Here is the reading list that scores in 2027: the current named BOASTs from the British Orthopaedic Association (the old numbers — BOAST 1, BOAST 4 — are gone), a shortlist of seven NICE guidelines, the two GIRFT orthopaedic reports plus the national cauda equina pathway, and roughly ten landmark papers. You are not expected to critically appraise anything at interview — but an answer that opens with the relevant standard and closes with a trial reads as registrar-level, and that is what the scoresheet rewards.
Why does your reading decide so many of the 234 marks?
The 2027 interview totals 234 marks: 34 from the self-assessment and 50 from each of the four 10-minute stations — Commitment to Specialty, Clinical, Prioritisation and Communication. Technical Knowledge is scored twice: 10 marks in the Clinical station and another 10 in the Communication station. Add the knowledge that underpins Problem Solving & Decision Making and Situational Awareness, and your reading is working for you across three of the four stations. In 2026 the appointability threshold was 146/232; the 2027 threshold is still to be confirmed. The full 2027 matrix and self-assessment tables are on our self-assessment page.
Which BOASTs should you know — and where did the numbers go?
The BOA replaced the numbered BOASTs with named Clinical and Process standards some years ago, so if your revision notes still say "BOAST 4" for open fractures, they are out of date. Each BOAST is a single-page executive summary with auditable standards — ideal interview material, because you can quote the standard, then show you know how it plays out at 2am. These are the ones that map to the perennial viva topics:
| Current BOAST (BOA) | Date | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Open Fractures | Dec 2017 | The old "BOAST 4". Debridement timing, early IV antibiotics, combined orthoplastic care — pair with NICE NG37. See our open lower limb fractures walkthrough. |
| Diagnosis and Management of Compartment Syndrome of the Extremities | Updated July 2025 | Clinical diagnosis first, urgent fasciotomy — quote the current version, not the 2014 one. Our compartment syndrome guide covers the station-ready structure. |
| The Management of Patients with Pelvic Fractures | Jan 2018 | The old "BOAST 3". Binder placement, transfer criteria — see the pelvic trauma call. |
| The Care of the Older or Frail Orthopaedic Trauma Patient | May 2019 | Successor territory to "BOAST 1": hip fracture and orthogeriatric co-management, alongside NICE CG124. |
| Supracondylar Fractures of the Humerus in Children | Updated Oct 2020 | Neurovascular documentation, timing of surgery — a paediatric station favourite. See supracondylar fractures. |
| The Management of Children with Acute Musculoskeletal Infection | May 2022 | The septic-joint-versus-transient-synovitis scenario. |
| Peripheral Nerve Injury | Dec 2021 | The old "BOAST 5". Documentation and referral standards after nerve injury. |
| Assessment of the Spine in the Trauma Patient | April 2025 | Spinal clearance in the trauma call — recently refreshed. |
| Diagnosis and management of arterial injuries associated with musculoskeletal trauma | June 2026 | The newest clinical BOAST — knowing it exists signals you read current standards, not a 2019 course handout. |
| The Management of Distal Radial Fractures | Dec 2017 | Wrist scenarios, alongside the DRAFFT evidence below. |
| The Management of Ankle Fractures | Aug 2016 | Older-patient ankle fractures and timing of fixation. |
All are free single-page PDFs on the BOA standards page. Read the full current list once — noticing what has been archived (numbered BOASTs, the earlier compartment syndrome version) is itself useful interview awareness.
Which NICE guidelines come up at the ST3 interview?
Seven cover almost every scenario the Clinical and Communication stations can throw at you:
| Guideline | Ref | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Hip fracture: management | CG124 | Updated Jan 2023 — surgical procedure recommendations were revised; know the emphasis on early surgery and the multidisciplinary Hip Fracture Programme |
| Fractures (complex): assessment and management | NG37 | Updated Nov 2022 — open fractures, pelvic fractures, pilon fractures |
| Fractures (non-complex): assessment and management | NG38 | 2016 — the ED/clinic fracture pathway |
| Major trauma: assessment and initial management | NG39 | 2016 — the trauma-call framework for any polytrauma scenario |
| Spinal injury: assessment and initial management | NG41 | 2016 — immobilisation and imaging decisions |
| Joint replacement (primary): hip, knee and shoulder | NG157 | 2020 — elective consent and perioperative care; useful in the Communication station |
| Osteoarthritis in over 16s | NG226 | 2022 — non-operative management before you offer a joint replacement |
The hip fracture update matters: CG124 was revised in January 2023, so an answer built on pre-2023 notes about implant choice can be quietly wrong. Cross-check anything you memorised on a course against the live guideline.
