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Anaesthetics CT1 · General Interview

Anaesthetics CT1 General Interview station

Turn your training, exposure and team experiences into concise evidence while showing that you understand the work, the training route and the NHS context.

Last verified: 28 September 2026Parent guide: Anaesthetics CT1

The station and domains are official for 2027. The prompts below are original. They are not recalled questions and do not predict the live interview.

ContentsHow to approach it

How to approach it

What a strong answer needs to show

Know what the station scores

General Interview lasts 15 minutes. Two assessors independently score Communication, Commitment to Specialty and Teamwork with equal domain weighting, then each awards a global rating. The station is worth 50 raw interview marks.

  • Questions can cover training to date and informed motivation.
  • Working in and leading teams may both be explored.
  • Official guidance says wider NHS knowledge and its influence on anaesthesia may be covered.

Build commitment from observed work

A credible answer connects specific experiences to the actual demands of anaesthesia and acknowledges a trade-off. Avoid generic claims about procedures, physiology or lifestyle.

  • Describe the anaesthetist's decision, not only the case you watched.
  • Compare Core and ACCS accurately and explain your current preference without dismissing the other route.
  • Show that you understand novice supervision, FRCA examinations, on-call and perioperative work.

Use evidence, not adjectives

For experience questions, briefly set the context, name your responsibility, explain the key action and result, then finish with learning that matters to anaesthesia.

  • Make your personal contribution distinguishable from the team's work.
  • Include the communication choice, competing priority or uncertainty that made the example difficult.
  • Expect the panel to probe ownership, limitation and what you would change.

Communication is also how you answer

Clear signposting, direct answers and listening provide live evidence. A perfect framework delivered as a monologue can score less well than an adaptive, specific conversation.

  • Answer the first sentence of the question first.
  • Use plain language and define specialist terms only when necessary.
  • Stop when the answer is complete and allow follow-up.

Discuss teams as systems of expertise

Anaesthesia depends on operating department practitioners, nurses, surgeons, recovery, obstetrics, ICU, porters and many others. Good teamwork answers show how you used another professional's knowledge and handled disagreement or pressure.

  • Name roles and communication rather than saying 'the MDT'.
  • Distinguish leadership from seniority or a formal title.
  • Show how you escalated while preserving relationships and patient safety.

Make NHS context clinical

Choose a current issue such as workforce gaps, perioperative optimisation, training capacity, exam reform or simulation. Explain who is affected and a proportionate response.

  • Date statistics and name the primary source.
  • Connect policy to a theatre list, patient delay, safety or training opportunity.
  • Acknowledge trade-offs instead of offering a slogan as a solution.

Original practice questions

Questions worth practising aloud

These are original preparation prompts written around published domains and entry-level expectations. They are not recalled interview questions.

  1. Why Anaesthetics, and which experience most changed your understanding of the specialty?
  2. Would you currently prefer Core or ACCS Anaesthetics, and what is the main trade-off in that choice?
  3. Tell us about a time you adapted communication for an anxious patient or relative.
  4. Describe a team under pressure where your action improved coordination or safety.
  5. Tell us about a disagreement with a colleague. How did you keep the work and relationship safe?
  6. Which part of anaesthetic training do you expect to find hardest, and how would you seek support?
  7. What did you learn from a taster or theatre experience beyond the technical procedures you observed?
  8. Discuss one NHS issue affecting anaesthesia and a practical response at department level.
  9. Tell us about a QI, teaching or research activity. What was your exact contribution and its main limitation?
  10. Describe a time you led without formal authority.
  11. What would make you reconsider a career in Anaesthetics?
  12. How would you contribute to an anaesthetic department before you have specialist technical skills?

Common mistakes

Where otherwise good answers lose clarity

  • Saying you like physiology, procedures and teamwork without one specific experience.
  • Presenting anaesthesia as lifestyle work while ignoring nights, vigilance and exams.
  • Listing achievements instead of explaining decisions, contribution and learning.
  • Using 'we' throughout so the assessors cannot identify your role.
  • Calling any group of staff an MDT without explaining how they interacted.
  • Reciting a current-issues paragraph that has no patient or service consequence.
  • Forcing a memorised example onto a different question.

Preparation plan

How to practise this deliberately

  • Build a one-page example index mapped to communication, commitment and teamwork.
  • Prepare a two-minute motivation answer, then practise interruptions and deeper follow-up.
  • Compare Core and ACCS from official curricula and conversations with current trainees.
  • Read one current RCoA workforce issue and explain its effect at patient, team and system levels.
  • Record spoken answers and remove repeated scene-setting, adjectives and unowned team actions.
  • Use the career, training, on-call and current-issues spokes from the main hub.

Continue into practice

Practise the answer, not just the reading

Spoken Anaesthetics CT1 practice is launching soon. At launch, choose a Question bank prompt, work on your answer and use structured feedback to improve it. Explore the practice experience while you prepare with these free questions.

Explore Anaesthetics CT1 practice

Official source

Check the live recruitment guidance

Interview formats can change between cycles. This focused guide should be used alongside the official source below and the full Anaesthetics CT1 guide.

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