Key Dates (2023/24)
There are certain dates you need to be aware of so that you can plan your preparation, and ensure you don’t forget anything, especially as some of the reminder emails will end up in your spam folder!
Official Dates
These are the provisional dates for the upcoming 2023/24 application cycle; these are from the general recruitment timeline, so we don't yet have the radiology-specific dates. I will continue to update these when the official dates are released, but you can find the most updated 'key dates' here. If you’re unsure what ‘hold’ and ‘upgrade’ means when referring to your offer of placement, please see this article.
Event
The Concept of 'Application Rounds'
Application ‘rounds’ are usually used for specialities that don’t fill their available spots in the first round of applications or have multiple intakes at different points throughout the year.
- Round 1 positions typically get advertised in November to commence the following August.
- Round 2 is used for ST3 and ST4 applications and so doesn't concern radiology.
- Round 3 encompasses all specialties that are recruiting for posts starting in-between December and April each year. General practice and anaesthetics, for example, make use of 'Round 3' as they have intakes at different points in the year.
- Occasionally if there are vacant spaces after round 1, then more posts will be re-advertised in March as a 'Round 1 re-advert'
In addition to the above rounds, in the 2021-2022 application cycle, there was the elusive ‘round 4’ of applications in radiology. Now traditionally, radiology had just 1 round of applications because it is so oversubscribed and there is only 1 intake of trainees per year, however, round 4 was introduced secondary to additional government funding for more radiology places. As a result, some deaneries announced more training spots, but this was a small number of places, around 30, and most were located in London. Furthermore, candidates had to be able to start working in February, meaning that no foundation doctors could apply, only those who were taking a year out, 'locuming' or some international medical graduates (IMGs). It’s not clear why it was ‘round 4’, as it was more of a re-advert of round 1 as there wasn’t a round 2 or 3. The application closed a week early after they were inundated with applicants for such few spots. The application process for this was similar to Round 1, but candidates were asked to sit the MSRA with just 2 weeks’ notice, and there was no interview. Candidates were ranked based on their MSRA score (66% of the total) and their portfolio score (33% of the total). We haven't had any news of this happening yet in the 2023-2024 application cycle, but who knows if they might spring this on applicants out of the blue. There’s a rumour of further government funding for radiology training posts, so it’s plausible that there may be additional application rounds throughout the year. The most important thing is to keep your eyes peeled on ORIEL or any Facebook / WhatsApp groups you’re part of for an announcement, and also be preparing early for the MSRA so that it’s not a shock when you’re asked to sit the exam at such short notice.
References: - www.rcr.ac.uk. (n.d.). Specialty recruitment | The Royal College of Radiologists. [online] Available at: https://www.rcr.ac.uk/clinical-radiology/careers-and-recruitment/specialty-recruitment [Accessed 15 Nov. 2022]. - Health Education England (2023) ‘Medical Specialty Recruitment Handbook’, 3 March. Available at: https://specialtytraining.hee.nhs.uk/portals/1/Content/.
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