These are the things employers ask for when they advertise this role, ranked by how often they ask. Measured across 321 Band 6 person specifications, drawn from 1,221 nursing adverts.
What employers screen for
Work down this list. The top band is where preparation pays, and every percentage is the share of Band 6 nursing person specifications naming that requirement.
Often asked
Worth preparingSometimes asked
Prepare if the advert names itOccasionally asked
Only if it is in your advertThe questions, with the evidence
Tell me about a time you disagreed with a doctor or a senior colleague about a patient.
This question exists because 52.6% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require working as part of a multidisciplinary team.
A strong answer includes
- escalating rather than deferring, with the patient as the reason
- the specific route they used and who they went to next when it did not work
- the outcome for the patient
Weak answer signs
- deferring to hierarchy and leaving it
- never having disagreed with anyone
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you raise a concern about a colleague's practice?
- Describe your role in a multidisciplinary team meeting.
- Give me an example of a handover that prevented harm.
- What would you do if a colleague dismissed a concern you raised?
Also set out in The NHS Constitution for England, Department of Health and Social Care, under "Working together for patients". Checked 2026-09-11.
Tell me about a difficult conversation you had with a patient or relative.
This question exists because 49.8% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require communication and interpersonal skills.
A strong answer includes
- what was actually said, not that they were empathetic
- checking understanding rather than assuming it
- documenting what was communicated
Weak answer signs
- medical language with no translation
- avoiding the conversation
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you explain a diagnosis to someone who did not want to hear it?
- Describe a handover where something important nearly got missed.
- Give me an example of adapting how you communicate for one patient.
- What would you do if a relative became angry with you?
Also set out in The NHS Constitution for England, Department of Health and Social Care, under "Respect and dignity". Checked 2026-09-11.
Tell me about a student or junior colleague you supervised.
This question exists because 46.7% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require mentoring, supervising and assessing in practice.
A strong answer includes
- a named person and what they could not do at the start
- the assessment decision, including a fail if there was one
- supporting and assessing held apart rather than conflated
Weak answer signs
- passing someone to avoid conflict
- no example of giving difficult feedback
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you handle a student who was not meeting the required standard?
- Describe feedback you gave that was difficult to give.
- Give me an example of something you changed about how you teach.
- What would you do if a student made a drug error on your shift?
What is the most recent thing you learned that changed your practice?
This question exists because 45.5% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require continuing professional development, portfolio, revalidation.
A strong answer includes
- something specific and recent, with what changed in practice afterwards
- development they chose rather than only mandatory training
Weak answer signs
- listing mandatory training as development
- nothing since qualifying
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you keep your portfolio current in a busy post?
- Describe a piece of development you sought out yourself.
- Give me an example of feedback that changed how you work.
- What would you do if you identified a gap in your own knowledge?
Tell me about a time you changed practice because of evidence.
This question exists because 35.5% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require evidence-based practice, audit and clinical governance.
A strong answer includes
- a named guideline or source
- what happened after the audit, not just that one was done
- escalating a policy conflict rather than deciding alone
Weak answer signs
- evidence as a word with no example
- changing practice unilaterally
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you respond if a colleague said we have always done it this way?
- Describe an audit you took part in.
- Give me an example of a guideline you follow and why it exists.
- What would you do if the evidence and local policy disagreed?
Also set out in The NHS Constitution for England, Department of Health and Social Care, under "Commitment to quality of care". Checked 2026-09-11.
You have four patients needing you at once. Talk me through what you do.
This question exists because 34% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require prioritising and organising a workload.
A strong answer includes
- a clinical rationale for the order, not just a list
- escalating when the workload is genuinely unsafe
- delegating with the delegate's competence considered
Weak answer signs
- trying to do everything
- no escalation at any point
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you handle a shift where the workload was unachievable?
- Describe a time you had to delegate.
- Give me an example of a task you deliberately left undone.
- What would you do if a priority changed halfway through a shift?
Tell me about a time you led a shift.
This question exists because 28.3% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require leadership, deputising and line management.
