Ireland · RCPI HST Medical Oncology · 2027 intake criteria

RCPI HST Medical Oncology: points estimator and scoring guide

RCPI 2027 intake shortlisting and interview criteria (Entry Guidance page) Last checked

Rate yourself on each of the five rows RCPI scores to estimate your score out of 30, and see what you can still add before the next window.

Next applications expected October 2027

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RCPI Medical Oncology HST points estimator

Answer one question for each scored domain. We add up your points with the published rules shown on each step, then show what you could still add before the deadline, with dates. It takes about two minutes.

We'll show your result and email you a copy.

When are you applying?

We use this to date your plan. Applying this round, it works back from the deadline. Applying next year, you get the long-run version instead.

Your score is the total of the domain scores, out of a maximum of 30.

Maximum 7.5 pointsProfessional Qualifications/Education Achievements

Higher degrees relevant to the specialty, academic, teaching or other awards. Displays understanding of the specialty and role.

Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 7.5 points. Pick the highest option you can evidence.

Specialty-relevant higher degrees, academic, teaching or other awards, and an understanding of the specialty and the role.

Watch out. A teaching award scores here, not in the teaching row. So does showing you understand what a medical oncologist does.

Caps. Category maximum 7.5. RCPI publishes only the category, the description and the maximum; how marks are split inside it isn’t published.

Maximum 7.5 pointsClinical Practice

Candidate shows evidence or exposure to the specialty and that present achievement and performance is commensurate with the period of training. Evidence of attendance at medical oncology clinics. Candidates demonstrates their suitability for a career in Medical Oncology and outlines career plan

Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 7.5 points. Pick the highest option you can evidence.

Exposure to oncology, performance in line with your stage of training, evidence of attending medical oncology clinics, suitability and a career plan.

Watch out. Clinic attendance is named explicitly. Keep a signed record of oncology clinics you’ve attended, and write the career plan the row asks for.

Caps. Category maximum 7.5. RCPI publishes only the category, the description and the maximum; how marks are split inside it isn’t published.

Maximum 5 pointsPublication, presentations & research

Publications, specialty publications, presentations, posters, research projects at either national or international level

Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 5 points. Pick the highest option you can evidence.

Publications, presentations, posters and research projects at national or international level.

Watch out. The row ends “at either national or international level”, so local and hospital presentations may score nothing.

Caps. Category maximum 5. RCPI publishes only the category, the description and the maximum; how marks are split inside it isn’t published.

Maximum 5 pointsLeadership & Management Experience, Audit & QI

Candidate demonstrates that they have held a leadership or management role eg. Lead NCHD, hospital committee membership, organising membership examinations, audit or quality improvement programmes

Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 5 points. Pick the highest option you can evidence.

Leadership or management roles (Lead NCHD, committees, organising membership exams) and audit or QI programmes.

Watch out. Audit and QI score here with leadership, not with research.

Caps. Category maximum 5. RCPI publishes only the category, the description and the maximum; how marks are split inside it isn’t published.

Maximum 5 pointsTeaching Experience

Candidate demonstrates evidence of capabilities & experience with roles and ability to teach others, e.g. supervision of others, leading or participation in educational activities, development of educational resource

Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 5 points. Pick the highest option you can evidence.

Teaching roles and ability to teach others: supervising others, leading or taking part in educational activities, developing an educational resource.

Watch out. No teaching qualification is named in the examples, so experience of teaching and supervising carries the row.

Caps. Category maximum 5 of 30. No points per example are published.

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Where these numbers come from

  • 5 domains, worded as in the official guide
  • 2 official sources, each dated
Method and sources

Your score adds up the option you pick in each domain, using the published rules shown on each step. "Could still add" uses only steps the guide allows before the deadline. No competition figures are shown for Irish HST. Last checked 30 October 2026.

