sitting takes approximately 45 to 50 minutes including transitions. Station 1 pairs a clinical scenario with an ethics, professionalism and governance question; Station 2 pairs a short research-paper presentation and discussion with a suitability and commitment question.

Station 1: Clinical Scenario and Ethics, Professionalism and Governance

Twenty minutes with one assessor pair, split into two ten-minute questions. The first is a clinical scenario spanning the breadth of the joint curriculum: primary and secondary immunodeficiency, anaphylaxis and drug allergy, autoimmune and autoinflammatory disease, and interpretation of laboratory immunology results in context, testing clinical reasoning, prioritisation, escalation and the integration of laboratory findings with management. The second is an ethics, professionalism and governance question, drawing on moral and legal principles and GMC Good Medical Practice: consent, confidentiality, duty of candour, escalation of concerns, and managing difficult colleague or patient interactions. Each is scored 1 to 5.

Station 2: Research Presentation and Suitability and Commitment

Twenty minutes with a separate assessor pair, again two questions. The first is a three-minute presentation on an interesting research paper covering a recent development or finding relevant to allergy and/or clinical immunology, followed by a seven-minute discussion, so come ready to summarise a paper crisply and defend it under questioning. The second is a suitability and commitment to specialty question: why immunology, how you understand the ACI versus ACLI pathway split, and what sustained engagement (taster experience, audit, research, teaching, society involvement) you can evidence, with realism about the 5-year JRCPTB programme jointly overseen by RCP and RCPath. Both are scored 1 to 5.

What the Panel Is Looking For

The interview carries 80 of the 100 final marks, with the application and self-assessment score contributing the other 20, so interview-day performance is decisive. Across the four questions the panel is scoring for safe, structured clinical reasoning, integration of laboratory and clinical thinking, sound ethical and professional judgement, credible research discussion, and genuine specialty insight. Appointability is conditional: no question scored 1 out of 5, no more than two scored 2 out of 5, and a raw interview score at or above the published threshold (24 in recent guidance; verify against the current PHST Applicant Handbook). Fall below any condition and ranking position becomes irrelevant.

The Medibuddy 2026 Immunology ST3 Interview Question Bank

We’ve built the question bank around the joint Allergy and Immunology online interview, so every section maps directly to what the panel actually assesses: clinical scenarios, professionalism and governance grounded in GMC Good Medical Practice (2024), and reflective discussion of real clinical events. Coverage is comprehensive across the stations, including the ethics and reflective practice components that candidates most often underprepare for. The bank is written by high-scoring Immunology and Allergy registrars who recently sat the interview, and it’s refreshed each year using feedback from the most recent candidate cohort.

What’s Included in the Immunology ST3 Interview Question Bank

The bank is built around the joint Allergy and Immunology ST3 interview, with practice material for all four scored questions across the two stations.

How to Prepare for the Immunology ST3 Interview

Immunology ST3 is recruited jointly with Allergy through the Physician Higher Specialty Training office, with all candidates sitting the same online interview on Qpercom VIDS. The format is tight, the post numbers are small, and the panel is looking for evidence you can practise across both clinical allergy and laboratory immunology. Preparation needs to reflect that.

Understand the format before you start practising

Before you write a single answer, get the structure straight. The Allergy and Immunology ST3 interview is an online two-station assessment of four scored questions, with each station run by a separate pair of panellists and a total interview running roughly 45 to 50 minutes including transitions. Stations are short, structured and scored against published domains rather than a holistic impression. Practising in the wrong shape, long unstructured answers, single-panel rehearsal, in-person mocks only, will not train you for what you actually face on Qpercom.

Focus on knowledge and delivery equally

Strong content delivered poorly scores the same as weak content delivered well, which is to say, not enough. The panel marks against fixed descriptors, so a clear opening sentence, a signposted structure, and a clean landing matter as much as the immunology you put in between.

