Checked 1 November 2026. Stage names, VAC months and outcomes are from the Scheme's 2027-entry Apply page, read 27 Oct and 1 Nov 2026; the Scheme may change them, and your candidate account sets the details that apply to you. Pay is the figure on the Scheme's home page in October 2026; check the Scheme for current pay.
The NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme (GMTS) assessment centre is a half-day Virtual Assessment Centre (VAC): Stage 3 and the final assessment stage for 2027 entry, held online from January to February 2027 for candidates who pass the Stage 2 NHS GMTS Alignment Assessment. You complete several exercises, meet the NHS team and other candidates, receive a feedback report regardless of the outcome, and are contacted with one of three outcomes: an immediate offer, the reserve list, or unsuccessful.
The official Apply page does not specify the VAC exercise types or give VAC questions. It says coaching calls, hints and tips and platform familiarisation videos appear in your candidate account before the VAC; working through them is not required, but the Scheme encourages it. This guide summarises the VAC information in the official sources listed below, what it says it is looking for, the exercise types graduate assessment centres commonly use and how to prepare for each, a practice group-exercise brief you can run with friends, and what happens after the result.
ProSyllabus is an independent study site. It is not part of the NHS, NHS England or the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme, and our practice material is independent practice, not made or endorsed by the Scheme.
NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme, Apply page (2027 entry).
Key facts: the NHS GMTS Virtual Assessment Centre
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| What it is | Stage 3 Virtual Assessment Centre (VAC), the final assessment stage of the Scheme |
| Who is invited | Candidates successful at Stage 2, the NHS GMTS Alignment Assessment (video responses, reviewed by people) |
| When | VACs start in January 2027 and run through February 2027 (2027 entry) |
| Length and format | Half a day, online, several exercises; you meet the NHS team and other candidates |
| Preparation from the Scheme | Coaching calls, hints and tips, and platform familiarisation videos in your account; the VAC platform has its own mic and camera check |
| Feedback | A feedback report after the VAC, regardless of the outcome |
| Outcomes | 1. Successful: an immediate offer. 2. Reserve list: contacted if a place becomes available. 3. Unsuccessful |
| After an offer | Allocation to a placement, pre-employment checks, start on the first Monday of September 2027 |
| Assessors | Fully trained, including in recognising and avoiding unconscious bias |
| Questions | The Scheme's assessment team, by the email on its Apply page; it aims to reply within 2 working days |
Source: the Scheme's own Apply page for 2027 entry. Everything in this table is the Scheme's wording or a close summary of it; where this guide goes beyond it, it says so.
Where the VAC sits in the 2027 recruitment process
| Stage | What | Feedback |
|---|---|---|
| Application | Registration and application form; 2027-entry applications closed at 11.30am on 28 October 2026 | Not stated on the official pages |
| Stage 1: Future Potential Assessment | Online, about 45 minutes, not time-limited; practice of each question type first | Feedback report for all candidates |
| Stage 2: NHS GMTS Alignment Assessment | About 60 minutes; only the video-based questions are timed; video interview responses are reviewed manually, without AI | Feedback report for all candidates |
| Stage 3: Virtual Assessment Centre | Half day, several exercises, January to February 2027 | Feedback report, whatever the outcome |
| Allocation | Not an assessment: offers matched to placements using assessment scores and preferences | |
| Offer and onboarding | Pre-employment checks; start on the first Monday of September 2027 |
If you are still at Stage 2, start with our NHS GMTS video interview questions guide. Stage 1 of the 2027-entry process is covered in our Future Potential Assessment guide.
What the Scheme says it is looking for
The Scheme describes its recruitment as designed to assess your strengths: it is not about what you studied, which university you went to or your work experience, but your potential to become a future NHS leader, someone with the right values and motivation to make positive change happen. It also encourages candidates at every stage to be themselves.
