medical specialty recruitment handbook · considered for 2020 recruitment. all recruitment...
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Medical Specialty Recruitment Handbook
2020 Recruitment Rounds
Version Control
1.0 20/09/2019 First publication
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This guide constitutes the minimum requirements expected of a national recruitment office
and the recruiting regions for managing specialty recruitment 2020 (i.e. for posts commencing
from August 2020 to April 2021) within the UK. The document also illustrates a number of
policy agreements and changes signed off by the Recruitment Sub Group on behalf of Health
Education England (HEE) and the devolved nations where they are involved in national
recruitment.
Main Process Changes to Note for 2020 Recruitment (by specialty handbook section)
1. Overview of 2020 National Recruitment
• New guidance on how and when to request changes to specialty recruitment
processes
• Requirement of a monthly highlight report from all recruitment offices; not just those
that are national recruitment leads
• Guidance on archiving of vacancies on Oriel
• Guidance on how applicants should raise concerns about specialty recruitment e.g.
whistleblowing on fraudulent documents
4. Flexibility in Deployment of Trainees
• Special circumstances is a 4 nation process
• Clearer guidance on acceptable evidence
• Revised special circumstances application forms, which include a checklist to assist
applicants
9. Timetable
• Dates added to each recruitment round for forwarding Fitness to Practise supporting
information on for accepted applicants
10. Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) Guidance
• All medical practitioners are now on the Shortage Occupation List and therefore the
Resident Labour Market Test no longer needs to be met.The exception is all applicants
to Public Health Medicine, who will still need to meet the RLMT
11. Eligibility
• Proof of Foundation Competence – guidance on accepting those who have
previously relinquished a specialty training programme, who have a satisfactory ARCP
record
• Proof of Foundation Competence – additional guidance on demonstration of
foundation competence to include WAST doctors
• Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training – revised guidance – awaiting
MDRS Programme Board sign off
13. Interviews
• Reasonable adjustments for attending interviews and selection centres –
including examples of adjustments that should be considered
• Applicant expenses – national guidance for England
• Interviewer expenses – national guidance for England
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14. Offers
• New quality assurance process to be followed, prior to releasing offers
• Requests to swap accepted posts – new guidance
• Fitness to Practise – guidance on fitness to practise applicants who have accepted
posts
Appendix 1
• Guidance on clinical benchmarking availability and when an offer should be withdrawn
Appendix 2
• RLMT guidance for managing applicants to Public Health only
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Contents
1. Overview of 2020 National Recruitment 10
Document 01: Process for Requesting Recruitment Process Changes 10
Document 02: Specialty Recruitment Steering Group Terms of Reference
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1.1 Exceptions to National Recruitment 11
1.2 Inclusion of Posts in National Recruitment 11
1.2.1 Inclusion of Posts After Offers 11
1.3 Embargo of Recruitment Data 12
1.4 Archiving of Recruitment Vacancies 12
1.5 Applicants Raising Concerns 12
2. Recruitment Audit 13
3. Code of Practice Requirements (England only) 14
4. Flexibility in Deployment of Trainees 15
4.1 Special Circumstances 15
4.1.1 Eligibility Requirements 15
4.1.2 Assessing Eligibility 15
Document 03: Special Circumstances Application Form – Primary Carer 17
Document 04: Special Circumstances Application Form – Disability or Medical Condition
17
Document 05: Special Circumstances Application Aid 17
4.1.3 Timescales 17
4.1.4 Allocation of Eligible Applicants 17
4.1.5 Special Circumstances Process 19
4.1.6 Declaration of Special Circumstances after Deadlines 20
4.2 Offer Exchanges/Enhanced Preferencing 20
5. Recruitment Process 21
6. Local Recruitment 22
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7. Applications 23
8. Advertisement 24
Document 06: Template for NHS Jobs adverts – to be used when directing applicants to a different website for information about the vacancy and requirements of the Code of Practice
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Document 07: Template for NHS Jobs adverts – to be used when detailing all of the vacancy information required by the Code of Practice in the advert itself
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Document 08: Template for Portal Vacancy Advert 24
9. Timetable 25
10. Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) Guidance 29
11. Eligibility 30
11.1 Immigration and Right to Work Status 30
11.2 GMC/GDC Registration 31
11.3 Reapplication to Specialty 31
11.3.1 Following Removal or Resignation 31
Document 09: Support for Reapplication to a Specialty Training Programme
