NHS Scientist Training Program Wales 2025 Applicants

hi, good luck to all of you with your applications! i wanted to see if anybody knew which university genomics STPs would be based in for the MSc part of the program? i know with the english STP it's manchester, but not sure whether this is the same for wales?

I’m thinking it’s Cardiff…anyone know if this can be studied remotely?

It will be whatever the university sets. It won't be a choice for the students. If it is onsite then STPs will be expected to travel and attend.

Thanks for you answer! Are training and placements likely to be where the locations of the board are, or is that too dependent on wherever they set? I’m talking specifically for a training post within STP Wales.
Board location for my discipline of interest is at Cardiff/Vale University.
Also, I’ve seen in previous posts people that have successful training posts at Wales, despite having training in Manchester, but I don’t know if the placements were also included in the same location as well? Quite confused on this.

So it's important to remember that when applying for the STP you're applying for a job, and then the university component is on top of that. The job will be based where you apply for (so Cardiff Vale if that's the health board you've gone for) and this will include the majority of your work placements (excluding any that can't be covered in the workplace).
The university portion (approximately 20%) will be at whichever university has been selected by the NHS Trust/Health Board. This may be in England.
I don't know the actual answer so this is my guess: For Genomics there is one post available in Wales so I would expect that the successful candidate will be in the cohort with the English STPs in Manchester. It's highly unlikely a Welsh university is going to offer a course for one person.

Hey, so just to help everyone with what seems to be the pertinent question - the university portion is usually in Manchester or Man Met. The university portion is some consistent coursework across the year as well as some online stuff but the in-person lectures are several week long blocks for which you’re expected to commute up and stay in Manchester.
I believe there are additional funds allocated to your STP position to find these expeditions and you aren’t expected to pay it all out of pocket. It may not be exactly as I’ve described but this is my understanding as someone who has done two application cycles previously (and unfortunately didn’t get offers in the areas I wanted) as well as a good few clinical placements where I asked many a question.
I wish everyone good luck in their applications! Unless you’re applying for cardiac, in which case I hope you do well enough that you secure a position but not the one I’m praying for (I’m joking of course 😂).

Thanks for this! I don't know if you would happen to know stringent are they with having experience in clinical environments? I don't have experience in a clinical setting and looking over the spec, I realised this is an essential criteria for the training for Wales! I've analysed clinical data for drug trials and stuff as a postdoc, but I've not worked in hospitals. And I wish you all the best as well, comrade! Not applying to Cardiac Science 😂

Hi, I've also just noticed this - "Have taken part in supervised clinical activity to postgraduate diploma level." is under essential criteria. Sounds silly, but does this mean it's not worth applying if you don't have clinical experience? Can anyone verify this?

Does anyone know if we're meant to put our A-Levels or equivalent in the Education & professional qualifications section? Or is it just for higher qualifications like degrees/ diplomas?

The essential criteria just mentioned degrees so I only put those in. Could probably put A levels if you wanted to, but it’s not on their person specification.

What is the next stage after we sent out applications out ? There is no SJT so do we get longlisted or offered interviews etc ? How does this next part work? Thanks!

They take a month or so to schedule the interviews and then from there it’s just a straight offer if you’re successful.

When are the interviews usually held?