Histopathology ST1 · 2027 criteria
Histopathology ST1 self-assessment 2027: points calculator and scoring guide
Pick the option that fits your evidence at each step to see your score out of 71, and what you can still add before the deadline.
Applications close 4pm, Thu 19 Nov 2026
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Histopathology ST1 points calculator
The Histopathology ST1 self-assessment for 2027 entry has 10 domains, and on your Oriel application you pick the one option in each that best describes you. The domain maxima add up to 71 (NHS England publishes no overall total), and the verified score is used only to shortlist for interview: it “will not contribute to your final score or ranking outcome at the end of the recruitment process”. Applications open at 10am on Thursday 22 October 2026 and close at 4pm on Thursday 19 November 2026, and your evidence has to be uploaded between Monday 23 November and 10am on Monday 30 November 2026.
Histopathology ST1 self-assessment points at a glance
Your score is the total of the domain scores, out of a maximum of 71.
Shortlisting only: “This score will be used to help the National Recruitment Office shortlist should application numbers exceed capacity at various parts of the recruitment process (details to follow). The verified Self-Assessment score will not contribute to your final score or ranking outcome at the end of the recruitment process”; “Your scores at interview will be used to determine your final total score and ranking”.
| Domain | What scores (official wording) | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Additional undergraduate degrees and qualification |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 3 points. Single best option only. | 3 |
| Postgraduate degrees and qualifications |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 4 points. Single best option only. A teaching masters/PG qualification may fit Domain 2 or Domain 6; the guide says submit it to “the domain that generates maximum overall points”. | 4 |
| Presentations/posters |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 8 points. Single best option only (max 8). “Scotland and Wales presentations can now be classed as National presentations.” A histopathology presentation could alternatively score 8 in Domain 10, but “A specific achievement can only be used to score points in 1 domain only.” | 8 |
| Publications |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 5 points. Single best option only. “or in press” is expressly allowed for PubMed tiers. | 5 |
| Teaching Experience |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 10 points. Single best option only. | 10 |
| Training in Teaching |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 5 points. Single best option only (max 5). Day conversion: “In domains where the duration of a course of event is expressed in equivalent days, 6 hours is recognised to equate to one day”, so 2 days = 12 hours and 3 days = 18 hours. | 5 |
| Quality Improvement (QI) |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 10 points. Single best option only. A histopathology audit/QI could fit Domain 7 or Domain 10; submit it where it scores most, and use a different project in the other. | 10 |
| Leadership and Management |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 8 points. Single best option only. Course durations use the 6 hours = 1 day rule. | 8 |
| Commitment to Histopathology as a Specialty |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 10 points. Single best option only. Shadowing durations use the 6 hours = 1 day rule. | 10 |
| Histopathology related activities |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 8 points. Single best option only. Each item must differ from what you claimed in other domains. | 8 |
| Total | Not published as a single figure: this is the sum of the domain maxima. | 71 |
Dates for this round
- Vacancies published source
- Applications open source
- Applications close (self-assessment locked on submission; CREST upload also closes) source
- Evidence upload window opens source
- Evidence upload window closes source
- Appeal window opens (72 hours) source
- Interview window starts source
- Initial offers released expected 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.
- Presentations/posters. Present at a national meeting held before you submit (e.g. NMERC 2026, online, Sat 14 Nov 2026; free abstract submission at nmerc.org/submit), then submit your Oriel application between 14 Nov and 4pm Thu 19 Nov 2026. Upload the presentation letter/certificate and abstract book by 10am Mon 30 Nov 2026. Gets you to: 1 non-histopathology poster, national/international. NMERC 2026 decisions come within 5 days of submission; the talk on Sat 14 Nov 2026 must be given before you submit the application, which closes 4pm 19 Nov 2026.
- Publications. Only if a manuscript is already accepted (“in press” is allowed) or an abstract is published before you submit; not dependable from a standing start. A published abstract or NMERC write-up of work you also claim as a presentation in Domain 3 can only score once (“A specific achievement can only be used to score points in 1 domain only.”), so claim it where it scores higher.
