Interview Overview
Anaesthetics CT1 is recruited by the Anaesthetics National Recruitment Office. The interview carries 85% of your selection score and the MSRA the remaining 15% — a far heavier interview weighting than most specialties, and the reason preparation pays here.
Format and marks below are taken from ANRO's published applicant guidance. ANRO publishes each round's guidance and scoring matrix before the application window opens.
The interview format
Two stations of fifteen minutes each, held online through Qpercom, with two assessors per station scoring independently. The whole process takes about fifty minutes including identity checks, five minutes' reading before the clinical station and the wait between stations. Paper notes are permitted.
- Clinical Judgement station — clinical judgement and decision making, reflective practice, and working under pressure
- General Interview station — communication, commitment to specialty, and teamwork
Anaesthetics and ACCS Anaesthetics are recruited in one process, so you make a single application rather than one for each.
How the score is built
Each station carries 50 marks: five marks per domain from each assessor, giving 30 across the two assessors, plus a Global Rating Score of 10 from each. The two stations therefore total 100 marks, and that total is 85% of your selection score.
Appointability
You need a minimum of 60 out of 100 at interview. A candidate above that mark can still be found unappointable: a Global Rating of 1 from both assessors, serious concerns over patient safety or probity, or any station scored at or below 25% will each do it.
What is different about anaesthetics
- There is no self-assessment at CT1. Part 3 of the application form was removed — degrees, prizes and courses are no longer scored. Self-assessment applies at ST4 only.
- The MSRA has no cut-off score. It is used to allocate interview capacity, and applicants not initially invited join a Shortlist Reserve and are called in rank order if slots free up.
- Recruitment runs in three clusters — England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland — with one interview each and a Single Transferable Score within England and Wales.
Prioritisation now applies at shortlisting as well as at offer for 2027, so it affects who is interviewed. The criteria themselves were still unpublished as of August 2026.
Top Tips
- The interview is 85% of your score. Almost nothing else you do moves the needle as much.
- Do not neglect the MSRA even though there is no cut-off — it decides whether you are invited in the first round or left on the reserve list.
- Use the five minutes' reading properly and write notes; you are allowed them.
- Watch the vetoes: a station at or below 25% ends your application regardless of your total.
More interview info
Practise both stations
The question bank covers every station with model answers and AI-marked spoken practice.
Register for the question bank