  1. RCPI HST Entry Guidance and Advice: Medical Oncology Shortlisting and Interview Criteria. 2027 HST intake. The page says “Applications for our 2027 Higher Specialist Training (HST) programmes are now closed.” The criteria are HTML tables in the “HST Shortlisting and Interview Criteria & Specialty Entry Requirements” section, not a PDF.
  2. RCPI HST Application Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions. 2027 intake (MRCPI Clinical by 31st December 2026; no documents accepted after the close)

RCPI scores Medical Oncology shortlisting out of 30. Teaching Experience is worth 5, the same as publications and research, and as leadership, management, audit and QI; qualifications and clinical practice are worth 7.5 each. RCPI publishes only the maximum for each row, so the panel decides each mark. The calculator at the top of this page is a self-estimate: you rate yourself against each row and it adds up your own estimate, not RCPI’s score. Applications for the 2027 intake closed at 5pm on 29 October 2026, and in-person interviews are on 1 March 2027.

Where Teach the Teacher counts for Medical Oncology

The teaching row asks for “Candidate demonstrates evidence of capabilities & experience with roles and ability to teach others, e.g. supervision of others, leading or participation in educational activities, development of educational resource”. We claim Teach the Teacher there as participation in an educational activity, and the panel decides. Unlike most RCPI forms, this row doesn’t mention a teaching qualification, so the course works as evidence that you are developing as a teacher rather than as a qualification. It is a live online day (09:00 to 17:00, “6 hours of live teaching with an expert”) and a self-paced course of over 12 hours in 20 modules, each with a certificate.

Pair the certificates with teaching and supervision you have delivered, and consider building an educational resource, which the row names. A teaching award, if you have one, goes under qualifications instead, where RCPI lists “academic, teaching or other awards”. At interview, teaching shares a 15-mark category with management and leadership. The 2027 window has closed, so anything new counts towards the next intake.

Rules on the Medical Oncology form that change a score

Three rules move scores here. Publications, presentations and research count only “at either national or international level”, so hospital presentations aren’t among the named examples. Clinical practice wants “Evidence of attendance at medical oncology clinics” and a career plan, so keep a signed clinic log and write the plan down. Audit and QI score under leadership and management (5), not research. And RCPI accepts nothing after the close: “No, the Admissions Team is not in a position to accept any documents or updates to applications following the close of applications.”

How the Medical Oncology interview is scored

The interview is out of 100, in person on 1 March 2027 for this intake:

  • CV (qualifications, undergraduate performance, teaching awards, higher degrees, career to date): 25
  • Clinical experience and knowledge of the specialty: 25
  • Research / Audit / QI: 15
  • Management (service development) / Leadership / Teaching: 15
  • Professionalism / Interview performance / Career progression plans: 20

Places are allocated “taking into account rank at interview and available places”.

RCPI Medical Oncology HST HST Shortlisting Criteria (RCPI Entry Guidance and Advice) points at a glance

RCPI 2027 intake shortlisting and interview criteria (Entry Guidance page) Last checked

Your score is the total of the domain scores, out of a maximum of 30.

The table header reads “30 Marks”: qualifications 7.5, clinical practice 7.5, publications, presentations and research 5, leadership, management, audit and QI 5, teaching 5. Only category maxima are published. Interview (separate, out of 100): CV 25; Clinical Experience / Exposure relevant to the speciality / Knowledge of specialty 25; Research / Audit / QI 15; Management (service development) / Leadership / Teaching 15; Professionalism / Interview performance / Career progression plans 20. “Posts are allocated by the NSD(s) taking into account rank at interview and available places.” Self-estimate (owner ruling 30 Oct 2026): RCPI publishes only the maximum for each row, so the calculator asks you to rate yourself on each row (none, some, good, strong) and adds up your own estimate. These steps are ours, not RCPI's; the panel scores the real marks.

RCPI Medical Oncology HST: every domain, what scores and the maximum
DomainWhat scores (official wording)Max
Professional Qualifications/Education Achievements
  • 0 points None yet
  • 2.5 points Some (about a third of the marks)
  • 5 points Good (about two thirds)
  • 7.5 points Strong (full marks for this row)

Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 7.5 points.

Category maximum 7.5. RCPI publishes only the category, the description and the maximum; how marks are split inside it isn’t published.

7.5
Clinical Practice
  • 0 points None yet
  • 2.5 points Some (about a third of the marks)
  • 5 points Good (about two thirds)
  • 7.5 points Strong (full marks for this row)

Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 7.5 points.

