Which specialties use the MSRA?
The official MSRA overview lists the specialties and programmes that use the MSRA to recruit. They are below, named exactly as that page lists them. Check each specialty's own guidance for how it uses the result: it varies by specialty and by round.
Specialties with their own official page
These are the entries the official MSRA overview links to a page of their own. Each name below goes to that page.
| Specialty or programme | Level |
|---|---|
| Acute Care Common Stem (ACCS) Emergency Medicine | CT/ST1 |
| Clinical Radiology | ST1 |
| Core Psychiatry | CT1 |
| Core Surgical Training | CT1 |
| General Practice | ST1 |
| Nuclear Medicine | ST3 |
| Obstetrics and Gynaecology | ST1 |
Also listed by the official overview
The official overview gives no link for these. They are under the headings that page uses.
| Specialty or programme | Level |
|---|---|
| Anaesthetics | CT1 |
| Community Sexual and Reproductive Health | ST1 |
| Neurosurgery | ST1/ST2/ST3 |
| Ophthalmology | ST1 |
| Specialty or programme | Level |
|---|---|
| NI – Core Surgical Training | CT1 |
| NI – Clinical Radiology | ST1 |
| NI – Core Psychiatry Training | CT1 |
| NI – Emergency Medicine | ST1 |
| Specialty or programme | Level |
|---|---|
| Broad Based Training (BBT) | CT1 |
| Trauma and Orthopaedics | ST1 |
For these, start from the official MSRA overview and the specialty recruitment timelines page. The overview does not say, in this list, which round each entry applies to: confirm with the specialty that it is recruiting in the round you are applying to.
How each specialty uses the result
Check each specialty's own guidance for how it uses the result. The official overview puts it this way: if you are applying to one of these specialties, you are advised to check the relevant specialty guidance, as some information may differ depending on the specialty. We do not summarise or compare how specialties use the MSRA, because the MSRA pages we rely on do not set it out and it can change from round to round.
For General Practice, the GP MSRA page does set out its scoring scale and bands. We describe them in How MSRA scores and bands work.
Why your choice of specialties decides your sitting
For Round 1 of 2027 recruitment the MSRA is split across two windows. January is open to applicants for all specialties. February is reserved for applicants who apply to Core Psychiatry and/or General Practice only, and if their number exceeds February's capacity, some will sit in January. The window you are allocated cannot be changed.
The rule and what it means are in January or February: which MSRA sitting will you get?
How many specialties you can apply to
The official specialty recruitment timelines page states that in 2027 applicants will only be able to submit a maximum of five applications per recruitment round. It also reminds applicants to check which round their specialty is recruiting in, as timelines may vary.
Dates and rules can change, and this page is not legal or careers advice. Confirm them on the official page before you rely on them: Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA) overview (NHS England).