Core Surgical Training Interview 2027: Stations, Timings and Scoring

What is the format of the Core Surgical Training interview in 2027?

The Core Surgical Training interview is two online stations of 15 minutes each on the Qpercom platform: a portfolio station and a management and clinical station. That is the 2026 format, and NHS England has not published any 2027 change to it.

According to NHS England's core surgery interviews page, the portfolio station is assessed by a panel of three to four. The management and clinical station gives every question live rather than in advance.

coresurgeryinterview builds its 299-question bank around these two stations, so practice runs in the format the panel actually uses.

When is the Core Surgical Training interview in 2027?

CST interviews for 2027 entry fall inside the national Round 1 interview window of Monday 11 January to Friday 2 April 2027. NHS England has not yet published CST's own interview dates within that window.

According to NHS England's core surgery recruitment timelines page, details of future rounds will be added once available. Treat the 2026 dates as the shape of the year, not as 2027 dates.

What happens in the CST portfolio station?

The CST portfolio station opens with a three-minute presentation prepared in advance, then two minutes of questions on it, then two portfolio questions of five minutes each on domains the assessor chooses.

The portfolio station replaced the Oriel self-assessment. Evidence is uploaded beforehand with a mandatory index sheet, graded A to E across four domains, and discussed live rather than scored from a form.

A missing index sheet scores zero for portfolio evidence, whatever the portfolio holds. Supervisor letters must carry the supervisor's GMC number. The Portfolio Station page in this guide has the detail.

The portfolio station is worth 45% of the selection score. Marks cover skills and knowledge, and the presentation itself: its content, your presentation skills and how you handle the questioning.

What happens in the CST management and clinical station?

The CST management and clinical station is one management scenario and two clinical scenarios, five minutes each, with every question given live inside the station.

• Probity and professional integrity, and awareness of safety and ethics
• Judgement under pressure and prioritisation
• Communication
• Clinical skills and knowledge

Those are the four marked domains. Because nothing is sent in advance, the station rewards a structure you can apply to any scenario. It is worth 45% of the total, the same as the portfolio station.

How is the Core Surgical Training interview scored?

The CST selection score is out of 100. The MSRA contributes 10%, scaled to a mark out of 10; the portfolio station contributes 45%; the management and clinical station contributes 45%.

According to NHS England, raw marks per station are not published; only the percentages are. In practice the two interview stations decide 90% of your rank, which is why interview practice outweighs MSRA revision for most candidates.

coresurgeryinterview marks spoken practice answers by AI against the same domains, so a candidate sees a domain-by-domain score before the real panel does.

Who is invited to the CST interview?

Only the top 1,200 applicants at the MSRA are invited to the CST interview and to the evidence upload. That was the 2026 rule and NHS England has published nothing to replace it for 2027.

According to NHS England's 2025 competition ratios, there were 5,399 applications for 630 posts, 8.6 to 1, so about 12% of applicants were appointed. A 1,200 cap on a field that size interviews about 22%, just over one in five.

For 2027 the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 applies at shortlisting as well as at offer, so it now affects who is interviewed at all. NHS England has not yet published the 2027 prioritisation criteria.

Is there a pass mark for the CST interview?

No. NHS England has never published an appointability threshold for Core Surgical Training in any round. Candidates are ranked on total score and offers are made in rank order against the posts available.

That said, do not plan around a pass mark that does not exist. The useful comparison is with the other candidates, and the 2025 ratio of 8.6 applicants per post shows how many of them there are.

What is changing for the 2027 CST interview?

Two things are confirmed for the 2027 CST interview and one is hedged: prioritisation now applies at shortlisting, the national dates are set, and NHS England says it is likely the portfolio evidence domains will be realigned to Good Medical Practice.

• Confirmed: prioritisation under the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 applies at shortlisting as well as at offer. The 2027 criteria are not yet published.
• Confirmed: applications open at 10am on Thursday 22 October 2026 and close at 4pm on Thursday 19 November 2026; initial offers are at 5pm on Tuesday 6 April 2027.
• Stated intent, not settled policy: NHS England's portfolio guidance says it is likely that from 2027 the evidence domains become knowledge and skills, safety and culture, and communication, combining the communication domains.
• Not published: CST's MSRA window, evidence upload window, interview dates, and any change to the two-station format.

Why do some pages still describe a single 30-minute CST interview?

Because a single 30-minute station with three 10-minute sections, management, clinical and portfolio, scored out of 216, was the 2024/25 CST format. It no longer applies.

The current CST interview is two separate 15-minute stations with a percentage-weighted score out of 100. However, deanery pages and older guides still carry the old description, so check any timing against NHS England's interviews page before you plan around it.

How should you prepare for the Core Surgical Training interview?

Prepare the three parts of the CST interview you fully control first: the three-minute presentation, the portfolio index sheet, and one scenario structure for the live station.

1. Sit the MSRA seriously. It is 10% of the score, but it decides whether you are in the top 1,200 who are interviewed at all.
2. Build the index sheet and the evidence folder early. A missing sheet scores zero for portfolio evidence.
3. Rehearse the presentation aloud and to time. Three minutes is shorter than it sounds, and two minutes of questions follow it.
4. Practise management and clinical scenarios out loud under a five-minute clock, with feedback against the four marked domains.

coresurgeryinterview covers both stations with 299 questions, model answers and AI-marked spoken practice for £97, with access running to the end of the 2027 interview window.