Its About page points candidates to the NHS Constitution for England and the values that become core to the role. Those six values are the clearest official guide to what "the right values" means. The right-hand column is our reading of how each value can show in an assessment exercise, not the Scheme's marking guide.
| NHS value | What the Constitution says (summary) | How it can show in an exercise (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| Working together for patients | Patients come first; involve patients, staff, families and partners; put patients before organisational boundaries; speak up when things go wrong | Bringing the patient view into a discussion; building on other people's points; naming a risk out loud |
| Respect and dignity | Value each person as an individual; take what others say seriously; be honest about what you can and cannot do | Inviting a quiet member in; disagreeing politely and with reasons; admitting what you do not know |
| Commitment to quality of care | Get safety, effectiveness and patient experience right every time; welcome feedback and use it to improve | Checking a proposal for safety effects; saying how you would measure whether it worked |
| Compassion | Respond with humanity and kindness; find the small things that help; make time for people | Writing to a patient or colleague with warmth as well as facts |
| Improving lives | Improve health, wellbeing and experience; value excellence in everyday things as well as innovation | Proposing a practical improvement, not only describing the problem |
| Everyone counts | Use resources for the whole community; nobody excluded or left behind; accept that hard decisions have to be taken | Asking who a plan leaves out; weighing cost against benefit; making a decision rather than avoiding it |
Where other pages get this wrong
The official Apply page does not specify the VAC exercise types for the 2027 round.
Commonly published instead: pages that state a set line-up of exercises (often a group exercise, a presentation and an interview) as the confirmed NHS GMTS VAC.
The official Apply page says only that the half-day VAC has "several engaging exercises". Treat any list you read, including the exercise types below, as formats to prepare for, and go by the preparation material that appears in your own account.
The exercise types to prepare for
These are the formats graduate virtual assessment centres commonly use. We list them because preparing for each covers the ground; the Scheme has not confirmed which of them, or in what order, its 2027 VAC uses.
| Exercise | What it usually involves | How to prepare |
|---|---|---|
| Group exercise | A small group gets a brief and some facts each, and has a set time to agree a recommendation while assessors watch | Practise with friends on a video call; practise summarising, timekeeping and drawing in the quietest person |
| Written exercise | You read a short pack (emails, data, a policy note) and write a briefing, email or recommendation in a set time | Write a one-page briefing in 30 minutes from a news story or a public NHS report; lead with your recommendation |
| Briefing or presentation | You prepare a short spoken briefing on a scenario, then take questions | Practise a 5-minute talk on camera: one recommendation, three reasons, one risk; then answer two questions you did not expect |
| Interview | Questions about you, your motivation and how you approach things; strengths-based schemes often ask what you enjoy and do well | Know why the NHS and why your specialism; prepare honest examples that show the six NHS values |
Group exercise
In a group exercise the assessors watch how you work with other people, not whether you "win". Speak early, so you are part of the discussion from the start, then listen more than you talk. Use the facts you were given, because a group brief often splits the information between players and only works if it is shared. Help the group keep to time and make a decision, and if someone has said little, ask for their view by name. A short summary near the end ("so we are agreeing on reminders, with phone calls for people with no mobile") is one of the most useful things one person can do.
Written exercise
A written exercise tests whether you can read quickly, pick out what matters and write clearly for a busy reader. Put your recommendation in the first two lines, then give your reasons and the main risk, and finish with what you would do next. Use short paragraphs or headed points, plain English and no jargon. Leave five minutes to check spelling, figures and that you answered the question you were asked.
Briefing or presentation
For a spoken briefing, a simple structure works: the issue in one sentence, your recommendation, two or three reasons, one risk and how to manage it. Look at the camera, not at your own picture, and speak a little slower than feels natural. When you are asked a question you cannot fully answer, say what you would find out and how; that is more convincing than guessing.
Interview
A strengths-based interview tends to ask what you enjoy, what comes naturally and what energises you, as well as about times you have done something. Answer honestly and specifically: a real, small example told well beats a large one you cannot explain. Be ready for "Why the NHS?" and "Why this specialism?", and link your answers to the values above and to the specialism you applied for. The same skills are drilled in our Stage 2 video interview guide.
A practice group-exercise brief
Run this brief at home to practise the group format. It is our own scenario about a fictional trust, written for practice; it is not a Scheme exercise.
