Clinical Radiology ST1 portfolio review 2027: points calculator and scoring guide

The Clinical Radiology ST1 portfolio review grades five domains from A (4 points) to E (0), with Commitment to Specialty counted double, so although no total is published the domain maxima add up to 24. The portfolio makes up 30% of the score used to rank applicants after interview, and it isn’t counted when deciding whether you’re appointable. Applications run from 10am on 22 October to 4pm on 19 November 2026, the category you choose for each domain on Oriel is fixed when you submit, and you only upload evidence (in February 2027, dates to be confirmed) if you’re invited to interview or put on the reserve list.

Radiology ST1 portfolio review points at a glance

2027 criteria, page last reviewed 9 October 2026 · Last checked 10 October 2026

Your score is the total of the domain scores, out of a maximum of 24. Each domain is graded A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, E = 0, and the points shown already include any weighting.

"30% of total score will be Portfolio score" / "70% of total score will be Interview" (ranking). Appointability ignores the portfolio: "the portfolio review scores will not be counted when determining appointability." Max 24 is derived (5 domains x 4, domain 1 doubled: "Please note for domain 1 the scores are double weighted."); the guidance states no total.

Radiology ST1: every domain, what scores and the maximum

Domain	What scores (official wording)	Max
Commitment to Specialtycounts double	A · 8 points Greater than one significant exposure to the work of a clinical radiology department* B · 6 points One significant exposure to the work of a radiology department C · 4 points Presented at a radiology course or conference D · 2 points Attended a radiology related conference E · 0 points None of the above Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 8 points. Assessor score A4/B3/C2/D1/E0, doubled for this domain ("Please note for domain 1 the scores are double weighted."), so the domain is worth 8. The doubling is stated; the resulting 8/6/4/2/0 values are derived arithmetic. "A significant exposure means a period of at least 3 whole day equivalent time attached to a clinical radiology department." "Multiple exposures must be meaningfully different ... 2 taster weeks offering the same experience would not and would score B."	8
Leadership and Management	A · 4 points Hold/have held a national level leadership or managerial role involving radiology B · 3 points Hold/have held a national level leadership or managerial role not involving radiology, but relating to healthcare or hold/have held a local/regional level leadership Or, managerial role involving radiology C · 2 points Hold/have held a national level leadership or managerial role outside healthcare Or, hold/have held a local/regional leadership or management role not involving radiology but relevant to healthcare D · 1 point Hold/have held a local/regional leadership or management role outside healthcare E · 0 points None of the above Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 4 points. Any roles claimed above must have been for a minimum period of 6 months.	4
Teaching and Training	A · 4 points Hold a formal teaching qualification awarded at postgraduate level, for example: masters, CILT, PGDip, PG Cert B · 3 points Have made a major contribution to a national or international teaching programme, with evidence C · 2 points Evidence of other training in teaching methods after study of at least 2 days (such as Train the Trainers) D · 1 point Have evidence of regional teaching E · 0 points None of the above Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 4 points. "For the purposes of this section a formal teaching programme should have a duration of at least 3 months in total." "A major contribution means a leading or organising role, such as a formal teaching fellowship or personally organising a formal, multi-session teaching course." Anomaly still present on the 9 Oct 2026 page: "One-off, small group teaching would qualify in the third descriptor, as would evidence of solely delivering a single session to a larger local or national programme." The third descriptor in the table is category C (training in teaching methods), so this sentence reads as a carry-over; it was identical in the 2026 guidance.	4
Audit and Quality Improvement	A · 4 points I have led* 2 or more** audits or quality improvement projects relating to radiology which can be shown to have resulted in changed practice or evidence that current practice met the required standard (with no change needed) B · 3 points I have led* an audit or quality improvement project relating to radiology which can be shown to have resulted in changed practice or evidence that current practice met the required standard (with no change needed) C · 2 points I have led one or more non-radiology audit/s or quality improvement project/s, shown to have resulted in changed practice or evidence that current practice met the required standard (with no change needed) D · 1 point I have contributed to, but not led, an audit or quality improvement project E · 0 points None of the above Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 4 points. "*Leading an audit/Quality Improvement (QI) project would usually include a major role in conception, data collection, analysis, and presentation." "**An audit and re-audit to complete audit cycle will be considered as two separate audits (for example, will be category A if the audits were related to radiology)." "Relating to radiology means that diagnostic/interventional imaging formed the primary part of the project."	4
Academic Achievements	A · 4 points I hold a postgraduate research degree or research Masters (PhD, MD, MDRes) Or, I have at least one peer-reviewed publication relating to radiology as first author* B · 3 points I have at least one peer-reviewed publication relating to radiology, not as the first author Or, I have at least one peer-reviewed publication not relating to radiology but as a first author Or, A case report related to radiology, as first author Or, At least one oral or poster presentation relating to radiology at a national or international level, as first author* C · 2 points I have at least one peer-reviewed publication not relating to radiology, not as first author* Or, A case report not related to radiology, as first author* Or, At least one oral or poster presentation relating to radiology at local/regional level, as first author* D · 1 point An author (not first author*) of at least one published case report Or, An author (first or subsequent) of at least one oral or poster presentation not relating to radiology at either local, regional, national or international level Involvement in a research team as part of an elective, intercalated degree, extended student research and enterprise project, academic foundation programme, academic summer school or other research taster Or, I have at least one peer-reviewed publication as a consortium** author with any credit E · 0 points None of the above Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 4 points. "Presentations should be proffered papers which have been through a process of peer-review". "**Consortium authorship- Papers with more than 12 authors will be considered consortium papers". "(Points scored in this section are only for postgraduate achievements)."	4
Total	Not published as a single figure: this is the sum of the domain maxima.	24