31
Document 10: Exclusion Policy Signatories 31
11.3.2 Currently in the Same Specialty Training Programme 32
Document 11: Support for Reapplication of Specialty Training in a Different Region
32
11.4 Demonstration of Competence 32
11.4.1 Proof of Foundation Competency 32
11.4.1.1 Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training
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Document 12: Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training 2020 35
Document 13: Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training – Reference Version
35
Document 14: Evidence of Foundation Competence – Applicant Guide 35
Document 15: Evidence of Foundation Competence – Signatory Guide 35
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11.4.2 Proof of Core Competency 35
11.5 Examinations 36
11.6 English Language Skills 36
11.7 Experience in Specialty/Employment History 36
11.8 Fitness to Practise 37
Document 16: Fitness to Practice Declaration Form 37
Document 17: Longlisting Decision Summary Document 37
12. Shortlisting and Self-Assessment 38
13. Interviews 39
13.1 Organisation and Communication with Applicants 39
13.2 Reasonable Adjustments for Attending Interviews and Selection Centres
39
Document 18: Reasonable Adjustments Examples 39
13.3 Applicants Unable to Attend Interview 39
13.3.1 Specialties with Multiple Interview Locations 40
13.3.2 Specialties with Single Locations 41
13.3.3 Acceptable and Unacceptable Reasons for Requesting a Change
41
13.4 Interview process 41
13.5 Recording of Interview Scores 43
13.5.1 Hardware and Wi-Fi 43
Document 19: Field Guide 43
Document 20: External venue booking Wi-Fi requirements 43
Document 21: Digital Scoring Best Practice Guide 43
13.5.2 Browsers 43
13.5.3 Qpercom Experts 44
13.5.4 Panellist Training 44
13.5.5 Release of Interview Scoresheets to Applicants 44
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13.6 Selection Centre Roles and Responsibilities 45
13.7 Interview Panel 45
13.8 Lay Representatives 46
Document 22: Lay Representative Best Practice Guide 46
Document 23: Lay Representative Report 46
13.9 Trainee Involvement in Recruitment and Selection 46
13.10 Disruption to Attendance 46
13.11 Interview Expenses 50
13.11.1 Applicant Expenses 50
Document 24: Applicant Interview Expenses Policy (England) 50
13.11.2 Interviewer Expenses 50
Document 25: Panel Member Interview Expenses Policy (England) 50
13.12 Internet and Telephone Interviews 51
Document 26: Minimum standards for interview invitations 51
Document 27: What applicants can expect at interview 51
Document 28: Interview Document Checklist 51
Document 29: Standard template for collection of missing documents at interview
51
Document 30: Interview/Selection Centre Roles and Responsibilities 51
Document 31: Interview Incident Form 51
14. Offers 52
Document 32: Offer letter template 52
Document 33: Oriel offers checklist 52
14.1 Making Preferences 53
14.2 Releasing Offers 53
14.3 Offer Detail 53
14.4 Offer Responses 53
14.4.1 Accepting an offer 54
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14.4.2 Holding an offer 54
14.4.3 Rejecting an offer 54
14.4.4 Upgrading offers 54
14.4.5 Hierarchical offers 55
Document 34: Hierarchical upgrades 55
14.5 Applicants Requesting to Swap Their Accepted Post 55
14.6 Fitness to Practise and Offers 55
Document 35: Fitness to Practise Process 56
14.7 Late Inclusion of Posts/Programmes 56
14.8 Recording of Withdrawals and Deferrals 56
14.8.1 Withdrawals 56
14.8.2 Deferrals 57
15. Clearing 58
16. References 59
Document 36: National Reference Form 59
Document 37: Academic Reference Form 59
17. Applicant Feedback 60
17.1 Longlisting 60
17.2 Shortlisting 60
17.3 Interview/Selection Centre 60
17.3.1 Interviewer comments 61
Document 38: Feedback Templates and Communications 61
Document 39: Feedback Comments – Assessor Guidance 61
18. Applicant Support 62
19. Recruitment Issues and Risks 63
19.1 Issues 63
19.2 Risks 63
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20. Complaints and Appeals 64
Document 40: National Complaints Procedure 64
Document 41: National Complaints Log 64
21. Managing Concerns about Probity 65
21.1 Investigating Concerns Raised During Longlisting/Shortlisting 65
21.2 Investigating Concerns Raised at Interviews/Selection Centre 66
21.3 Accountability 67
21.4 Informing Others 67
21.5 Informing Applicants 67
21.6 Appeals 67
22. Defence Deanery Applicants 68
22.1 Eligibility 68
22.2 Applications 68
22.3 Interviews 68
22.4 Offers 69
23. Document Management 70
Appendix 1 Recruitment to Academic Clinical Fellowships (ACFs) 71
Appendix 2 Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) Guidance for Applicants to Public Health
85
Document 42: Immigration Eligibility Pathways 85
Appendix 3 Contact Details – Tier 2 Lead Sponsors 94
Appendix 4 National Recruiters 95
Appendix 5 Glossary of Terms 101
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1 Overview of 2020 National Recruitment
All specialties must have or have previously had their national recruitment process signed off
by the Recruitment Sub Group. Any major changes to recruitment processes must be given
the approval of the Recruitment Sub Group, prior to advertisement.
