Post by Deborah Udy Okusaga Akanne (@deborah_udy_okusaga)
The Document NHS Panels Read Before Your CV — And Why Yours Is Failing.
There is a document that every NHS Trust Grade SHO, Clinical Fellow, and consultant application requires — that is scored before your CV is opened, weighted more heavily than your qualifications, and responsible for more application failures among internationally trained doctors than any other single element.
IT IS NOT YOUR CV.
It is your Supporting Statement — also called the Personal Statement or Supporting Information on NHS Jobs and TRAC.
And the majority of IMGs applying for NHS roles right now are submitting one that is costing them the interview.
Here is why — and this is the specific, verified truth that most doctors do not find out until they are paying for formal application support.
NHS shortlisting panels do not read your supporting statement as a narrative.
They score it as a structured evidence document mapped against a scoring matrix derived from the person specification. Every essential criterion on the person specification has a corresponding score — typically 0, 1, 2, or 3.
If your supporting statement does not explicitly evidence that criterion — using language that mirrors the person specification — you score zero on it.
Regardless of how well you describe your clinical experience in general terms.
This is not subjective. It is a mechanical process. The shortlister reads Criterion A, looks for evidence of Criterion A in your statement, and awards a score. If the evidence is not there — or if it is there but expressed in language that does not match the criterion — it scores zero.
Let me show you what this looks like in practice.
A person specification essential criterion reads: Evidence of participation in clinical audit or quality improvement activity.
The failing supporting statement says: I have always been committed to improving patient care and I am keen to contribute to quality improvement in the NHS.
Score: 0. There is no evidence. There is an aspiration.
The passing supporting statement says: I completed a clinical audit at [NHS Trust] evaluating [specific clinical question] — first cycle completed in 2025. The audit identified [specific finding] and I contributed to the recommendation of [specific change]. I am currently planning a second cycle to assess whether the implemented change has improved the measured outcome.
Score: 3. Specific evidence. Named Trust. Named audit. Named outcome. Named next step.
The difference between those two answers is not clinical experience. Both candidates may have identical experience. The difference is whether the statement is built as an evidence document against the person specification — or as a personal narrative about professional commitment.
Every NHS person specification for Trust Grade SHO, Clinical Fellow, and registrar-level posts has between eight and fourteen essential criteria.
A well-built supporting statement evidences every single one of them explicitly — using the criterion's own language, with specific named evidence from your career.
Most IMGs are submitting statements that evidence two or three at best.
That is why the interviews are not coming.
📩 My supporting statement service is built entirely around your specific target role and person specification — every essential criterion identified, every piece of evidence from your career extracted and matched to it, in the exact language NHS shortlisting panels score on.
DM me "NHS" and I will show you what this looks like for your specific application.
Post 3 arrives at 11:00 AM — and it covers the NHS entry grade trap that is costing internationally trained doctors thousands of pounds per year and setting their UK career back by 12 to 18 months.
If you are about to accept your first NHS job offer without reading this, STOP!
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