NHS Clinical Scientist Recruitment

Can anyone vouch for anyone they know who have applied successfully without PhDs/1yr+ lab experience/ professional medical experience - and been successful?

I've been in contact with someone who got into the STP who graduated from Bristol last year. They only have their undergraduate degree.#

I don't think it's the case that simply by having another degree/PhD you're more likely to get a place, I think it's just that those things might be a benefit in terms of the experience/you might know more of your field etc. If you see what I mean?

Hi,

Been lurking on here for a year on this particular thread - how bad is it that the most comprehensive source of information on this training scheme has been derived from a bunch of people who've applied collaborating their experiences and findings??

Anyway, only felt the need to register and comment after just taking the online tests. All I can say is what the f****ing hell?! I thought I was applying for a clinical scientist position, not to be an investment banker on the Wall Street stock market - jesus those numeracy questions were just ridiculous. Thing is I got the old " You have not met the benchmark" message - but I only did one test? I wonder if you fail one they just stop you right there, I don;t know so I've emailed tech support, because the strange thing is when I logged in it said "Thanks for completing the practice test", when I hadn't even seen the practice test.... nonetheless I knew from previous comments that it would be nothing like the actual test, and with these kinds of tests I don't imagine practicing elsewhere is going to make much difference, so I just dived straight in.

Hell if you passed that test without any guesswork then I guess you are the calibre they are looking for, I was working on the first question and still came up with the wrong answer then realised I'd spent 5 damn minutes on it, so that didn't help, then really all I saw was a sea of numbers and I just gave up and pretty much guessed, obviously not correctly.

I guess the reason they do this after the essay questions is to stop people registering under different accounts and retaking it, that and them wanting to see how dedicated you are in the first place, but yes what the hell this has to do with anyones ability to perform well in the role is anybodys guess, fire off all the emails you want but it won't make a bit of difference. When I first read they had implemented these tests I kinda guessed I'd screw up so I'm not completely surprised and disappointed, at the very least the process got me updating my CV and revising my personal statement which I haven't done in some 5-6 years so I suppose there is a silver lining.

Completeley bewildered by how difficult that was. Wow.

Hi,

Been lurking on here for a year on this particular thread - how bad is it that the most comprehensive source of information on this training scheme has been derived from a bunch of people who've applied collaborating their experiences and findings??

Anyway, only felt the need to register and comment after just taking the online tests. All I can say is what the f****ing hell?! I thought I was applying for a clinical scientist position, not to be an investment banker on the Wall Street stock market - jesus those numeracy questions were just ridiculous. Thing is I got the old " You have not met the benchmark" message - but I only did one test? I wonder if you fail one they just stop you right there, I don;t know so I've emailed tech support, because the strange thing is when I logged in it said "Thanks for completing the practice test", when I hadn't even seen the practice test.... nonetheless I knew from previous comments that it would be nothing like the actual test, and with these kinds of tests I don't imagine practicing elsewhere is going to make much difference, so I just dived straight in.

Hell if you passed that test without any guesswork then I guess you are the calibre they are looking for, I was working on the first question and still came up with the wrong answer then realised I'd spent 5 damn minutes on it, so that didn't help, then really all I saw was a sea of numbers and I just gave up and pretty much guessed, obviously not correctly.

I guess the reason they do this after the essay questions is to stop people registering under different accounts and retaking it, that and them wanting to see how dedicated you are in the first place, but yes what the hell this has to do with anyones ability to perform well in the role is anybodys guess, fire off all the emails you want but it won't make a bit of difference. When I first read they had implemented these tests I kinda guessed I'd screw up so I'm not completely surprised and disappointed, at the very least the process got me updating my CV and revising my personal statement which I haven't done in some 5-6 years so I suppose there is a silver lining.

Completeley bewildered by how difficult that was. Wow.

Was that before you got the "good news" cherryredlips?

If I'd thought about it more, a pass would class as 12 out of 20 questions correct IIRC, so I'd have been better off trying to answer 12 right rather than try and plough through them all, but saying that I doubt I'd have even achieved that, would average 1.5 mins per question, took me about 30 secs to read through and understand what they were asking, let alone start to calculate an answer. Friggin hate maths!!!

Probably, it's one way of whittling down what must be a ridiculous number of applicants for so few positions, or else why bother doing them in the first place?

Not holding my breath on getting an email from tech support to be honest, I imagine they will stall until after the 29th then give it the old "sorry it's too late now".

I graduated in Biomedical Sciences last year and went for Immunology. Just took the tests and passed. I thought the numeracy one was ok, although could have done with a couple more minutes. The logic one started off fairly easily, which was misleading. The later questions were almost impossible and the time limit was far too short.

Seeing how many people failed (and how no-one here has said they've applied for Immunology), I think my chances at getting an interview are ok.

Do we get an auto rejection if we failed? Just completed it and got an email saying:

"We will aim to start contacting candidates in April to inform you on the outcome of your application"

So.... does that mean I passed? I mean the tests did seem quite easy (maybe deceptively so!), think I got pretty much all maths ones right, wasn't too sure about the last 5 of the Logical Reasoning though! pretty much had to guess them cause of the time limit!

Aiming for genetics! common interview!!!

Yes, well done and I must say 'WOW' for finding them 'quite easy'..you must be one of the very few!!

and also thank god you applied for genetics and not for reproductive science:P