Changes to the 2026 IMT Recruitment process 

The recruitment process to 2026 Internal Medicine Training (IMT) programmes, which opens for applications on Thursday 24 October, is changing. Changes being introduced include additional points awarded at the shortlisting stage relating to commitment to specialty, an additional interview scored area and a separate Scotland vacancy. 

Details on the changes are set out below. 

Shortlisting 

Applicants who have only applied to the joint IMT/ACCS-Internal Medicine (ACCS-IM) process will be awarded 5 points in shortlisting. This change is being made to recognise applicants’ commitment to the specialty and is in response to increasing competition for training places.  

Candidates who meet this criterion will be awarded 5 points in addition to the maximum of 30 points available via the self-assessment score; making shortlisting scores out of 35.  

Applications to academic programmes are recruited in a separate round and will not be counted when determining which applications are awarded the points.   

The self-assessment process will continue to be used with an unchanged scoring matrix. 

Interview  

An additional score for communication in Station 1, increasing the number of scored areas from 6 to 7, has been introduced. This decision was taken to reflect the importance of good communication skills for resident doctors in Internal Medicine Training, and to help to discriminate between applicants in what is a highly competitive process. 

Aside from the extra scored area, the interview format will be unchanged. 

Separate Scotland vacancy 

There will be a separate vacancy for all programmes in Scotland. Applicants will only be considered for one vacancy so they should only apply to their preferred area.  

More information will be available on the website and Oriel in due course.  

If you have any questions about these changes, please contact the PSRO.