Build preparation around all four questions

Treat the four questions as four separate disciplines. For the clinical scenario, work through both acute allergy presentations (anaphylaxis, drug reactions, food allergy in adults and children) and immunology-led problems (primary immunodeficiency, secondary immunodeficiency in haematology and transplant patients, autoinflammatory disease, complement disorders). For the ethics, professionalism and governance question, rehearse structured responses to consent, capacity, candour, escalation of concerns and managing disagreement using a consistent framework. For the research presentation, choose a recent allergy or immunology paper now and practise a tight three-minute summary plus seven minutes of discussion. For suitability and commitment, prepare evidenced answers on why Immunology, where you sit on the ACI/ACLI pathway split, and the taster, audit, research and teaching experience that backs it up.

Because Allergy and Immunology share a single interview, do not neglect the side you find less comfortable. Immunology-leaning candidates routinely under-prepare clinical allergy; allergy-leaning candidates under-prepare the laboratory and diagnostic immunology component.

Practise under timed conditions

The full interview runs approximately 45 to 50 minutes including transitions, so your answers need to be complete within each station’s window with time for follow-up probing. Candidates should confirm per-station timings against the current PHST Applicant Handbook. Practise to a clock, on camera, on a platform that mimics the Qpercom experience: laptop microphone, no notes visible, a panel of two who do not feed you cues. Record yourself, watch it back, and cut the filler.

Start earlier than you think

We recommend beginning structured interview preparation at least eight to twelve weeks before your scheduled date, with a final intensive block of timed mocks in the last fortnight. This is general guidance rather than a PHST-published recommendation. Immunology ST3 posts run in single figures nationally, so the gap between an appointable score and a ranked-for-offer score is narrow. Candidates who start the week before consistently underperform on delivery even when their knowledge is strong.

Translate the principles into practice with the question bank

The structure above only works if you actually run answers out loud against realistic prompts. Our question bank is built around the interview stations, mirrors the timing of the real interview, and gives you model frameworks for the question types panels return to year after year. Use it alongside the knowledge course: read, then answer, then refine. That cycle of read, answer and refine is what converts preparation into interview performance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Immunology ST3 interview involve?

The Immunology ST3 interview is a joint Allergy and Immunology assessment delivered online via Qpercom VIDS, structured as two 20-minute stations made up of four scored questions, with two interviewers per station. The full interview takes approximately 45 to 50 minutes including transitions. Panellists are consultant clinicians from both specialties, recruited through bodies such as BSACI.

How competitive is Immunology ST3?

It’s a very small programme, so ratios swing sharply year to year. NHS England’s 2025 figures show 37 applications for 5 posts, a ratio of 7.4:1, and only 4 of the 5 posts filled. With single-digit post numbers, every interview station matters; there is no comfortable margin to recover from a weak one.

What clinical topics come up in the Immunology ST3 interview?

Because Allergy and Immunology share the interview, you should prepare across both clinical allergy practice and laboratory immunology. Clinical content typically spans primary and secondary immunodeficiency, anaphylaxis and drug allergy, autoimmune and autoinflammatory disease, transplantation, and interpretation of diagnostic immunology results. Reflective discussion of real cases (errors, complaints, complex patients) is widely expected, even though no dedicated significant-event station is publicly documented.

Does the question bank cover every station?

Yes. The bank is built around the joint Allergy and Immunology two-station, four-question structure, with material for the clinical scenario (clinical and laboratory immunology cases), the ethics, professionalism and governance question, the research-paper presentation, and the suitability and commitment question. Every question has been written by trainees who recently sat the interview, and content is refreshed each year against the current PHST format.

When should I start preparing for the Immunology ST3 interview?

We recommend starting around eight to twelve weeks before your interview date as general guidance, not a PHST-published recommendation. The clinical and laboratory breadth is substantial, and delivery under timed online conditions on Qpercom takes practice to feel natural. Earlier preparation also gives you time to refine reflective examples and rehearse commitment-to-specialty answers so they sound considered rather than rehearsed.

Start Preparing for the Immunology ST3 Interview

Most candidates prepare by reading broadly across immunology and hoping it translates on the day. Strong candidates prepare differently. They rehearse against the actual station format, the actual reading times and the actual assessment criteria the panel uses. That’s how the Immunology ST3 interview is scored, and that’s what this question bank is built for.