Ireland · Higher Specialist Training · 2027 intake criteria

HST points in Ireland: calculators and scoring guides for every college

RCPI, RCSI, Psychiatry, Emergency Medicine and Anaesthesia each mark your CV their own way. Pick your HST to score your CV against its official form and see what you can still add.

Psychiatry opens Fri 20 Nov 2026RCPI next window expected October 2027

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Free. Built from each college’s own scoring form.

Where Teach the Teacher counts in Ireland

We quote each college’s own words below. Where the panel decides, we say so; where the course scores nothing at shortlisting, we say that too.

College Teaching on the form Teach the Teacher Next window
RCPI HST
30 programmes		 A teaching row on most forms, usually 2 to 2.5 of 20; Occupational Medicine and Public Health 20 of 100, Dermatology 12 of 100. Interview teaching domains on several. Claimed
panel decides		 Expected October 2027
RCSI Surgical ST3 No teaching row; “Specialty & relevant clinical Courses (5 each, max 10)” on the Pathway route, 2 each on the ESR route Panel decides ESR closes 13 Nov 2026; Pathway paperwork January 2027
Psychiatry HST “Formal training in teaching/ medical education (e.g., relevant certificates or short courses with university or PGT body) /2” Panel decides Opens 20 Nov 2026, closes 8 Jan 2027
Emergency Medicine (ASTEM) Courses must be face to face; online courses without integrated assessment are excluded Scores 0 Provisional close 12 Nov 2026
Anaesthesia (CAI SAT) “No marks awarded for courses” Scores 0 Closes 9 Nov 2026

The course is £199 (about €240). You pay in pounds and your card converts it, so the euro figure is a guide.

£199 (about €240) includes

  • The live Teach the Teacher day
  • The self-paced course
  • Your certificate
  • An NMERC delegate ticket, worth £149 (free for Erudical alumni)
  • The Points Guarantee: you get the point, or every penny back

Live teaching days: 7 November, 15 November, 16 November, 28 November and 5 December. See the course.

RCPI Higher Specialist Training

RCPI publishes a structured application form for each programme, with a maximum for every row but no marks for what earns them. So each RCPI page has a self-estimate: you rate yourself on each row and it adds up your own estimate, with the official rows quoted beside it. Clinical Neurophysiology is the exception: its form prints points for every item, so its calculator gives a real score.

Medicine & GIM

Paediatrics, neonatology and O&G

Pathology

Occupational, public health and pharmaceutical medicine

RCSI Surgical ST3

Psychiatry, Emergency Medicine and Anaesthesia

No published scorecard yet

Radiology (Faculty of Radiologists), Intensive Care (JFICMI) and Ophthalmology (Irish College of Ophthalmologists) don’t publish a current scoring form, so there is no calculator for them. Check each body’s training pages for this year’s guidance.

The Irish HST year

When What
October RCPI HST applications (1 to 29 October in 2026). CAI SAT opens. ASTEM applications.
November CAI SAT closes (9 Nov 2026). RCSI ESR closes (13 Nov 2026). Psychiatry HST opens (20 Nov 2026).
December to January MRCPI Clinical passed by 31 December. Psychiatry closes (8 Jan 2027). RCSI academic paperwork closes in January.
February to March RCPI HST interviews (29 Jan to 1 Mar 2027). CAI interview online (4 Feb 2027). Psychiatry interviews in Dublin (11 Feb 2027). RCSI ST3 interviews from the week of 15 March 2027.

Irish HST questions, answered

How is HST scored in Ireland?

Each training body sets its own scheme. RCPI shortlists from a structured application form, scored out of 20 or 100 depending on the specialty, and then interviews. RCSI ST3 combines an academic score with five interview stations. Psychiatry, Emergency Medicine and the College of Anaesthesiologists each publish their own marking guides. Each college page above quotes the rows exactly.

Does a teaching course count for RCPI HST?

Most RCPI forms have a teaching row, usually 2 to 2.5 of 20 marks, and a teaching course is evidence for it; the panel decides how much it adds. Occupational Medicine, Public Health and Dermatology give teaching far more weight, and several RCPI interviews have a teaching domain too.

When do RCPI HST applications open?

In the 2026 cycle they ran from 1 to 29 October, with interviews from late January to early March. RCPI confirms each year’s dates on its HST entry page; anything you add to your CV has to be done before the window closes.

Do UK courses count for Irish HST?

The forms score what you have done, not where the course was run. The exceptions are Emergency Medicine, which needs face-to-face courses, and the College of Anaesthesiologists, which gives no marks for courses at all.

Can I claim the course back from the HSE?

The HSE Training Supports Scheme refunds accredited courses for NCHDs within an annual allowance. Our certificates are accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider 13684): 6 CPD hours for the live day and 12 for the self-paced course. The scheme decides what it refunds, so check with your scheme administrator before you book.