The MSRA gets you as far as radiology shortlisting. Under the current published model, it no longer contributes to final ranking, so a guide from two or three years ago can give the MSRA too much weight in your preparation.
The MSRA now ends at shortlisting
A 14 March 2023 HEE Freedom of Information response put the MSRA at 40% of the final Clinical Radiology selection score. That figure belongs to the process covered by the response. The current NHS England ranking rules use the MSRA for shortlisting only. Interview performance alone decides appointability. For candidates who meet that bar, final ranking is 40% portfolio and 60% interview.
NHS England says its radiology pages for the next recruitment round will be finalised by Friday 2 October 2026. Until that refresh, the portfolio document in force is the 2026 Clinical Radiology ST1 Portfolio review guidance. The current published process applies now, and that is the date to check again.
Selection runs from longlisting to weighted final ranking
The process begins with longlisting, the eligibility check against the person specification and application evidence. Passing it allows you to sit the MSRA. Portfolio verification and interview selection come later.
Once you are longlisted, your MSRA score determines your place in the shortlist ranking. Interview places go down that ranking until the available capacity is filled. There is no published score that guarantees a 2027 invitation, and an old cut-off came from a different cohort and selection process. The MSRA scores and competition guide explains the limits of those old numbers.
The portfolio begins inside the Oriel application, before the MSRA. You declare an evidence category for each domain, and those choices lock when you submit. If the later upload changes the evidence used for a declared category, that domain scores zero. After MSRA shortlisting, only the top 800 candidates are asked to upload their supporting evidence. The 2026 Clinical Radiology ST1 Portfolio review guidance sets the category requirements.
The interview is online through Qpercom and has two stations of up to 15 minutes each. Station A contains two portfolio questions, a question about your understanding of the specialty and a skills question. Station B covers clinical prioritisation, coping with pressure and uncertainty, and working within a team.
The interview score alone determines appointability.
The published thresholds are a minimum 48 overall, at least 22 in each station, no score of 1, and 6/10 or more on the combined unweighted clinical prioritisation question. If you clear all four requirements under the current published process, your final rank is weighted 40% to portfolio and 60% to interview.
Commitment to Specialty carries double weight
Each domain is graded from category A to E: A scores 4, B scores 3, C scores 2, D scores 1 and E scores 0. The five domains are:
- Commitment to Specialty;
- Leadership and Management;
- Teaching and Training;
- Audit and Quality Improvement;
- Academic Achievements.
Domain 1, Commitment to Specialty, counts twice. Your chosen category must match the exact descriptor for the recruitment round, with dates, authorship and your personal role visible in the evidence itself. Where one achievement genuinely fits several radiology domains, you may claim it in each. The ophthalmology portfolio uses a once-only evidence rule instead.
Competition exceeded 11 applications per post in 2024 and 2025
NHS England's published Round 1 figures record more than 11 applications per post in 2024 and 2025. These figures pre-date the Prioritisation Act's recruitment changes.
| Entry year | Applications | Posts | Applications per post |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3,068 | 350 | 8.77 to one |
| 2024 | 3,719 | 312 | 11.92 to one |
| 2025 | 4,011 | 356 | 11.27 to one |
A 2027 post figure and a radiology-specific breakdown of the 2026 prioritisation result remain unpublished. NHS England's overall figures cannot supply either missing number. The ratios above are dated competition history.
National Round 1 dates are published; radiology dates are not
National Round 1 applications open at 10:00 on 22 October 2026 and close at 16:00 on 19 November 2026. The interview window runs from 11 January to 2 April 2027, with initial offers due by 17:00 on 6 April. The full hold and upgrade sequence is in our 2027 dates guide and on NHS England's recruitment timeline.
Radiology's own MSRA, evidence-upload and interview dates were still unpublished at the time of writing.
The specialty's pages are due to be finalised by Friday 2 October 2026, and Clinical Radiology is not participating in Round 3. The specialty recruitment page and the messages attached to your application will carry the updates. Our Oriel walkthrough covers the application, priority-status review and offer controls; your Oriel invitation remains the instruction for your appointment.
Standard Clinical Radiology training takes five years to CCT. The Interventional Radiology route takes six.
IMGs may need to compare ST1 with the Portfolio Pathway
If your route to foundation competence sits outside a recent UK Foundation Programme or another accepted route, you will usually need the 2024 CREST form. It needs arranging early enough to support the application. A valid CREST can make you eligible for ST1, while priority status and portfolio evidence remain separate requirements.
IMG Connect's 2026 guidance says most overseas radiologists use the GMC Portfolio Pathway, formerly CESR, instead of restarting at ST1. That is especially relevant if you already have substantial radiology training abroad. The GMC Portfolio Pathway leads to the Specialist Register through evidence of equivalent knowledge, skills and experience. Its outcome is specialist registration, while an NTN training programme leads to CCT.
The reported arrangement for NTN training posts in England is central handling of visa sponsorship after an Oriel offer through NHS England's National Overseas Sponsorship Team. The official sponsorship guidance is the source for the current pattern in your round. Arrangements differ across the UK nations, and the immigration decision remains separate from the Certificate of Sponsorship.
For a non-priority IMG, the consequence in radiology is that an ST1 application may stop at shortlisting. The live NHS England prioritisation rules and our Prioritisation Act guide let you check your status when the unpublished regulations appear.
If you expect to remain non-priority, the decision is whether the time, cost and likely outcome of an ST1 attempt compare well with taking a radiology job that supports Portfolio Pathway evidence. The IMG options guide sets out trust-grade, SAS and Portfolio routes while the radiology fill rate remains unpublished. A high MSRA preserves any opening your group is allowed to contest.
Practise the MSRA questions used for radiology shortlisting and check the current portfolio and interview model: try ProMSRA free / see pricing.
Clinical Radiology questions
How much does the MSRA count for radiology?
It counts for shortlisting. The interview alone decides appointability, then final ranking is 40% portfolio and 60% interview under NHS England's current published rules; the next-round pages are due to be finalised by Friday 2 October 2026.
What does the radiology portfolio need?
You declare a category in the Oriel application for each of the five domains, with Commitment to Specialty double-weighted. Those declarations lock at submission, and the top 800 shortlisted candidates later upload the evidence for verification.
Can IMGs enter Clinical Radiology in 2027?
It can be. Whether an ST1 application makes sense depends on your priority status, prior radiology experience and the prioritisation regulations, which were due in early autumn 2026 and still unpublished at the time of writing. Until they are published, nobody can state whether a particular trust-grade history would change your status. Prior radiology experience may make the Portfolio Pathway a better fit than restarting at ST1. The refreshed radiology guidance will help you judge whether spending heavily on an ST1 application makes sense for you.