Requested changes to national recruitment processes should be submitted to the Recruitment
Sub Group by no later than September 2019. Where sufficient information is not available to
give approval at the September meeting, changes cannot be implemented until the following
recruitment year, subject to further information being provided to allow the change to be
agreed.
When requesting changes to recruitment processes, the following timetable should be
followed:
Tuesday 28 May 2019 Deadline for consideration of recruitment process changes at the June Recruitment Sub Group
Tuesday 27 August 2019 Deadline for consideration of recruitment process changes at the September Recruitment Sub Group
Proposed changes should be emailed by the above deadlines to
[email protected]. Wherever possible, the aim should be to submit
proposed changes by the earlier date, in case there is any clarification required, which would
necessitate bringing it back to the later meeting for approval.
Where the reasons for change are not clear at the September meeting, changes cannot be
considered until the following recruitment year, as there will be no further opportunity for the
Recruitment Sub Group to consider these before recruitment opens.
Any requests for consideration of changes received after 27 August 2019 will not be
considered for 2020 recruitment.
All recruitment processes must use the nationally approved person specifications. All person
specifications, signed off by the Recruitment Sub Group are available at
https://specialtytraining.nhs.uk.
All recruitment offices are expected to complete a monthly highlight report, available on the
Recruitment Operational Group (ROG) SharePoint site. This will be reviewed regularly by the
national MDRS team and significant risks and issues will be discussed with the Recruitment
Operational Group Executive (ROGE) members on their regular calls.
Specialties should follow a clustered interview model, single interview centre model or single
transferable score.
Document 01: Process for Requesting Recruitment Process Changes
Requesting Process
Changes
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Document 02: Specialty Recruitment Steering Group Terms of Reference
Steering Group
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1.1 Exceptions to national recruitment
Recruitment to Academic Clinical Fellowships (ACF) in England is currently outside of the
national recruitment activity. All specialties recruit to their ACF posts ahead of clinical
recruitment, with a requirement for all applicants to also submit an application for the clinical
vacancy, once open.
Appointments to academic training programmes outside of England may follow a different
recruitment timeline and process to that published in this guide.
For some specialties, outside of England, posts may be advertised and appointed to at
different entry points.
There will be no Locum Appointment for Training recruitment in England, but LAT recruitment
is still permitted in the devolved nations.
1.2 Inclusion of posts in national recruitment
Inclusion of posts into national recruitment depends on the number of cycles of recruitment
per year.
For specialties that will advertise and appoint only once in the 2020 recruitment process, posts
can be included that have a start date up to and including 2 April 2021.
For specialties that will advertise twice in the 2020 recruitment process, posts with a start date
up to and including 31 December 2020 can be included in the first round and posts with a start
date up until 2 April 2021 in the second round. Posts that fall outside of these dates must be
carried forward to the next available national round.
1.2.1 Inclusion of posts after offers
Posts often become available late in the recruitment cycle, and often after offers have already
been made.
Fill rates should be maximised and therefore national recruiters should continue to accept
additional posts, where appointable applicants still exist. Reserve lists do not have a time limit
within the same recruitment year; if a later advert has not been placed and there are still
appointable applicants waiting to receive an offer, they should be offered.
After the hierarchical deadline has passed, no upgrades will be permitted. This means that
applicants on the reserve list may be offered longer training programmes than those that have
scored higher than them e.g. applicants who have already accepted a Locum Appointment for
Training would not be eligible for a post with a National Training Number if it becomes available
after the hierarchical upgrade deadline.
Devolved nations have the right to request that an applicant offered a LAT in their nation be
upgraded to an NTN in the same, where one becomes available, regardless of the point in the
recruitment timetable.
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1.3 Embargo of Recruitment Data
Recruitment data relating to application numbers and/or fill rates should not be released
outside of the recruitment office until such time as the relevant nation has published this data
(i.e. Health Education England, NHS Education for Scotland, Northern Ireland Medical and
Dental Training Agency, Health Education and Improvement Wales).
Recruitment Offices are permitted to share recruitment data with the clinical lead for the
specialty, where receipt of this information is required to aid planning of future recruitment
processes e.g. planning a re-advertised round and calculation of panel members and interview
capacity is dependent on knowing the number of vacancies.
1.4 Archiving of Recruitment Vacancies
On completion of a recruitment round, recruiters are reminded that Oriel vacancies must not
be archived until the latest start date for appointed posts in that vacancy has passed. Archiving
before this date will prevent employers from being able to download applicant information from
Oriel for their appointed applicants.
