# Practising for Consultant interview with MedMock

Canonical page: https://medmock.com/exams/consultant-interview

## What is the Consultant interview, and how do you practise for it?

The final hurdle before becoming a consultant: a single Advisory Appointments Committee panel interview. For NHS trusts in England the NHS (Appointment of Consultants) Regulations 1996 set the core members — a lay chair, an external assessor nominated by the Royal College, the chief executive (or another board-level executive), the medical director and a consultant from the trust, with a member appointed after consultation with the relevant university for posts with teaching or research commitments — and trusts may add members while keeping the panel small. NHS foundation trusts are not covered by the Regulations and are recommended to follow them; Wales and Northern Ireland have equivalent regulations, and Scotland has used a different process since 2009, with no AAC. No interview length is set nationally: each trust decides its own procedure, and some add other selection methods agreed in advance, such as a presentation, which is not simulated here. Where a trust sets a presentation it can be a timed, scored station in its own right (one trust's published procedure: the title on the day, 20 minutes to prepare, up to 10 minutes presenting and 5 minutes of questions). To be appointed by an NHS trust in England a consultant must be on the GMC Specialist Register before taking up the post; a specialty trainee may apply and be interviewed if their expected CCT date is no more than six months after the interview, and doctors also qualify through the Portfolio Pathway (formerly CESR). NHS foundation trusts are not bound by the registration rule, though NHS Employers calls appointing registered doctors best practice. The guidance expects applicants to be offered preliminary visits to the department and to meet the medical director and chief executive, and says these visits form no part of the selection process. The stations below are the themes that panel commonly covers — NHS management, clinical governance, leadership, vision and service development — practised one at a time, not a circuit you move around. Anchored to the candidate's target hospital and specialty. MedMock lets you practise it out loud against an AI interview panel, with examiner-style feedback on any station you finish.

An illustrative example station, written by MedMock with example feedback, is at https://medmock.com/exams/consultant-interview/example

## What happens in the real Consultant interview (checked against the official source on 2026-10-24)

Substantive NHS medical, surgical and dental consultant appointments in England are made through an Advisory Appointments Committee (AAC) panel interview, governed for NHS trusts by the National Health Service (Appointment of Consultants) Regulations 1996 (with NHS foundation trusts recommended to follow the same standards, equivalent regulations in Wales and Northern Ireland, and a separate process in Scotland). No single interview duration is fixed nationally: each trust sets its own panel procedure against the job description and person specification.

- **Advisory Appointments Committee (AAC) panel interview**: A multi-member panel interview chaired by a lay member (normally the trust chair or another non-executive director) alongside an external Royal College or Faculty assessor, the chief executive (or board-level deputy), the medical or dental director (or deputy), a consultant from the trust, and a university representative where the post carries teaching or research commitments.
- **Optional trust selection exercises and presentations**: Employers may add selection exercises agreed in advance — such as a timed presentation on service vision or governance followed by panel questions, stakeholder meetings or clinical case discussions — notified to shortlisted candidates before the interview.

Marking: Shortlisting and final appointment decisions are made by the Advisory Appointments Committee against the essential and desirable criteria in the post's person specification and job description, with the external college or faculty assessor advising whether the candidate is suitably trained and qualified for the post.

Passing: There is no numerical national pass mark; the committee decides whether each candidate is appointable against the person specification. For NHS trusts in England, medical consultants must hold (or be within six months of CCT for) GMC Specialist Register entry and dental consultants must hold (or be within six months of CCST for) GDC Specialist List entry.

Sources: https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/guidance-employment-medical-and-dental-consultants https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/701/contents/made
Full format page: https://medmock.com/exams/consultant-interview/format

## How to prepare for the Consultant interview (facts checked against official sources on 2026-09-27)

There is no national format for an NHS consultant interview: each trust sets its own process. In England an NHS trust must appoint through an Advisory Appointments Committee, but the committee decides its own procedure, and the regulations do not cover foundation trusts. Find out your trust's process early, then prepare against the job description and person specification, which shortlisting and selection are judged against, and for each panel member's point of view.