What should you read from GIRFT?
Getting It Right First Time started in orthopaedics, so panels expect you to know it. Three documents earn their place:
- The 2015 national orthopaedic report (Prof Tim Briggs) — the landmark review of over 140 providers that launched the whole GIRFT programme. Know its themes: unwarranted variation, surgeon volumes, implant choice, litigation cost.
- "Getting It Right in Orthopaedics" (February 2020) — the follow-up. One quotable pair of numbers: annual negligence claims against T&O fell from 1,617 to 1,202, with estimated claim costs down from £176m to £147m. Dropping that into a clinical-governance answer shows you connect standards to outcomes.
- The National Suspected Cauda Equina Syndrome Pathway — first published February 2023 and updated March 2026, so it is current for your cycle. Emergency MRI for suspected CES is now pathway-driven, and published audits show the guidance reduced admissions without missing diagnoses. This has replaced the old CES paper-list wholesale — build your answer on the pathway, then add the evidence. Our cauda equina syndrome guide maps it to the station format.
Which classic papers are still worth citing?
One landmark reference per topic is enough — know the design and the headline finding, nothing more:
- Hip fracture: Baumgaertner's tip-apex distance (JBJS, 1995) for fixation failure; the HEALTH trial (NEJM, 2019) on total hip arthroplasty versus hemiarthroplasty; WHiTE 5 (NEJM, 2022) on cemented versus uncemented hemiarthroplasty — the modern replacement for the older Parker comparisons.
- Young femoral neck fractures: Ly and Swiontkowski's treatment review (JBJS, 2008).
- Open fractures: Gustilo and Anderson's classification (JBJS, 1976); the WOLLF trial (JAMA, 2018) on negative-pressure dressings.
- Compartment syndrome: McQueen and Court-Brown (JBJS Br, 1996) — the differential pressure threshold of <30 mmHg for fasciotomy.
- Paediatric septic arthritis: Kocher's criteria (JBJS, 1999) for distinguishing septic arthritis from transient synovitis.
- Major trauma: CRASH-2 (Lancet, 2010) — tranexamic acid within 3 hours.
- Distal radius: the DRAFFT trial (BMJ, 2014) — K-wires versus locking plates.
How do you actually use this reading at each station?
Structure every clinical answer the same way: immediate safe management, then the standard ("the BOAST on open fractures requires…"), then the evidence if invited ("WOLLF supports…"). In the Clinical station that sequence scores Technical Knowledge and Problem Solving together. In the Communication station, guideline knowledge is what lets you consent or break bad news accurately — NG157 and NG226 do more work here than trauma papers. In Prioritisation, the standards justify your ordering: suspected CES goes above the ankle fracture because the pathway mandates emergency MRI, and you can say so.
When should you start, and how much is enough?
The 2027 applicant handbook has not been published yet, but the 2026 cycle is your template: applications opened 20 November 2025, closed 16 December 2025, and interviews ran online via Qpercom from 24 to 27 March 2026. Expect the 2027 dates to track roughly a year later — which means starting your reading in the autumn, not after shortlisting. A realistic plan is two BOASTs plus one NICE guideline a week from November, the GIRFT material over the winter break, and the trial list in the final month, rehearsed out loud against timed scenarios. That last step is where most candidates fall short — knowing a standard and deploying it inside a 10-minute station are different skills, which is why we built the orthointerview.com question bank around the actual station format.
Read less, but read current: the named BOASTs, the seven NICE guidelines, GIRFT, ten papers. Everything on this list has been verified against the live source for the 2027 cycle.