1.5 Applicants Raising Concerns
Applicants who have concerns about the recruitment process that fall outside of the national
complaints policy should be encouraged to raise their concerns confidentially by email to
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2 Recruitment Audit
It is important that a consistent approach to national recruitment is followed by all individuals
involved in undertaking recruitment processes.
The national Medical and Dental Recruitment and Selection (MDRS) team will conduct audits
throughout the recruitment year to ensure that the processes outlined in this handbook are
followed.
Examples of audits that will be undertaken are:
• Checking vacancies have been added to the correct recruitment round/year
• Checking that the correct application form has been attached to the vacancy
• Checking application opening and closing times are in line with the nationally agreed
timetable
• Ensuring offer response times exclude weekends
• Ensuring first iterations of offers are not released on a Friday
• Checking that interview scores are recorded on Oriel by station score
Recruitment offices are required to supply any information requested of them for audit
purposes by the specified deadlines.
Recruiters will be required to explain any instances where they are not adhering to the
processes detailed in this guide.
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3 Code of Practice Requirements (England only)
The following timescales should be followed:
Action Responsibility Timescale
Recruiting office to place advertisements Recruiters Minimum duration of 4
weeks
Eligibility criteria to be published on recruiting organisations websites
Recruiters Minimum of 4 weeks before
commencement of recruitment
round
At time of offer, applicants should be given as much detail as is available on the post that is being offered. Where it is not possible to provide the lowest level of granularity (i.e. first placement) at the time the offer is released, this must be provided to the applicant no later than 12 weeks before the commencement date
Recruiters Minimum of 12 weeks prior to
commencement
Employers are informed of applicants that have been appointed to their posts
HEE Local Offices
Minimum of 12 weeks prior to
commencement
Appointed applicants are provided specific information about the post being offered, including rota
Employers
Minimum of 8 weeks for
generic rota
Minimum of 6 weeks for
personal duty rota
Quarterly monitoring will be undertaken to establish whether the requirements are being met.
Where timescales are not being met, this will be escalated within Health Education England.
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4 Flexibility in Deployment of Trainees
4.1 Special Circumstances
This process manages applicants with special circumstances who have a requirement to be
placed in a certain region for their training.
All doctors, regardless of their personal circumstances, will be required to compete for a place
on a specialty registrar training programme, or a Locum Appointment for Training (LAT) in the
normal way and all will be judged on their individual merit.
Recruiters should also refer to the reasonable adjustments policies for recruitment and
selection.
4.1.1 Eligibility Requirements
Applicants who satisfy one of the following criterion will be eligible to apply for consideration
of their special circumstances:
Criterion 1 – the applicant is the primary carer for someone who is disabled, as defined by
the Equality Act 2010
Criterion 2 – the applicant has a medical condition or disability for which ongoing follow up
for the condition in the specified location is an absolute requirement
Applicants who fall into one of the above criterion will be required to declare this on their
application form and then provide evidence to support their declared circumstances.
Applicants applying for consideration of their special circumstances who are on, or will require
a Tier 2 visa, will be required to preference posts that they are eligible for. Where this is not
the case, lead recruiters should check with the applicants whether they wish to remain with
their current employer, or be subject to the Resident Labour Market Test, and keep a record
of their responses.
4.1.2 Assessing Eligibility
Any applicants who state that they have a special circumstance on their application form will
generate an information flag, allowing recruiters to report against this. Applicants will be
required to email supporting evidence, including the nationally agreed special
circumstances form, to the national MDRS team ([email protected])
by the application deadline for the recruitment round in which the individual is applying for
special circumstances. The national team will chase applicants to provide the required
evidence.
Supporting evidence must consist of the following:
Criterion 1
• Written statement on headed paper from a general practitioner or social services
professional who the applicant will have normally known for at least 6 months,
confirming their role as primary carer for this person, together with confirmation of the
disability; and
• Care plan on headed paper from a general practitioner or social services professional.
Where an official care plan is not available, details of caring responsibilities and
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activities should be provided, attested by the general practitioner of the person who is
being cared for; and
• Proof of current address e.g. driving licence, utility bill dated within the last 3 months
Criterion 2
• A report by the current medical specialist treating the applicant’s condition or
Occupational Health physician, in which they will be required to:
➢ Describe the current medical condition or disability
➢ Describe the nature of the ongoing treatment and frequency
➢ Reasons why the follow up treatment cannot be delivered elsewhere in the UK
➢ Impact on the applicant of transferring care elsewhere; and
• Proof of current address e.g. driving licence, utility bill dated within the last 3 months
The national MDRS team will convene a panel to assess applicant eligibility against the above
criteria. The panel should consist of at least two members, including the following individuals:
• Representation from the national MDRS team
• Devolved nation representatives
• Recruitment lead/s
• BMA representative
Applicants will be informed of the decision by email within 2 working days. Applicants can
appeal the decision. Appeals should be submitted to the national MDRS team within 5 working
days; the deadline for submission of appeals will be detailed in the eligibility outcome letter
sent to the applicant..
