NHS Core Values in Physiotherapy Course Interviews

By The PhysioInterview Team · Professionally reviewed · Updated October 2026

Physiotherapy is not only about clinical knowledge and practical skills. It also requires you to work well with others, treat people with dignity, respond with compassion and make decisions that keep patients at the centre of care.

These behaviours connect closely with the six values in the NHS Constitution for England. Because many physiotherapy students complete placements in NHS services and may later work in the NHS, some university interviews may explore values and behaviours relevant to NHS care.

However, interview criteria vary between universities. Always read the current guidance from each course provider rather than assuming every interview will assess the values in the same way.

This guide explains what each NHS value means in a physiotherapy context, the kinds of questions it may help you answer and how to demonstrate it using evidence from your own experience.

Contents

• Working Together for Patients
• Respect and Dignity
• Commitment to Quality of Care
• Compassion
• Improving Lives
• Everyone Counts
• How to Use NHS Values in Your Interview
• Key Takeaways

1. Working Together for Patients

The NHS Constitution describes this value as putting patients first in everything the NHS does. It recognises that high-quality care depends on patients, families, carers, staff and organisations working together.

What This Means in Physiotherapy

Physiotherapists rarely work alone. Depending on the setting, they may communicate with occupational therapists, nurses, doctors, speech and language therapists, support workers, social workers, patients and family members.

For example, a patient recovering from a stroke may need coordinated support with mobility, personal care, communication, swallowing, medication and discharge planning. Each professional contributes different expertise, but the shared goal should remain the patient's safe and meaningful recovery.

Working together also involves:

• Listening to the patient rather than making decisions around them
• Communicating clearly with colleagues
• Understanding your own role and respecting the roles of others
• Sharing relevant information appropriately
• Managing disagreement professionally
• Asking for help when something is outside your competence

Questions This Value May Help You Answer

• Tell us about a time you worked successfully in a team.
• What makes multidisciplinary teamwork effective?
• How would you respond if you disagreed with another team member?
• Why is communication important in physiotherapy?

How to Prepare

Your example does not need to come from healthcare. You could use a group project, sports team, paid job, volunteering role or society. Choose an example that shows what you contributed, how you listened to others and how the team achieved a shared outcome.

Avoid saying only that you are “a good team player”. Give evidence of the behaviour behind that claim.

2. Respect and Dignity

This value means treating each person as an individual, valuing what matters to them and protecting their dignity.

What This Means in Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy may involve discussing sensitive information, observing movement, touching a patient during assessment or asking someone to perform an activity they find difficult. Respect and dignity therefore need to shape both communication and practical behaviour.

This can include:

• Introducing yourself and explaining your role
• Gaining valid consent before assessment or treatment
• Explaining what you plan to do and why
• Protecting privacy during physical assessment
• Using respectful, person-centred language
• Listening to the patient's preferences, concerns and goals
• Respecting a person's right to decline or stop
• Avoiding assumptions based on age, diagnosis, culture or background

For example, before assessing shoulder movement, a physiotherapist should explain what the assessment involves, check that the patient understands and agrees, and maintain privacy if clothing needs to be adjusted.

Questions This Value May Help You Answer

• How would you maintain a patient's dignity during an assessment?
• What would you do if a patient did not want to continue treatment?
• Tell us about a time you treated someone with respect.
• What does person-centred care mean to you?

How to Prepare

Think of an experience in which you listened without judgement, protected someone's privacy, adapted your approach or respected a choice you would not personally have made.

In an interview scenario, do not jump straight to persuading the person. First show that you would listen, clarify their concerns, respect consent and involve an appropriate supervisor or member of staff when needed.

3. Commitment to Quality of Care

The NHS Constitution links quality with safety, effectiveness and the patient's experience. It also emphasises learning, improving and striving for the best possible standard of care.

What This Means in Physiotherapy

For an applicant, commitment to quality does not mean pretending that you already have the knowledge of a qualified physiotherapist. It means showing a responsible attitude towards learning, evidence, feedback, safety and professional limits.

