There are national changes to the recruitment process in relation to GMC eligibility and maximum application limits and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) interviews

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

Self-assessments/Evidence portfolio uploads the system used to do this is Qpercom (the same system to interview) and detailed information will be provided at the point of invitation

All eligible applicants will be invited to upload their completed Shortlisting Evidence Applicant & Educational Supervisor Checklist, which must be reviewed and signed by the applicant’s Educational Supervisor (or equivalent), including the Educational Supervisors name and GMC number (or equivalent), the 7 completed templates, and supporting evidence for each shortlisting question detailed on the application form.

The evidence for each of the 7 Shortlisting questions should be clearly described within the templates and Shortlisting Evidence Applicant & Educational Supervisor Checklist which will need to be uploaded with the supporting evidence as one single merged PDF document to the Qpercom Evidence portal during the evidence upload window.

The 2026 General Surgery ST3 Shortlisting Panel will assess all eligible applications to produce a shortlist score. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview.

If any submitted evidence is found to be false or misleading, it will be reviewed, and the applicant may be referred to a Probity Panel.

Document checking: Please check the Supplementary Applicant guidance for further details of documents required for the interview.

Interview structure: This will be an online 40-minute interview via Qpercom Recruit. There will be three stations consisting of a clinical scenario, a management scenario and a Professional Development station. Communication skills will be assessed throughout the interview. Reading time will be allocated for both the clinical and management scenarios.

Preferencing Posts: Preferencing will be made available via Oriel and more information will follow at a later stage.

  

For information regarding reasonable adjustments and Disability Confident Scheme please refer to the Medical Specialty Recruitment website

Please review the person specification, available on the hyperlinks tab, for the full eligibility criteria for this specialty.

   All applicants applying to specialty training are required to have essential competences or equivalent depending on the level they are applying for. For more information on competences please refer to the resource bank on Oriel via www.oriel.nhs.uk/Web/ResourceBank and the Medical Specialty Training website

Please upload all required evidence of competences to your application form when completing it online. For those experiencing difficulties when uploading evidence, please ensure you contact the team via the PGMDE support portal

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

The training programme is equally open to those who may, either from the outset or subsequently, wish to train flexibly or job share.

For information regarding reasonable adjustments and Disability Confident Scheme please refer to the Medical Specialty Recruitment website

All applicants applying to medical specialties are required to have essential competences or equivalent depending on the level they are applying for. For more information on competences please refer to the Medical Specialty Recruitment website

Please upload all required evidence of competences to your online application form when completing the application form online. For those experiencing difficulties when uploading evidence, please ensure you contact the team via the PGMDE support portal.

All medical practitioners are on the shortage occupation list, this means with the exception of all applicants to Public Health, all specialty recruitment applicants will be exempt from the resident labour market test (RLMT).

A full timeline can be found in the Plastic Surgery Supplementary Handbook attached to this vacancy. Also information is available here https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/surgery/higher-surgery/plastic-surgery

Interview dates: Tuesday 10th February to Wednesday 11th February 2026

Interview venue: Remote Interviews

Posts commence from: 5th August 2026

  Document checking: A list of documents required for interview is available under the downloads on document section of the website.

Length of interview: 30 minutes

Interview structure: Multi-station interview. There will be a 10-minute OSCE section, a 10-minute clinical section of the interview and a 10-minute structured interview.

Preferencing Posts

Preferencing will be made available via Oriel, more information will follow at a later stage.

    Please visit the London and Kent, Surrey & Sussex Support Portal where you will find a series of FAQs, and you will be able to submit an enquiry to the London Recruitment Team.

If you have made a positive declaration in the FTP section, you must contact London recruitment office via the support portal by the close of the application window. Failure to provide the outlined information by the close of application may result in your application being withdrawn.

       Indicative vacancy numbers are available in the table below, broken down by region and divided between substantive national training number (NTN) and locum appointment for training (LAT) posts. In many cases these will be presented as a range (e.g. 0-4) as it is not always possible for regions to know at this stage how many vacancies there will be.

It is the intention that indicative post numbers for all regions will be published prior to the application opening date, although this cannot be guaranteed. Please note that this table is not likely to be updated subsequent to indicative numbers and actual numbers will be confirmed when programme preferences are opened later in the round.

Region	Indicative Numbers
East Midlands	0 – 1
East of England	0 – 5
Kent, Surrey and Sussex	0 – 3
London	0 – 3
North East	1 – 3
North West – North West	2 – 3
North West – Mersey	0 – 1
South West	0 – 1
Thames Valley / Wessex	0 – 4
West Midlands	6 – 8
Yorkshire and Humber	0 – 2
Scotland	2 – 2
Wales	2 – 3

Numbers subject to change

Please be aware that it is not uncommon for vacancy numbers to change as the round progresses.

More commonly, post vacancy numbers can increase as the round goes on (and confirmation of posts becomes available); but it is also possible that numbers can reduce as well. In the past, post numbers have risen an average of 20-40% from the start to the finish of the round but this can vary greatly for individual specialty/region combinations.

It is possible that regions which do not have a post at the start of the round may declare one after applications have closed. Whilst we try and minimise instances of this, it is not always possible to predict vacancies so even if there appears not to be a vacancy in your preferred specialty/region combination, you may wish to consider applying in case one becomes available during the round; you can check with the region concerned if you wish to check on the likelihood of a post arising.

Generally, once a region enters a post into a round, they would always have at least one post available and would only withdraw it in exceptional circumstances.

When selecting your preferences it is important to think carefully about which programme preferences you wish to be considered for. If you do not wish to accept a Locum Appointment for Training post, please do not select this as part of your programme preferences. By ranking a preference, you are stating that you would be prepared to undertake a training programme in that area. You should only preference or accept posts you are able to commence training in.

  Please follow the links below for information about salary scales across England, Scotland and Wales.

England: https://www.nhsemployers.org/topics-networks/pay-pensions-and-reward/medical-and-dental-pay-and-contracts

Scotland: http://www.msg.scot.nhs.uk/pay/medical/junior-doctors

Wales: http://www.wales.nhs.uk/nhswalesaboutus/workingfornhswales/payconditions/payandconditionsresources