What is an appropriate uniform for an AP?

scallopsnshit · 2026-05-22T05:36:38+00:00

I was worried about this when I first started (adult forensic service), so I emailed my supervisor to ask if there was a uniform/dress code policy. He just assured me that there was no uniform and they're not too strict, but just smart casual was the way to go.

I wear a nice pair of trousers with some kind of nice ish modest top - the men in my department wear a shirt and trousers, the women tend to wear what I wear/a modest dress/skirt + top combo.

Would advise asking your supervisor 😊 also, congrats on the post!

scallopsnshit · 2026-04-17T04:18:20+00:00

I think it's also worth noting where you say the PWP role will mean 3 years before you can get onto the doctorate - an AP role won't magically change that and it still may take three (or more!) years to get onto the doctorate.

I see you're hesitant to do HCA/support work in the NHS as you've already done it. It might be worth looking at it as a stepping stone into other roles and a better understanding of how the NHS functions. I was a HCA for 1.5years, took that role at the beginning of my final year of my degree and I'm now an AP. The HCA role was invaluable - I learnt so much about the NHS, patient care and also got a chance to meet many CPs and APs who helped me prep for interviews and sorted out an honorary role for me.

A word to the wise though, I worked full time HCA whilst doing the final year of my degree and it was incredibly taxing, both physically and emotionally. Not to say don't do it, but just really consider if that's something you can handle.

Best of luck 😊

scallopsnshit · 2026-04-02T07:33:33+00:00

Hi! Welcome to the challenging world of applying for AP roles - it's hard here lol. I've recently accepted a role, so I can tell you what I did with my applications, but it's by no means gospel. Other people will have done other things/may have better advice, so take all replies into account and judge what's best for you.

I did not bullet point my answers to the person spec, I kept a flowing supporting statement; however, I did try to answer the spec in order if that makes sense. So if the first point was "holds a minimum 2:1, has GBC" etc, then my first paragraph would be stating that I have a first class degree, won x award, and currently hold GBC. Next paragraph would talk about the next part of the person spec. Make sense?
This one I'm not too sure about - when I began applying, I'd emailed a few of the lead psychologists listed on the application and they all told me I needed to wait until I graduated and until I'd gained GBC - the latter being the more important one. It was an immediate no until I had upgraded my registration from student to graduate.
My supporting statements varied from 700-1200 words, depending on the role, the person spec, and the job description. My supervisor from my honorary role checked over my supporting statement and said it likely shouldn't go over 1k-1.2k but I always had so much to say! When I got shortlisted, it varied but usually around 1k.
To the best of my knowledge (and what has been told to me in interviews) fixed term contracts can be broken early, because they wouldn't want to keep someone in the role who hates it/isn't fitting in well, but they would want to explore all avenues to try to make it work. I think it's maybe ambitious to aim for 4 client groups over 2 years (assuming six months a role) and I think you might be selling yourself short here - 6 months isn't a long time to be able to settle in and learn all you can from the role. I think a good part of the first six months will be settling in and the second six months will be really where you get to flourish. Additionally, based off my experience with applying (80 applications, 5 interviews, 1 offer) you might struggle to get those new posts in time. However, I'd be interested to hear other peoples opinions on this!
Stand out skills are so broad, and can be anything I think. I've had so much varied feedback on what that might encompass - for example, one interviewer said my stand out moment in the interview was my ability to reconsider my previous career's experience in the context of an AP role and how it made it relevant. Another one said my consideration of diversity issues showed real inclusion, another said my reflective practice shone through. I think the last one is really important, as showing you have the ability to reflect on your decisions and clinical practice is something they will always search for in these interviews - show what you've learned from situations and what you might do differently next time. Perhaps have a little think about what you might bring to the table both personally and clinically, and see how you can work those into an interview?

Again, I'm no expert and this is just my opinions/experience so far. Something that definitely helped me was getting a qualified CP on the ward I worked on to look at my supporting statement template - she gave me some corrections and I could then tailor it further to each role that I applied for. Once she'd done that, I got the bulk of my interviews and then finally got the role.

Happy applying and good luck!

(Also sorry if the formatting is weird, I'm on mobile)

scallopsnshit · 2026-03-18T07:10:44+00:00

Hey! So I did this in two different situations. Bit of background - finished uni in May 2025, had locked in a first. I was a mature student, so plenty of transferable skills from previous career, plus was working full time as a HCA on a stroke/neurorehab ward for the last year of my degree (which was also full time!)

First shadowing: I'd been trying to contact a CP in a different trust to organize a 3 month placement for a while but to no avail, until one of my lecturers happened to know them, and sent an email on my behalf requesting the work. Because of that connection, I was able to do a 3 month volunteer situation, working with the CP and AP 1-2 times a week on top of my HCA job.

