ANRO

CT1 (and ST4) recruitment to anaesthetic specialty training posts within the NHS is overseen by the Anaesthetics National Recruitment Office (ANRO) at Health Education England (HEE). Recruitment occurs biannually for commencement in both August and February.

Timeline overview

Source: ANRO Website

Oriel

All applications for CT1 are made through the online recruitment portal, Oriel. Registration has now closed for the August 2024 application cycle.

Applications opened on Thursday 26th October 2023 and closed on Thursday 23rd November 2023.

We highly recommend not leaving your application until the last minute in case of unforeseen issues with the portal.

At the time of application, you choose one ‘cluster’ that you wish to be considered for posts in: England & Wales or Northern Ireland or Scotland.

Contact regarding your application will be sent through a direct message on Oriel. A secondary email should also be sent to you although it is recommended to regularly login to check the status of your application.

Ensure that you familiarise yourself with the 2024 CT1 Applicant Guide and Person Specification which describe the recruitment process in detail.

Longlisting

All applications will be assessed against the essential criteria as detailed in the national CT1 Anaesthetics/ACCS Anaesthetics Person Specification (2024). Those that meet the essential criteria will be longlisted and invited to attend the Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA).

The MSRA

The MSRA is a computer-based, 170-minute assessment based around clinical scenarios. It is split into two parts, Clinical Problem Solving (CPS) and Professional Dilemmas (PD), and is designed to assess essential competencies.

The MSRA is used to shortlist applicants to be invited to interview (where the number of eligible applicants exceeds interview capacity).

In 2023-24 an applicant’s MSRA score will contribute 15% towards their total selection score.

Please see the Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA) 2023-24 Guidance for further information.

The interview

Applicants who are successfully shortlisted will be invited to interview. The online interview booking window will be open from Wednesday 14th Febuary - Friday 16th February 2024. You will need to login to your Oriel account to book an interview on a date and time of your choice (first come, first served).

In the 2023-24 application cycle all interviews will be conducted online.

The online interviews consist of two 15-minute stations: a clinical scenario and a general interview station (35 minutes overall). Each station is interviewed by two clinicians who mark independently. You also receive a global score.

Interview breakdown:

Please note that there have been changes to the scoring system for the August 2024 application cycle.

Please see the CT1 Online Interview Scoring Matrix for an overview of how the interview is scored. Please note that the Global Rating score applies in both interviews, and makes up 40% of the total interview score.

Clinical scenario (50 marks)

Applicants will have 5 minutes to read a clinical scenario. As the scenario progresses, the interviewers will add more information for the candidate to consider.

This aims to assess the domains of team working, clinical judgement & decision making and working under pressure. Each domain scores a maximum of 10 marks (5 from each interviewer), for a total of 30 possible marks across the three domains.

Each interviewer will also give a Global Rating score, based on their professional judgement of the candidate’s overall performance. This scores a maximum of 20 marks (10 from each interviewer).

General interview (50 marks)

General questions on commitment to anaesthesia, training to date, as well as broader questions on the NHS and issues related to anaesthesia. This aims to assess the following domains: professional behaviour and communication, commitment to specialty and reflective practice. Each domain again scores a maximum of 10 marks (5 from each interviewer), for a total of 30 possible marks across the three domains.

Each interviewer will also give a Global Rating score, based on their professional judgement of the candidate’s overall performance. This scores a maximum of 20 marks (10 from each interviewer).

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These scores are combined to give a total interview score out of 100. Applicants will need a minimum score of 60 out of 100 to be deemed appointable.

Applicants deemed appointable will have their MSRA score added to their interview score. This overall score will determine your rank for appointment.

Sub-preferences

When invited to attend an interview, you will also be asked to sub-preference on Oriel. This is where you rank jobs within your chosen cluster based upon more detailed geographical and programme preferences (e.g. ACCS/ core, deanery, trusts).

Offers

All candidates will be ranked in a single national list (for each cluster) based upon performance throughout the selection process. If you rank highly enough for an offer to be made, you will be offered your highest ranked preference that is available when your rank is reached. You have 48 hours from the offer of a job to accept, decline or hold before the offer expires.

Upgrading

There is an additional option to accept with upgrades. This means that if a job later becomes available that you ranked higher when sub-preferencing, you will automatically be upgraded to that job.