Practice brief (ours, not the Scheme's)
Missed outpatient appointments at Riverside Community Trust
Situation. Riverside is a fictional community trust. Last quarter about 1 in 10 booked physiotherapy appointments were missed without notice. Each missed slot is time a patient on the waiting list could have used, and the waiting list for a first appointment is growing. The operations director has asked your group for one recommendation to take to next month's board.
Options on the table
- A. Text and phone reminders two days before every appointment.
- B. Overbook each clinic by one slot to absorb missed appointments.
- C. Let patients pick their own slot online, with evening clinics twice a week.
Facts each person holds (give one to each player): (1) Reminder texts cost little, but about 1 patient in 8 has no mobile number on file. (2) Physiotherapists say overbooked clinics run late and patients on the last slots wait longest. (3) The patient forum says many missed appointments are people who could not get time off work. (4) The online booking system needs IT work and staff training before it can start.
Task. 20 minutes to agree one recommendation, one risk and how you would know in three months whether it worked. Last 2 minutes: one person summarises the group's answer.
How to use it: run it with three friends on a video call (four players, one fact each), set a timer and record it (with everyone's consent). Then watch it back against the NHS values table under "What the Scheme says it is looking for" (our reading, not a marking guide). There is no right option; the brief tests how you work with others and use what they know.
Three worked examples
Example 1: the group exercise, minute 12
- Two players are arguing for overbooking (option B) and one player has not spoken. You hold fact 3: many missed appointments are people who could not get time off work.
- A strong move: "Before we decide, Sam, you have not had a chance yet, what does your fact say? Mine is that a lot of these patients cannot get time off work, which makes me think evening clinics matter more than overbooking."
- Why it works: you bring someone in by name, share your information, give a reason, and move the group towards a decision. It shows respect and dignity and working together for patients without saying either phrase.
Our practice brief; our reading of what a strong contribution looks like.
Example 2: the written exercise, the first three lines
- Weak opening: "This briefing will look at the issue of missed appointments, which is a complex problem with many causes."
- Strong opening: "Recommendation: start reminder texts two days before every physiotherapy appointment, with phone calls for patients who have no mobile number on file. Texts cost little, and phone calls, where a number is on file, reach the patients texts would miss; for anyone with no contact details, the clinic checks them at their next visit."
- Why it works: the reader knows your answer and the reasons in two sentences, and the detail follows. It picks one option, as the task asks, and uses the facts in the pack (cost, missing mobile numbers) rather than general statements. A strong briefing would then name the risk, for example that reminders do not help patients who cannot get time off work.
Our practice brief.
Example 3: "Tell us about something you enjoy doing and do well"
- Weak answer: a list of qualities ("I am organised, a team player and hard-working") with no example.
- Stronger answer: one specific thing ("I enjoy turning a messy set of information into something people can use"), one example of when you did it, what you did yourself, what changed because of it, and why that matters for an NHS management trainee.
- Why it works: it is honest, specific and linked to the role. A strengths question rewards what genuinely motivates you, so do not rehearse an answer about something you do not enjoy.
Our model question and answer; the official pages we cite give no VAC questions.
Before the day: your VAC checklist
After the VAC: outcomes, reserve list and allocation
After the VAC the Scheme contacts you with one of three outcomes. If you are successful, an offer is made straight away. If you are on the reserve list, the Scheme gets in touch again if a place on the Scheme becomes available. If you are unsuccessful, you still receive the feedback report, which is worth reading closely if you plan to apply again.
Allocation follows, and the Scheme is clear that it is not part of the assessment: the VAC is the final assessment stage. Offers are matched to placement roles offered by NHS organisations using your assessment scores and your preferences, and the Scheme tries to match you to the closest possible placement. Its Locations FAQs add that offers weigh your assessment ranking, placement availability, regional preference and personal circumstances; that a placement in your preferred region cannot be guaranteed; and that once you have passed the Assessment Centre your preferred regions, or the region you are allocated, cannot be changed. A reasonable commute is defined as up to 90 minutes to and from work.
Candidates who pass the VAC and are matched to a placement start pre-employment checks and onboarding, ready to join on the first Monday of September 2027. Trainees are employed full time on a fixed-term contract of 24 months, or 30 months in Finance and Engineering & Estates Management. The Scheme's starting salary is £31,276, with the opportunity to increase to £33,681 after 12 months; our NHS graduate scheme salary guide covers pay, specialisms and how competitive the Scheme is.