Dates for this round

• 22 October 2026, 10am Applications open source
• 19 November 2026, 4pm Applications close (categories locked on submission) source
• 5 January 2027 MSRA window opens source
• 20 January 2027 MSRA window closes source
• February 2027 Portfolio evidence upload opens expected source
• February 2027 Portfolio evidence upload closes expected source
• 17 February 2027 MSRA results to applicants source
• 11 March 2027 Interviews start source
• 17 March 2027 Interviews end source
• 6 April 2027, 5pm Initial offers source
• 9 April 2027, 9am Hold deadline source
• 14 April 2027, 4pm Upgrade deadline source
• 15 April 2027, 4pm Hierarchical deadline source

What you can still add before 19 November 2026

What each of these adds is the difference between the option you would reach and the one you already hold, so it can be nothing if you hold that option already. The calculator works out the gain from your own answers.

• Commitment to Specialty. Attending a radiology-related conference (D) or completing a 3-whole-day radiology taster/observership (B) before you submit. Presenting at a radiology course or conference (C) only counts once delivered. Gets you to: Attended a radiology conference; One significant radiology exposure (3+ whole days). Start by 19 November 2026. Applications close 4pm Thursday 19 November 2026 and 'categories are finalised when the application form is submitted'; only completed achievements count.
• Teaching and Training. Complete a teaching-methods course totalling at least 2 days of study (Category C) with the certificate in hand before you submit the application. Erudical: the self-paced course plus a live day. Gets you to: Training in teaching methods, at least 2 days. Applications close at 4pm on 19 Nov 2026 and only completed achievements count: "Do not include qualifications if you have not yet been awarded an outcome". Choose a live course date that leaves time to finish the self-paced course and get both certificates before you submit; the last date before the close only works if the certificate is issued before you submit.
• Academic Achievements. Deliver an oral or poster presentation before you submit. A radiology-related (diagnostic imaging) first-author presentation at a national meeting is B (3); a non-radiology one is D (1). NMERC 2026 (delivered online Sat 14 Nov 2026; submit at nmerc.org/submit) falls before the 19 Nov close. Gets you to: Case report (not first), any non-radiology presentation, research taster, or consortium paper. "Do not include a presentation if you have not yet presented it", so submit the Oriel application only after presenting at NMERC on 14 Nov and before 4pm 19 Nov.