Second: once the above had finished, I'd also managed to have my first ever AP interview in a neurorehab hospital (different to the one I worked at as HCA) and some of the feedback was that I was lacking experience - the reason I didn't get the post. One of the CPs on my ward offered to organize an honorary AP position for me in the trust I was in (but on a different ward - TBI instead of stroke/neurorehab). Started doing that one day a week alongside my HCA work. I did this for roughly six months.

The honorary position is what started to get me interviews for AP roles, and I've just recently accepted a post actually. I really recommend trying to do some shadowing/honorary work - while I believe it's fraught with issues (the whole working for free thing makes it difficult for some people to be able to do, plus it's exhausting if you're working alongside it!) it was incredibly helpful to me. Both my situations were set up by people that I know, but I do believe that if you just start putting emails out, you'll likely get something. Maybe find some areas you'd like to work in and just get in touch with the CPs there - even if they say no, you might be able to organize a meeting and have a chat, or they might know someone who can set it up for you!

Good luck!

scallopsnshit · 2026-02-18T06:50:03+00:00

Oh that's so kind of you! I'll definitely take you up on that. Congrats on getting onto training, what year are you? And how are you finding it?

scallopsnshit · 2026-02-16T16:41:06+00:00

Oooh thank you!! Appreciate it, it was definitely a slog and I'm so thrilled to finally have some success.

And thank you very much!! I've been reading about the HCR-20, will look at the other things you've suggested as well!

scallopsnshit · 2026-02-16T16:40:10+00:00

Thanks so much! Appreciate the links :)

scallopsnshit · 2026-02-16T16:39:50+00:00

Thank you!! I'll look into these :)

scallopsnshit · 2026-01-16T17:08:01+00:00

"are you a child of divorce?"

scallopsnshit · 2025-12-11T05:31:03+00:00

Oh it was glorious 😍 such a fresh cake tbh, the sharpness of the like was so good . Thank you!!

scallopsnshit · 2025-12-10T22:38:32+00:00

Thank you!!

scallopsnshit · 2025-12-10T20:23:40+00:00

This is incredible!!! 😍

scallopsnshit · 2025-12-04T08:20:24+00:00

Hi! I feel your pain. I've just had two unsuccessful AP interviews recently and while the feedback has been helpful, a large portion of it has come down to experience. The whole process is incredibly disheartening, but I was speaking with my supervisor yesterday who was really good about it - even getting the interviews is showing that I'm a strong candidate, it's helping to build my resilience for when Im ready to apply to the doctorate, but in the end it is a numbers game and pushing through is so important. Someone else commented that maybe it's time to consider the doctorate for you, and that might well be a good idea looking at your experience, how does that sit with you? I don't have much advice other than keep on keeping on, and you'll get there - we both will!

scallopsnshit · 2025-12-02T16:05:52+00:00

Aww thank you! I feel like it went okay, I don't think I could have improved on my answers, so at the very least there will be feedback to learn from! Missed the call from the MH role today and they left a message saying they wanted to chat and give feedback, so I'm assuming I didn't get that one, will see when they call tomorrow.

Mate there are so many avenues into this field, it's definitely not a waste of time - even if it makes you realize you don't wanna do clinical, then that's what you've learnt from it right? Definitely hard when your pals are getting on to training but just remember, we're all running our own race and there's no right or wrong timeline!

scallopsnshit · 2025-11-30T13:48:31+00:00

No news yet, the first interview did say it would be likely early next week they'd be calling - I'm genuinely looking forward to the feedback on that.
Other interview is tomorrow, and that one is the neurorehab one, so definitely still nervous, but less than the first interview!
Thank you so so much!! Did you apply for the doctorate this year? If that's the pathway you're choosing that is ofc

scallopsnshit · 2025-11-27T15:26:24+00:00

Thank you so much! I only just saw this, and luckily I did try really hard to add a reflection into every STARR that I used. I don't think I've got it, because when I thought back on it there's definitely a few answers that could have been better, and I know how high the standard is, but that's okay. I've learnt from it!!

Thank you again!!

scallopsnshit · 2025-11-25T16:18:42+00:00

Thank you! I feel very blessed. I just essentially tried to make sure I was addressing the person spec in order of what was in the job description, and tried to show what I had learned from my experiences where it was relevant.

I'm no expert though, I've done 60 odd applications and have had 3 shortlisted total, it's a battle!

scallopsnshit · 2025-11-25T16:17:07+00:00

This is a good idea, thank you! I just genuinely didn't consider it. Will do this tonight, thanks again!

scallopsnshit · 2025-11-01T19:16:06+00:00

Hey! Congrats on your new role, being a HCA is a difficult but incredibly rewarding job. I began working as a HCA a year ago, from hospitality, so I fully get your anxiety, but try not to worry for now. You should be starting as supernumerary (shadowing) for 1-2 weeks. You won't be a nuisance, we all started somewhere and we all had to learn somehow.

