What happens in the Obstetrics & Gynaecology (ST1) interview

Obstetrics and Gynaecology ST1 recruitment is run UK-wide by NHS England's National Obstetrics and Gynaecology Recruitment Office (North West). After the MSRA, applicants who pass but do not score high enough to bypass the interview are invited, by rank and capacity, to an online interview of two stations lasting about 30 minutes: 5 minutes of clinical prioritisation reading time, a 6-minute clinical prioritisation question and a 4-minute ethical and governance question, then 10 minutes of structured interview questions. At least two assessors score you independently out of 100, and you need 50/100 to be appointable. NHS England's current pages, with a timeline for the August 2027 intake, mark this format as subject to change.

Checked against the official sources on 27 September 2026.

The parts, in order

How it is marked

There are at least two assessors on each online panel and they score independently; scores are reviewed during the session by the panel, a lay chair and the recruitment lead. Each panel member can give up to 20 marks for clinical prioritisation (4 for ability to prioritise, then 6, 4, 4 and 2 for priorities 1 to 4), 20 for the structured interview and 10 for ethics and governance: 50 per panel member and 100 in total. Your final score is out of 150: 100 from the interview (66.66% of the final score) and 50 from your scaled MSRA score (33.3%).

Passing

To be appointable you need at least 50% in the online interview (50/100). If your answers to the clinical prioritisation exercise cause serious concern about patient safety you may be found unappointable whatever your overall score. Your interview score, rank and the appointability threshold are released on Oriel after initial offers, and there is no appeals process for interview scores.

Worth knowing

• The top 75 applicants by MSRA score bypass the interview and are ranked above everyone who is interviewed (the highest-ranked interviewed applicant comes around 76th overall); applicants whose MSRA score is too low are shortlisted out.
• At the start of the online interview an administrator asks you to show your passport photo page and the room you are in, to check that you are alone and in a suitable place.
• The RCOG says the interview is mapped against the person specification, so it advises using the person specification to prepare.
• Round: NHS England's timeline is now for the August 2027 intake, with interview dates still to be confirmed; its interviews page, last reviewed on 16 February 2026, marks this format as subject to change.

Sources

• Interviews | ST1 Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Medical Hub (NHS England)
• Scoring overview | ST1 Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Medical Hub (NHS England)
• Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA) | ST1 Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Medical Hub (NHS England)
• Recruitment timelines | ST1 Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Medical Hub (NHS England)
• Overview of ST1 training | ST1 Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Medical Hub (NHS England)
• Applying for ST1 training | ST1 Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Medical Hub (NHS England)
• Application process at ST1 | RCOG
• Obstetrics and Gynaecology ST1 2027 person specification | Medical Hub (NHS England)