Your MSRA result comes from two computer-based papers: Professional Dilemmas lasts 95 minutes and Clinical Problem Solving lasts 75 minutes. Together they take 170 minutes, with an optional five-minute break between them. You receive a score for each paper and an overall score. The scores are normalised, with the mean sitting around 250 for each paper, so a combined score around 500 is roughly the middle of the cohort. It does not mean that you earned 500 marks from a fixed total.
Your total isn't a percentage. NHS England's GP scoring guidance says each paper is normalised around a mean of 250. There is no meaningful maximum score because the conversion depends on how that sitting's cohort performed.
There can still be a hard floor. For Core Psychiatry CT1, the published appointability rule is a raw score of at least 186 in each paper. Miss that in either paper and the total cannot rescue the application. Passing both floors only makes you appointable; it doesn't promise a post. GP applies a floor as well: each paper is placed in band 1 to 4, and a band 1 in either paper means the application does not progress. Our specialty scores and cut-offs page puts those floors beside the available FOI data.
The score describes your position within a cohort
Normalisation lets NHS England compare candidates who have taken different equated forms of the MSRA. Your answers produce raw marks, but the number you usually discuss with other applicants is the converted score. That is why two papers can each be centred around the same number even though they test different things. A higher score places you ahead of more people in that recruitment cohort. The same numerical result can lead to a different rank in another round because the people sitting it have changed.
Core Psychiatry's score-transfer guidance confirms that a transferred result is ranked with the new cohort, so the rank may go up or down. The separate resit and score-carryover guide explains when an earlier result can be used at all.
Your overall total can hide an uneven result. If one specialty requires a minimum in each paper, a very strong Clinical Problem Solving score cannot cancel a failed Professional Dilemmas paper. Both component scores determine whether you have cleared a paper-level floor.
Specialties use the MSRA at different stages
The same MSRA sitting can decide one application and only secure an interview in another. The official MSRA specialty list is broader than GP and Psychiatry, but each recruitment office decides how to use the score. For planning, the table identifies the stage controlled by the MSRA.
The table shows the latest published recruitment model available on 3 August 2026. Some national 2027 specialty guides were still awaiting publication, so a percentage used in 2026 may change.
| Specialty and entry level | How the score is used |
|---|---|
| General Practice ST1 | Sole ranking score. No interview or portfolio. |
| Core Psychiatry CT1 | Sole ranking score. No interview or portfolio. |
| Obstetrics and Gynaecology ST1 | Lowest scores excluded; top 75 scorers bypass interview; remaining applicants are ranked for interview invitations, subject to capacity. |
| Core Surgical Training CT1 | Shortlists for interview and portfolio; contributes to final selection score. |
| ACCS Emergency Medicine CT/ST1 | Shortlists if interview capacity is exceeded; combined with interview for final rank. |
| Anaesthetics and ACCS Anaesthetics CT1 | Shortlisting input; online interview follows; contributes to final selection score. |
| Clinical Radiology ST1 | Shortlists only. Interview decides appointability; final rank is 40% portfolio and 60% interview. Next-round pages due 2 October 2026. |
| Community Sexual and Reproductive Health ST1 | Ranks invitations to the Selection Centre. |
| Neurosurgery ST1/ST2/ST3 | Combined with application shortlisting; selection interview follows. |
| Nuclear Medicine ST3 | MSRA, verified evidence and interview form the final score. |
| Ophthalmology ST1 | MSRA sets the 2027 shortlist; verified portfolio and online interview follow. |
| Broad Based Training, Scotland | Pass requirement and shortlisting rank; paediatric interview follows. |
Devolved-nation variations and individual vacancy rules can change the detail. The guidance attached to your Oriel advert is the controlling source. A weighting borrowed from a previous year can leave your target tied to an obsolete selection model.
GP selection has no Stage 3
GP ST1 no longer has an interview, selection centre or portfolio stage. Current national guidance says selection is based solely on MSRA performance. Your rank and preferences are then used in the offer process. If an older guide tells you to prepare for a GP Stage 3 selection centre, that part of the guide is out of date. There may still be eligibility checks before the MSRA and ordinary employment checks after an offer, but neither is a hidden GP interview. Core Psychiatry CT1 uses the same MSRA-only selection model.
Prioritisation and MSRA rank remain separate
At the time of writing, prioritisation could change which applications were considered, but it did not affect the rank applicants received, which remained based on selection performance. Our Prioritisation Act guide explains who falls into each tier and when the tier is applied.
A universal target cannot account for each selection model. Your specialty may require the score to clear a floor, secure an interview place or carry the whole application. The current recruitment guidance and the relevant row above give you the basis for judging the rank you need.
Practise both papers, then check your target specialty's current scoring model: try ProMSRA free / see pricing.