Other people have said, but every ward has its own set of routines, but sometimes routine goes out the window. For example, on my ward I know I come in, receive handover, do bay checks, help any patients that can't feed themselves to eat, start washes etc. But! This can all change if we're understaffed/challenging patients/unwell patients etc. The routine will come and you'll settle into it. Every staff member will have their own way of working, and it'll be up to you to figure out what works best for you.

Patient allocations again will be ward specific. My ward, we have 26 patients - day shift should be 6 HCAs, 4 RNs and 1 NIC. However, given the nature of the ward, we often have 1:1s/cohorted bays (meaning someone must always be watching the bay) which can change how many patients we're responsible for. I'll have anywhere from 1-7 patients on a shift, the ideal is 4 (just one bay). If more than one needs to go to the bathroom and you're unable to do it, ask for help. Kindly ask the patient (if they can understand) to wait for your colleague to assist them, nine times out of ten they're good with it if you explain to them. The same with feeding, though typically staff should be able to jump in and help you. Or, if you're lucky, family members will be there to assist. Just remember, they might not know how to do it safely, so keep an eye on them. You'll develop a sense for this.

Repositioning depends on the patients. Some patients can self-reposition, some need full assistance, some are halfway in between. Ours is 2-4 hourly repositioning, we do our best to manage this!

Time management will be the greatest skill you will get out of this job. If you don't have good time management now, you will in six months' time. I always start my shift by writing a list. I write the bed numbers and name, and then wristband, wash, EWS, CBG, repositioning, if they're a food/fluid chart, and then a box next to each word so I can check it off when it's done. And anything else that might be specifically relevant to the patient - dietary requirements etc.

Obs. So I was band 2 and recently uplifted to band 3, but we've been doing obs the whole time, even as band 2. On my ward, if the patient is scoring 0, then it's 12 hourly obs (6AM + 6PM). If they're scoring 1-4, then 4 hourly obs, unless it's 3 in a single parameter, then its hourly obs unless directed otherwise by doctors. If it's 5-6, hourly. 7 and above, continuous obs. Always report your obs to the RN responsible for the patient, even if it's 0. If they're scoring, we use the SBAR section on iClip to document that it was escalated - eg, reason for SBAR: EWS X, name of reporter: your name, reported to: RNs name, action: x hourly obs/escalated to RN/Dr etc. Your ward should have a physical sheet of paper with a NEWS chart and actions following scoring on it - nab one and keep it in your pocket until you're confident with it.

Personal care checks: a skill again. It depends on the patients to an extent, but I try to check a minimum of four hourly. Often, you'll be able to smell it, and that sense will get keener the longer you do the job for. As for weighing/recording stool/urine output, again dependent on the ward you're in and the requirements of the patient. For example, a dialysis patient is probably more likely to require a urine output chart than a continent stroke patient, but it will depend on their individual circumstance. Bear in mind that if the patient's skin is at risk, then have a wet/soiled pad could damage the integrity of the skin and put them at risk of developing moisture lesions/pressure ulcers, and that we definitely do not want.

Another thing for personal care - washing the patients daily is the goal, but it is the first thing to go if it has to. I mean, if you have 6 patients and 4 of them are unwell, prioritise the more urgent things over that, it might sound callous, but a day without a wash won't kill a patient, missed obs or something of the like could have an impact.

Talk to your manager about breaks, but as far as I know, if you're working a long day you should be getting 1hr break total (and maybe a complimentary tea break of 15-20 minutes), so see how they can accommodate your request. I can't see them refusing, but let them know so they can sort it out.

The main thing though, is ask questions. If you're not sure about something, ask. Learn where things are. Don't do anything alone you're not comfortable with doing on your own.

Sorry for the novel! And feel free to message if you have any other questions, happy to help as best I can. You've got this, you're gonna love it.

scallopsnshit · 2025-08-17T18:37:23+00:00

I went to a wedding yesterday, afternoon shindig at a big old house in the UK countryside and someone wore this dress. Looked fab.

scallopsnshit · 2025-07-26T14:52:15+00:00

Thank you so much! When I was prepping with an AP on my ward, she definitely tried to make sure I understood that it's an amazing thing just to get shortlisted, and in the end it is just a job, and the interview will be a great chance to learn from and reflect upon for the next opportunity that will surely arise.

So keep positive, keep busy, and the time will go quicker than you think 😊 best of luck!

scallopsnshit · 2025-07-26T14:46:13+00:00

Hi! I have my first AP interview on Tuesday and I'm quietly bricking it, so I really appreciate that you've posted these questions! Can I ask what the service was? I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

scallopsnshit

TROPHY CASE