The STP situational judgement test: format, scoring and how to prepare
Last updated 11 October 2026
Every applicant to the NHS Scientist Training Programme sits the situational judgement test, and a cut score decides who is longlisted. It is the one stage of the process you can rehearse. This page sets out the format and scoring as the National School of Healthcare Science (NSHCS) describes them, then explains how to practise for it.
The SJT sits between the Oriel application and shortlisting. Applications close, the test window opens a week or so later for three days, and longlist outcomes follow by specialty a few weeks after that. In 2025 the test took the applicant pool from 7,861 to 3,525. If you are applying for 2027 entry, the window is expected in late January 2027.
Format
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scenarios | 25, each describing a situation a trainee healthcare scientist might face |
| Responses per scenario | Between 4 and 8, each rated independently |
| Rating scale | 1 Very appropriate · 2 Somewhat appropriate · 3 Neither · 4 Somewhat inappropriate · 5 Very inappropriate |
| Time | 50 minutes; 25 per cent extra time is the only reasonable adjustment |
| Delivery | Online through Pearson VUE, after signing a non-disclosure agreement |
| Glossary | Asterisked terms open a definition in the test interface |
Three instructions from the official guidance matter more than anything else about technique:
- Each response is judged on its own. A response does not have to resolve every aspect of the scenario to be very appropriate. Ask whether this action, by itself, is a good thing to do.
- The same rating can be used for every response in a scenario. You are not ranking. If three responses are all very appropriate, rate all three 1.
- Appropriateness is judged regardless of timeframe. Do not downgrade a response because it would happen later or sooner than another.
The four attributes
NSHCS assesses four attributes and publishes behavioural indicators for each. Our practice keys are written against these indicators.
- Empathy and compassion. Recognising how patients, families and colleagues feel, and responding in a way that respects dignity and reduces distress.
- Professional integrity. Honesty, accountability, working within the limits of your competence, keeping confidentiality, and raising concerns through the right route.
- Team collaboration. Communicating clearly across disciplines, supporting colleagues, and knowing when to involve a supervisor or another service.
- Adaptability. Responding to pressure, change and uncertainty while keeping quality and patient safety intact.
How the test is scored
Scoring is near-miss and there is no negative marking. NSHCS says that the closer your rating is to the key, the more marks you receive, but it does not publish the point values. The practice tests on this site use a transparent model and label it as ours:
| Distance from the key | Example | Points in our model |
|---|---|---|
| Exact | Key 2, you rate 2 | 4 |
| One off | Key 2, you rate 3 | 3 |
| Two off | Key 2, you rate 4 | 2 |
| Three off | Key 1, you rate 4 | 1 |
| Four off | Key 1, you rate 5 | 0 |
Two consequences follow. First, the test is really 150 or more independent micro-judgements, not 25 questions, so consistency across many small decisions matters more than getting any one scenario right. Second, your errors have a direction. Candidates who rate responses as less appropriate than the key is said to be harsh; those who rate them more appropriate are lenient. Knowing which way you lean, and on what kind of action, is the fastest way to improve, which is why our score report shows it.
A worked example
You are a first-year trainee in a clinical laboratory. While checking a batch of results before release, you notice a markedly abnormal result on a sample that was visibly haemolysed. A colleague has already added the result to the patient's record without flagging the sample quality.
Rate each response from 1 (very appropriate) to 5 (very inappropriate).
Key and reasoning
A: 1. A potentially unsafe result is in the record. Escalating to the supervising scientist before anyone acts on it is exactly what a trainee should do, and it is complete in itself.
B: 4. Documenting the problem is better than nothing, but a trainee amending a record without telling a senior leaves the clinical risk unaddressed and bypasses the people who can withdraw the result.
C: 4. The intent is right, but a first-year trainee giving clinical advice directly, outside supervision, acts beyond their scope.
D: 5. Waiting leaves a patient exposed to a result you believe is wrong.
Notice that B and C are both rated 4. You are not forced to separate them.
How to prepare
- Practise rating, not ranking. Most generic SJT material uses ranking or best-three formats. The STP test does not, and the independence rule changes how you think about each response.
- Work in realistic settings. Scenarios are set in healthcare science work: laboratories, physiological measurement, physics and engineering. Practice material set on a hospital ward with nurses and doctors tests a different job.
- Learn the frameworks the keys rest on. The HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics (2024), Good Scientific Practice (v1.7, January 2025), the NHS Constitution values and the NSHCS attributes. Most keys can be explained from these.
- Find your bias, then correct it. If you are consistently harsher than the key on responses that escalate to a senior, or more lenient on responses that act alone, that pattern will cost you points across the whole paper.
- Time it. Two minutes per scenario is tight once you are rating six responses. Sit at least one full-length mock under the clock before test day.
Try the free diagnostic
Ten original scenarios across all four attributes, timed, with the full near-miss report. No card needed.
Start the free diagnosticFrequently asked questions
How long is the STP SJT and how many questions does it have?
50 minutes for 25 scenarios. Each scenario has several possible responses, between four and eight, and you rate every one of them. The only reasonable adjustment offered is 25 per cent extra time.
How are responses rated?
On a five-point scale from 1 (very appropriate) to 5 (very inappropriate). You rate each response on its own, so you can give the same rating to more than one response in a scenario.
Is there negative marking?
No. Marking is near-miss: the closer your rating is to the key, the more marks you receive. A rating one point from the key still scores, so attempt every response.
What attributes does the SJT assess?
Four: empathy and compassion, professional integrity, team collaboration and adaptability. NSHCS publishes behavioural indicators for each.
Who sets the answer key?
Subject matter experts convened by the National School of Healthcare Science. The test itself is delivered by Pearson VUE and scored externally.
Are unofficial practice tests accurate?
NSHCS warns that unofficial resources can be inaccurate and that applicants use them at their own risk. Our scenarios and keys are original and follow the published format, independence rule and attributes, and we publish our scoring model, but no third party can promise to match the official key.
Sources
- NSHCS, Application, longlisting and the situational judgement test
- NSHCS, SJT FAQs for applicants
- NSHCS, 2025 recruitment statistics: applicants at each stage
- Academy for Healthcare Science, Good Scientific Practice v1.7 (January 2025)