NHS CV & interview guide
Everything you need to prepare a strong NHS application: how to write an NHS-format CV, how to pass a values-based interview against the six NHS Constitution values, and the common questions — with a model structure for every answer.
An NHS application is scored in two parts: whether you evidence the job’s person specification, and how you demonstrate the six values of the NHS Constitution for England. Most NHS posts are applied for through an online form on NHS Jobs where the key section is a “supporting information” statement mapped to the person spec; a traditional CV is used for many medical, senior and specialist roles. At interview, the NHS uses values-based recruitment: the panel asks for real examples and scores how you live the 6 NHS values. Structure every example with STAR — Situation, Task, Action, Result. This guide covers the CV, the values and the questions, and gives you a free copy-pasteable template and interview pack.
The guide, in three parts
1. NHS CV format
Section by section — personal statement, person-spec mapping, employment history, registration and references.
2. Values-based interview
The six NHS values, the 6 Cs and the STAR structure panels score you against.
3. Common questions
Real NHS question types, each with a model-answer structure — motivation, compassion, safety, teamwork.
The six NHS values you are scored against
From the NHS Constitution for England (updated 1 January 2021). A values-based interview asks you to evidence these with real examples.
- Working together for patients
- Patients come first in everything the NHS does; staff work across teams, organisations and boundaries in the patient’s interest.
- Respect and dignity
- Every person is valued as an individual, their aspirations and commitments respected, and their diverse needs, backgrounds and abilities understood.
- Commitment to quality of care
- The NHS earns trust by delivering high-quality care that is safe, effective and focused on patient experience, and by learning openly from mistakes.
- Compassion
- Care and kindness respond to individual needs; the small things that matter to people are found and valued, not overlooked.
- Improving lives
- The NHS strives to improve health and wellbeing and people’s experiences of the NHS, valuing excellence and professionalism.
- Everyone counts
- Resources are used for the whole community, no one is excluded or discriminated against, and nothing is wasted.
Answer with STAR
- S — Situation: Set the scene in one or two sentences — where you were, your role, and the challenge.
- T — Task: What specifically needed to happen, and what were you responsible for?
- A — Action: What YOU did — the largest part of the answer, in the first person (“I”, not “we”).
- R — Result: The outcome, quantified where honest, and what you learned or changed afterwards.
Get the free template & interview pack
An NHS values-based interview panel scores you against the six values of the NHS Constitution for England — not just your clinical competence. Prepare a real, STAR-structured example for each.
- Compassion
- respond to individual needs
- Respect and dignity
- value each person as an individual
- Commitment to quality of care
- safe, effective, open to learning
+ 3 more not shown here. As of NHS Constitution for England, updated 1 January 2021. Source: NHS Constitution for England (DHSC).
Get the NHS CV template + values-based interview guide
A copy-pasteable NHS CV / application skeleton and a full interview guide — the STAR structure, all six NHS values with an evidence prompt for each, and 12 common questions with model-answer structures. Emailed to you, free. Information only — you apply to NHS employers directly; we do not place you.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a CV or an application form for an NHS job?
Most NHS posts are applied for through an online application form on NHS Jobs or TRAC, where the key section is a “supporting information” statement you map to the person specification. A traditional CV is used for many medical, senior and specialist roles, for agency and locum work, and for speculative approaches. This guide covers both, because the underlying content — evidence against the person spec, plus the NHS values — is the same.
What is a values-based interview?
NHS recruitment uses values-based recruitment: alongside your clinical competence, the panel scores how you demonstrate the six values of the NHS Constitution for England — working together for patients, respect and dignity, commitment to quality of care, compassion, improving lives, and everyone counts. Expect questions that ask for real examples, and structure each answer with STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
What are the six NHS values?
The NHS Constitution for England sets out six values: working together for patients; respect and dignity; commitment to quality of care; compassion; improving lives; and everyone counts. They were last set out in the version of the Constitution updated on 1 January 2021, and they are what a values-based interview panel assesses you against.
How long should an NHS CV be?
For most roles, two pages is the norm; medical CVs for consultant and senior posts are commonly longer because they list publications, audit, teaching and management experience. Whatever the length, every section should map to something the person specification asks for — panels score against the criteria, not against length.
Is GeraClinic a recruitment agency?
No. GeraClinic and Gera Services Ltd do not recruit or place health workers, do not match you to specific NHS vacancies, and never charge an applicant a fee. This is free, general guidance for people preparing their own applications. You apply directly to NHS employers, on your own account, through NHS Jobs.
Sources
Every fact on this page is taken from the official sources below, verified 2026-07-03. Confirm the current guidance before you rely on it.
- The NHS Constitution for England — Department of Health & Social Care
- NHS values — Health Careers — NHS Health Careers (NHS England)
- NHS Jobs — the official NHS application portal — NHS Business Services Authority
Continue preparing
How to write an NHS CV
Section-by-section: what an NHS CV and NHS Jobs application actually needs.
Values-based interview prep
The six NHS values, the 6 Cs and STAR — how panels score you.
Common NHS interview questions
Real question types with a model-answer structure for each.
NHS take-home pay calculator
See your real net pay by band or grade before you apply.
UK registration checklist
The GMC / NMC / HCPC / GPhC pathway for internationally-qualified staff.
For doctors
The UK doctor pathway and remote work with GeraClinic.
For nurses (NMC)
The full NMC Test of Competence pathway.
Important — please read
This is free, general guidance on preparing your own NHS job application — not careers, immigration or employment advice, and not a guarantee of any outcome. Gera Services Ltd is not a recruitment agency, does not place health workers, does not match you to specific NHS vacancies and never charges an applicant a fee. You apply to NHS employers directly, on your own account, through NHS Jobs.