Trac supporting information: what to write and how long

Several NHS employers take applications through Trac, an online recruitment system, and the supporting information section is where you show how you meet the person specification. The two Trac guides below that print a limit both give 1,500 words and two others print none, so check the limit on your own form before you write.

Where it sits on the form

HEIW (NHS Wales) shows a Trac application as eight sections, in this order: pre-application questions, right to work status, personal details, qualifications, training and employment history, supporting evidence, further information, references and equal opportunities. It calls supporting evidence "the personal statement" and says it is where you show "how you meet the criteria". Apart from the pre-application questions, you can fill in the sections in any order, and you can save the form and come back to it.

The section has different names. HEIW says supporting evidence. Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust heads it "Supporting statement" and then calls it the Supporting Information section. Milton Keynes University Hospital and Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital say supporting information.

Your employment history is a separate part of the form. HEIW says you write an overview of the duties of each role from the last three years, "up to a maximum of 500 words" for each. Shrewsbury and Telford tells you that you "don't need to repeat" in the supporting information anything the employment history already covers.

How long

Each row says only what that publisher's document says.

Form	What the section is called	Limit	Who says so
Trac, NHS Wales	Supporting evidence (the personal statement)	1,500 words, maximum	HEIW
Trac, NHS Wales, employment history	Overview of each role in the last three years	Up to 500 words for each role	HEIW
Trac, one NHS trust	Supporting statement	Up to 1,500 words	Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Trac, one NHS trust	Supporting information	None stated	Milton Keynes University Hospital
Trac, one NHS trust	Supporting information	None stated	Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital
NHS Jobs, for comparison	Essential and desirable criteria boxes	5,000 characters in each box	NHS Business Services Authority

HEIW's document carries no date, and the Leeds and York page is dated 1 October 2024. Both print 1,500 words for their own form. HEIW advises you to check your word count in Word, Notepad or an online tool "when there is a maximum number of words". NHS Jobs counts characters, and the word and character limits guide lists the other forms.

What shortlisters read for

Three employers say how they judge the section. Milton Keynes says the information you give is "assessed against the Essential and Desirable criteria for the role", and that its shortlisters do not see your name, address, age or ethnic background. They see your qualifications and training, professional registration, work history and supporting information. Shrewsbury and Telford says it assesses applications "based on the criteria set out in the person specification". Leeds and York says recruiters "will be scoring your application against" the criteria.

The person specification guide explains how to read one, and the essential and desirable criteria guide covers what counts as evidence.

Laying out one statement for many criteria

The Trac guides above describe one statement for the whole person specification, where NHS Jobs has its own text boxes for the essential and desirable criteria. You set out the criteria yourself.

• HEIW says following the order of the person specification gives your statement "a natural flow" and helps you cover every criterion.
• Leeds and York says bullet points and subheadings are good and that "Long paragraphs and essays are not so good." It adds that you can group your skills and experience into themes that match the job.
• HEIW's "sandwich method" has three parts: an introduction, how you meet the criteria, and a close that sums up what you bring and says why you want the role.

Under each heading, give one example. HEIW warns that stating you meet a criterion does not show you have the skill, and asks for evidence of using it. Milton Keynes prints an example beside a list of essential criteria. It describes volunteering at a parent and toddler group, where taking the register accurately sits beside essential criteria such as accurate record keeping.

The shape of one answer

The person specification here is from an advert copied on 30 October 2026: a Band 3 senior healthcare assistant post at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, in NHS Wales. It groups its lines under qualifications, experience, and skills and attributes, each with essential criteria. The short lines after "Made up" are invented to show how much one line holds. Use things that really happened to you.

Criterion: "Experience of working within a relevant health or social care environment, providing direct patient care"

• When and where: the setting and the dates. Made up: a day centre for older adults, weekdays, March 2024 to now.
• What you did: one task you handled yourself. Made up: helped people to and from lunch, then wrote the daily record for each one.
• What happened: what changed for the person or the team. Made up: a man who had stopped eating his lunch was reported to the manager, who called his family that day.

Criterion: "Ability to work with minimum supervision to a high standard"

• When and where: the setting and the dates. Made up: a care home, night shifts, two carers on the floor.
• What you did: one task you handled yourself. Made up: did the 2am turns for six residents and signed each chart.
• What happened: what changed. Made up: no missed turns in six months, which the manager noted at supervision.

CVs and covering letters

Shrewsbury and Telford says it does not accept CVs and that you complete the application form on Trac. It also says not to use a standard cover letter for the supporting information: refer to the job description and the person specification, and give specific examples. The statement or cover letter guide covers the difference.

Before you submit

• Every essential line of the person specification has an example under it, and so does each desirable line you meet.
• The statement is inside the limit on your form. If the form does not count the words, count them in Word or Notepad.
• You have not repeated your employment history.
• You have read the whole application. Shrewsbury and Telford says you cannot change an application after you submit it.

You can also check your draft against the person specification to see which criteria still have no example.