Official 2027–28 shortlisting rubric
How the five shortlisting areas are assessed
Two clinical assessors independently score the written form out of 30 each. They assess your descriptions, without supporting evidence uploads for the shortlisting answers. Eligibility and adjustment documents are separate requirements.
Transferable clinical capabilities · 0–8
Applicants can give up to five examples, with no more than two practical procedures. Higher descriptors require clear, distinctly different capabilities relevant to Paediatrics, each with reflection. Teamwork, handover, communication, leadership, organisation and MDT work are valid types of capability.
- Five genuinely different examples where the action and paediatric relevance are both explicit.
- A handover example that names the risk identified, the communication change and what happened next.
- Five procedures, several examples proving the same skill, or statements such as 'I can assess complex patients'.
- Replace duplicates with a different capability and add one sentence showing how the example prepares you for child and family care.
Personal achievements and reflection · 0–8
Applicants can give up to five achievements that are distinct from the clinical-capability examples. Medical, non-medical, individual, team, community and charity achievements can count; the important parts are specificity, relevance and reflection on development or impact.
- An achievement with a defined result, your contribution and a specific lesson relevant to working with children, families or teams.
- Prestige without personal action, a repeated QI example, or a generic claim that volunteering shows empathy.
- Select for breadth and explain what changed in you or for other people, not merely what certificate you received.
Quality improvement or audit · 0–5
Up to two projects can be entered, but only the best-scoring example counts. The scale progresses from participation to planning or coordination, local presentation, results or recommendations, and regional, national or international presentation with results or recommendations.
- A well-defined standard or problem, your planning and analysis, a presentation, a recommendation or implemented change and an honest account of results.
- Data collection alone, an unfinished project described as a completed cycle, or saying 'I led' without showing how.
- Finish a local presentation and document the result or recommendation before chasing a conference abstract.
Research and academic achievements · 0–3, plus 1
Up to two examples are allowed and the best counts. Detailed involvement scores before local or regional presentation or co-authorship, then national or international presentation or first or last authorship. A listed research qualification can add one point but does not automatically create a maximum score.
- A clear role in design, recruitment, data, analysis or writing, with the resulting presentation or publication accurately named.
- GCP alone, passive group membership, a submitted abstract presented as accepted, or authorship without being able to explain the work.
- Ask a local team or trainee research network for a defined contribution with a supervisor, deadline and realistic output.
Teaching · 0–5
Up to two examples are allowed and the best counts. The descriptors distinguish limited delivery from designing and delivering, leading, evaluating learner feedback and using feedback to improve later sessions.
- A teaching need you identified, material you designed, sessions you led, feedback you analysed and a concrete modification in the next delivery.
- Attendance on a teaching course, one opportunistic bedside explanation, or feedback collected but never used.
- Repeat a useful session after acting on feedback; a small completed programme is easier to evidence than a large plan.
Common verification failure: labels without mechanism
The glossary explains that writing 'I designed', 'I led' or 'I delivered' is insufficient without a succinct description of how. The form rewards demonstrable actions, relevance and reflection rather than assertion.
- 'I analysed 42 records, mapped delays and convened the ward team to test a new prompt.'
- 'I led a successful national-quality QI project.'
- Replace adjectives with a verb, object, number or decision that an assessor can understand and a supervisor could verify.
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