- Teaching Experience. Deliver and document additional teaching sessions (e.g. to move from 2–4 to 5–9 sessions) before you submit at 4pm 19 Nov 2026. No fixed lead time is published; sessions must be delivered before you submit.
- Training in Teaching. Complete both parts of the Erudical course (the live day and the self-paced course) and request the combined 18-hour certificate before you submit on Oriel (close 4pm Thu 19 Nov 2026): that meets "I have had substantial training in teaching for the delivery of medical education lasting 3 or more days" (2 points) under "6 hours is recognised to equate to one day". Either part alone scores 1 ("brief training … lasting 2 days or less"). Gets you to: Training in teaching, 3+ days. Applications close at 4pm Thu 19 Nov 2026 and the self-assessment cannot be changed after submission, so the course must be completed before you submit. For 2 points, choose a live course date that leaves time to finish the self-paced course and get the combined certificate first.
- Quality Improvement (QI). If you already have a completed QI project, presenting its results at a meeting before you submit lifts 8 to 10. Completing new audit cycles before 19 Nov 2026 is rarely feasible. Gets you to: Led, 2+ cycles, positive change, presented.
- Leadership and Management. Attend a leadership course before you submit (≤2 days = 1 point; 3+ days = 2 points). Gets you to: Leadership course, 2 days or less; Leadership course, 3+ days. Must be attended before you submit by 4pm 19 Nov 2026.
- Commitment to Histopathology as a Specialty. Arrange shadowing in a histopathology department and complete it before you submit (2 days or less = 6; 3+ days = 8), keeping signed evidence. Gets you to: Shadowing 2 days or less; Shadowing 3+ days. Depends on a department agreeing; must be completed before you submit by 4pm 19 Nov 2026.
- Histopathology related activities. Complete 10+ hours of online histopathology eLearning/teaching sessions (2), or attend a histopathology course/conference with CPD evidence (4), before you submit; a second histopathology presentation at a national/regional meeting would score 8 here. Gets you to: 10+ hours histopathology eLearning/teaching; Histopathology course/conference with CPD. Must be completed before you submit by 4pm 19 Nov 2026.
Evidence traps
- Your self-assessment is locked the moment you submit. Do not submit your Oriel application until every course, shadowing day and presentation you plan to claim has actually happened.
The self-assessment score cannot be changed at any stage between application and interview. Once you have submitted your application, you will no longer be able to amend the ‘self-assessment’ section of your application.
source - One achievement per domain, and the verifier only looks at the first thing you upload. If you upload several items, the first one decides your score.
If you have more than 1 achievement within a single domain then you should select the one which would give you the highest score, and this should be the only achievement you upload.
source - “Histopathology” means cellular pathology. A haematology, microbiology, virology or chemical pathology presentation scores at the non-histopathology rate.
Evidence related to other specialties such as haematology, microbiology, virology or chemical pathology will not be accepted
source - No evidence uploaded means 0 for that domain, and anyone who uploads no evidence at all is withdrawn. The window is short: 23 Nov to 10am 30 Nov 2026.
If evidence for a domain is not uploaded to the portal before the deadline of 10am Monday 30 November 2026, then the evidence verification panel will award a score of 0 for that domain.
source - Your self-assessment gets you to interview; it does not carry into your final ranking. Points matter only for clearing the shortlisting cut-off.