Relevant behaviours include:

• Preparing carefully and following agreed procedures
• Using reliable evidence rather than making unsupported claims
• Recognising when you do not know something
• Seeking guidance before acting outside your competence
• Responding constructively to feedback
• Reflecting on mistakes and making improvements
• Reporting concerns through the appropriate route
• Considering both clinical outcomes and the patient's experience

Imagine that you encounter an unfamiliar condition during a placement. A quality-focused response would be to recognise the limits of your knowledge, pause before taking action, ask your supervisor for guidance and use appropriate sources to learn more. Guessing or trying to appear confident would create unnecessary risk.

Questions This Value May Help You Answer

• Tell us about a time you received feedback.
• How do you make sure your work is completed to a high standard?
• What would you do if you did not know how to answer a patient's question?
• Why is evidence-based practice important in physiotherapy?

How to Prepare

Choose an example in which feedback or reflection led to a real change. Explain what you learned and what you did differently afterwards. This is stronger than claiming that you always get everything right.

4. Compassion

Compassion involves recognising distress or difficulty and responding with sensitivity, patience and a genuine wish to help.

What This Means in Physiotherapy

Rehabilitation can be physically demanding and emotionally difficult. A patient may be experiencing pain, fatigue, fear, frustration, embarrassment or loss of independence. A compassionate physiotherapist does not dismiss these feelings or treat the person as a task to complete.

Compassion may involve:

• Listening carefully before responding
• Acknowledging pain, fear or frustration
• Using a calm and supportive tone
• Giving someone time to express concerns
• Adapting communication or the pace of an interaction
• Offering reassurance without making unrealistic promises
• Combining empathy with safe professional action

Suppose a patient refuses to mobilise after surgery. A poor response would be to label them as uncooperative. A compassionate response would begin by exploring why. They may be frightened of falling, worried that movement will damage the operation, experiencing uncontrolled symptoms or struggling to understand the plan. Listening helps the team respond to the actual barrier.

Compassion does not mean agreeing to everything or ignoring safety. It means understanding the person's experience while working within appropriate professional boundaries.

Questions This Value May Help You Answer

• Tell us about a time you supported someone who was struggling.
• How would you respond to an anxious patient?
• What does empathy mean in healthcare?
• How can a physiotherapist show compassion while remaining professional?

How to Prepare

Use an example that shows what you noticed, how you adapted your response and what effect that had. Keep the focus on the other person's needs rather than presenting yourself as the hero of the story.

5. Improving Lives

This value reflects the NHS's wider purpose of improving health, wellbeing and people's experiences of care.

What This Means in Physiotherapy

Physiotherapy outcomes are not limited to measurements such as strength or range of movement. These measures matter, but they should connect to what the person wants or needs to do in everyday life.

For one patient, progress might mean walking to the local shop independently. For another, it might mean returning to work, managing breathlessness, playing with their children or taking part in sport again.

Improving lives therefore involves:

• Understanding what matters to the individual
• Setting meaningful and realistic goals together
• Supporting independence and self-management
• Promoting health and preventing avoidable problems
• Reviewing progress and adapting the plan
• Looking beyond the diagnosis to participation and quality of life

Questions This Value May Help You Answer

• Why do you want to become a physiotherapist?
• What impact can physiotherapy have on a person's life?
• What is the difference between treating a condition and treating a person?
• Why is goal setting important in rehabilitation?

How to Prepare

When discussing the impact of physiotherapy, connect physical recovery with real life. Instead of saying only that physiotherapists “help people get better”, explain how movement, confidence, independence and participation can affect a person's daily life.

6. Everyone Counts

The NHS Constitution states that resources should be used for the benefit of the whole community and that nobody should be excluded, discriminated against or left behind.

What This Means in Physiotherapy

People do not all face the same barriers to care. Communication needs, disability, health literacy, culture, finances, transport, caring responsibilities and access to technology can all affect whether someone can understand or follow a rehabilitation plan.

