Nuclear Medicine ST3 · 2027 criteria
Nuclear Medicine ST3 portfolio review 2027: points calculator and scoring guide
Pick the option that fits your evidence at each step to see your score out of 24, and what you can still add before the deadline.
Applications close 4pm, Thu 19 Nov 2026
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Nuclear Medicine ST3 points calculator
In the Nuclear Medicine ST3 portfolio review you place yourself in a category from A to E in each of five domains, and each category converts to a score (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, E=0); the Commitment to Specialty score is then doubled. No total is published, so 24 is our arithmetic. Shortlisting runs on the MSRA, the portfolio then makes up 40% of your final ranking score against 60% for the interview stations, and “the portfolio review scores will not be counted when determining appointability.” The application window opens at 10am on Thursday 22 October and shuts at 4pm on Thursday 19 November 2026. Your Oriel categories lock the moment you submit, so whatever you claim must be finished and certified by then.
Nuclear Medicine ST3 portfolio review points at a glance
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.
"The portfolio review is 40% of your final score and Interview stations are 60%." "40% of total score will be Portfolio score / 60% of total score will be Interview" (ranking). Appointability: "the portfolio review scores will not be counted when determining appointability." Shortlisting is by MSRA: "The result from this will form your shortlisting score." Max 24 is derived (5 domains x 4, domain 1 doubled); the guidance states no total.
| Domain | What scores (official wording) | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Commitment to Specialtycounts double |
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."); 8/6/4/2/0 is derived arithmetic. "A significant exposure means a period of at least 3 whole day equivalent time attached to a clinical radiology/nuclear medicine department." "2 taster weeks in different settings would qualify for the highest descriptor and score A, but 2 taster weeks offering the same experience would not and would score B." | 8 |
| Leadership and Management |
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. "Roles outside healthcare include voluntary activity, arts, and other sciences, but not paid employment." | 4 |
| Teaching and Training |
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." Carry-over sentence on the 8 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 is C). Nuclear Medicine only: "(evidence of teaching in a paid for course is not deemed appropriate evidence)". | 4 |
| Audit and Quality Improvement |
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 2 separate audits". "Relating to radiology/nuclear medicine means that diagnostic imaging formed a major part of the project." | 4 |
| Academic Achievements |
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". "This does not preclude papers in other fields such as surgery, oncology and so forth if they have a significant imaging focus. Publications and presentations can relate to audit/QI activity." "(Points scored in this section are only for postgraduate achievements)." "If an achievement legitimately fits under multiple domains, it is valid to claim in both categories (for example, academic work which was presented orally then subsequently published)." | 4 |
| Total | Not published as a single figure: this is the sum of the domain maxima. | 24 |
Dates for this round
- Applications open source
- Applications close (categories locked on submission) source
- MSRA window opens source
- MSRA window closes source
- Portfolio evidence upload opens expected source
- Portfolio evidence upload closes expected source
- MSRA results to applicants source
- Interviews source
- Initial offers source
- Hold deadline source
- Upgrade deadline source
- 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. Attend a radiology or nuclear medicine course or conference of at least one day (C, 4) or complete a 3-whole-day taster in a nuclear medicine or radiology department (B, 6), with the certificate or letter dated before you submit. Gets you to: Attended a radiology/NM course or conference of 1+ day; One significant radiology/NM exposure (3+ whole days). Start by 19 November 2026. Applications close 4pm Thursday 19 November 2026. "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."
- Teaching and Training. Complete teaching-methods study totalling at least 2 days, with the certificate dated before you submit. Erudical: the live day plus the self-paced course, merged into one PDF with a title that matches what you type on Oriel. Gets you to: Training in teaching methods, at least 2 days. Applications close at 4pm on 19 Nov 2026 and only awarded qualifications 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 a first-author oral or poster before you submit. Imaging-related at a national meeting is B (3); any other topic is D (1). NMERC 2026 (online on 14 Nov; submit at nmerc.org/submit) falls before the 19 Nov close. Gets you to: Any non-imaging presentation, or a research taster. "Do not include a presentation if you have not yet presented it", so submit on Oriel after presenting on 14 Nov and before 4pm on 19 Nov.
Evidence traps
- The category and evidence title you enter on Oriel are final. If the evidence you upload later differs, that domain scores 0.
You are unable to amend this section after you have submitted your application. If the evidence changes then you will be awarded a 0 for that domain.
source - Five PDFs, one per domain. Two-part evidence, such as two course certificates, must be merged into one continuous file.
Evidence for each domain must be uploaded as a single, continuous document so you will have 5 PDFs in total to upload (1 for each domain).
source - Choosing E in every domain stops you being invited to the MSRA.
If you select category E for all five domains, you will not be invited to sit the MSRA.
source - Teaching you deliver on a paid-for course is not accepted as Teaching and Training evidence in this specialty.