A strong answer includes
- a decision they owned, with the reasoning
- the difficult conversation actually happening
- delegation with competence considered
Weak answer signs
- leading by doing everything themselves
- avoiding the conversation
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you handle a team member who was not pulling their weight?
- Describe a decision you made that your team disagreed with.
- Give me an example of developing someone.
- What would you do if you were in charge and two emergencies happened at once?
This post covers the shift pattern in the advert. How does that work for you?
This question exists because 26.2% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require shifts, on-call, unsocial hours.
A strong answer includes
- a concrete answer on availability rather than saying they are flexible
- fatigue named as a patient safety issue, not just a personal one
Weak answer signs
- unlimited availability that will not survive month two
- working on when unsafe to do so
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you handle being asked to stay past the end of a shift?
- Describe a time you worked short-staffed.
- Give me an example of how you manage nights.
- What would you do if you were too tired to work safely?
What would you do if you suspected a patient was being abused at home?
This question exists because 18.7% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require safeguarding adults and children.
A strong answer includes
- reporting without delay, to a named route
- no promise of confidentiality to someone disclosing
- escalating above the person who dismissed it
Weak answer signs
- investigating first
- waiting to be certain
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you respond to a disclosure from a child?
- Describe a safeguarding concern you raised.
- Give me an example of something that would worry you about a visitor.
- What would you do if your concern was dismissed by a senior colleague?
Talk me through the skill named in the advert, step by step.
This question exists because 18.1% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require named clinical skills.
A strong answer includes
- the steps, including consent and checks
- the competence boundary stated clearly
- declining and escalating rather than attempting
Weak answer signs
- attempting something they are not signed off for
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you handle a procedure that was not going as expected?
- Describe your competency sign-off for that skill.
- Give me an example of a time you declined to perform a skill.
- What would you do if asked to do something outside your competence?
Tell me about a patient who deteriorated on your shift.
This question exists because 17.8% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require recognising and escalating the deteriorating patient.
A strong answer includes
- a named early warning tool and the actual score
- a second escalation route when the first failed
- staying with the patient
Weak answer signs
- waiting for the next observation round
- one escalation attempt and no follow-up
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you escalate if the first person did not respond?
- Describe what you observed before you were worried.
- Give me an example of a time you were wrong to be worried.
- What would you do if a doctor would not come?
Talk me through how you assess a patient you have just met.
This question exists because 16.8% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require assessment, care planning and therapeutic intervention.
A strong answer includes
- assess, plan, implement, evaluate, as a loop rather than a list
- the patient's own goals in the plan
- what changed at evaluation
Weak answer signs
- a plan with no evaluation
- goals written for the ward rather than the patient
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you plan care for someone whose needs changed daily?
- Describe a care plan you wrote that someone else had to follow.
- Give me an example of an evaluation that changed the plan.
- What would you do if the plan did not match what you found?
Tell me about a time you adapted care for someone's background or beliefs.
This question exists because 11.2% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require equality, diversity and inclusion.
A strong answer includes
- a specific adaptation rather than treating everyone the same
- own development named, since the criterion usually asks for evidence of it
- challenging, and what they said
Weak answer signs
- I treat everyone exactly the same, which the criterion is written against
- no example of having done anything
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you respond to a patient who refused care from a colleague because of their ethnicity?
- Describe what you have done to improve your own understanding of equality issues.
- Give me an example of an assumption you had to unlearn.
- What would you do if you heard a colleague make a discriminatory remark?
Also set out in The NHS Constitution for England, Department of Health and Social Care, under "Everyone counts". Checked 2026-09-11.
Tell me about a change you were part of.
This question exists because 10.9% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require service improvement and managing change.
A strong answer includes
- their specific part rather than the project
- measured before and after
- resistance engaged rather than overruled
Weak answer signs
- change described entirely in the first person plural
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you bring a resistant colleague with you?
- Describe something you tried that did not work.
- Give me an example of an improvement you suggested.
- What would you do if a change was imposed that you thought was wrong?