Evidence traps

• You cannot change a category, or swap the evidence, after you submit. An achievement completed after submission cannot be added. Please note categories are finalised when the application form is submitted. This means they cannot be edited in the event of a mistake, or an additional achievement completed after the deadline. source
• The title you type on Oriel must match the document you upload; vague titles score 0. Please note having vague titles eg domain 1 or audit 1 will invalidate your evidence and you will get a 0. You must enter the title that is on the evidence you will have uploaded. source
• One PDF per domain. Multi-part evidence (such as two course certificates) must be merged into a single continuous document. Evidence for each domain must be uploaded as a single, continuous document so you will have 5 PDFs in total to upload (one for each domain). source
• Presentations only count if delivered before you submit, and only peer-reviewed (proffered) ones count. Do not include a presentation if you have not yet presented it source
• A presentation unrelated to radiology scores the same 1 point whether it was local or international. An author (first or subsequent) of at least one oral or poster presentation not relating to radiology at either local, regional, national or international level source

Sources

• Clinical Radiology ST1 Portfolio review guidance, Page last reviewed: 9 October 2026; next review due 9 October 2028. Sits under pages stating 'The information on these pages pertains to the 2027 recruitment process.'
• Recruitment timelines (Clinical Radiology ST1), Page last reviewed: 8 October 2026
• Appointability, preferencing and offers (Clinical Radiology ST1), Page last reviewed: 9 October 2026
• Interviews (Clinical Radiology ST1), Page last reviewed: 9 October 2026
• Overview of Clinical Radiology Training ST1, Page last reviewed: 8 October 2026
• Clinical Radiology ST1 2027 person specification, Person specification and entry criteria for Clinical Radiology ST1 2027 recruitment (no review date shown)
• 2026 Clinical Radiology ST1 Portfolio review guidance (archived, for year-on-year comparison), Wayback snapshot 10 Feb 2026; page last reviewed 20 October 2025. Live old URL now renders empty.
• 2025 Competition ratios, Clinical Radiology ST1: Applications 4011, Posts 356, Competition ratio 11.27
• Erudical Teach the Teacher course page, live page
• NMERC 2026, live page

What you can still add before 4pm on 19 November

Teaching and Training is the domain most applicants can still move. C is worth 2 for “Evidence of other training in teaching methods after study of at least 2 days (such as Train the Trainers)”, a gain of 2 if you have nothing there yet or 1 if you already have regional teaching at D, and the certificate must be in your hands before you submit, because “Do not include qualifications if you have not yet been awarded an outcome”. In Academic Achievements, a peer-reviewed presentation delivered before you submit can add points: a first-author talk or poster involving diagnostic imaging at a national meeting reaches B (3), while a presentation on any other topic only reaches D (1). Commitment to Specialty is doubled, so a taster or observership of at least 3 whole days in a radiology department lifts an empty domain to B and gains 6, and attending a radiology-related conference gains 2. Leadership roles have to have been held for six months and audit claims need a signed consultant letter about finished work, so Domains 2 and 4 are realistically settled now unless a project is already close to its result.

Where Radiology ST1 claims go wrong

Two of the traps below are new for 2027. Domain 1 C used to be for attending a radiology course of at least a day; it now reads “Presented at a radiology course or conference”, so simply attending only counts if the event was a conference, at D. In Domain 4, a project only counts as radiology if imaging formed “the primary part of the project”, where last year’s guidance asked for a major part. The title you type on Oriel also has to match the document you later upload, since “having vague titles eg domain 1 or audit 1 will invalidate your evidence and you will get a 0”.

Worked example: an FY2 at 11 out of 24

Take an FY2 with one radiology taster week, eight months on the mess committee, some regional teaching sessions from FY1, a contribution to an audit they didn’t lead, and a non-radiology poster at a regional meeting. Domain by domain, that scores:

• Commitment to Specialty (double weighted): B, one significant exposure, 6 points.
• Leadership and Management: C, a local role relevant to healthcare that doesn’t involve radiology, 2 points.
• Teaching and Training: D, regional teaching, 1 point.
• Audit and Quality Improvement: D, contributed to but didn’t lead, 1 point.
• Academic Achievements: D, a presentation not relating to radiology, 1 point.

That’s 11 out of a possible 24. Two additions are realistic before the close. Completing Erudical’s live day and self-paced course, uploaded as one PDF, moves Teaching from D to C, which gains 1 point because the D already counted for 1. Presenting a first-author abstract involving diagnostic imaging at NMERC on 14 November 2026, then submitting the application before 4pm on 19 November, moves Academic from D to B and gains 2. Together they take this applicant to 14. If the NMERC talk wasn’t about radiology, it would gain nothing here, because this applicant already holds a D in Domain 5.