1. **Find out exactly how your trust will run it** — Each Advisory Appointments Committee determines its own procedures, the chair decides the order of questioning, and employers can use selection techniques in addition to the interview. The guidance says candidates should be fully aware of the process, so ask medical staffing for the format, length, panel and any exercises in writing.
2. **Check you are eligible to be interviewed** — For an NHS trust you must be on the GMC Specialist Register before you take up a consultant post, but trainees can apply and be interviewed if their expected CCT date is no more than six months after the interview. Foundation trusts are not legally bound by this, although NHS Employers calls appointing registered doctors best practice.
3. **Map your evidence to the person specification** — Shortlisting and the final choice are both made against the person specification, and applicants should be given the job description, person specification, information on the trust and details of staffing and services. Prepare a specific example for each essential and desirable criterion, including any subspecialty named in the advert or person specification.
4. **Use the preliminary visit to learn the service** — The guidance says applicants should be able to visit and meet prospective colleagues before shortlisting and interview, with contacts such as the medical director and chief executive provided. These visits form no part of the selection, so use them to understand the department's pressures and plans rather than to sell yourself.
5. **Prepare for each member of the panel** — In England the core panel is a lay member (normally the trust chair or another non-executive director), a college assessor, the chief executive or a deputy, the medical director or a deputy and a consultant from the trust, plus a university member for posts with teaching or research. The college assessor is there to check you are suitably trained for the post, so expect detailed questions on your training.
6. **Ground governance and leadership answers in GMC guidance** — Use Good medical practice, the GMC's leadership and management guidance and its joint guidance with the NMC on the duty of candour. Prepare real examples of handling an incident, a complaint, a concern about a colleague and a service improvement, and explain what you would do as the consultant responsible.
7. **Plan what you would bring to the post** — Read the job description and job plan closely and prepare a realistic view of your first year: the service you would run, the teaching, audit or research the post includes, and how you would work with the existing team. If the trust sets a presentation, rehearse it to time.
8. **Rehearse out loud, then ask for feedback** — Practise with consultants, ideally someone who has sat on consultant panels, taking questions from each panel member's point of view. If feedback is not given on the day, the trust should write to unsuccessful candidates and offer it, so take it up whatever the outcome.

Official resources:

- NHS Employers: Guidance for the employment of medical and dental consultants (https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/guidance-employment-medical-and-dental-consultants): How the consultant appointment regulations apply to NHS trusts and foundation trusts, and the position on specialist registration.
- The NHS (Appointment of Consultants) Regulations: Good Practice Guidance (https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/-/media/files/rcs/standards-and-research/support-for-surgeons/nhs_aac20goodpractice_guidance.pdf): The Department of Health's 2005 guidance on panel membership, shortlisting, preliminary visits, interview procedure and feedback.
- Concordat between the medical royal colleges and the Foundation Trust Network (https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/-/media/Files/RCS/Standards-and-research/Support-for-surgeons/CONCORDAT_BETWEEN_THE_MEDICAL_ROYAL_COLLEGES_2010.pdf): The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges agreement on how colleges advise foundation trusts on consultant appointments.
- RCS England: Advisory Appointments Committee FAQ (https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/standards-and-research/support-for-surgeons-and-services/aacs/faqs/): Who sits on the panel and what the college assessor does.
- RCP: Advisory Appointments Committees (AAC) (https://www.rcp.ac.uk/membership/advisory-appointments-committees-aac/): The college representative's role, the six-month CCT rule and a link to the guidance for Wales.
- GMC Good medical practice (https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/the-professional-standards/good-medical-practice): The professional standards every consultant is expected to meet.
- GMC Leadership and management for all doctors (https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/the-professional-standards/leadership-and-management): Guidance on employment issues, teaching, managing resources and improving services.
- GMC and NMC: The professional duty of candour (https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/the-professional-standards/candour---openness-and-honesty-when-things-go-wrong): What being open and honest when things go wrong means in practice.

