How many candidates are shortlisted for NHS interviews?

Did you know that many NHS jobs now receive more than 100 applications? With the odds of making it through to interview now arguably tougher than ever, it can be difficult to know how to set expectations in terms of what proportion of candidates should make it to interview, and how good your chances are if you are shortlisted.

How does NHS shortlisting work?

Shortlisting is almost always completed by a panel of two people. Usually this will be the recruiting manager and one of their colleagues (e.g. someone else from the same team). Occasionally, it will be an HR representative, although our experience is that this is quite rare except for entry-level, non-specialist roles.

The shortlisting panel will review the applications separately, with each panel member scoring each application. Once both panel members have completed their scoring, the applicant tracking system will allow them to see their combined scores. The shortlisting panel will then use these scores to help decide how many people to take through to the interview process.
How does shortlisting scoring work?

Shortlisting varies slightly between organisations; as with many elements of recruitment such as advertising or probation periods, there is no set protocol within the NHS Agenda for Change contract and no national policy. Normally, the shortlisting panel will be scoring applications against a selection of elements of the person specification. Scoring for each element is often on a short scale, such as between 0 (no evidence of meeting the criteria) and 3 (exceptional).

How many candidates are taken to interview?

There are no NHS-wide rules on how many candidates should be interviewed as part of the hiring process. Usually, hiring managers will choose between 3-8 candidates they think have a realistic chance of being appointed based on their job application.

Sometimes, this number may be less. In rare cases, hiring managers may only take one candidate to interview, if they feel they are the only potentially appointable candidate.

Some organisations have policies that applicants with a disability who meet the “minimum criteria” for the role should always be invited to interview. The application of this policy is very inconsistent. However, if you do consider yourself to have a disability, it is worth indicating this in your application – you won’t be scored down because of any disability and you might have a slightly better chance of being shortlisted.