Portfolio & evidence
Useful things to do before you apply
These are development ideas, not a claim about points in a particular recruitment cycle. Check the current official person specification and scoring guidance before relying on any activity for an application.
Seek exposure across both obstetrics and gynaecology rather than assuming one setting represents the specialty.
Build examples around communication, consent, safety, escalation and multidisciplinary maternity care.
Choose QI or teaching linked to a real local pathway and document the effect of your intervention.
Do not build around a commercial portfolio points grid unless the national recruitment office publishes it for your round.
Royal College / Faculty watchlist
Current topics worth understanding
These are concise summaries of current professional-body material, not predicted interview questions. Use them to understand the specialty and then read the primary source.
National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation
The independent investigation published final reports on 30 June 2026 with recommendations on listening, response after harm, national standards, inequalities, governance, culture and infrastructure.
Why it matters for a candidate: Connect safe maternity care with reliable escalation, multidisciplinary challenge, candour, patient voice and sustained implementation rather than generic statements about culture.
Read the primary sourceMaternal mortality and unequal outcomes
MBRRACE-UK's 2022–24 data brief reports maternal mortality above the 2009–11 baseline and substantial differences associated with ethnicity and deprivation.
Why it matters for a candidate: Discuss listening, early recognition, interpreter use, continuity and pathway barriers as clinical safety work, while avoiding explanations that blame individual patients.
Read the primary sourceUseful stuff
Official tools you can actually use
Complete O&G ST1 hub
The comprehensive application, evidence, interview, career, training, examinations, current issues and resource guide, with current and legacy rules separated.
Read on The Interview Bank The Interview BankO&G evidence and examples guide
A practical map for QI, teaching, research, leadership and specialty commitment without inventing a portfolio self-assessment score.
Read on The Interview Bank The Interview BankClinical prioritisation guide
Focused preparation for simultaneous risk, delegation, escalation, oversight and reprioritisation using original O&G scenarios.
Read on The Interview Bank RCOGRCOG 2024 curriculum
The official capabilities, stages and training framework from early core practice through later special-interest and consultant preparation.
Open resourceInterview reflection
Turn exploration into a real “Why Obstetrics & Gynaecology?” answer
Which parts of the mix—continuity, acute work, procedures and complex personal context—actually draw you in?
Start with something you genuinely experienced. Explain what it taught you about the work, what appealed to you, what challenge you noticed and what you did next.