Appropriate evidence would include (evidence of teaching in a paid for course is not deemed appropriate evidence):
source - Vague evidence titles such as 'domain 1' score 0.
Please note having vague titles for example, domain 1 or audit 1 will invalidate your evidence and you will get a 0.
source
Sources
- 2027 Nuclear Medicine ST3 Portfolio review guidance, Heading '2027 Nuclear Medicine ST3 Portfolio review guidance'; page last reviewed 8 October 2026; next review due 8 October 2028
- Nuclear Medicine ST3 recruitment timelines, Round 1; page last reviewed 8 October 2026
- Nuclear Medicine appointability, preferencing and offers, Page last reviewed 8 October 2026
- Nuclear Medicine interviews, Page last reviewed 8 October 2026
- Nuclear Medicine applying, Page last reviewed 8 October 2026; 'Summary of changes for 2027 recruitment'
- Overview of Nuclear Medicine, Page last reviewed 8 October 2026
- Nuclear Medicine ST3 2027 person specification, Person specification and entry criteria for Nuclear Medicine ST3 2027 recruitment
- NHS England medical training prioritisation management information (Round 1 2026), 'R1 2026 Status Data (2)': Nuclear Medicine ST3 applied 30, appointable 11, accepted 6 (as at 27 May 2026); from screen/competition-ratios.json, not re-opened on 12 Oct
What’s still within reach before the 19 November close
Three of the five domains can still change. Commitment to Specialty is the one to look at first, because its score is doubled: attending a radiology or nuclear medicine course or conference of at least one day reaches C, worth 4 after doubling, and a placement in a nuclear medicine or radiology department lasting 3 whole days or more reaches B, worth 6. From an empty domain those are gains of 4 and 6, with the certificate or supervisor’s letter dated before you submit. Teaching and Training rises to C (2) with teaching-methods study totalling at least 2 days, a gain of 2 from E or 1 if regional teaching already puts you at D. Academic Achievements can take a first-author oral or poster delivered before you submit: an imaging-related presentation at a national meeting is B (3), and one on any other subject only reaches D (1). The other two domains are hard to move in time, since a leadership role has to have lasted at least six months and an audit claim rests on a signed consultant letter confirming a project that has already produced its result.
Nuclear Medicine portfolio traps
Several traps are specific to this specialty’s 2027 guidance. For each domain you enter a category, an evidence title and a date on Oriel, and those are final: “You are unable to amend this section after you have submitted your application. If the evidence changes then you will be awarded a 0 for that domain.” Evidence goes up later as five PDFs, one per domain, so two certificates for the same domain must be merged into one continuous file, and a vague title such as “domain 1” or “audit 1” invalidates it. Selecting E in every domain means no MSRA invitation. Domain 3 adds a line that Clinical Radiology doesn’t have, “(evidence of teaching in a paid for course is not deemed appropriate evidence)”. Domain 4 treats a project as imaging work only where “diagnostic imaging formed a major part of the project”, and an audit with its re-audit is counted as two separate audits. Domain 1 still rewards simply attending a radiology or nuclear medicine course of at least a day, which Clinical Radiology ST1 dropped for 2027, so don’t borrow a radiology applicant’s reading of either domain. Two loose ends on the official pages don’t change the scoring: the overview page still describes “the 2026 Nuclear Medicine recruitment process”, and a footnote defines consortium papers as those with more than 12 authors even though no Domain 5 descriptor uses the term, so the assessor decides how such a paper is treated.
Worked example: an IMT3 doctor at 14 out of 24
Consider an IMT3 doctor who spent a week’s taster in a nuclear medicine department, has been a Foundation programme representative for eight months, gives regional teaching sessions to foundation doctors, led a non-imaging audit with a re-audit that changed practice, and is first author of a journal article outside imaging. Their categories are:
- Commitment to Specialty, doubled: category B for the single significant exposure, so 6.
- Leadership and Management: category C, since the Foundation rep role is local and relevant to healthcare, so 2.
- Teaching and Training: category D for regional teaching, so 1.
- Audit and Quality Improvement: category C for leading a non-imaging audit that changed practice, so 2.
- Academic Achievements: category B for a first-author peer-reviewed paper outside radiology and nuclear medicine, so 3.
That’s 14 of a possible 24. The realistic addition is the teaching-methods course. Finishing the Erudical live day plus the self-paced modules, then uploading one combined certificate before submitting, takes Teaching from D to C. That gains 1, since D was already worth 1. NMERC adds nothing for this doctor: a first-author imaging presentation at a national meeting is B, which their publication already gives them in Domain 5, and a presentation on another subject is only D. The total becomes 15. A doctor without the taster week would gain far more from Domain 1, where three whole days in a department is worth 6 after doubling.
Check your own Nuclear Medicine categories
Choose a category for each of the five domains and the calculator applies the Domain 1 doubling, gives your total out of 24 and works out the gain from each addition that’s still possible. We’ll show your result and email you a copy.
