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NHS recruitment process
The stages of an application to the NHS, what happens at each one and how to practise for the online tests.
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For illustration only. We are not affiliated with the NHS, and our practice tests are not its own.
The NHS recruitment process, stage by stage
Five stages, in the order we have them for the NHS. The role and the intake can change them: the emails you get from the NHS say what yours are.
Stage 1: Online Application & CV
A form with your CV: your education, your work history and usually a few questions on why you want the role. Answer those in your own words, and check every date and grade before you send it.
Stage 2: Phone Interview
A first conversation by phone, usually about your application and why you want the role. Take the call somewhere quiet, with your CV in front of you.
Stage 3: Online Reasoning Tests
Sent by email, with a deadline that is usually a few days away. The score decides who goes on to the next stage. It is the one stage you can rehearse in advance.
Stage 4: Assessment Centre / Group Exercise
A day of exercises with other candidates, in an office or online: usually a group task, a case study or a presentation, and an interview. Each exercise is marked on its own, so keep going after one that went badly.
Stage 5: Partner Interview
A last interview with someone senior, about why you want the role and how much you know about the business. Read the latest news about the organisation before you go.
About the NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is an umbrella term describing a collection of separate national public health organisations in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (the service in Northern Ireland is called Health and Social Care).
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The NHS interviews and assessment centre
What usually happens at each, what we know and do not, and how to get ready for every stage.
What are the NHS interviews like?
We do not know the questions the NHS asks, and the invitation to each interview says how it will run. Most large employers interview twice: a short first interview, often recorded on video, and a longer final one in person or on a call.
In a recorded interview a question appears on screen, you get a short time to think, then a minute or two to answer, with no interviewer on the call. Expect questions that ask for an example: a deadline you met, a problem you solved, a time you changed someone's mind. The final interview goes further into why you want this role and what you know about the business.
What happens at the NHS assessment centre?
An assessment centre is a day of exercises with other candidates, watched by a team of assessors, in an office or online. Most run a group exercise, a case study or written task, a short presentation and an interview.
Some employers also have you sit a shorter version of the online tests again, to confirm the first result. Every exercise is scored on its own, so a weak start can be made up later in the day. We do not know the programme the NHS runs: the invitation lists the exercises and the times.
For illustration only. We are not affiliated with the NHS, and our practice tests are not its own.
How do you prepare for each stage at the NHS?
For the online tests, take timed practice tests of the kinds your invitation names, and work through the solution to each question you miss. The other stages are about what you have done and how you explain it.
For the interviews, have three or four examples ready from your studies and work, each with what you did and how it turned out. For the assessment centre, practise talking for a few minutes about something you have only just read, which is what a presentation exercise asks of you.
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SJT pack for the NHS graduate scheme. The scenarios about colleagues and patients were in the same spirit as the real test. Got through the online stage, waiting for the assessment centre now. Thank you!
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NHS tests
Preparing for the NHS graduate management scheme and this was the only prep I did. Passed the online stage first time. The verbal tests were the most useful for me as english comprehension under time pressure is not my strong point.
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very beneficial for students who are preparing for the nhs aptitude test, it can improve your speed and accuracy.
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Questions about the NHS recruitment process
Short answers to what candidates ask most.
The full FAQ covers payments and your account. For anything else, write to support@aptitude-tests.co.uk.
We do not have the timings for the NHS. At most large employers it takes from a few weeks to a few months from application to offer, and a graduate scheme with one start date a year can take longer. Each invitation has its own deadline, and that is the date to plan around.
We do not keep a list of NHS vacancies: the careers site of the NHS has what is open now. Most large employers run graduate programmes and internships with a yearly intake, and recruit for them through stages like the ones on this page.
At most employers the application ends there, for that role and that intake. Many let you apply again after a waiting period that their rules set out. So the time to practise is before you open the tests, not after.
Many large employers accept only one application at a time, or one a year for the same scheme. The careers site of the NHS states its own rules, usually beside the application form.
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