Category maximum 7.5. RCPI publishes only the category, the description and the maximum; how marks are split inside it isn’t published.

7.5
Publication, presentations & research
  • 0 points None yet
  • 1.5 points Some (about a third of the marks)
  • 3.5 points Good (about two thirds)
  • 5 points Strong (full marks for this row)

Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 5 points.

Category maximum 5. RCPI publishes only the category, the description and the maximum; how marks are split inside it isn’t published.

5
Leadership & Management Experience, Audit & QI
  • 0 points None yet
  • 1.5 points Some (about a third of the marks)
  • 3.5 points Good (about two thirds)
  • 5 points Strong (full marks for this row)

Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 5 points.

Category maximum 5. RCPI publishes only the category, the description and the maximum; how marks are split inside it isn’t published.

5
Teaching Experience
  • 0 points None yet
  • 1.5 points Some (about a third of the marks)
  • 3.5 points Good (about two thirds)
  • 5 points Strong (full marks for this row)

Scores the single best option you can evidence, up to 5 points.

Category maximum 5 of 30. No points per example are published.

5
Total30

Dates for this round

  • Applications opened source
  • This round closed 29 Oct 2026 (2027 intake); nothing can be added to those applications source 1 source 2
  • MRCPI Clinical (relevant to the specialty) passed by source
  • Interview (in person) source
  • Next applications open (2028 intake), expected early October 2027 expected source
  • Next applications close (2028 intake), expected late October 2027: what you claim must be done by then expected source

What you can still add before 29 October 2027

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.

  • Teaching Experience. For the next intake (window expected October 2027): complete the Erudical Teach the Teacher course (live day plus self-paced) and keep both certificates, and keep a dated log of teaching you deliver, with feedback where you can get it. Gets you to: Some (about a third of the marks).

Evidence traps

  • Presentations and research only count “at either national or international level”. Publications, specialty publications, presentations, posters, research projects at either national or international level source
  • Clinical practice asks for evidence of attending medical oncology clinics and a career plan. Both are easy to forget. Evidence of attendance at medical oncology clinics. Candidates demonstrates their suitability for a career in Medical Oncology and outlines career plan source
  • Teaching awards score under qualifications, and audit and QI under leadership. Put each piece of evidence in the row that names it. Higher degrees relevant to the specialty, academic, teaching or other awards. source
  • Everything has to be uploaded with the application. A paper accepted, a talk given or a course finished after the window closes can’t be added later. No, the Admissions Team is not in a position to accept any documents or updates to applications following the close of applications. source
  • The shortlisting score gets you an interview. Places are then given out on interview rank, so prepare for the interview criteria as seriously as the CV. Posts are allocated by the NSD(s) taking into account rank at interview and available places. source

Sources

For every category, the interview marks and the dates on one printable page, add your email and we’ll send you the PDF.

Email me the printable version

We'll email you the PDF in the next few minutes, plus a few RCPI Medical Oncology HST emails until applications close. Unsubscribe any time.

Medical Oncology HST questions, answered

How many points is teaching worth for RCPI HST Medical Oncology?

Teaching Experience is 5 of the 30 shortlisting marks. At interview, teaching shares “Management (service development) / Leadership / Teaching”, worth 15 of 100.

Does a teach the teacher course count for Medical Oncology HST in Ireland?

We claim it, and the panel decides. The teaching row’s examples are “supervision of others, leading or participation in educational activities, development of educational resource”. A course is participation in an educational activity. No teaching qualification is named, so pair it with teaching you have done.

How is RCPI Medical Oncology HST shortlisting scored?

Out of 30: qualifications 7.5, clinical practice 7.5, publications, presentations and research 5, leadership, management, audit and QI 5, and teaching 5. Only these maxima are published; a panel scores each category.

Do local presentations count for Medical Oncology HST?

The row covers “presentations, posters, research projects at either national or international level”, so local or hospital talks aren’t named. Keep the abstract book or programme for each national or international one.

When is the RCPI HST Medical Oncology interview?

For the 2027 intake, in person on 1 March 2027, the last RCPI HST interview of the round. Applications closed at 5pm on 29 October 2026.

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