Plastic Surgery ST3 · Latest published criteria
Plastic Surgery ST3 self-assessment 2027: how every domain is scored
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The Plastic Surgery ST3 self-assessment has 11 domains and an “Overall Total points 35”, and you score it yourself on the Oriel form before a team of Plastic Surgery consultants verifies your evidence. The verified score decides who is interviewed (“the applicants with the highest verified scores will be invited to book an interview slot via Oriel”), and the portfolio then makes up 20% of the final weighted score. The Plastics pages haven’t been updated since the 2026 round, so the framework here is the 2026 one. Plastics used national Round 2 in 2026, and if it does again, applications will be accepted from 19 November until 4pm on 10 December 2026; your score is locked the moment you submit.
Plastics ST3 self-assessment (scored on the Oriel application form, then verified against uploaded evidence) points at a glance
Your score is the total of the domain scores, out of a maximum of 35.
Self-assessment total: "Overall Total points 35" (Years in practice 3 + Clinical Knowledge and Experience 12 + Higher qualifications, audit, research, presentations/publications 20). "Weighting of the different sections has been removed for the 2026 application round." The verified score decides who is interviewed: "the applicants with the highest verified scores will be invited to book an interview slot via Oriel." In the final ranking the portfolio is 20%: "Portfolio Contribution to final weighted score (%) - 20" (Structured interview 25, Clinical scenario 25, OSCE 30).
| Domain | What scores (official wording) | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Years in practice |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 3 points. Maximum points for section 3. | 3 |
| Clinical Knowledge and Experience: Surgical Competence - Hand Trauma |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 4 points. Max 4. Tier wording and per-tier points are not published on any official public page (they exist only inside the Oriel application form). Only the domain maximum is published. | 4 |
| Clinical Knowledge and Experience: Surgical Competence - Burns |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 4 points. Max 4. Tier wording and per-tier points are not published on any official public page (they exist only inside the Oriel application form). Only the domain maximum is published. | 4 |
| Clinical Knowledge and Experience: Surgical Competence - Skin Cancer |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 4 points. Max 4. Tier wording and per-tier points are not published on any official public page (they exist only inside the Oriel application form). Only the domain maximum is published. | 4 |
| Higher Qualifications Directly Related to Medicine |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 4 points. Max 4. Tier wording and per-tier points are not published on any official public page (they exist only inside the Oriel application form). Only the domain maximum is published. | 4 |
| Audit |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 3 points. Max 3 self-assessed. "*An extra point can be awarded by the verification panel if they feel the audit presented has significantly improved patient care or has significant merit." Tier wording and per-tier points are not published on any official public page (they exist only inside the Oriel application form). Only the domain maximum is published. | 3 |
| Publications |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 5 points. Max 5. Tier wording and per-tier points are not published on any official public page (they exist only inside the Oriel application form). Only the domain maximum is published. | 5 |
| Presentations / Posters |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 4 points. Max 4. Per-presentation values (oral vs poster, national vs international) are not published on any official public page. | 4 |
| Collaborative Research |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 1 point. Max 1. Tier wording and per-tier points are not published on any official public page (they exist only inside the Oriel application form). Only the domain maximum is published. | 1 |
| Principal Investigator |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 1 point. Max 1. Tier wording and per-tier points are not published on any official public page (they exist only inside the Oriel application form). Only the domain maximum is published. | 1 |
| Presentation of portfolio (scored by assessors) |
Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 2 points. Max 2. Scored by assessors, not self-assessed. | 2 |
| Total | 35 |
Dates for this round
- Date not published yet 2027 Plastics guidance not yet published (in the 2026 round the pages were updated the day before Round 2 opened; not confirmed for 2027) expected source
- Applications open (national Round 2 for ST3/ST4; Plastics recruited in Round 2 in 2026) expected source
- Applications close: self-assessment score locked expected source
- National interview window opens expected source
- National interview window closes expected source
- Initial offers released by expected source
What you can still add before 10 December 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.
- Clinical Knowledge and Experience: Surgical Competence - Hand Trauma. If you are in a post with hand trauma exposure, keep doing and logging cases on a validated logbook. The public page does not say which procedures reach which level. Start by 10 October 2026. Only cases done before you submit (expected 4pm 10 Dec 2026) can be claimed, because the score cannot be changed after submission.
- Clinical Knowledge and Experience: Surgical Competence - Burns. If you are in a post with burns exposure, keep doing and logging cases on a validated logbook. The level thresholds are not published. Start by 10 October 2026. The score is fixed when you submit (expected 4pm 10 Dec 2026).