Go to the Nuclear Medicine ST3 calculator at the top of this page
The descriptors and dates also come as a printable PDF, sent to whatever email address you enter here.
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Does a teach the teacher course count for Nuclear Medicine ST3?
Yes, as Category C in Domain 3, worth 2 points, when the Erudical live day is taken together with the self-paced course. The descriptor is “Evidence of other training in teaching methods after study of at least 2 days (such as Train the Trainers)”. The live day (09:00 to 17:00, “6 hours of live teaching with an expert”) is a single day, so neither part on its own is claimed at C. With the self-paced course added (“Over 12 hours of content included”, in 20 modules), we claim C, evidenced by the combined certificate, which you ask us for once both parts are done. No hours-to-days conversion is published, so it is for the assessor to judge whether the certificate demonstrates the 2 days. Certification has to come before submission, in line with “Do not include qualifications if you have not yet been awarded an outcome”, and the Domain 3 upload must be a single continuous PDF named to match the evidence title entered on Oriel. Erudical’s live days before the close are 24 October, 31 October, 7 November and 15 November. Pick one that leaves room to complete the self-paced part and get the certificate before you submit. The course adds 0 if you already hold that tier or higher, for instance category A (a formal postgraduate teaching qualification) or B (a major contribution to a national or international teaching programme). From D it gains 1, and from E it gains 2. The Domain 3 evidence list says “(evidence of teaching in a paid for course is not deemed appropriate evidence)”. Read literally, that targets teaching you deliver on a paid course, though an assessor could read it against a paid course you attended, and the panel decides. It also means teaching on a paid course, ours included, isn’t accepted here. Among its desirable criteria, the 2027 person specification includes “Evidence of participation in a teaching course.” For a side-by-side view, see how teaching courses score across specialties.
An NMERC abstract before applications close
On Saturday 14 November 2026, five days ahead of the Nuclear Medicine close, NMERC runs online. Abstracts can be submitted at nmerc.org/submit, there’s no charge to present, and it is open to every doctor and medical student, with no limit on where they are based. The gain depends on the subject. Domain 5 B, worth 3, includes “At least 1 oral or poster presentation relating to radiology/nuclear medicine at a national or international level, as first author”, and the guidance says the project “should involve diagnostic imaging”, which “does not preclude papers in other fields such as surgery, oncology and so forth if they have a significant imaging focus.” A poster scores the same as an oral here. On any other subject the presentation falls to D (1), no gain for anyone already at D or higher. “National” is defined by geography, as “activity within the England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or the UK as a whole”. Presentations must be “proffered papers which have been through a process of peer-review”, and every NMERC abstract is reviewed before it is accepted; the panel decides whether that meets the rule. Sequence is the thing to get right: “Do not include a presentation if you have not yet presented it”. With an accepted abstract, give the presentation first and press submit only after that, still ahead of the 4pm deadline on the 19th. Hold on to the acceptance letter or programme showing the presenter or first author, the convening institution and the date. Every presenting author appears by name in the NMERC programme, while the evidence letter and the abstract book give all co-authors and where each sits in the author order. An abstract may not be accepted, so don’t let a Domain 1 or Domain 3 addition wait on it.
Nuclear Medicine ST3 portfolio FAQs
How is the Nuclear Medicine ST3 portfolio scored?
Each of the five domains is graded A to E and converted to 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0, and Commitment to Specialty is doubled, which gives a top score of 24 by our arithmetic. The MSRA decides who is shortlisted. At ranking, “The portfolio review is 40% of your final score and Interview stations are 60%.” How the domain total is scaled into that 40% isn’t published.
Do presentations count for Nuclear Medicine ST3?
Yes, in Domain 5, Academic Achievements. A first-author oral or poster with an imaging focus is B (3) at a national or international meeting and C (2) at local or regional level, where local means “at the level of a hospital single Trust or University.” Any other subject scores D (1) at every level. It must be a peer-reviewed proffered paper, already delivered when you submit, and points in this domain count only for postgraduate achievements.
When is the Nuclear Medicine ST3 portfolio checked?
You choose categories and evidence titles in the application, between 22 October and 4pm on 19 November 2026. The Qpercom upload is scheduled for February 2027, exact dates “To be confirmed”. One assessor reviews your five PDFs for up to 10 minutes before Station A of the interview on Friday 12 March 2027, and the first questions in that station are about your portfolio.
What happens with the MSRA and appointability?
The MSRA window runs from 5 to 20 January 2027, results reach applicants no later than Wednesday 17 February, and the recruitment pages give the MSRA cut-off as “this is 201 on each of the 2 components”. To be appointable after interview you need a “Minimum of 48 (out of 80) overall” and “At least 22/40 on each of the 2 stations”, and your portfolio categories play no part in that decision. In the 2026 first round, 30 people applied for Nuclear Medicine ST3, 11 were appointable and 6 accepted posts (figures as at 27 May 2026).
