Make sure you have read and understood this guidance before making decisions on Oriel.
Offers of a place on the Scientist Training Programme are made through Oriel and will include the option of accepting with upgrades. If you have been made an offer, this will appear on the offers tab of your Oriel dashboard. Click into the offer for further details. This offer (post) will be the best available based on your ranked sub-preference choices matched with your interview score/rank.
You will have 48 hours, excluding weekends, to accept or reject the offer. In addition, if you accept the offer there is the option to be considered for upgrades.
- Accept offer: Before accepting an offer, ensure that you are willing to commit to this post for the full duration of the 3 year programme. You may accept an offer with or without upgrades, however receiving an upgrade is not guaranteed.
- Decline offer: Before declining an offer, be certain that you do not wish to accept the post. Once you decline an offer you will not be considered for any other offers and your application will be regarded as withdrawn.
Accepting without upgrades
If you have chosen to accept your offer, you will be presented with the option to opt in to be considered for offer upgrades. The option to opt in for upgrades is unticked by default. If you are happy to accept your offer without upgrades, make sure this box remains unticked. Tick the ‘I confirm that I wish to accept this offer‘ box only and then confirm your acceptance.
Accepting with upgrades
If you have chosen to accept your offer, you will be presented with the option to opt in to be considered for offer upgrades. The option to opt in for upgrades is unticked by default. To be considered for offer upgrades you must tick the ‘I confirm that I wish to accept this offer’ box, and tick the ‘I wish to opt in to automatic upgrades‘ box and then confirm your acceptance.
When you opt in to upgrades, if any of your higher ranked sub-preferences become available then your offer will be upgraded to a higher ranked sub-preference. Upgrades are considered until the upgrade deadline. You may only receive a maximum of 1 upgraded offer but this is not guaranteed.
Upgrading is a subjective process and is based purely on the sub-preferences you chose to select. If an upgrade is offered, this will automatically replace your previous offer and you will not receive any further offers.
Important: You will not have the option to choose between an upgraded offer and your first offer. By choosing to rank it higher and opting in to upgrades, you are making the decision in advance and the previous offer cannot be reinstated under any circumstances.
Any offers made after the upgrade deadline has passed will not include the option to upgrade.
Changing your decision to opt in or opt out
You can change your decision to ‘opt in’ or ‘opt out’ of upgrades until the upgrade deadline. To do this, go to the offers tab on the Oriel dashboard and click on the offer. Then tick or untick your opt in selection as appropriate and select the ‘Save Opt In / Out’ button. If this is locked it means that matching is in process and you will need to try again later.
Upgrade deadline
The upgrade function will only be in place until a fixed deadline. Details of this will be made available on the key deadline dates page.
Any applicants who have not received an upgraded offer by the time the deadline passes, will progress forward with the acceptance of their initial offer.
Interview complete status
If you have successfully passed the interview stage but have not received an initial offer, your Oriel status will remain ‘Interview Complete’. This acts as a reserve list and you may still receive an offer later, depending on withdrawals and the recycling of offers.
Updates on each specialty’s offers process will be published on the NSHCS website. When the website advises that the offers process has finished for your specialty, no further offers will be made. Once the process has finished, if you have not received an offer, you have not secured a post in this recruitment round.
Interview unsuccessful
If you did not score highly enough to pass the interview stage, your Oriel status will change to ‘Interview unsuccessful’ and you will leave the recruitment process. You will not join a reserve interview list and there will be no opportunity for a further interview.
After final offers
Once the offers process is complete, applicants with offers will have their details sent to their employer who will contact them to start the employment process. References will be requested by the employer during this process and not by the NSHCS. You will be contacted via email when you need to send your qualification certificates to the NSHCS Recruitment Team.
Subject to successful pre-employment checks you will be an employee of the training centre, and you will stay in their employment for the full 3 years of training. Once your details are sent to your new employer, the NSHCS Recruitment Team’s involvement ceases.