Common mistakes examiners report:

- Canvassing for support: the good practice guidance says neither trusts, applicants nor anyone else should canvass support for an application. (source: https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/-/media/files/rcs/standards-and-research/support-for-surgeons/nhs_aac20goodpractice_guidance.pdf)
- Relying on the pre-interview visit to impress: the guidance says such visits form no part of the selection process. (source: https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/-/media/files/rcs/standards-and-research/support-for-surgeons/nhs_aac20goodpractice_guidance.pdf)
- Applying too early: for NHS trusts, trainees can be interviewed only if their expected CCT date is no more than six months after the interview. (source: https://www.rcp.ac.uk/membership/advisory-appointments-committees-aac/)

Sources: https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/guidance-employment-medical-and-dental-consultants https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/-/media/files/rcs/standards-and-research/support-for-surgeons/nhs_aac20goodpractice_guidance.pdf https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/701/contents/made https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/-/media/Files/RCS/Standards-and-research/Support-for-surgeons/CONCORDAT_BETWEEN_THE_MEDICAL_ROYAL_COLLEGES_2010.pdf https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/standards-and-research/support-for-surgeons-and-services/aacs/faqs/ https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/standards-and-research/support-for-surgeons-and-services/aacs/ https://www.rcp.ac.uk/membership/advisory-appointments-committees-aac/ https://rcem.ac.uk/advisory-appointments-guidance/ https://www.rcp.ac.uk/media/mz4aqmyj/appointment-of-consultants-in-the-nhs-in-wales-revised-guidance.pdf https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/the-professional-standards/good-medical-practice https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/the-professional-standards/leadership-and-management https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/the-professional-standards/candour---openness-and-honesty-when-things-go-wrong
Full guide: https://medmock.com/exams/consultant-interview/prepare

Dates: Consultant interviews (Advisory Appointments Committees) are arranged by each NHS employer when a post is advertised, so there are no national dates. The interview date is given in the job advert or the invitation to interview. (source: NHS Employers).
All Consultant interview dates: https://medmock.com/exams/consultant-interview#dates

## Stations you can practise

- **Full Panel Interview** — A 40-minute practice run of a whole panel interview (real lengths vary by trust). The core members of an English NHS trust's panel take turns — the lay chair, a Royal College assessor, the medical director, the chief executive (or another board-level executive) and a consultant colleague — joined by a clinical director and an HR representative, members a trust may add — the guidance asks trusts to keep panels to a minimum and provides for personnel as advice available to the panel rather than a questioning member, so an HR questioner is a local addition. Each asks roughly two questions with follow-ups, and the chair closes with your questions to the panel.
- **Clinical Scenario** — Acute clinical case management at consultant level — buck-stops-here decisions, ownership, depth of reasoning.
- **NHS Management & Governance** — Serious untoward incidents, Duty of Candour, CQC, complaints, finance, regulatory compliance.
- **Difficult Colleague & MDT** — Underperforming or impaired senior colleague, MDT conflict, GMC professional standards, team leadership.
- **Vision & Service Development** — Strategic plan and first-six-months priorities for the trust's department; service redesign anchored to the candidate's target hospital.
- **Why You, Why Here?** — Motivation for consultant role at this specific trust, portfolio highlights, leadership achievements, weaknesses, fit with the trust's strategic direction.
- **Research, Audit & Teaching** — Academic profile — completed audit cycles, research methodology and publications, teaching delivery and measurable impact, peer review, and CPD plan.
- **Equality, Diversity & Inclusion** — EDI at the patient interface, workforce, and own practice — health inequalities, IMG inclusion, accessible communication, implicit bias, lived examples of action.

## Sample Consultant interview questions

- *Clinical Scenario:* Your unit is moving its knee replacements towards same-day and next-day discharge. A colleague still routinely places a femoral nerve block for these. You have been asked to advise on the block choice for the pathway. What is your thinking?
- *Full Panel Interview:* Why do you want this consultant post, and what would you bring to our allergy service?

