IMT recruitment has published what is changing for 2027, ahead of the full website update in the autumn. If you are collecting points this year, two of these change what is worth doing.
The self-assessment matrix moves in two directions
Publications are worth less. The maximum drops from 8 points to 6, and the whole scale shifts down with it: what scored 8 now scores 6, 6 becomes 5, 5 becomes 4, 3 becomes 2, and 1 stays where it is.
Presentations and posters are worth more. The maximum goes the other way, up from 6 to 8. What scored 6 now scores 8, 4 becomes 6, 3 becomes 4, and 2 stays where it is.
So the top of the publications domain and the top of the presentations domain have swapped. If you were choosing between chasing one more paper and getting to a national conference, that calculation is not the same as it was last year.
Abstracts have been pushed down
Abstracts and letters can no longer be claimed under the PubMed-cited other publication options. An abstract can still be claimed, but only for the lowest scoring option, and only if it did not come from a presentation or poster you have already claimed, which closes the route where one piece of work counted twice.
The five points for applying only to IMT have gone
In 2026 you could get five points at shortlisting for applying only to the joint IMT and ACCS-Internal Medicine vacancy in Round 1. That score has been removed. Shortlisting is now entirely your self-assessment across the scored domains. IMT recruitment say they removed it in response to prioritisation, as outlined below.
Prioritisation applies at shortlisting and at offers
The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 got Royal Assent on 5 March 2026 and is now law. For IMT in 2027, it will now apply at both the shortlisting stage and the offers stage.
The full 2027 guidance is not out until the autumn, so check it before you plan around any of this.
Sources: IMT Recruitment: IMT 2027 website update in the autumn and Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026
