Application timeline
What to do now: a practical Radiology application timeline
The published 2027 dates are applications 22 October–19 November 2026, MSRA 5–20 January and interviews 11–17 March 2027. Portfolio upload dates remain to be confirmed, so check Oriel before planning submissions. The key distinction is between things that need months to mature and things you can improve quickly.
12 months or more before applying
Build durable evidence
This is the time for slow-burn evidence: a genuine leadership role, a longitudinal teaching programme, Radiology exposure, and an audit/QI project designed to reach a measurable second cycle or quality improvement. Explore the specialty properly before optimising the CV.
6–12 months before applying
Close the big gaps
Check every portfolio domain against the published descriptors. If leadership or teaching is weak, start something that can still mature. If QI is weak, choose a tightly scoped AuditLive project that can realistically be completed. Arrange a taster if you do not yet have qualifying exposure.
3–6 months before applying
Finish, evidence, organise
Shift from starting projects to finishing them. Close the QI loop, collect teaching feedback, secure letters and submit realistic academic outputs. Begin organising examples for interview and build a structured MSRA plan for the required January 2027 sitting.
Final 6–8 weeks before application
Evidence-pack phase
Do not manufacture new commitments that cannot mature. Audit the evidence pack: dates, signatures, role duration, authorship, outcomes and category match. Ask supervisors for letters while they still remember the work. Resolve ambiguous evidence before submission.
After application submission
Selection phase
The emphasis changes. Protect MSRA preparation, know every portfolio claim well enough to defend it, and practise your answers aloud against the published 2027 person specification. Do not keep doing projects merely because they would have scored if completed earlier.
Avoid low-value work
What not to waste time or money on for Radiology applications
A useful portfolio is not the same thing as a large portfolio. Do the activities that develop you and meet the published criteria; avoid expensive or time-consuming activity that produces little evidence.
Do not buy certificates just to look committed
Courses are education, not a shortcut
A paid course may be educational, but attendance alone does not substitute for significant departmental exposure. Under the 2027 commitment domain, presenting at a Radiology course/conference scores above simply attending one.
Do not repeat essentially the same taster
Diversify rather than duplicate
Two exposures only satisfy the top 2027 commitment category if they are meaningfully different. If you have a general taster, a second identical experience is less useful than QI, teaching, research or a different tertiary/IR exposure.
Do not start an audit without a plan to change something
Close the loop
A first cycle that ends with 'we presented the results' is a common dead end. Define the intervention and re-measurement before you begin. Use AuditLive to choose a manageable standard and build the project around completion.
Do not start research that cannot finish
Completion beats ambition on paper
For portfolio purposes, submitted-but-unaccepted work may count for nothing under a completed-achievement rule. A feasible case report, presentation or existing-project contribution may be more rational than launching a large study months before the deadline.
Do not collect society memberships
Use networks, do not hoard them
Membership alone is not leadership, research or commitment evidence. Join organisations because you will use their teaching, events, projects or networks. A genuine contribution is far more useful than a long list of logos.
Do not study the FRCR instead of preparing for selection
Prepare for the stage you are actually at
Applicants are not expected to have passed Radiology postgraduate exams before ST1. Understanding the FRCR pathway is useful; sacrificing MSRA, portfolio completion or interview practice to learn detailed FRCR content is usually poor sequencing.
Starting from scratch
How to get involved in Radiology before ST1
If your current CV contains little Radiology, you do not need a dramatic research fellowship. Start by entering the department, understanding the service and completing one or two things properly.
Get departmental exposure
First step
Arrange a taster, attend an MDT with permission, or spend time with a radiologist on a project. Use the experience to understand reporting, vetting, procedures, communication and training rather than simply obtaining a certificate.
Do a focused Radiology QI project
High-value practical route
AuditLive gives you established project ideas and standards. Ask a consultant or registrar which problems are locally relevant and choose one small enough to complete. A finished project with changed practice is better than a sprawling unfinished idea.
Teach imaging you genuinely understand
Teaching
Foundation-level anatomy, chest radiographs, safe imaging requests or basic emergency imaging can support a longitudinal teaching programme without pretending to teach specialist Radiology. Build feedback and improve the programme over time.
Find research and multicentre projects
Research
Ask local academic radiologists and follow RADIANT, the Radiology Academic Network for Trainees. RADIANT is designed to increase trainee involvement in research training, meetings and publications and has regional leads across the UK.
Use SRT and specialty societies for opportunities
Networks
Follow SRT and any subspecialty group that genuinely interests you. Look for applicant events, teaching, poster calls, prizes, junior committees and project opportunities rather than joining passively.
Explore IR separately if it interests you
Interventional Radiology
A diagnostic taster may contain little IR. BSIR Trainees and local IR departments can show you the procedural side of the specialty and help you understand whether the longer IR training pathway appeals to you.
From understanding to practice
Put this topic into an interview answer
Use Understanding Radiology for original prompts and an answer structure relevant to this topic.
Explore Radiology ST1 practiceExplore the Question bank and spoken practice coming at launch.Spoken practice is launching soon. Use the free questions and guides to start preparing now.
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