The verified Self-Assessment score will not contribute to your final score or ranking outcome at the end of the recruitment process
source
Sources
- Histopathology ST1 training Self-assessment scoring guidance for applicants (2027 Histopathology ST1 training Self-assessment Scoring Guide), Page last reviewed: 8 October 2026; next review due 8 October 2028
- Histopathology: Recruitment timelines (Round 1 2027), Page last reviewed: 8 October 2026
- Overview of Histopathology: Summary of 2027 recruitment process, Page last reviewed: 8 October 2026
- 2025 Competition ratios (Round 1), Page last reviewed: 24 July 2025
- Erudical Teach the Teacher course (product facts only, not a scoring source), live page
- Erudical Histopathology ST1 course page (cross-check only), Last updated: 9th October 2026
- Erudical application points table, Histopathology row (cross-check only), screen snapshot application-points-61-rows-2026-10-10.json + live page
- NMERC 2026 (dates/format only), live page
What you can still add before 4pm on 19 November 2026
Anything you claim has to have happened before you press submit, because the self-assessment “cannot be changed at any stage between application and interview”. For most FY2s the largest gain is in Domain 9: if you have no histopathology experience yet, shadowing in a histopathology department lasting 2 days or less takes that domain from 0 to 6, and 3 days or more takes it to 8, as long as a department can fit you in before the close and you keep signed evidence. After that, a talk or poster you deliver at a recognised national meeting before submitting can lift Domain 3 by as much as 8 points from nothing, with cellular pathology topics scoring higher than other subjects. Smaller gains are still realistic in Domain 6 (0 to 1 for a one-day training in teaching course, or 0 to 2 for training lasting 3 or more days), in Domain 10 (0 to 2 for 10 or more hours of online histopathology eLearning, or 0 to 4 for a histopathology course or conference with CPD evidence) and in Domain 5, where going from 2 to 4 delivered teaching sessions up to 5 to 9 adds 2.
Two upload rules to get right
Each domain is scored on a single achievement, and assessors “will only verify the first item of evidence uploaded”, so upload your best item for that domain and nothing else. If a domain has nothing in the portal by the deadline, “the evidence verification panel will award a score of 0 for that domain”, so check all 10 before 10am on 30 November.
Worked example: an FY2 who moves from 19 to 23
In 2025 Round 1 there were 985 applications for 104 Histopathology ST1 posts, a competition ratio of 9.47, and NHS England publishes no shortlisting score to aim for. So the number worth tracking is how many points you can add. Take an FY2 with no degree before medicine and no postgraduate qualification, one poster at a local meeting, one published abstract that isn’t PubMed-cited, 5 to 9 teaching sessions delivered, no training in teaching, data collection on an audit, a one-day leadership course, 2 days of histopathology shadowing and more than 10 hours of online histopathology eLearning. Domain by domain, that scores:
- Domain 1, additional undergraduate degrees: none, 0
- Domain 2, postgraduate degrees: none, 0
- Domain 3, presentations/posters: poster at a local medical meeting, 2
- Domain 4, publications: published abstract that isn’t PubMed-cited, 2
- Domain 5, teaching experience: delivered 5 to 9 teaching sessions, 4
- Domain 6, training in teaching: no training in teaching methods, 0
- Domain 7, quality improvement: involved in part of an audit (data collection), 2
- Domain 8, leadership and management: leadership course lasting 2 days or less, 1
- Domain 9, commitment to histopathology: shadowing lasting 2 days or less, 6
- Domain 10, histopathology related activities: 10 or more hours of online histopathology eLearning, 2
That is 19 out of a possible 71. Two additions are realistic before the close. Completing both parts of the Erudical course and uploading the combined 18-hour certificate moves Domain 6 from 0 to 2, a gain of 2 (the guide counts 6 hours as one day, so 18 hours meets the 3 or more days tier; the live day alone would be a gain of 1). A poster on a non-histopathology topic shown at a national meeting on 14 November 2026, with the application submitted afterwards, moves Domain 3 from 2 to 4, a gain of 2. Together that is a gain of 4, taking the total to 23. If the abstract were selected for an oral instead, Domain 3 would become 5 and the total 24; a histopathology oral would make Domain 3 worth 8 and the total 27.
Choose your current option in each of the 10 domains and the calculator totals them and shows what each addition you could still finish would gain. We’ll show your result and email you a copy.
Go to the Histopathology ST1 calculator at the top of this page
If you’d rather have the Histopathology ST1 table on paper to check your evidence against, we can email you the printable version.
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Does a teach the teacher course count for Histopathology ST1?