## Example scenarios

- *NHS Management & Governance:* One of your registrars has made a prescribing error resulting in a severe patient outcome. Talk me through your Duty of Candour and the Datix investigation process.
- *Difficult Colleague & MDT:* You notice a senior Consultant colleague who appears to be making increasing operative errors and smells faintly of alcohol in the morning. How do you approach this?
- *Vision & Service Development:* Tell us about the priorities you would set for our trust's [specialty] department in your first six months as a consultant here.
- *Research, Audit & Teaching:* Walk me through your strongest completed audit. What was the standard, what change did you implement, and what did the re-audit show?
- *Equality, Diversity & Inclusion:* Tell me about a time you identified a barrier to equitable care for a patient group in your service. What did you do about it, and what changed?

## How a practice session works

1. **Choose a station** — Choose the kind of question or scenario you want to rehearse — ethics, motivation, a role-play, and more.
2. **Have the conversation** — Speak naturally, out loud. The AI interviewer listens and asks the demanding follow-ups, just as a real interviewer would.
3. **Get instant feedback** — The moment you finish, you get specific, examiner-style feedback and a score — what you did well, what cost you marks, and precisely what to fix before the next attempt.

## Price

Start with a one-off £5 taster: 30 credits (30 minutes of speaking practice), not a subscription. After that, or instead, £129 per month for 650 credits. One credit is one minute of spoken practice, or two typed exchanges, and where the examiner or patient speaks first, that opening line is free. Examiner scorecards, mark schemes and model answers for finished sessions are included at no extra credit cost. Cancel at any time. Full details: https://medmock.com/pricing

## Frequently asked questions

### How does the feedback work?

When you finish a station you can have it marked, and the scorecard comes back in seconds — what you did well, what cost you marks, and exactly what to work on next. Scorecards, mark schemes and model answers are included at no extra credit cost.

### Can I practise specific Consultant interview stations?

Yes. You can pick any of the 8 stations to drill a weak area, or run a mixed set to simulate the real interview.

### How much does it cost?

You can start with a one-off £5 taster: 30 credits, which is 30 minutes of speaking practice, with no subscription. After that, or at any time, you can choose a monthly plan, which includes a monthly credit allowance. Current prices are on the pricing page.

## About MedMock

MedMock is a web app for practising the spoken parts of UK medical and dental exams and interviews out loud. The candidate talks; an AI patient, examiner or interview panel answers in real time by voice; and when the station ends MedMock marks the performance against that exam's assessment domains and shows the model answer.

It covers 104 spoken exams and interviews — OSCEs, vivas, structured oral exams, simulated consultations, and specialty-training and consultant interviews. It does not cover written or multiple-choice papers, and it is not a question bank.

It was founded by Mr Sam Nahas, MBBS BSc MEd FRCS (Tr & Orth), a practising consultant orthopaedic surgeon in the UK, with co-founder and CTO Arjan Jandu. It is operated by VirtualPatients Ltd (company no. 16303492).

Pricing: a one-off £5 taster of 30 credits to try it (not a subscription, one per account), and a monthly subscription from £20 to £129 depending on the exam (student exams cost least, fellowship exit exams and consultant interviews most), or £199 to £275 for the Intensive plans, which carry more credits. One credit is one minute of spoken practice, or two typed exchanges, and where the examiner or patient speaks first, that opening line is free. Examiner scorecards, mark schemes and model answers for finished sessions are included at no extra credit cost. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time.

It runs in a web browser on a laptop or phone; spoken practice needs a microphone. There is no public demo: practice needs an account with credits, usually from the taster or a monthly plan.

MedMock is for adults aged 18 or over. Sign-up asks every new account to confirm it.

MedMock is a revision tool. The patients, examiners and cases are fictional and AI-generated; it is not clinical guidance and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any Royal College, the GMC, the GDC or any examining body.

Start with the £5 taster: https://medmock.com/auth/signup