Trauma & Orthopaedics ST3 scores your application out of 37 marks, from the official 2027 self-assessment scoring system that applies to applications from November 2026. The old divisor-and-weighting formula is gone: every question now carries a fixed score and the questions simply sum to 37. Publications, presentations and projects are capped at your best two each, and posters now count as Group 2 presentations. The months-in-T&O question is a curve, with the top mark at 10 to 36 months.
What the sections are
- Months in Trauma and Orthopaedics — 8 marks. Full marks looks like: "10 to 36 months."
- Complementary specialty experience — 2 marks. Full marks looks like: "At least 4 months each in two or more of these specialties."
- Neck of femur operations, STS or STU — 4 marks. Full marks looks like: "18 or more."
- Validated neck of femur PBAs — 1 mark. Full marks looks like: "6 or more validated PBAs."
- First author publications, best two — 4 marks. Full marks looks like: "Two first author papers with a PubMed ID."
- Other publications, best two — 2 marks. Full marks looks like: "Two other papers with a PubMed ID."
- National and international presentations, best two — 4 marks. Full marks looks like: "Two Group 1 presentations."
- Closed loop audits, QI or collaborative projects, best two — 2 marks. Full marks looks like: "Two closed loop audits, quality improvement projects or collaborative projects."
- Higher degree examined by thesis — 2 marks. Full marks looks like: "PhD or MD."
- Leadership or management within medicine — 3 marks. Full marks looks like: "National or international formal leadership or management role within medicine."
- Teaching — 3 marks. Full marks looks like: "Formal substantive teaching role, solely teaching with no clinical work other than contracted on call."
- Evidence presented as instructed — 2 marks. Full marks looks like: "Well organised evidence."
What costs people marks
- Publications, presentations and projects are capped at your best two each — a long tail of extra items adds nothing.
- Months in T&O is a curve: the top mark sits at 10 to 36 months and falls away on either side.
- Publications need a PubMed ID and indexing in both PubMed and Web of Science; journals without robust peer review, such as Cureus, are discounted.
- Two marks are for presenting your evidence exactly as the guidance instructs — and that question cannot be appealed, so do not throw those marks away.
- The teaching role must be within the last five years and last at least six months; attending courses like ATLS Instructor or Training the Trainer does not count.
Check the official document
This page is a plain-English summary of the framework as Docrr models it — it is not the framework itself. Before you rely on any number here, check the official source: Yorkshire and Humber deanery 2027 T&O scoring system.
Scoring frameworks change annually, sometimes substantially, and the version that matters is the one attached to the round you are applying in. Last checked against the source on 2026-08-17.