Appeals should be forwarded to [email protected] and a national appeals
panel will be set up consisting of:
• Lead Dean for Recruitment
• Devolved nation representation
• Representation from the MDRS national team
• BMA representative
The national appeals panel must not include any member of the eligibility panel for the
recruitment round.
The decision of the national appeals panel will be final.
The MDRS national team will communicate outcomes of appeals to lead recruiters and directly
to the applicants within 5 working days.
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Document 03:
Special Circumstances Application Form – Primary Carer Primary Carer
Document 04: Special Circumstances Application Form – Disability or Medical Condition Personal Medical
Condition or Disability Document 05: Special Circumstances Application Aid
Application Aid
4.1.3 Timescales
Eligibility panels should be organised to ensure that there is no delay in release of offers. The
following timetable will be adhered to in managing applicants requesting consideration of their
special circumstances:
2020 Round 1
National Eligibility Panel Week commencing 16 December 2019
National Appeals Panel Week commencing 13 January 2020
2020 Round 1 Re-Advert
National Eligibility Panel Week commencing 31 March 2020
National Appeals Panel Week commencing 20 April 2020
2020 Round 2
National Eligibility Panel Week commencing 2 March 2020
National Appeals Panel Week commencing 16 March 2020
2020 Round 2 Re-Advert
National Eligibility Panel Week commencing 31 August 2020
National Appeals Panel Week commencing 21 September 2020
4.1.4 Allocation of Eligible Applicants
Applicants deemed eligible for special circumstances under the listed criterion, will be pre-
allocated ahead of the main offer algorithm running, subject to the applicant being deemed
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appointable at interview and having ranked highly enough to be offered a post. Where a
devolved or clustered model of recruitment is used, the applicant with special circumstances
should be allocated to and interviewed in the region they are requesting to be placed in.
Example 1: 10 posts available. Special circumstances applicant ranks 9. Special
circumstances applicant should be pre-allocated
Example 2: 10 posts available. Special circumstances applicant ranks 11. Special
circumstances applicant should not be pre-allocated
Please note: In some instances, applicants with special circumstances may be eligible to
receive an offer, due to some applicants not stating enough preferences and therefore not
being eligible to receive an offer. In this case, the special circumstances applicant can be pre-
allocated, even if their rank is higher than the number of posts available and will result in
applicants ranked higher receiving no offer.
Pre-allocation could be to a specific region (e.g. HEE – East of England), or to a specific area
within that region (e.g. Cambridge). The level of granularity of the offer will depend on the
preference detail recorded within Oriel. Applicants should be given the highest preference
they would have received in their preferred region, should the normal offers algorithm have
been run. Where the applicant would not have been eligible for an offer in their preferred
region, based on selection score and rank alone, they should still be preallocated to it. The
pre-allocated offer will be determined by reviewing what offer the lowest ranked applicant
allocated to the preferred region has been offered. This will not necessarily be the special
circumstances applicant’s lowest stated preference in the region.
The following diagram illustrates the process that should be followed to determine which post
the applicants with approved special circumstances should receive:
Please note: Once all special circumstances applicants eligible to receive an offer have been
pre-allocated, the offers algorithm should be run as normal.
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Approval of special circumstances does not guarantee that the applicant will be allocated their
highest ranked post preference. Where offers are made to region only, special circumstances
information should be passed to the local team at the time of document transfer to inform
programme management/design.
Applicants allocated with special circumstances will still be required to meet all requirements
of the associated curriculum and therefore, any pre allocation will be determined by training
requirements. Specific locations may not be able to provide the training environment for all
aspects of the curriculum.
If an eligible special circumstances applicant does not rank highly enough to be offered in the
initial iteration of offers, attempts will be made to pre-allocate in future offers releases, should
a suitable post be available, however, there is no guarantee. Applicants will not be displaced
from their accepted offers in order for a special circumstances applicant to be pre-allocated.
Where a suitable post is not available, the applicant will be offered according to their rank,
score and preferences. Applicants should only preference posts that they are able to accept,
if offered.
4.1.5 Special Circumstances Process
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4.1.6 Declaration of Special Circumstances after Deadlines
It is recognised that personal circumstances can change throughout the recruitment process,
however, special circumstances can only be considered within the timeframes listed above.
Where applicants have a change in personal circumstances outside of the stated window,
which would fall under the special circumstances criteria, they should be advised to make
contact with the Postgraduate Dean in the region to which they have been appointed.
4.2 Offer Exchanges/Enhanced Preferencing
Applicants can amend their preferences, throughout the recruitment process.