Also set out in The NHS Constitution for England, Department of Health and Social Care, under "Improving lives". Checked 2026-09-11.
Tell me about a patient you could not forget.
This question exists because 9.3% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require compassion, dignity and person-centred care.
A strong answer includes
- one named patient and what was actually done
- the small thing rather than the heroic one
- challenging poor care at the time
Weak answer signs
- compassion as an adjective with no example
- walking past poor care
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you protect someone's dignity on a busy ward?
- Describe a time you had very little to offer someone.
- Give me an example of something small that mattered to a patient.
- What would you do if you saw care being delivered without dignity?
Also set out in The NHS Constitution for England, Department of Health and Social Care, under "Compassion". Checked 2026-09-11.
What makes a good nursing entry?
This question exists because 5.9% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require record keeping and documentation.
A strong answer includes
- contemporaneous, factual, timed, signed
- correcting rather than obscuring
- the record understood as a legal document
Weak answer signs
- documenting at the end of a shift from memory
- altering an existing entry
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you correct an error in a record?
- Describe the difference between what you observed and what you concluded.
- Give me an example of a record that mattered later.
- What would you do if you found an entry you believed was untrue?
A relative phones asking about a patient. What do you say?
This question exists because 5% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require confidentiality and information governance.
A strong answer includes
- consent checked before anything is shared
- confidentiality not absolute where there is a safeguarding risk
- reporting inappropriate access
Weak answer signs
- absolute confidentiality with no exception
- discussing patients on social media
Similar questions (4)▾
- How would you handle recognising a patient you know personally?
- Describe what you would not discuss outside work.
- Give me an example of information you would share, and with whom.
- What would you do if a colleague looked at a record they had no reason to see?
Screening questions
These get asked once and answered factually. There is no clever version of them, and an evasive answer on any of them ends the application.
Is your NMC registration current, and when is your next revalidation due?
This question exists because 86% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require NMC registration.
A strong answer includes
- PIN, current status and revalidation date, given straight
- revalidation described as something they did rather than something that happened to them
Weak answer signs
- vagueness about revalidation timing
- any lapse not disclosed up front
Similar questions (1)▾
- Talk me through what you did for your last revalidation.
What is your qualification and where did you train?
This question exists because 43% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require degree or diploma level registration.
A strong answer includes
- the award, the institution and the year
Weak answer signs
- overstating an incomplete award
Which clinical systems have you used?
This question exists because 35.5% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require IT and digital literacy.
A strong answer includes
- named systems rather than 'good with computers'
Weak answer signs
- vagueness where a named system is in the advert
Do you hold the post-registration qualification named in the advert, or are you willing to work towards it?
This question exists because 25.9% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require post-registration or specialist qualification.
A strong answer includes
- a factual answer
- willingness stated plainly if not held
Weak answer signs
- claiming a course that was started and not finished
What is the closest setting you have worked in to this one?
This question exists because 15.3% of Band 6 nursing person specifications require experience in a named setting.
A strong answer includes
- an honest mapping of what transfers and what does not
Weak answer signs
- claiming equivalence between very different settings
Similar questions (1)▾
- What would be new to you here?
How we build this
- We analysed 321 Band 6 person specifications, drawn from 1,221 nursing adverts.
- We verified against official frameworks where one exists, reading the live source rather than quoting from memory.
- Every percentage on this page links back to what produced it.
Important. These are not leaked interview questions. They are built from real UK job adverts and official employer frameworks, to reflect the requirements employers consistently assess.
What this sample cannot tell you. Band is separated now and specialty is not, so a Band 6 community mental health post and a Band 6 theatre post are counted together. Two thirds of the adverts pulled do not appear here at all: some are not nursing posts, and most published no specification beyond a line pointing at an attached document. Those adverts leave the denominator rather than voting no on every requirement, which means the figures describe employers who publish a specification, not all employers.
We do not claim these are the exact questions you will be asked. We measure what UK employers consistently ask for in their job adverts, check it against published assessment frameworks where one exists, and turn those requirements into realistic interview questions. Every question shows where it came from.