Treating everyone fairly does not always mean giving everyone exactly the same thing. Equality means people should have fair opportunities; equity recognises that some people need different support to reach those opportunities.

For example, handing every patient the same written exercise sheet may look equal, but it may not be accessible to someone who cannot read it, has a visual impairment or is not confident in English. Depending on the person's needs and the setting, a better approach might involve clear spoken explanations, demonstration, accessible formats, visual information, checking understanding or arranging appropriate interpreting and communication support.

This value can involve:

• Challenging discriminatory language or behaviour appropriately
• Considering accessibility when communicating
• Avoiding stereotypes and assumptions
• Adapting support to individual needs
• Recognising barriers to participation
• Making sure quieter voices are heard
• Escalating concerns when someone may be at risk of exclusion or harm

Questions This Value May Help You Answer

• What does inclusive care mean to you?
• How would you communicate with someone who has difficulty understanding you?
• Tell us about a time you included someone who might otherwise have been left out.
• What is the difference between equality and equity?

How to Prepare

Think of a time you noticed that a standard approach did not work for everyone. Explain how you adapted, sought support or helped make participation more accessible. Do not make assumptions about a person's needs; show that you would ask, listen and use appropriate support.

7. How to Use NHS Values in Your Interview

Knowing the names of the six values is useful, but listing them alone does not demonstrate how you think or behave. Interviewers need evidence.

Start With the University's Own Criteria

Read the course page, applicant guidance and interview invitation carefully. A university may publish its own values, professional behaviours or selection criteria. Use the NHS values as a helpful framework, not as a substitute for the provider's instructions.

Build a Flexible Example Bank

Prepare several experiences from different parts of your life, such as:

• Work or volunteering
• School or university projects
• Sport, societies or community activities
• Caring or supporting responsibilities
• Observation or healthcare-related experience

One strong experience may demonstrate more than one value. A group project could show teamwork, respect and commitment to quality. Supporting a new volunteer could show compassion, inclusion and communication.

Do not memorise six rigid scripts. Instead, understand each example well enough to adapt it to the question being asked.

Structure Examples With STAR

The STAR structure can help you keep competency answers clear:

• Situation: Briefly explain the context.
• Task: State what you needed to achieve or what responsibility you held.
• Action: Describe the specific actions you took and why.
• Result: Explain the outcome and what you learned.

The Action section should normally contain the most detail. Use “I” when describing your own contribution, even when the achievement belonged to a team.

For a fuller explanation, read our guide to using the STAR method in physiotherapy interviews.

Add Reflection

A strong answer does more than describe what happened. It shows what the experience taught you and how that learning will influence your future behaviour.

You might explain:

• What you would repeat next time
• What you would change
• What feedback taught you
• Which value the experience helped you understand
• Why the learning matters for physiotherapy training

Reflection makes your answer more credible because it shows development rather than perfection.

Avoid Forcing Every Answer Back to the NHS

If a question asks about teamwork, answer the teamwork question. You can explain the relevant value naturally, but do not turn every response into a rehearsed list of NHS terminology.

Your goal is to show that your decisions and behaviour are consistent with compassionate, inclusive and patient-centred care.

8. Key Takeaways

• The six NHS Constitution values are working together for patients, respect and dignity, commitment to quality of care, compassion, improving lives and everyone counts.
• The NHS Constitution referenced here applies to England; interview expectations and healthcare frameworks may differ elsewhere in the UK.
• University selection criteria vary, so always check the current guidance for each physiotherapy course.
• Do not only memorise definitions. Connect each value to realistic physiotherapy behaviour and evidence from your own experience.
• Use clear examples, explain your individual contribution and reflect on what you learned.
• One experience can demonstrate several values, so prepare a flexible example bank rather than six separate scripts.

Understanding NHS values can help you explain the kind of physiotherapy student—and future professional—you are trying to become. The strongest answers will not simply repeat the wording of the values. They will show those values through thoughtful decisions, specific actions and honest reflection.