In many cases, programmes are ranked well in advance of offers being made, and applicants
can find that their circumstances change, meaning that their expressed preferences are no
longer the right choices for them.
For applicants who have accepted or held a post, providing the holding and upgrading
deadlines have not passed, they will be able to change their upgrading options, to allow them
to be upgraded into a post that had previously been ranked lower than the offered post, or not
ranked at all in the preferences.
Applicants will be free to make as many changes as they wish to their ranked preferences, but
will be advised that changes made after an offers match has been actioned, where offers have
yet to be released will not be honoured.
In addition, recruiters should ensure that applicants who have yet to receive an offer also have
the opportunity to amend their preferences. Recruiters should leave preferencing open
throughout the recruitment process, but ensure that it is closed before each offers match is
undertaken. Preferencing should be reopened after each iteration of offers is released.
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5 Recruitment Process
All recruitment processes must adhere to good recruitment practice, employment law and the
Code of Practice.
Arbitrary/randomised recruitment and selection processes must not be used.
To support the process, recruiting organisations are expected to have appropriate
management and governance arrangements in place with a named Executive Director with
overall responsibility, as well as appropriate operational arrangements for making
appointments. These should include trained shortlisting and interviewing panel members and
project teams at Trust level to manage any risks to patient safety.
Recruitment offices must publish the nationally agreed timetable they are working to on their
website in advance of vacancies being published on Oriel, including application opening and
closing dates and interview dates to allow applicants to plan their applications.
Patient care and safety are the priority concern. Any variation from the national rules would
have to be a reasonable and proportionate response to local circumstances and not lead to
conspicuously unfair results
The recruitment process must adhere to the NHS Employers ‘Employment Check Standards’
set out in the NHS requirements for pre-employment checks, as established by the
Department of Health, including DBS disclosure. Recruiters will need to check documents to
confirm an applicant’s eligibility. This does not negate the need for employers to check all
documentation from a pre-employment perspective.
Doctors who are appointed to another NHS Trust may be required to work their notice which
may prevent them taking up their training posts as early as they would wish. Patient care and
safety is the main priority. Trusts should be asked to try to release doctors as soon as they
are able and make all reasonable endeavours to avoid successful applicants being unable to
take up their new post. Applicants unable to take up post on the given start date, due to
serving notice, must ensure that they communicate this to the relevant HEE local
office/Deanery and employer as soon as possible.
Doctors appointed to an Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) post in England must have
satisfied the requirements of both the academic interview and a full clinical interview. Where
applicants already hold a National Training Number (NTN) or Deanery Reference Number
(DRN)1 in the specialty they are applying for, there is no need for them to attend a further
clinical interview as they will have already met this requirement. Where clinical benchmarking
is required, offers to ACF posts will be made conditional upon applicants meeting the required
standard in the clinical interview. Clinical benchmarking can only take place where there is a
national clinical recruitment process at the corresponding level. Where there is no national
recruitment, applications should only be accepted from those already holding an NTN in the
relevant specialty. Applicants who are required to attend a clinical interview, and who then
fail to meet the required standard will have their academic offers withdrawn by the appropriate
recruitment office.
Full details on the agreed process can be found in Appendix 1.
1 Includes LAT post at the appropriate level
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6 Local Recruitment
Before undertaking local recruitment to vacancies left after national recruitment it will be
necessary for the HEE local office/Deanery to contact the lead recruiter for the specialty to
establish whether the specialty is running a nationally coordinated round within the applicable
timeframes.
Where a national recruitment round is not happening, those wishing to advertise locally should
request permission to advertise from the lead dean and national recruiting organisation.
Requests to the lead dean should include a justification on why recruitment to vacant posts
cannot wait until the next available national round; HEE local offices/Deaneries must not
advertise locally managed recruitment to training posts unless there has been agreement from
the national recruiting organisation and the Lead Dean for the specialty.
Where approval is not given for local recruitment to take place, any substantive posts that
exist or arise subsequently for recruitment should be held over until the next national
recruitment round2.
All local recruitment should meet the nationally agreed standards for that specialty. The lead
national recruiter should provide a pack to local recruiters containing all the national
recruitment documentation. As a minimum, this should contain scoresheets, scoring domains
and interview questions. Local recruiters must ensure that they follow the same interview
format as the national process, ensuring that total interview timings and competences
assessed are consistent with the national process. Further guidance can be obtained from
the national recruitment lead.
Where the Multi Specialty Recruitment Assessment (MSRA) is used as an integral part of the
recruitment process, local recruiters should liaise with the GP National Recruitment Office to
ensure that the MSRA will be available at the time required, before any local recruitment
commences.
2 See A Reference Guide for Postgraduate Specialty Training in the UK (Gold Guide, 6th Ed).
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7 Applications
All applications must be made via the Oriel online application system.
