CST Interview Preparation — Structured and High-Yield
Written by experienced consultants who have led national interview preparation courses and have direct experience of the UK specialty interview process.
Based on the national Core Surgical Training interview format, scoring domains, and published marking criteria.
While the CST interview includes clinical and management scenarios, assessors are not simply looking for the “correct” answer. They are assessing how candidates approach surgical problems, prioritise patient safety, recognise limitations, and make decisions under pressure.
Strong candidates demonstrate a considered, structured approach to practising surgery — including early escalation, situational awareness, and clear communication — rather than attempting to manage scenarios beyond their level of training.
This distinction matters. Interviewers are selecting doctors who can be trusted to develop safely as core surgical trainees, not those who recite knowledge without judgement.
Station 1 - Management and Clinical
Managment scenario
This part of the station explores how candidates approach non-technical challenges relevant to surgical training. Scenarios may involve patient safety concerns, professionalism, ethical dilemmas, service pressures, or working within a multidisciplinary team.
Assessors are looking for sound judgement, prioritisation, and appropriate escalation, rather than a single “correct” answer. Clear reasoning, proportional decision-making, and awareness of limitations are central to high-scoring responses.
Our interview preparation resources provide structured answer frameworks and realistic practice scenarios with marking guidance, designed to help candidates refine management answers from competent, safe responses to those that consistently meet the highest scoring criteria.
Clinical Scenario
Clinical scenarios assess how candidates evaluate and manage surgical problems under time pressure. Candidates are expected to demonstrate a structured, safety-focused approach to assessment and decision-making, appropriate to the level of a core surgical trainee.
Interviewers value calm reasoning, clear communication, early escalation, and recognition of limitations more highly than exhaustive clinical detail or attempts to manage beyond one’s level of training.
Our interview preparation resources provide clear clinical frameworks and realistic practice scenarios with marking guidance, designed to help candidates develop consistently high-scoring clinical answers that demonstrate judgement, prioritisation, and safe surgical thinking.
Station 2 - Portfolio
Portfolio presentation
Candidates deliver a short prepared presentation on an achievement relevant to Core Surgical Training. This is an opportunity to demonstrate commitment to surgery, progression over time, and an understanding of how experiences have contributed to professional development.
Assessors are not looking for polished speeches or exhaustive detail. They are assessing clarity, proportionality, and insight, alongside the ability to explain achievements honestly and confidently.
Portfolio discussion is typically framed around recognised domains of achievement, often described using structures such as CAMP. Candidates are expected to present evidence clearly and discuss it reflectively, rather than reciting prepared points.
Further questions
Following the presentation, assessors explore selected aspects of the portfolio in more depth. These questions are designed to test reflection, judgement, and learning, rather than factual recall.
Strong candidates use follow-up questions to demonstrate how they respond to feedback, recognise limitations, and apply learning to future practice — rather than attempting to deliver rehearsed answers.
Our interview preparation resources provide structured guidance and realistic practice questions with marking guidance, helping candidates develop clear, reflective responses that align with the highest scoring criteria.
What Can I Do Next
Understand how the Core Surgical Training interview is structured, how candidates are assessed across stations, and what interviewers are looking for in consistently high-scoring answers.
Our preparation resources are informed by experienced clinicians involved in UK specialty recruitment and use structured frameworks and realistic practice questions with marking guidance. This approach helps candidates move beyond anecdotal advice and develop answers that demonstrate judgement, clarity, and readiness for surgical training.
Get To Know Us
Section Title
Our resources are informed by clinicians involved in recruitment and use AI to systematically map answers to interview scoring domains — rather than relying on anecdotal notes from previous candidates.
