Cardiothoracic Surgery ST1 and Thoracic ST4 National Recruitment

Recruitment for 2026 will follow the Round 1 2026 timetable. The exact timeline has now been confirmed below. Documentation for 2026 is currently being reviewed and updated and will be published here in due course.

Important to note – ST4 Thoracic Surgery

We like to inform applicants that 2026 recruitment (for posts starting in August 2026) will be the last year of recruitment to ST4 Thoracic Surgery posts.

After the 2026 recruitment cycle entry into this specialty will be at ST1 level only.

Key dates

Advert: 22/10/2025

Applications open: 10:00am 23/10/2025

Applications close: 4:00pm 20/11/2025

Interviews: TBC

Application Documents and Links

The below documents are in the process of being reviewed and updated for the 2026 recruitment round. 

Person Specifications (coming soon)

Oriel

ST1 Cardiothoracic Surgery Applicant Guide – 2026 (coming soon)

ST1 Cardiothoracic Surgery Self Assessment Criteria – 2026 (coming soon)

ST4 Thoracic Applicant Guide – 2026 (coming soon)

ST4 Thoracic Self Assessment Criteria – 2026 (coming soon)

ST4 Thoracic Multiplier for Self Assessment – 20256 (coming soon)

Post Numbers