Two stations of 25 minutes each, as published for 2026: the Structured Questions Station and the Communication Skills Station. Your mock interviews follow the same two stations, scored as one interview.

ST4 thoracic recruitment has ended, so ST1 is now the only national way in. The 2027 applicant guide and self-assessment criteria are not yet published. We check every specialty against each year's official guidance when it is published.

NHS England recorded 202 applications for 14 posts in 2026, against 737 for 10 in 2025. These are applications rather than people.

Applications open on 22 October 2026 and close on 19 November 2026 (Round 1). The Cardiothoracic interview dates are not yet published; Round 1 interviews fall in the national window of 11 January to 2 April 2027. Initial offers are released by 6 April 2027.

Not through national ST4 thoracic recruitment: NHS England's cardiothoracic office says the August 2026 intake was the last. ST1 is now the only national entry route.

It may. From 2027, the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 applies to interview invitations as well as offers (in 2026 it applied at offers only). You are in the priority group if any of these apply: your primary medical qualification is from the UK or Ireland (unless you trained mostly outside them), or from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland; you are a British or Irish citizen, or have the right of abode, indefinite leave to remain or status under the EU Settlement Scheme; or you have completed, or are on, the UK Foundation Programme. Trust-based posts do not count. It does not change the interview or your rank. Your status shows in Oriel, and the deadline to ask for a review is 5pm on 24 November 2026.

In 2027 you can make at most five applications in each recruitment round, across all specialties.

Yes. In the Prep Lounge you meet another Cardiothoracic candidate on video: one of you interviews, the other answers, and you both score the answer with the same mark scheme. Core includes 10 sessions, Pro 20 and Elite 40.

We read it once to list your experience and never store the file. You check the list, and only the list is kept, private to your account. It's used to point out what you left out of career answers, and it never changes your scores. You can edit or delete it at any time.

Every plan opens the whole Cardiothoracic Surgery Interview Library and your progress and prep plan. If you add your CV, you also get feedback on what you left out of career answers. The plans differ in their tutor sessions, mock interview sittings and Prep Lounge sessions: 90, 3 and 10 on Core; 180, 6 and 20 on Pro; 360, 10 and 40 on Elite.

Yes. Sign up free, confirm your email and choose Cardiothoracic Surgery, and four of its questions open: read each model answer as often as you like and practise each question out loud twice with the Virtual Tutor. The rest of the Library, the mock interviews and the Prep Lounge come with a plan.

Three months from the day you buy it. It is paid once and does not renew.

No. A plan covers one specialty, which you choose when you sign up.

The moment you press Start, even if you leave before answering. A Prep Lounge session is held when you book it and used only when it runs, so a cancelled session, or one your partner never joins, uses nothing. Reading the Library never uses anything.

Yes. Sitting one again uses another sitting from your plan, and your earlier report stays.

Yes. You pay the difference in price, and your end date stays the same.

You get one for each friend who signs up, and can hold up to three at once.