Applications – STP Perspectives

Preparing for the STP Interviews!

Hey! My name is Nic and I’m a first-year Clinical Engineering STP trainee, specialising in Rehabilitation Engineering! (So take this post through the lens of someone who researched the heck out of the STP applications and prepare to have that experience shared with you.)

Congratulations on getting to the interview stages of the STP application! (Or you’re just snooping around to find out more about the application process 👀)

Preparing for the interview for the STP can be a difficult process given the limited information or guidance out there! The interview process has changed considerably over time, especially due to circumstances during COVID. To better understand the expectations during the interview, here’s a bit of history around the (NSH England) STP interview process!

Scientist Training Programme 2024 Application Advice

Is it worth applying if I’ve just graduated from university? 

Totally! I have many colleagues who have come straight from university – so it’s an option. I also have colleagues who have a PhD, or a masters and colleagues with young children– it’s a whole mixing pot. However, (personally) I have always enjoyed taking time out between each career step to breathe a little. The STP is a very full-on three years with no breaks and it’s easy to become burnt-out. I think taking time out of education has put me in a better head-space to take on the academic challenges an MSc and the STP involve. 

How to “ace” the NHS STP application process

Contributers: Martyna Borak and Sophie Reed (OUH Genomics STP trainees)

My story

Hi, I’m Jess and I’m a 1^st year NHS STP trainee in Bioinformatics (Genomics) at Oxford. I first heard of the NHS STP through a friend on placement and was intrigued. I heard that it was a degree apprenticeship scheme where you study for a master’s degree at the same time as gaining clinical experience which sounded awesome. After doing more research about the scheme on the National School of Healthcare Science (NSHCS) I decided to apply in 2021 for Genomics but was unsuccessful. This led me to do the typical “panic” master’s (when one does a master’s degree because they do not know what to do or want to change career paths) where I gained more experience about bioinformatics and reapplied in 2022. Other people have also applied multiple times (I know someone who was successful on their 5^th try) and some people have done post-docs, but others get in on their 1^st time. In this post, I will talk about my applications process and tips.

The STP: Application, Interview and First Year Structure – Medical Physics

My name is Holly and I’m a first year Medical Physics trainee specialising in Radiotherapy, across Suffolk and Essex. I first heard about the STP in a careers lecture during year 1 of my undergraduate degree and began preparing to apply virtually as I left the hall. Hopefully this post will give a little insight (and hope) for entrance to the STP and what to expect once you reach the flip side

Before too much waffle I just wanted to say when I began my application to the STP, I felt like I may as well have been applying to be an Olympic sprinter (I reckon I’ve ran successfully about a 2km total in my entire life). I applied with an undergraduate physics degree from a smaller university, and my work experience was serving chips, so it goes without saying if I can do it, you certainly can.

Application and Interview

For anyone who is a skim reader, here are my main tips beyond your long-listing:

STP Applications | Top Tips – 2022

Like most people, I was not alone in thinking that I would never get onto the STP. After hearing how competitive it was and how few places there were available, I was not optimistic about my chances. This feeling was only made worse by the fact that it was my first time applying and I was applying for a discipline that I had very little experience in. So you can imagine my surprise when I got told I had an interview and was further surprised when I actually passed the interview stage. The STP application can seem quite daunting, especially on your first go, so here are my top tips.

STP Applications | Advice from an STP Graduate

With STP applications coming up, I’m sure there’s people here looking for some information on how to join the programme. As someone who’s recently come out the other side of the STP as a fully-fledged Clinical Scientist, here’s what I’d tell myself if I could go back to when I was applying to the scheme.

STP Applications | How to spice up your old application

It would be amazing if we were all offered interviews and were successful in gaining a place on the programme on our first attempt, however this is often not the reality. Often, even the most qualified and committed applicants make a number of attempts before being successful in gaining a place on the training for their chosen specialism, and this post will focus on ways to revamp an ‘unsuccessful’ application. However, no application is wholly unsuccessful as there will be some golden nuggets that you have already included that can be highlighted or added to in order to bolster your chances of getting that all-important interview.

STP Applications | Top tips & what’s changed for 2021

The National School of Healthcare Scientist (NSHCS) have announced that applications for this year’s STP will be opening on January 25th 2021! Jes wrote a fabulous blog of top tips, so we’ve edited these for 2021. The application process is also different to previous years and you can find a section below about what’s changed.

STP Applications | What to expect from the STP recruitment process in 2021

The STP applications process has had to maintain pace with the drastic global changes that have occurred in the last year and has adapted the recruitment process for STP applicants to match this. If you have started doing research into applying in 2021, you may already be familiar with some of the changes that will be taking place. I will outline the key changes and then draw on my parallel experiences after applying in 2020, during which the interviews were cancelled and reformulated at the height of the pandemic. There are certainly positives in the new application system, and I will try my best to get this message across to you!

STP Applications | Top tips

The STP applications have opened again for 2020! They really snuck up on us this year but that’s not going to stop us sharing some of our top tips for writing up your application. So without further ado, here are 20 tips from us to help you nail your application!

Editors note: These tips were valid for the 2020 application process and might not be accurate for future years.