Posts/deaneries FAQs

UoA stands for 'Unit of Application', and this is the term used to describe the areas to which ST3 applicants will apply – eg Mersey, Severn, London, etc.

While many UoAs will also be, in effect, deaneries – such as West Midlands, for example – these areas will almost always be referred to in ST3 recruitment as UoAs. This is because the area covered by some UoAs does not coincide with area covered by a particular deanery.

For example, East Midlands is one Deanery; however, it is comprised of two distinct UoAs (East Midlands North and East Midlands South), and in many specialties, applicants are able to apply to either of these independently of the other.

All deaneries/UoAs in England & Wales are involved in the co-ordinated ST3 recruitment process, for all of the 16 participating specialties.

Recruitment to ST3 posts in Scotland and Northern Ireland will be managed on a local level. For further information on recruitment in these nations, please contact the relevant bodies in Scotland - http://www.scotmt.scot.nhs.uk/ - and Northern Ireland - www.nimdta.gov.uk/.

All deaneries/UoAs in England & Wales are using the nationally-coordinated RCP system to recruit to ST3 posts this year, across the 16 participating SRO-hosted specialties.

For more information - including post numbers - please visit the post numbers and deaneries/UoAs sections of this website.

Firstly, please visit the post numbers page of this website, which will show which deaneries/UoAs have post vacancies available in each specialty, both NTN (substantive) and LAT (locum, training) posts.

You should be aware of the interview dates also. In the event that you are invited to two interviews which are being held on the same day, it will not be possible to make alternative arrangements if you are unable to attend both, so please do bear this in mind.

We are liaising with all deaneries/UoAs to try and avoid intra-specialty date clashes where this is possible, but given the considerations all deaneries must take account of, this will not always be a possible option. Please visit the interview dates page of this website for more information.

Other factors to consider are past competition ratios, which can be viewed at the competition ratios page of this website. However, please note that this is only for the 12 specialties which participated in coordinated recruitment in 2011. These may give a rough indication of the different levels of competition at different deaneries/UoAs.

This will depend on the specialty/ies to which you are planning to apply, and the recruitment model employed by that specialty - please visit the recruitment models page of this website for more information.

When applying to a specialty using the SCA (single cascadable application) model, you will need only submit one single application to the specialty; and can then give (up to) four preferences of deaneries/UoAs at which you would like your application to be considered.

When applying to those specialties using the national application model (CPT, GUM, rehabilitation medicine), again you will need only submit one application form. In each case, all applications are made to a 'lead deanery', who will coordinate the recruitment process. When attending interview, you will then be able to give preferences of all posts available, including posts in as many deaneries/UoAs as you see fit.

If you wish to apply to a specialty employing the '2 applications per specialty' model, then - as the title suggests - you will be able to submit one application form to one deanery/UoA, and then a second, independent application form to another deanery/UoA.

In the event that you wish to apply to multiple specialties in the RCP-hosted process, this is fine; you should obey the particular application restrictons for each specialty to which you apply; and bear in mind that in total, candidates can only submit a maximum of six applications via the RCP ST3 recruitment process.

NB - applications made by candidates to specialties and/or deaneries/UoAs outside of the RCP-hosted process are entirely independent. Thus the number of applications made outside of the RCP process has no effect on any applications made within it (and vice versa).

Yes. Every application you submit will be regarded entirely independently of any others you submit. Therefore in theory (although given the level of competition present, possibly not in probability), you could receive an invitation to interview for each application you submit.

You are under no obligation to attend an interview to which you have been invited; however, please be aware that if you are invited to interview and do not attend, your application will progress no further.

Also, if you are invited to an interview that you do not intend to attend, please inform the deanery in question beforehand, so that the interview place can be offered to another candidate.

Please also bear in mind that you can only be interviewed once per application. Please see the recruitment models page of this website for more information.

However, please note that if you apply to a specialty using the single cascadable application model of recruitment, you can only be interviewed once per specialty per round.

At present, it is not possible to specify preferences for particular rotations/posts within deaneries/UoAs at the application stage.

In many cases, candidates invited to attend interview will be asked to specify their preference for a number of potential rotations/posts while there.

There are several specialty training programmes that rotate across the boundary between adjacent deaneries/UoAs. In this case, only one deanery/UoA will advertise the vacancies and that deanery will handle all the applications.

The websites of both involved deaneries/UoAs will make it clear which of them is leading on the process, and the ST3 application system will ensure that information on the vacancies is made clear to candidates during the application process.

It is likely that clinicians from both deaneries/UoAs will assist with the recruitment process.

At some point in the process, applicants will be asked to preference their programmes, and will thus be able to express a preference for the adjacent deanery that is sharing the programme.

It is possible to apply for an inter-deanery transfer (IDT) within a training programme after you have been in post for at least twelve months. You must be able to show that your personal circumstances have changed since your appointment, and you must have satisfactory training progress to date.

However, inter-deanery transfers are only possible if the proposed destination deanery/UoA has a vacant slot that can accommodate your remaining training requirements. Not all approved transfers will actually be able to transfer.

Please note that you cannot change to another deanery/UoA during training just because you feel like a change. Please bear this in mind when identifying the deaneries/UoAs to which you plan to apply.

Guidelines and more information on IDT requests will be available from your current deanery/UoA.