Yes, in Domain 6 (Training in Teaching). The guide states that “6 hours is recognised to equate to one day”, so a 6-hour course on its own scores 1 under “I have had brief training in teaching for the delivery of medical education lasting 2 days or less”. Erudical’s live teaching day (6 hours) and the self-paced course (12 hours) come to 18 hours together, which is 3 days on that rule, so we advise claiming 2 points under “I have had substantial training in teaching for the delivery of medical education lasting 3 or more days”. The condition is that you evidence it with one document, the combined course certificate stating 18 hours, which we issue on request, and that you upload only that certificate. Either part on its own scores 1. Both parts must be finished before you submit on Oriel by 4pm on 19 November 2026. Live dates before the close: 24 October, 31 October, 7 November and 15 November. As with every domain, the verification panel checks your evidence. The course adds 0 if you already hold that tier or higher, such as FHEA (2 points) or a PG Cert in teaching (3 points), and if you already have a brief course worth 1, the combined certificate adds 1. Teaching you deliver belongs in Domain 5; the course is training in teaching and scores only in Domain 6. You can read more about the Teach the Teacher course for Histopathology ST1, and the Histopathology row of our teaching points by specialty table gives the same answer.
Presenting at NMERC on Saturday 14 November 2026
NMERC is an online national meeting organised by Erudical, held five days before Histopathology ST1 applications close. Abstract submission at nmerc.org/submit is free, with decisions within 5 days; acceptance isn’t guaranteed. A talk or poster you deliver there can count in Domain 3 only if you submit your Oriel application after you have presented, because the guide says “All achievements should be completed at time of application unless expressly permitted within a domain.” and “The self-assessment score cannot be changed at any stage between application and interview.” For the applicant above, starting from a local poster (2), a non-histopathology poster would gain 2 and an oral 3; on a cellular pathology topic, a poster would gain 4 and an oral 6. The relevant tier reads “I have given a non-Histopathology oral presentation at a recognised national or international medical meeting”, and the guide adds “You cannot claim for teaching presentations”. It also says “Evidence related to other specialties such as haematology, microbiology, virology or chemical pathology will not be accepted” as histopathology, so those topics score at the non-histopathology rate. The letter and abstract book, which name all co-authors and give each one’s author position, and the certificates for presenters are issued by 16:00 on 16 November, ahead of the 10am 30 November upload deadline. Each piece of work scores once, since “A specific achievement can only be used to score points in 1 domain only.” If your Domain 3 is already at 8, a histopathology talk could score 8 in Domain 10 instead. The same applies to publication: if NMERC publishes your abstract or a full write-up, you can’t claim that work in Domain 4 as well as Domain 3, so pick the domain where it scores higher (a national presentation scores 4 to 8 in Domain 3, and a published abstract or non-PubMed article scores 2 in Domain 4).
Domain 8 has a tier for “I have organised a medical course or conference”, and a role helping to organise NMERC could count towards it in next year’s round. Anyone who would like to help organise it, or to teach on Erudical’s Teach the Teacher course (Erudical is always looking for teachers), can contact us.
Histopathology ST1 self-assessment: questions applicants ask
How is the Histopathology ST1 self-assessment scored?
You score yourself on Oriel across 10 domains: undergraduate degrees (max 3), postgraduate degrees (4), presentations/posters (8), publications (5), teaching experience (10), training in teaching (5), quality improvement (10), leadership and management (8), commitment to histopathology (10) and histopathology-related activities (8). That is 71 points if you add up each domain’s top tier, as NHS England does not publish a total. You pick one option per domain, upload one achievement per domain by 10am on Monday 30 November 2026, and consultants check it and adjust your score. The verified score is used only to shortlist for interview. In NHS England’s words, it “will not contribute to your final score or ranking outcome”, and “Your scores at interview will be used to determine your final total score and ranking”.
Can I claim a presentation I give after I apply?
No. The tiers say “I have given” and “I have shown”, and you can’t change your self-assessment once your application is in. If you’re presenting before the 4pm 19 November 2026 close (for example at a national meeting on 14 November), give the talk first and submit afterwards. A national non-histopathology oral scores 5 and one poster scores 4. Histopathology topics score 8 and 6. Teaching presentations don’t count.
When is the Histopathology ST1 evidence upload deadline for 2027?
The evidence upload window opens on Monday 23 November 2026 and closes at 10am on Monday 30 November 2026. Any domain with no evidence uploaded by then scores 0, and applicants who don’t upload during the window are withdrawn.
