Core Training
CST Interview Question Bank & Course
Prepare for the 2027 CST interview with worked clinical and management scenarios, model answers, live mocks and national study groups. Plan your evidence around the new three-domain portfolio and 19 February deadline.
Read moreIncluded with enrolment
More than a question bank
Everything your enrolment includes.
Premium learning tools
Ask the tutor
Ask about any lesson and get a clear explanation with a short clinical example.
Live mock interviews
Get matched with another candidate and practise stations on a video call.
National study groups
Join candidates across the country to share tips and plan practice sessions.
Personal lesson notes
Write notes on each lesson and find them all again in your dashboard.
Course benefits
Practice fully worked through interview scenarios
Detailed model responses
Updated with current guidelines
Practical advice from personal experience
How your practice works
Step 1
Learn the stations
Work through worked scenarios with model answers and previous interviewer tips.
Step 2
Practise live
Join a national mock night or get matched on demand, with a built-in station timer.
Step 3
Get scored
Your partner marks you on a five-area examiner sheet so you know exactly what to fix.
About this course
CST interview preparation · 2027 recruitment
CST 2027: build your answers, evidence and interview confidence
Move beyond memorising answers. Learn the reasoning, practise speaking under pressure and explain the impact of your work.
This Core Surgical Training (CST) interview course and question bank combines worked clinical and management scenarios with model answers, a station timer, AI tutor and live mock practice with other candidates. For 2027, organise your portfolio across three GMC domains and practise showing your personal contribution and impact, not just listing achievements.
fully worked clinical and management scenarios, specific to CST
- Model answers plus the follow-up questions panels ask
- In-depth knowledge summaries that go beyond the answer
- Practical tips for delivering under time pressure
The 2027 interview
Two stations. Evidence and delivery both matter.
CST interviews run online on Qpercom from 1 to 10 March 2027. You rotate between two 15-minute stations in either order.
Management and clinical station
One management scenario and two clinical scenarios, each with 5 minutes to answer. Practise safe prioritisation, judgement under pressure, clinical reasoning, probity and clear communication.
Portfolio station
A pre-prepared 3-minute presentation, 2 minutes of questions on it, then two 5-minute portfolio questions. The portfolio guidance specifies Communication and Safety & Culture. Assessors have a separate 15-minute window to review your uploaded evidence before you join; evidence assessment and your interview answers both contribute to the final portfolio score.
The calculator's A–E profile is an unofficial planning aid, not an official score or a prediction of shortlisting. Use the official 2027 interview guidance for the assessment process.
2027 recruitment
Your CST 2027 preparation timeline
Apply through Oriel, prepare for the MSRA and finish your portfolio achievements before the evidence window opens. All application times below are UK time.
22 October–19 November 2026
Applications open at 10am on Thursday 22 October and close at 4pm on Thursday 19 November 2026.
5–18 January 2027
The published MSRA window runs from Tuesday 5 January to Monday 18 January. MSRA invitation timing remains to be confirmed.
19–24 February 2027
Complete all claimed achievements by Friday 19 February. The evidence portal opens on 19 February and closes on Wednesday 24 February.
1–10 March 2027
Interview invitations are scheduled for 16 February, subject to change. Interviews run online from Monday 1 March to Wednesday 10 March.
Check the official CST recruitment timeline and your Oriel messages for changes and individual booking deadlines. Dates checked on 23 October 2026.
New portfolio format
Three domains. Show contribution and impact.
The 2027 portfolio aligns with three GMC Good Medical Practice domains. Quality, personal contribution and meaningful impact matter more than simply collecting activities.
Knowledge, Skills and Development
Operative experience and surgical experience. Prepare your consultant-signed consolidated logbook and evidence of a completed surgical taster of at least 5 days or a medical-student surgical elective of at least 4 weeks.
Patients, Partnership and Communication
Choose your highest-scoring eligible communication achievement: presentations, publications or teaching, now also including podcasts, webinars and patient information leaflets. Explain what you did and the impact, with the required supporting evidence.
Colleagues, Culture and Safety
Quality improvement or audit, with separate indicators for presenting the project. Show your role, the change achieved and what you learned. Do not also claim the same QI/audit achievement under Communication.
Evidence checks that matter
The index sheet is mandatory: without it, portfolio evidence scores 0. Use each achievement in only one domain. Upload your highest-scoring eligible achievement with all mandatory documents combined into a single PDF for the relevant section; only the first achievement is assessed. Include supervisor GMC numbers where required. A taster that is only booked does not count.
Trust and Professionalism continues to be assessed through the interview. The official portfolio guidance and scoring tables determine eligibility and evidence requirements.
Check your 2027 portfolioUse the free calculator to identify evidence gaps before 19 February, then practise discussing Communication and Safety & Culture with a mock partner. Its grade profile is unofficial and does not replace assessor scoring.
The question bank
CST interview question bank: 47+ fully worked scenarios
Written by high-scoring surgical trainees, each scenario mirrors the structure and difficulty of real CST questions, so you learn the content and practise the delivery together.
Exam-style questions
Clinical and management scenarios specific to Core Surgical Training, set at the level panels expect.
In-depth knowledge summaries
Understand the principles behind excellent answers, so you can adapt when the question changes.
Ready for the next question
The follow-up questions panels ask, with practical tips on how to handle them.
