NHS England (North-West local office) is coordinating the national process for recruiting trainees into all CT1 Core Psychiatry training posts for August 2026 recruitment.

Recruitment will take place for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There will be a single application process for CT1 Core Psychiatry and ST1 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and ST1 Psychiatry of Learning Disability which is listed in Oriel as CT1 Core Psychiatry. Applicants will have the opportunity to preference available posts in any of the specialties when preferences open. Please note that there will not necessarily be any ST1 Child & Adolescent Psychiatry or ST1 Psychiatry of Learning Disability posts available in this round.

Some summary information is included below. However, please see the hyperlinks tab for links to further information about the recruitment process.

In this recruitment round applicants will submit a single application (Core Psychiatry) but will later have the opportunity to rank all available CT1 Core Psychiatry, ST1 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and ST1 Psychiatry of Learning Disability posts during the preferencing process.

For a list of indicative vacancy numbers for this round received for each NHSE Local Office please visit the following site: https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/psychiatry/core-psychiatry-training/overview-of-core-psychiatry-training/posts

Please note that post numbers are subject to change throughout the recruitment round. For the August 2026 intake, it is expected that posts will be available in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Basic programme information is available from our website: https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/psychiatry/core-psychiatry-training/overview-of-core-psychiatry-training/overview-of-core-psychiatry-training

For information regarding scales of pay, please refer to the NHS Employers website as scales may differ across the UK: http://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/pay-and-reward/pay/pay-and-conditions-circulars/medical-and-dental-pay-and-conditions-circulars

Applications are equally open to those who may, either from the outset or subsequently, wish to train less than full time or job share.

Please note that there is a strict application policy that applications cannot be accepted after the deadline.

There will be no face-to-face or online interviews for this round of recruitment. Posts will be allocated according to MSRA (Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment) results only.

The MSRA is a computer-based assessment. Once the longlisting process has been completed, eligible applicants will be invited to book their MSRA test slot in December 2025. Additional capacity to deliver the MSRA has been secured and will be split across two windows: one in January 2026 and one in February 2026.

It is not possible for applicants to transfer your MSRA score from previous rounds of recruitment.

Before applying please read the CT1 Core Psychiatry Training Person Specification (https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/person-specifications) to assess your suitability for the post.

In order to assess whether or not you have the required competences please refer to the guidance available on our website: https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/psychiatry/core-psychiatry-training/overview-of-core-psychiatry-training/overview-of-core-psychiatry-training

Additional information and guidance on the Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training (CREST) can be found via: https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/foundation-competencies/certificate-of-readiness

If you answer ‘yes’ to any of the Fitness to Practise questions, please ensure that complete the Fitness to Practise Form.docx found here - https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/fitness-to-practise - and email the completed form to our confidential email address (england.fitnesstopractise.nw@nhs.net) by no later than the closing date for applications. Answering ‘yes’ to one or more of the Fitness to Practise questions does not necessarily mean your application cannot progress.

Information about this round of recruitment can be found on our website: https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/psychiatry/core-psychiatry-training/overview-of-core-psychiatry-training/applying-for-core-training

For any queries that cannot be answered by the above website, please contact: england.psychiatryrecruitment.nw@nhs.net