NHS supporting statement examples, and how to write yours
Most NHS jobs are applied for through an online form, and the supporting statement — or supporting information — is where shortlisting is decided. Panels score it against the person specification. This guide shows how to structure it so every criterion gets evidence, with worked examples for clinical and non-clinical posts.
By the OpusStride team · Updated · 7 min read
What shortlisters are looking for
Every NHS vacancy comes with a job description and a person specification. The person specification lists criteria — usually split into essential and desirable — under headings such as qualifications, experience, skills and knowledge. Shortlisters work through it criterion by criterion and look for evidence in your application.
- Essential criteria must be met to be shortlisted. If a criterion isn’t marked, treat it as essential.
- Desirable criteria help you stand out, but missing them won’t usually rule you out.
- Criteria marked "application form" are assessed from what you write — later ones may be assessed at interview.
A structure that works
- A short opening: who you are, your current role, and why you want this post at this trust.
- The person specification, in order: a heading for each criterion (or group of related criteria), with evidence underneath.
- NHS values: how your work reflects them — and the trust’s own values, if it publishes them.
- A brief close: what you would bring to the team.
Using the person specification’s own headings makes the shortlister’s job easy: they can tick each criterion as they find your evidence.
I am a Band 5 staff nurse on a respiratory ward, registered with the NMC since 2022, and I am applying for the Band 6 Respiratory Nurse post. Over the last year I have led the ward’s inhaler-technique checks and covered as nurse in charge on late shifts. I want to move into a specialist role where I can follow patients from admission through to community follow-up, which is the focus of this post.
Writing the evidence
For each criterion, give a specific example rather than a claim. A situation–action–result structure keeps examples short and concrete.
Experience of supervising junior staff (essential)
As a Band 6 staff nurse on a 28-bed acute medical ward, I supervise healthcare assistants and newly qualified nurses on most shifts. I am a practice assessor for student nurses and have supported six students through placements in the last two years, all of whom completed their assessments. I introduced a short handover checklist for new starters that the ward manager has since adopted for all inductions.
The same approach works for non-clinical posts. Desirable criteria deserve evidence too: they are often what separates candidates who all meet the essentials.
Experience of using an electronic patient record system (desirable)
In my current role as a Band 4 medical secretary in outpatient cardiology, I book clinics, update referral outcomes and manage the consultant’s correspondence queue in the trust’s electronic patient record. When the system was upgraded last spring, I wrote a one-page guide to the new letter workflow for the four secretaries in our team, and we cleared the typing backlog from three weeks to five working days within two months.
What each band should show
Most NHS posts are graded on the Agenda for Change pay bands. Pitch your examples at the band you are applying for: the same task reads differently for a Band 3 and a Band 7 post.
| Band | Typical roles | What your examples should show |
|---|---|---|
| 2–4 | Healthcare assistants, administrators, assistant practitioners | Reliable delivery of care or service, following procedures, communication with patients and colleagues |
| 5 | Newly qualified nurses, AHPs and other registered staff | Safe practice, clinical skills from placements or first posts, willingness to learn |
| 6 | Experienced and specialist practitioners | Clinical expertise, supervising others, managing a caseload or shift |
| 7 | Team leaders, advanced practitioners, ward managers | Leading a team or service, improving quality, managing resources and risk |
| 8a and above | Senior managers, consultants in non-medical professions | Service-wide leadership, strategy, budgets, working across organisations |
More examples
Experience of providing personal care (essential)
For the past two years I have worked as a healthcare assistant on a 24-bed elderly care ward, helping patients with washing, dressing, eating and mobility on every shift. I complete fluid balance charts and NEWS2 observations and report changes to the nurse in charge straight away. Last winter I noticed a patient’s fluid intake had dropped over two days; I raised it, and the team started a hydration plan before she became unwell.
Ability to lead and develop a multidisciplinary team (essential)
As deputy ward manager of a 30-bed surgical ward, I lead a team of 42 nurses and HCAs and coordinate with physiotherapy, pharmacy and the discharge team. When our staff survey showed low morale on night shifts, I introduced a monthly night-team meeting and moved two senior nurses onto rotating nights. Vacancies on nights fell from six to one within nine months, and agency spend on the ward dropped by about £60,000 over the year.
If you are a student or newly qualified
Placements count as experience. Name the placement area, how long you were there and what you did, and draw on your practice assessment document for specifics. Earlier jobs, such as care work, retail or customer service, give you evidence for communication, teamwork and working under pressure. Many trusts run preceptorship programmes for newly qualified staff; saying you want to complete one shows you know how the first year works.
If you trained outside the UK
State your UK registration status clearly: registered with the NMC, GMC or HCPC with your PIN or number, or where you are in the process (for example “NMC application submitted; OSCE booked for March”). Give your English language test result if you took one, such as OET or IELTS. If you will need a Health and Care Worker visa, say so; the trust will check whether it can sponsor you.
NHS values
The NHS Constitution sets out six values: working together for patients; respect and dignity; commitment to quality of care; compassion; improving lives; and everyone counts. Many trusts publish their own values too. Show them through examples rather than listing them.
A patient with advanced dementia became very distressed during evening medication rounds. I spoke with her daughter, learned that she had always taken her tablets with a cup of tea after the news, and agreed a change of timing with the pharmacist. Her distress at medication times reduced, and I added the routine to her care plan so the whole team could follow it.
Length and practicalities
- On NHS Jobs, the boxes for essential and desirable criteria allow up to 5,000 characters each — roughly 700 to 900 words. Other systems and adverts set their own limits; check before you write.
- Draft in a word processor first, then paste in, so you don’t lose work to a timeout.
- Keep personal identifying details out of criteria boxes if the system asks you to, to support anonymised shortlisting.
- Proofread for clinical abbreviations a non-specialist panel member might not know.
Common mistakes
- A general essay about why you love the NHS, with no link to the person specification.
- Missing an essential criterion, which can mean automatic rejection at shortlisting.
- Copying the same statement into every application.
- Describing what the team did rather than what you did.
- Naming patients or including details that could identify them.
- Going over the box limit and losing the end of the statement.
Where your CV fits
Some trusts, medical posts and locum agencies ask for a CV as well. Keep it factual — registration, grade or band, posts with dates, training — and put the narrative evidence in the statement. The NHS & Healthcare CV template puts your GMC, NMC or HCPC registration right under your name.
Frequently asked questions
- How long should an NHS supporting statement be?
- Long enough to evidence every essential criterion and as many desirable ones as you can — typically one to two pages of A4. Respect any limit in the advert or system; NHS Jobs criteria boxes allow up to 5,000 characters each.
- Should I use headings in my supporting statement?
- Yes. Headings that mirror the person specification make it easy for shortlisters to find the evidence for each criterion.
- Should I use the STAR method in an NHS supporting statement?
- Yes, in a short form. Give the situation in a sentence, spend most of the words on what you did, and finish with the result for patients or the service.
- What band should I apply for?
- The band that matches your current responsibilities, or one band higher if you already do some of the next band’s work. Your examples need to show that level.
- Can I reuse the same statement for different jobs?
- Reuse your examples, but rebuild the statement around each post’s person specification. Criteria differ even between similar roles.
Templates for this
Related reading
Sources
Put it into practice
Build it from a region-matched template, then check what an ATS reads.