GP selection rests entirely on the MSRA.
There is no interview or portfolio stage. NHS England's GP recruitment overview says: "A subsequent face-to-face or virtual assessment at a Selection Centre will not occur." The same page describes the Single Transferable Score used for UK-wide portability, which allows successful applicants to be considered across the UK instead of one region. STS is not the name of the result or the ranking method.
Band 1 in either paper ends the GP application
Both MSRA papers receive a standardised score. For GP, each paper is then placed in Band 1, 2, 3 or 4. Band 1 records performance below the minimum acceptable standard. A Band 1 in either paper makes the whole GP application unsuccessful, even if the other paper went well.
NHS England has not published a combined score that guarantees a nationwide offer. Offers depend on your rank, the posts available, other applicants' choices and, now, priority status. An appointable score may still fall short of the programme you want. The 2025 competition ratio was 20,995 applications for 4,276 posts, or 4.91 applications per post, although that predates the Act's effect on offer order.
The MSRA outcome is final. NHS England's complaints route covers an evidenced failure in the recruitment process; disagreement with the mark sits outside it.
Fresh GP sittings follow the rules published for each round. Resits within a recruitment year have historically depended on application volume, while score transfer has its own time limit and conditions. In 2026, GP vacancies for posts starting in February 2027 went to the existing Round 1 reserve list instead of a Round 3 advert. That leaves the sitting attached to your current application as the one to plan around. Our GP resit and score-transfer guide holds the current wording to check before you rely on an older score.
The 2027 GP timetable is published
The published dates are:
- applications open at 10:00 on Thursday 22 October 2026;
- applications close at 16:00 on Thursday 19 November 2026;
- MSRA invitations are expected by 14 December 2026 for the January sitting and by 21 December for the February sitting;
- the MSRA windows run from 5 to 20 January 2027 and from 10 to 18 February 2027;
- results are released from 17 March 2027; and
- initial offers are due by 17:00 on Tuesday 6 April 2027.
The closing time belongs in your calendar with the date. The MSRA 2027 dates page holds the national selection, hold and upgrade deadlines. The Oriel walkthrough covers the application form, priority-status check and offer choices in the order you will meet them.
The February window is reserved for applicants to GP and/or Core Psychiatry only. Allocation depends on capacity and cannot be changed once made, so a GP-only application gives you no right to a February seat. Applying to any other MSRA specialty as well puts you in January. Your invitation tells you which window you have, and you then book through your Pearson Professional Examinations account.
GP's 2026 Round 3 posts went to the reserve list
GP ST1 was absent from NHS England's confirmed recruiting list, published on 6 July 2026. The update says available posts in specialties with enough suitable, appointable candidates will be offered directly to people on the existing reserve list, without a new application. Scotland also ran no GP Round 3 advert and filled its posts from the reserve list. The next fresh GP opportunity after a missed main application was the following recruitment cycle.
2027 Round 3 runs from 13 to 29 July 2027 for posts starting January to March 2028. Whether GP advertises in it will show in that round's recruiting list.
Priority status decides the order of GP offers
Pulse, citing NHS England data, reported 4,364 GP places; all were accepted by "UK graduates or applicants working in the NHS", compared with 62% in 2025. That reporting category is broader than the statutory priority group, so the labels describe different groups. The separate statutory figure covered all specialties: 98% of posts were filled by priority candidates in 2026, compared with 72% in 2025. NHS England's impact publication gives both measures. They answer different questions.
The Act became law in March 2026 and applied at the offer stage in that cycle. For 2027, NHS England applies priority at the offer of an interview and at the offer of a place. GP selection runs on the MSRA score with no interview stage, so priority status bites when places are offered, and a non-priority applicant can be passed over there however strong the score. The score establishes rank within the applicable tier; the legislation sets the order in which tiers are considered. The regulations made in September 2026 kept the 2026 immigration-status route for 2027 and added no route based on NHS experience, so service in trust-grade or locally employed posts does not alter your tier. Our Prioritisation Act guide sets out the categories and their edge cases, while NHS England's live prioritisation page is the place to check when applications open.
