NHS Supporting Information Examples: What Good Looks Like
The difference between weak and strong is almost always specificity
Many NHS applicants struggle not because they lack the experience but because they do not know how to present it. Comparing a weak and a strong response to the same criterion is one of the most practical things you can do before sitting down to write your own application.
Example criterion: ability to communicate effectively with patients and colleagues
Weak version
I have excellent communication skills and am able to talk to patients and staff at all levels. I am a good listener and always ensure patients feel heard.
This tells the panel nothing specific. It cannot be scored against a criterion because it contains no evidence. Most candidates write something similar.
Strong version
As a Band 4 healthcare assistant on a busy acute medical ward, I regularly support patients who are anxious about procedures. A patient last year had a documented needle phobia and had previously refused a routine blood test. I sat with them before the appointment, went through each step of the procedure at their pace, and agreed a signal they could use to pause at any point. They went ahead and completed it and they specifically asked the ward manager afterwards to pass on their thanks for how the conversation had gone. On a daily basis I also pass on patient observations and concerns to nursing colleagues, both at handover and between formal check-ins when something changes.
That second version is specific, contextualised, and easy for a panel to score against the criterion.
If you want to understand exactly how NHS shortlisting works and what separates a rejected application from a top-scoring one, download the free NHS Jobs Fast-Track Guide by clicking here.
Example criterion: experience of working as part of a team
Weak version
I am a team player and enjoy working with others to achieve shared goals. I have always worked well with colleagues throughout my career.
Strong version
As part of a multidisciplinary team on a respiratory ward, I contributed to weekly patient review meetings alongside nurses, physiotherapists, and registrars. During a period of high sickness absence that left us two staff down, I volunteered to take on additional handover duties and co-ordinated directly with the ward manager to prioritise which tasks could be safely redistributed. The ward still met its discharge targets that month.
What makes these examples work
A real setting and real context - not a hypothetical
Specific actions described in the first person
A visible result or outcome
Language that is direct and easy to read quickly
Nothing that could apply to 'any nurse in any hospital'
How to find your own strong examples
Think back through your career for specific incidents rather than general patterns. The time you dealt with a distressed patient and found a way through. The time you spotted something others had missed. The time you changed a process that was not working. These are the stories that score well and they are in your experience already.
Every NHS application is scored.
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So instead of spending hours rewriting every application manually, you can apply faster, stay consistent, and give yourself a better chance of getting shortlisted.
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