Rheumatology ST4 Interview Masterclass
Rheumatological emergencies, immunosuppression on the take, and the long view of chronic disease.
- October–November 2026
- ≈ 40–45 minutes (3 × 10-minute stations)
- Qpercom (virtual)
- 2 interviewers per station
- Competition
- 4.71:1
- Scenarios
- 7
- Score (RIS)
- 10–50
Competition: 240 applications for 51 posts (2025). Source: NHS England specialty recruitment competition ratios.
2026 Rheumatology interview-day briefing
What the recruitment office has told candidates for the 2026 round. Always follow your own invitation email if it differs.
Format and scoring
- Three stations of about 10 minutes each, with a separate pair of interviewers scoring each station. About 40 to 45 minutes in total.
- Station 1: Clinical Scenario (≈ 10 min). A brief scenario with time to prepare; notes are allowed but destroyed afterwards.
- Station 2: Medical Registrar Suitability (≈ 10 min), opening with a 1-minute presentation on managing the acute unselected take. No slides or screen sharing.
- Station 3: Ethical Scenario (≈ 5 min) and Suitability & Commitment (≈ 5 min).
- Four questions plus communication skills give five scored areas, each marked 1–5 by both interviewers: ten scores, a Raw Interview Score (RIS) of 10–50.
- To be appointable you need no score of 1/5, no more than two scores of 2/5, and an RIS of 30 or more.
- Rheumatology is a Group 1 specialty: all programmes dual accredit with General Internal Medicine over four years.
How the score is weighted
| Scored area | Weighting | Max score |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical scenario | ×2.0 | 20 |
| Communication | ×1.0 | 10 |
| Medical registrar suitability | ×1.5 | 15 |
| Ethical scenario | ×1.5 | 15 |
| Suitability & commitment | ×2.0 | 20 |
| Interview (weighted) | 80 | |
| Application score | ×0.5 | 20 |
| Total | 100 |
Appointability is judged on the unweighted scores (no 1s, no more than two 2s, RIS ≥ 30); the weighting only decides your ranking.
Source: PHST recruitment website — Rheumatology interview format (phstrecruitment.org.uk/specialties/rheumatology).
Rheumatology resource library
35 written topics and 19 scored practice questions, organised the way the interview is — 7 specialty-specific and 12 shared medical questions.
Unlock the complete Rheumatology library
Membership includes all 35 topics, 19 scored questions and the full 30-minute mock circuit.
