Preferencing means ranking posts to tell us which ones you’d most and least like to be appointed to.
The preferencing process happens after you've submitted an application but before offers have been made.
Selecting preferences
In the period between submitting an application and offers being made, applicants will be asked to specify their regional/geographical preferences. Preference choices are ranked in Oriel.
The preferences made by applicants will be used, along with final selection rank to determine which offer, if any, they receive.
Applicants will have the opportunity to express their preferences throughout the recruitment process as applicants’ circumstances can change between the time of application and the time that offers are released.
The "no preference" column
Preferences added to the no preference column will be offered when a ranked preference is not available. Programmes added to the no preference column are given an equal rank; if applicants would like these programmes to be offered in a particular order, they should ensure that they are taken out of the no preference column and added to the ranked list of preferences.
Upgrade options
For applicants who have accepted or held a post, there will also be the opportunity to change upgrade options to allow a post/programme that was originally ranked lower than the offered post to become an upgrade option.
Offers and preferencing
The order offers will be made in will be determined solely on the selection score and permissions to work in the UK, not preferences made. An applicant’s preferences will only come into play when that applicant is reached in the ranked list and an offer is due.
Applicants who are not prepared to accept an offer of training in a certain region/geographical area, should not rank it in their preferences (i.e. it should be added to the not wanted column). Applicants who choose this option will never receive an offer for that particular preference, even if this means that the applicant receives nooffer, with the offer going to a lower ranked applicant who had chosen the preference option.
Preferences added to the no preference column will be offered when a ranked preference is not available. Programmes added to the no preference column are given an equal rank; if applicants would like these programmes to be offered in a particular order, they should ensure that they are taken out of the no preference column and added to the ranked list of preferences.
Non-urgent advice: Choosing preferences
Preference choices should be made solely on desirability of the associated post for the individual applicant, not the perceived desirability for all applicants.
Ranking a less popular preference highly will have no bearing on when an offer will be made.
By ranking a preference, applicants are stating that they would be prepared to undertake a training programme in that area. Applicants should not preference or accept posts if they are unable to commence training in that particular post. If you are made an offer and decline it, you will be withdrawn from the process and will not receive any further offers for that programme.
Important: Important
It is vital that you only preference posts which you'd be willing to accept.
Interview panels will not have access to applicants’ preferences.
Enhanced preferencing
Applicants can have a change in circumstances for any number of reasons in the time between programme/post preferences being made and offers being released. To assist applicants in this situation, flexibility around preferencing has been introduced.
For applicants who have accepted or held a post, there will be an option to select upgrade options which not only include those posts/programmes that were originally ranked higher than the offered post, but also those that were ranked lower.
Please note: Any changes to preferences made between the offers algorithm being run and offers being released will not be considered until the next offers match is run.
Applicants who have not been made an offer may also have a change in circumstances that requires them to make amendments to their expressed preferences. Programmes will keep their post preferencing open throughout the recruitment process but will close this off before each offer algorithm is run, until the offers have been released.
These processes will continue up until the upgrading deadline in each recruitment round.
See the recruitment timeline for exact dates.
Page last reviewed: 22 December 2021