The nationally agreed Part One, Part Two and Part Four of the application form must be used.
Part 3 of the application form is specialty specific and must be designed prior to advertising
and attached to the vacancy.
Application forms and the interview processes must map to the national person specifications.
There are now also national person specifications for all GMC approved sub specialties. For
recruitment to special interest posts, local person specifications must be in place and agreed
by the local recruiter.
Applicants will be able to make unlimited and multiple applications to different specialties
subject to specific guidance produced by the national coordinator of the specialty/level and to
them meeting the eligibility criteria stated in the person specification.
Applicants can only submit a maximum of one application for each advertised vacancy.
No late applications will be considered.
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8 Advertisement
There is a requirement to advertise and promote applications to all posts for a minimum period
of 28 calendar days (including weekends and bank holidays). Applications must be kept open
for at least the last two weeks of this window. Adverts should meet the criteria outlined in the
Code of Practice and should use the standard national template.
Templates and guidance for what to include when advertising can be found in the embedded
document below and must be followed by recruitment offices.
When creating the vacancy within Oriel, recruiters must take care to ensure that all information
relating to the post is correct e.g. recruitment year, recruitment round etc.
Applications for Round 1 and Round 2 must follow the agreed national timetable with all
specialties opening and closing at the same time.
All posts must be advertised on NHS Jobs, Find a Job, Oriel recruitment system and on each
lead recruitment office website.
Please note: As there is a delay of 24 hours in the NHS Jobs advert transferring to Find a
Job, the advertisement windows have been extended to 29 days.
Adverts should clearly state if the posts offer dual training e.g. GIM.
Adverts, information for applicants and application forms must be clearly structured so they
are accessible to applicants with disabilities and so that applicants can easily find relevant
details when carrying out a search.
Document 06: Template for NHS Jobs adverts – to be used when
directing applicants to a different website for information about the
vacancy and the requirements of the Code of Practice NHS Jobs without
COP
Document 07: Template for NHS Jobs adverts – to be used when detailing all of the vacancy information required by the Code of Practice in the advert itself NHS Jobs with COP
Document 08: Template for portal vacancy advert Oriel Advert
Template
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9 Timetable
All recruitment offices must fully adhere to the dates published in nationally agreed recruitment
timetables when advertising medical specialties.
Academic Clinical Fellowship Timetable (England only)
Applications open Monday 7 October 2019
Applications close Monday 4 November 2019
Interview window Wednesday 6 November to Friday 20 December 2019
Initial Offers out from Monday 6 January 2020
Hold deadline Monday 13 January 2020
Round 1 – CT/ST1 and Run Through – for August to December 2020 start
Interview dates and indicative number of panel members per region required
Thursday 3 October 2019
Indicative post numbers (range)
Friday 25 October 2019
Adverts appear Wednesday 30 October 2019
Applications open At 10am on Thursday 7 November 2019
Applications close At 4pm on Thursday 28 November
UK Reporting:
Application Count Sign Off
No later than Friday 13 December 2019
Interview window Thursday 2 January to Friday 6 March 2020
Initial Offers out by By 5pm on Monday 9 March 2019
Hold deadline At 1pm on Friday 13 March 2020
Upgrade Deadline At 4pm on Friday 20 March 2020
Hierarchal Deadline At 4pm on Wednesday 25 March 2020
Deadline for forwarding FtP supporting information for accepted applicants
No later than Friday 27 March 2020
Paperwork deadline No later than Tuesday 7 April 2020
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Deadline for confirming appointment of applicants with FtP declarations
No later than Friday 3 April 2020
UK Reporting:
Fill Rate Sign Off
No later than Friday 8 May 2020
Round 1 – CT/ST1 Re-adverts – for August to December 2020 start
Interview dates and indicative number of panel members per region required
Wednesday 15 January 2020
Adverts appear Wednesday 12 February 2020
Applications open At 10am on Tuesday 25 February 2020
Applications close At 4pm on Thursday 12 March 2020
UK Reporting:
Application Count Sign Off
No later than Friday 27 March 2020
Interview window Monday 6 April to Friday 24 April 2020
Initial Offers out by By 5pm on Tuesday 28 April 2020
Hold deadline At 9am on Friday 1 May 2020
Upgrade Deadline At 5pm on Friday 1 May 2020
Paperwork deadline No later than Wednesday 6 May 2020
Deadline for forwarding FtP supporting information for accepted applicants
No later than Friday 8 May 2020
Deadline for confirming appointment of applicants with FtP declarations
No later than Friday 22 May 2020
UK Reporting:
Fill Rate Sign Off
No later than Monday 1 June 2020
Round 2 – ST3/ST4+ Recruitment – for August to December 2020 start
Interview dates and indicative number of panel members per region required
Tuesday 10 December 2019