Work out your own Radiology ST1 score

Pick the tier that matches your evidence in each domain. We’ll show your result and email you a copy.

Go to the Radiology ST1 calculator at the top of this page

Prefer a printable version of the Radiology ST1 tiers and dates? We’ll email it to you.

Does a teach the teacher course count for Radiology ST1?

Yes, in Domain 3 only. Category C, worth 2 points, is “Evidence of other training in teaching methods after study of at least 2 days (such as Train the Trainers)”. We claim C for Erudical’s live day (6 hours of live teaching, 09:00 to 17:00) and the self-paced course (over 12 hours of content) taken together. Either part on its own is one day of study, so we don’t claim C for it. Both parts have to be completed and certified before you submit your application, and because each domain’s evidence must be a single continuous PDF, merge the two certificates (or use a combined certificate) into one file whose title matches the evidence title you enter on Oriel. The guidance gives no conversion from hours to days, so the assessor decides whether your evidence shows study of at least 2 days. The course adds 0 if you already hold C or higher in this domain, for example a postgraduate teaching qualification (A) or a major role in a national teaching programme (B). The live days before the close are 24 October, 31 October, 7 November and 15 November. Pick one that leaves time to finish the self-paced course and get both certificates before you submit. The 2027 person specification also lists “Evidence of participation in a teaching course” among its desirable criteria. Details of the course are on the Teach the Teacher course for Radiology ST1 page, and you can compare other specialties in our teaching points by specialty table.

Presenting at NMERC before you apply

NMERC is delivered online on Saturday 14 November 2026, five days before Radiology ST1 applications close, and abstracts can be submitted at nmerc.org/submit. What a talk there gains depends on its subject. Domain 5 B includes “At least one oral or poster presentation relating to radiology at a national or international level, as first author*”, worth 3, and the guidance says “All activity in this section should be scientific relating to radiology means the project should involve diagnostic imaging.” A talk on anything else falls under “An author (first or subsequent) of at least one oral or poster presentation not relating to radiology at either local, regional, national or international level”, which is D (1) and adds nothing if you already hold D or better. Only “proffered papers which have been through a process of peer-review” count, and every NMERC abstract is reviewed before it is accepted; the panel decides whether that meets the rule. Timing is the part to get right: “Do not include a presentation if you have not yet presented it”, and “Please note categories are finalised when the application form is submitted.” If your abstract is accepted, present on 14 November and submit your Oriel application after that, before 4pm on 19 November, keeping the acceptance letter or programme that names you as presenter, the convening institution and the date. NMERC’s programme names every presenting author, and its letter and abstract book list all co-authors with their author positions. More on the conference is on the NMERC page.

Radiology ST1 portfolio questions

How is the Clinical Radiology ST1 portfolio scored?

One assessor grades each of the five domains from A to E (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, E=0), and Domain 1, Commitment to Specialty, is double weighted. That gives a maximum of 24, which is our arithmetic, as the guidance doesn’t state a total. The portfolio is 30% of the score used for ranking and the interview is 70%; how the portfolio score is scaled into that 30% isn’t published. If you choose E in all five domains, you won’t be invited to sit the MSRA.

Do presentations count for Radiology ST1 portfolio points?

Yes, in Domain 5. A first-author oral or poster relating to radiology at a national or international meeting is B (3), and at local or regional level it’s C (2). Any presentation not relating to radiology is D (1), whatever the level. It has to be a peer-reviewed proffered paper, and it must already have been delivered when you submit your application.

When do I upload my Radiology ST1 portfolio evidence?

Only if you’re invited to interview or placed on the reserve list. Upload is listed for February 2027, with dates “To be confirmed”, and you upload five PDFs, one per domain. The assessor reviews your evidence for 10 minutes before Station A of your interview (11 to 17 March 2027), may ask about up to two domains in that station, and can move your scores up or down. The categories themselves were fixed when you submitted the application, by 4pm on 19 November 2026.