Interviews and Assessments

The majority of interviews and assessments will take place online.

For specialty specific information visit the corresponding specialty training page for further information. An overview of specialty training hubs is available on the Dental Specialty Recruitment page.

Technical requirements for the online interview 

All dental specialty training interviews will be held online. Full details of the system, and instructions for attending an interview will be provided to you once the interview booking process has concluded. 

When undertaking your online interview, you must ensure you're in a location with a stable and reliable internet connection and use a device that's suitable for a video interview with a camera and microphone. The administration staff from NHS England and panel members will be unable to assist you with any technical issues.  

In the event of technical difficulties during the interview, we will attempt to resume the interview once the issue has been resolved, however, if we're unable to resume the interview at the scheduled time, we will, where possible, aim to rearrange the remainder of the interview at a later date or time. We cannot guarantee this will always be possible.

Where the interview has been partially completed, only the sections that were disrupted will be rescheduled; scores from interview questions that are completed without disruption will stand. 

Technical issues that happen outside of the interview itself must be reported to the Recruitment Team, with details of the issues experienced, providing screenshots where possible, within one hour of the allocated interview time. Technical issues reported outside of this timeframe cannot be considered. 

Your interview will not be recorded by NHS England or panel members. You are also not permitted to record the interview. If it is found that you have recorded any part of the interview process a probity panel will be convened to investigate. The only exception to this is where only one panel member is available where there would ordinarily be two or more, the interview can be recorded, but only with your consent. Where you do not give your consent, the interview can continue but cannot be recorded.

About interviews and selection centres

Most specialties recruit by means of a national process handled by a lead NHS England local office on behalf of all appointing regions and processes may therefore vary between specialties.

Some interviews will be arranged locally by local offices, however many specialties now arrange national centres or clustered interviews where you will be considered for appointment across a number of regions.

You should be given at least 5 working days’ notice of any interview, however notice may be less if late interview slots arise due to other applicants withdrawing from the process. You'll be informed of the reason for the late notice if this occurs.

Assessment centre or interview dates will be published by recruitment offices well in advance and you should consider these when applying for posts.

If you accept another offer after booking an interview, you should ensure you inform the appropriate recruitment office as soon as possible so that you can be withdrawn from the interview.

The entire duration of the assessment process will vary depending on the specialty. The main aim of the interview is:

• to ensure you meet the requirements of the person specification
• that the best applicants are selected

The structure and content of interviews will vary across specialties and levels. Recruitment offices will inform you of the format of the interview or Selection Centre, including the number of stations and competences being assessed.

Interviewers may have access to your anonymised application form, but will not have access to the equal opportunities or personal data.

Scores

Interview panel members will individually complete a scoresheet for each candidate and make any comments. The aggregate score given by all panel members, taking into account any associated weighting, will be the final score of the interview.

Applicants with disabilities

You will be asked to declare on your application form if you have a disability as set out in the Equality Act 2010 and whether you wish to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme.

This information will not be available to shortlisting panels.

Reasonable adjustments

If you have a disability, recruiters will ensure, where possible, that reasonable adjustments are made at interview to meet your needs.

You must ensure that you include this information on your application form and communicate your requirements with the recruiting organisation as soon as an invitation to interview has been received.

Failure to provide the requested information and documentation to the recruiting organisation by the stated deadline will result in adjustments not being met.

You should expect to provide medical evidence for any adjustments requested and are therefore advised to source this as soon as possible to ensure that deadlines are met.

Concerns and complaints

You should contact the specialty recruitment office if you have any concerns about their application or would like to know more about the complaints procedure.

Sharing interview questions with others

Once an interview has been completed, you should ensure that you do not discuss the interview process, or share the interview questions, with other applicants who are yet to be interviewed, either on the same date or on a future date.

Any applicants found to be sharing interview questions with others may be removed from the recruitment process.

Raising concerns at interview

If you wish to raise concerns about the conduct of panel members during the interview/selection process or recruitment staff administering the event, you will be directed to the recruitment lead and/or the clinical lead who will decide if the issue requires immediate intervention and discussion.

Concerns should be raised on the day of the interview/selection centre, ideally before leaving the interview.

Where a serious concern is raised, a formal investigation will be undertaken.

Raising concerns after interview

Should you, following reflection, wish to raise an issue after you have completed the interview, you should contact the lead recruiter.