- Clinical Knowledge and Experience: Surgical Competence - Skin Cancer. If you are in a post with skin cancer surgery exposure, keep doing and logging cases on a validated logbook. The level thresholds are not published. Start by 10 October 2026. The score is fixed when you submit (expected 4pm 10 Dec 2026).
- Presentations / Posters. Submit an abstract to a national or international meeting that will be held before you submit your application, and deliver it before you apply. The 2027 person specification values meetings "relevant to plastic surgery". On authorship, the glossary says: "In the academic section of the portfolio a "Principal" author is classified as the first author or last if you are the senior author." The presentation must have happened before you submit (expected 4pm 10 Dec 2026), because the score cannot be changed after submission. The value per presentation is not published.
- Presentation of portfolio (scored by assessors). Collect and organise evidence for every claimed item now, ready for the upload portal. Start by 10 October 2026. The evidence upload window opens after the application closes (2026 round: 18 Dec 2025 to 5 Jan 2026). The 2027 dates are not yet published.
Evidence traps
- Your score is locked when you submit. Anything finished after you submit cannot be added.
It is not possible to change your self-assessment score after you have submitted your application under any circumstances.
source - A devolved-nation meeting that has a UK-wide equivalent counts only as Regional: Celtic BAPRAS is classed as Regional, not National.
a paper accepted for presentation at the "Celtic BAPRAS meeting" should be congratulated but will be classed as "Regional"
source - A paper without a PMID and an impact factor scores nothing, and third author or lower is never 'principal'.
You will be asked to provide an impact factor and PMID number for your journal publications, without which the publication cannot be scored.
source - Teaching, management and leadership no longer score. A teaching course will not raise your Plastics score.
Qualifications outside of medicine, management and leadership, and teaching and training have been removed.
source - Over-scoring is a probity issue, not just a lost point.
Any instances where you are found to have deliberately over-scored your self-assessment may be treated as probity concerns. This may lead to being removed from the recruitment process or a referral to the General Medical Council (GMC).
source
Sources
- NHS England Medical Hub: Plastic Surgery, Self-assessment and verification (2026 scoring information), 2026 round; page last reviewed 18 November 2025, next review due 18 November 2027. Re-fetched 15 Oct 2026 (HTTP 200): unchanged; tier points are still published only for Years in practice. The only Wayback capture (21 Jan 2026) is identical.
- NHS England Medical Hub: Plastic Surgery, Glossary and definitions, page last reviewed 18 November 2025
- NHS England Medical Hub: Overview of Plastic Surgery (summary of 2026 changes), page last reviewed 19 November 2025
- NHS England Medical Hub: Plastic Surgery, Applying (hosted by the London Recruitment Office), 2026 round; page last reviewed 19 November 2025
- NHS England Medical Hub: Plastic Surgery, Recruitment timelines, 2026 Round 1 dates only; page last reviewed 18 November 2025
- NHS England Medical Hub: Plastic Surgery, Interviews (weighting of final score), 2026 round; page last reviewed 19 November 2025
- NHS England Medical Hub: Plastic Surgery, Posts (indicative numbers, August 2026 intake), page last reviewed 18 November 2025
- Plastic Surgery ST3 2027 person specification, 2027 recruitment
- Plastic Surgery ST3 2026 person specification, 2026 recruitment
- NHS England Medical Hub: Specialty recruitment timelines (2027 Round 2, ST3/ST4), page last reviewed 24 February 2026
- NHS England Medical Hub: 2025 competition ratios, 2025
What the official page leaves out
Only one domain has its tiers on the public page: Years in practice, where “Less than 5 years – 3”, “5.1 to 7 years – 2”, “7.1 to 10 years – 1” and “More than 10 years – 0”. For the other ten, NHS England publishes the maximum and nothing else: Hand Trauma, Burns and Skin Cancer are worth 4 each, Higher Qualifications 4, Audit 3, Publications 5, Presentations / Posters 4, Collaborative Research 1, Principal Investigator 1 and Presentation of portfolio 2. The tier wording sits inside the Oriel application form, and the overview page warns you to “read the Oriel online portfolio application form very carefully as it is refined every year”. That’s why there’s no calculator here, and why we won’t tell you what a particular case, paper or poster is worth. The framework was also cut back for 2026, from 17 domains to 11, with the note that “The surgical components for Skin, Hands and Burns have been reduced” and that “Weighting of the different sections has been removed for the 2026 application round.”
