Explore NHS detailed recruitment process (updated 2024) and practice NHS online tests.
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). The NHS was originally established on 5 July 1948 as a single public organisation in the UK with the aim of providing free health care for the entire population. Since 2013, as a result of devolution and related management and funding decentralisation reforms, the single organisational structure has undergone systemic changes and has effectively been split between the respective national jurisdictions. The NHS is mainly funded by general UK tax revenues and its services are free to all Britons, EHIC holders and refugees. Citizens of other countries can also expect some free health care.
Each of the four countries in the UK has its own independent NHS system, reporting directly to the respective national executive authorities.
In total, the NHS system employs over 1.5 million people, making it the fifth largest employer in the world. The total budget in 2016 is £116.4 billion.
On average, NHS facilities see one million patients every 36 hours.
One of the first stages of the recruitment process is filling in the application form on NHS Careers website.
The online application form is usually presented as a questionnaire with the option of importing data from a LinkedIn or CV file.
The applicant is required to provide information about work experience, education, skills and other necessary details.
There may be questions both about job preferences (e.g. desired type of employment, country and city of residence) and more personal questions (e.g. race and ethnicity, religion, disability)
Successful candidates are invited for a 15-20 min. phone call.
Soft skills are usually assessed during this call by the NHS recruiter.
In some cases, NHS hiring manager may invite you for a video interview (most commonly conducted with HireVue.) For software engineering positions, candidates may be asked to complete a coding challenge (problems on algorithms + take-home challenges.)
The next stage of the NHS recruitment process is an online assessment. The candidate will be sent an email invitation to complete NHS tests.
NHS uses different types of recruitment tests to assess candidates and their suitability for the position they are applying for.
Candidates are most often asked to complete the following tests:
Numerical reasoning tests are standardised psychometric assessment tools that help NHS determine a candidate's ability to work with numbers and graphs, make good decisions and draw conclusions based on numerical or statistical data. The tests simulate the work environment and goals of a prospective employee. Try our Free sample Numerical reasoning test.
Verbal reasoning tests allow NHS to determine a candidate's ability to perceive and analyse verbal information and to draw conclusions. Free sample Verbal tests are available to practice here and here.
Logical (inc. Diagrammatic and Inductive ) reasoning tests are designed to assess the candidate's ability to work with abstract information. NHS Logical assessment may consist of special diagrams, geometric shapes and other lined-up images, where a candidate has to continue the row in a logically correct way. Here you can practice a Free sample Logical test, a Free sample Diagrammatic test, and a Free sample Inductive test.
Situational judgement tests consist of short simulated scenarios that define a working style and assess specific tasks in a working environment. NHS Situational tests are used to assess applicants' competencies, communication skills, motivation, and preferred styles of problem-solving. Try our Free sample Situational judgement test before taking the real one.
Mechanical reasoning tests are designed to assess candidates' critical and abstract thinking skills important for engineering and science-related positions at NHS. Free sample Mechanical test.
Successful candidates are invited to visit the nearest NHS headquarters or office.
Candidates will have a chance to personally meet the hiring manager, team leaders and seniors during the assessment day.
NHS may organise a group exercise with candidates as part of the hiring procedure.
The final stage of the recruitment process.
The candidate will have a chance to meet the hiring manager, department director and/or division lead.
Normally, there is no assessment at this stage.
Candidates are mostly expected to demonstrate soft skills and a desire to join NHS.
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