Consultant-level insights
Clear breakdowns of best practice for professionalism, probity, prioritisation and patient safety.
Practise with people, not just a question bank
CST mock interviews, national study groups and Ask the tutor
Practise out loud under real timing
Get matched with another CST candidate and run scenarios over video, taking turns as candidate and interviewer. Practise to 5-minute answers, and rehearse your 3-minute portfolio presentation in front of someone who'll ask the follow-up questions.
Revise alongside CST applicants across the UK
Join a study group of CST candidates. Compare how you'd answer a scenario, give feedback on each other's presentations, and organise mocks with people at the same stage as you.
Stuck on a scenario? Ask a tutor
Send a question to a PrepSurg tutor directly from the scenario you're working on. Whether it's a guideline you're unsure of or how to structure a management answer, you'll get a clear reply.
Add your own notes to every scenario too, and build a revision sheet for the night before.
Try a sample
Sample CST clinical scenario
You have 5 minutes for each question in the real interview. Answer this one out loud before opening the panels.
You're the on-call surgical doctor. A 68-year-old man is 3 days after a right hemicolectomy. The nurse calls because he is confused, with a heart rate of 125, blood pressure 88/50, respiratory rate 26 and temperature 38.6°C. His NEWS2 is 9.
What are your immediate priorities?
Key points
- See the patient immediately; this is an emergency
- ABCDE assessment and resuscitation; call for senior help early
- Suspected sepsis with NEWS2 of 7 or more: blood cultures, then broad-spectrum IV antibiotics within 1 hour (NICE NG51, updated 2024)
- Fluids, lactate, urine output monitoring
- Consider the source: anastomotic leak is a key concern after bowel surgery
- Escalate to the registrar or consultant and, if needed, critical care
Model answer
This patient is very unwell and I'd treat it as an emergency. I'd go straight to him and assess him with an ABCDE approach, starting resuscitation as I go and calling for senior help early.
With suspected sepsis and a NEWS2 of 9, NICE guidance is to give broad-spectrum IV antibiotics within an hour, after taking blood cultures. I'd give fluids, check a lactate and monitor his urine output.
Three days after a bowel resection, I'd be particularly worried about an anastomotic leak, so I'd escalate to my registrar and consultant straight away, and involve critical care if he doesn't respond to initial treatment.
Follow-up question
His NEWS2 had been 5 an hour earlier. Would antibiotic timing have been different?
Under NICE's 2024 sepsis guidance, a NEWS2 of 5 or 6 with suspected sepsis allows up to 3 hours for antibiotics, giving time to clarify the diagnosis, with senior review. But he'd still need prompt reassessment.
How to prepare
How to prepare for the CST interview
Learn the scenarios
Work through the clinical and management bank. Cover the key points, then read the model answer and knowledge summary.
Build your portfolio story
Check the three-domain criteria, complete achievements by 19 February and include the mandatory index sheet. Rehearse your 3-minute presentation and explain contribution, impact and learning in Communication and Safety & Culture.
Practise out loud
Run live mocks with 5-minute answers, swapping between candidate and interviewer, and take hard questions to your study group or a tutor.
Sharpen before the day
Use your notes and mock feedback to build a revision sheet, then finish on the follow-up questions.
CST 2027 interview FAQs
When do CST 2027 applications open and close?
Applications open on Oriel at 10am on 22 October 2026 and close at 4pm on 19 November 2026, UK time. The MSRA window is 5–18 January 2027; interviews run 1–10 March 2027.
What has changed in the 2027 portfolio?
The portfolio follows Knowledge, Skills and Development; Patients, Partnership and Communication; and Colleagues, Culture and Safety. Teaching now sits within Communication, alongside presentations, publications, podcasts, webinars and patient leaflets. QI/audit sits within Safety & Culture, with separate presentation indicators. Evidence should demonstrate personal contribution and impact.
When must my portfolio achievements be completed?
All claimed achievements must be completed by 19 February 2027. Evidence upload runs 19–24 February. Include the mandatory index sheet and required evidence; a booked but unfinished taster does not count.
What is the CST interview format?
Two 15-minute online stations. Management and clinical has one management and two clinical questions, each lasting 5 minutes. Portfolio has a 3-minute prepared presentation, 2 minutes of presentation questions and two 5-minute domain questions. The portfolio guidance specifies Communication and Safety & Culture.
Does the portfolio calculator predict my interview invitation?
No. Its A–E profile and overall estimate are unofficial tools to help you check evidence gaps. Assessors review your evidence and score your portfolio and interview answers; the calculator is not an official recruitment score.
What is included in the CST course?
Worked clinical and management scenarios, model answers, knowledge summaries and follow-up questions, plus a station timer, AI tutor, national study groups and live mock matching with other candidates. Practise 5-minute scenario answers and your portfolio presentation, then use peer feedback to refine your delivery.
Course curriculum
2 topics · 48 lessons
01Clinical Station
27 lessons
Clinical Station
27 lessons
02Managment Station
21 lessons
Managment Station
21 lessons
Student reviews
The scenarios are very realistic to the point that I actually use this resource in my day-to-day job to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Superb resource for anyone preparing for their CST interview. Good luck!
Verified student · November 2025
Comprehensive yet concise. Definitely makes you feel more confident in terms of interviews and knowledge in general!
Verified student · May 2025