Where a Plastics applicant can still add before submitting
Because “It is not possible to change your self-assessment score after you have submitted your application under any circumstances”, anything you want to claim has to be done before you submit, by 4pm on 10 December 2026 at the latest if the national dates hold. If you’re in a post with hand trauma, burns or skin cancer work, keep doing and logging cases on a validated logbook, since each of those domains is worth up to 4, even though the thresholds aren’t public. Presentations / Posters is the other domain you can still move, if you have an abstract accepted at a national or international meeting that takes place before you submit, and the 2027 person specification for Plastics values meetings “relevant to plastic surgery”. Presentation of portfolio is marked by the assessors, so it pays to collect and order the evidence for every claim now, in the format the upload portal asks for. A degree, a new audit, a PubMed-indexed paper or a principal investigator role can’t realistically be completed in the time left.
Four rules the verifying consultants apply
Publications need both a PMID and an impact factor: “You will be asked to provide an impact factor and PMID number for your journal publications, without which the publication cannot be scored.” In the academic section a principal author means first author, or last if you’re the senior author, and “No author below second will be considered a ‘principal’ author.” The extra audit point isn’t yours to claim, because “An extra point can be awarded by the verification panel if they feel the audit presented has significantly improved patient care or has significant merit.” And over-claiming is treated seriously: “Any instances where you are found to have deliberately over-scored your self-assessment may be treated as probity concerns.”
Worked example: a CT2 four years after graduating
Take a hypothetical CT2 doctor who graduated four years ago, scored on the 2026 framework. Years in practice is the only domain we can value: “Less than 5 years – 3” gives them 3 of the 35. Hand Trauma, Burns and Skin Cancer (up to 4 each), Higher Qualifications (4), Audit (3), Publications (5), Presentations / Posters (4), Collaborative Research (1) and Principal Investigator (1) all depend on tier wording that only the Oriel form contains, and Presentation of portfolio (2) is scored by the assessors, so no honest total can be given for this doctor. What we can say is what two common additions would do. A teach the teacher course gains them nothing, because there’s no teaching domain. A national or international presentation given before they submit would be claimed under Presentations / Posters, which is capped at 4; it can only add points if they’re below that cap, and since the value of each presentation isn’t published, we can’t say how many it would add.
We can email you the 11 domains, their maxima and the expected dates as a printable sheet.
Use the form at the top of this page
Does a teach the teacher course count for Plastics ST3?
No. When the self-assessment was cut to 11 domains for 2026, NHS England said that “Qualifications outside of medicine, management and leadership, and teaching and training have been removed.” There’s no domain left in which a teaching course, or any teaching you deliver, can score, so a teach the teacher course adds 0 to a Plastic Surgery ST3 application. The 2027 Plastics self-assessment hasn’t been published yet, and we’ll update this page if teaching returns. If you’re also applying elsewhere, our table of teaching points by specialty shows where a course does count.
Plastics ST3 scoring: what applicants ask
How many points is a presentation worth for Plastic Surgery ST3?
The official page gives only the domain maximum, “Presentations / Posters – 4”, out of 35. It doesn’t publish what an oral, a poster, or a national or international presentation is worth on its own; that detail is in the Oriel application form, which changes each year.
How is the Plastic Surgery ST3 self-assessment scored?
There are 11 domains and a 35-point total: Years in practice (3), Hand Trauma, Burns and Skin Cancer (4 each), Higher Qualifications (4), Audit (3, with a possible extra point from the panel), Publications (5), Presentations / Posters (4), Collaborative Research (1), Principal Investigator (1) and Presentation of portfolio (2, scored by the assessors). A consultant team verifies the evidence and may adjust what you claimed. At interview, a single 30-minute online interview on Qpercom, the weightings are structured interview 25%, clinical scenario 25%, OSCE 30% and portfolio 20%.
When do Plastic Surgery ST3 2027 applications open?
Plastics hasn’t published its 2027 dates. It used Round 2 in 2026; the 2027 national Round 2 for ST3 and ST4 posts is due to open on Thursday 19 November 2026 (10am) and shut on Thursday 10 December 2026 (4pm). In the 2026 round, evidence was uploaded from 18 December 2025 to 5 January 2026.
How competitive is Plastic Surgery ST3?
In 2025 there were 281 applications for 42 posts, a competition ratio of 6.69. For 2027 there’s also a new limit of five applications in each recruitment round.