IMG eligibility and priority remain separate
The RCGP says IMGs make up over 50% of GP registrars. International doctors are already a large part of the registrar workforce. The 2026 category above describes accepted training places; it does not change that workforce fact. If you are a non-priority IMG, eligibility and a high score still do not establish that an offer will follow.
Some IMGs have a priority route. Established routes include a qualifying primary medical degree from the UK or one of the specified European countries, subject to where the training took place, and completion of or current enrolment in the UK Foundation Programme for ST1 entry.
CREST answers a different question. Many IMGs use it to prove foundation competence for eligibility; doctors who started and then left the UK Foundation Programme are excluded from this route. For 2027 recruitment both the 2024 and the 2027 versions of the form are accepted, though the 2024 version will not be accepted from 2028. An eligible signatory must have supervised you continuously for at least three months full-time-equivalent within the relevant 3.5-year window. A valid CREST form establishes eligibility only. Priority status is separate.
The Medical Training Initiative closed to new applicants at noon on 31 March 2026. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges published the notice; NHS England had taken the decision to end the current scheme. Doctors already in placements could complete them, and a successor remained unconfirmed.
There is also an immigration problem after qualification. GP training lasts three years, so many international registrars complete it before reaching the usual five-year point for settlement. The RCGP has argued that international GPs completing UK training should be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain instead of having to find an employing practice that will sponsor them. This remains RCGP advocacy; current entitlement is unchanged.
If you know you are non-priority, the completed 2027 rules give you no new route into the priority group for a GP-only application. A high MSRA score remains necessary if recruitment reaches that group, but the 2026 GP result offers no reassurance about an offer. Service-post and other-country plans remain open. Our IMG options for 2027 page compares those routes and states the training outcome of each.
More GP places do not settle the odds
GP training capacity has grown. A ministerial answer said places increased to 4,500 from September 2025. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan aims for 5,000 GP training places a year by 2027/28 and 6,000 by 2031/32. Those capacity ambitions do not support a personal forecast. The 10 Year Health Plan also referred to 1,000 new specialty training posts over three years, across all specialties. Full Fact found the GP share was unpublished, so there is no figure to add to the GP total.
GP training usually runs for three years
GP specialty training normally runs for three years to CCT under the GMC-approved curriculum. NHS England's overview guarantees at least 18 months in an approved training practice, with the rest in approved hospital or integrated posts. The RCGP says programmes are increasingly constructed with 24 months in general practice and about 12 months in hospital, community or integrated posts. A growing number of four-year options may add academic, fellowship or wider experience around the core programme.
Practise the MSRA questions that determine your GP rank and check where your current score needs work: try ProMSRA free / see pricing.
Questions doctors ask about GP training in 2027
Is there a GP interview?
The MSRA is the sole national selection assessment. NHS England says a subsequent face-to-face or virtual assessment at a Selection Centre "will not occur".
What MSRA score do I need for GP?
Both papers must clear Band 1. Beyond that, the required rank changes with post numbers, preferences, the cohort and priority tier, so an old regional cut-off is context instead of a target.
Can IMGs still get GP training in 2027?
IMGs can apply if eligible, and some qualify for priority through their degree, UK programme history or immigration status. For a non-priority IMG, every reported GP place in 2026 went to the UK-graduates-or-NHS-workers category. Access in 2027 depends on whether recruitment reaches that tier.
Could Round 3 replace a missed Round 1?
It did not in the 2026 cycle. GP posts starting in February 2027 were filled from the existing reserve list, with no Round 3 advert on NHS England's list or in Scotland. 2027 Round 3 runs from 13 to 29 July 2027 for posts starting January to March 2028, and its recruiting list will show whether GP advertises. Until then, a fresh application in that round is guesswork.