Reasonable adjustments and fairness
The Scheme asks candidates to tell it if they need reasonable adjustments during selection, and says it only needs enough information to confirm the adjustments, not details you prefer to keep private. Before the VAC it also asks whether there are medical conditions the VAC team should know about. All assessors are fully trained, including in recognising and avoiding unconscious bias.
Common mistakes to avoid
Our preparation advice, based on the Scheme's official notes and on how the exercise types above usually work; the official pages we cite list no VAC mistakes.
- Skipping the Scheme's own coaching calls, hints and tips and platform familiarisation videos: official preparation the Scheme encourages candidates to use.
- Testing your camera for the first time on the day, instead of using the platform's technical check in advance.
- In any group discussion, treating it as a contest: talking over people, or staying silent until the end.
- In any exercise with a brief, ignoring the facts given and arguing from general opinion.
- In anything you write, burying the recommendation at the bottom.
- Learning answers to a list of "NHS VAC questions" from the internet instead of preparing honest examples of your own.
- Not knowing why you chose your specialism, or what a management trainee in it actually does.
- Choosing regional preferences casually: they cannot be changed after you pass the Assessment Centre.
Practise Stage 2 and the VAC before your invitation
Our NHS GMTS Video Interview + Virtual Assessment Centre Pack has a Stage 2 bank of 30 video questions with a timed answer drill and 10 model answers, plus VAC practice: group-exercise briefs with role cards, a written task and a briefing exercise, each with notes on what a strong answer shows.
Try one timed video question free, then see the Video Interview + VAC Pack. Independent practice; not made or endorsed by the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme.
Frequently asked questions
What is the NHS graduate scheme assessment centre?
It is the Stage 3 Virtual Assessment Centre (VAC) of the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme: a half-day online assessment with several exercises, where you also meet the NHS team and other candidates. It is the final assessment stage.
When are the NHS GMTS assessment centres for 2027 entry?
The Scheme says the VACs start in January 2027 and run through February 2027. Your invitation sets your own date.
How long is the NHS GMTS virtual assessment centre?
Half a day, according to the Scheme's Apply page.
What exercises are in the NHS GMTS VAC?
The official Apply page says only that there are several engaging exercises and does not specify which. Preparation material, including coaching calls and platform familiarisation videos, appears in your candidate account. It makes sense to prepare for the common formats: a group exercise, a written task, a short briefing and an interview.
Is the NHS GMTS assessment centre in person?
No. For 2027 entry Stage 3 is a Virtual Assessment Centre, taken online. The VAC platform has its own mic and camera check.
What happens after the NHS GMTS assessment centre?
You receive one of three outcomes: an immediate offer, a place on the reserve list, or unsuccessful. Everyone gets a feedback report. Offers then go through allocation to a placement, pre-employment checks and onboarding.
What does the reserve list mean?
The Scheme will get in touch again if a place on the Scheme becomes available.
Can I change my region after the assessment centre?
No. The Scheme says that once you have passed the Assessment Centre, it cannot change your preferred regions or the region you are allocated.
Do I get feedback if I fail the VAC?
Yes. The Scheme provides a feedback report after the VAC regardless of the outcome.
Can I ask for reasonable adjustments at the VAC?
Yes. The Scheme asks you to tell it about any adjustments you need and only needs enough information to confirm them. It also asks about medical conditions the VAC team should be aware of.
Sources
- official — NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme: Apply (2027 entry): recruitment process, Stage 3 Virtual Assessment Centre, outcomes, allocation, preparation materials, reasonable adjustments (read 27 Oct and 1 Nov 2026)
- official — NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme: Entry requirements and right to work
- official — NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme: home page (specialisms, starting salary £31,276, with the opportunity to increase to £33,681 after 12 months)
- official — NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme: Locations and regional preference FAQs
- official — NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme: About us (NHS values)
- official — Department of Health and Social Care: The NHS Constitution for England (GOV.UK), the six NHS values
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