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Indicative post numbers (range)
Thursday 16 January 2020
Adverts appear Tuesday 21 January 2020
Applications open At 10am on Wednesday 29 January 2020
Applications close At 4pm on Wednesday 19 February 2020
UK Reporting:
Application Count Sign Off
No later than Friday 6 March 2020
Interview window Monday 2 March to Wednesday 22 April 2020
Initial Offers out by By 5pm on Thursday 23 April 2020
Hold deadline At 1pm on Wednesday 29 April 2020
Upgrade Deadline At 4pm on Friday 1 May 2020
Hierarchal Deadline At 4pm on Tuesday 5 May 2020
Paperwork deadline No later than Wednesday 6 May 2020
Deadline for forwarding FtP supporting information for accepted applicants
No later than Friday 8 May 2020
Deadline for confirming appointment of applicants with FtP declarations
No later than Friday 22 May 2020
UK Reporting:
Fill Rate Sign Off
No later than Monday 1 June 2020
Round 2 Re Adverts – for February 2021 start
Interview dates and indicative number of panel members per region required
Wednesday 3 June 2020
Indicative post numbers (range)
Friday 10 July 2020
Adverts appear Wednesday 15 July 2020
Applications open At 10am on Tuesday 28 July 2020
Applications close At 4pm on Thursday 13 August 2020
UK Reporting: No later than Friday 28 August 2020
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Application Count Sign Off
Interview window Tuesday 25 August to Friday 2 October 2020
Initial Offers out by By 5pm on Monday 5 October 2020
Hold deadline At 1pm on Wednesday 7 October 2020
Upgrade Deadline At 4pm on Friday 9 October 2020
Hierarchal Deadline At 4pm on Tuesday 13 October 2020
Deadline for forwarding FtP supporting information for accepted applicants
No later than Friday 16 October 2020
Paperwork deadline No later than Wednesday 28 October 2020
Deadline for confirming appointment of applicants with FtP declarations
No later than Friday 30 October 2020
UK Reporting:
Fill Rate Sign Off
No later than Friday 27 November 2020
Some specialties (e.g. ST4 Psychiatry) will advertise outside of the Round 2 Re Adverts
timeline outlined above, due to timings of Royal College examination diets.
Where completed references continue to be received after the paperwork deadline for a
recruitment round, recruiters should continue to forward these onto receiving HEE local
offices/Deaneries/employers up until 28 June 2020. After this date, employers will take over
full responsibility for collecting references. Responsibility for checking references rests with
the employer, not the recruiters.
For successful applicants with Fitness to Practise declarations, the following timeline should
be followed:
• Receiving HEE local offices/Deaneries/Employers should be made aware of the
successful FtP applicants by no later than 7 days after the upgrade deadline for the
recruitment round, or 7 days after acceptance, if the offer is made after the upgrade
deadline
• Receiving HEE local offices/Deaneries/Employers should confirm to the applicant
whether or not they can be accepted into their training programme no later than 3
weeks after they receive notification from the lead recruiter
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10 Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) Guidance
When processing applicants, it is important to understand the regulations around the Resident
Labour Market Test (RLMT) and which applicants are subject to/exempt from it. With effect from
6 October 2019, all medical practitioners are on the Shortage Occupation List. This means that
with the exception of all applicants to Public Health, all specialty recruitment applicants will be
exempt from the RLMT; there will be no restriction on their appointment.
Please note: Guidance for processing applications from Public Health applicants, who are subject
to the RLMT can be found in appendix 2.
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11 Eligibility
Once applications have been received, recruitment offices will undertake longlisting, an
administrative check to confirm eligibility in, as a minimum, the following areas:
• Immigration and right to work status
• GMC/GDC registration
• Reapplication to specialty, where applicable
• Evidence of appropriate competency level e.g. Foundation, Core
• Any examination requirements, in line with the person specification
• English language skills
• Experience in specialty/employment history
Eligibility criteria must be determined by specialties, in line with the requirements of the person
specification before specialty advertisements are placed.
Longlisting must be completed by appropriately trained administrative staff within the recruitment
office, following the agreed national Longlist Decision Summary Document within given timelines.
Timelines for completion may vary by specialty.
National recruitment offices may also produce specialty specific longlisting guidance to
supplement the national guide.
Applicants who reapply in subsequent recruitment rounds will need to be reassessed at the
longlisting stage to ensure their eligibility has not changed.
Where recruitment processes include shortlisting, longlisting should always precede shortlisting.
11.1 Immigration and Right to Work Status
From 6 April 2017, the Home Office required those applying to come to the UK as a Tier 2
doctor or dentist in training, and their adult dependants, to produce a criminal record certificate
from any country in which they have been resident for 12 months or more, consecutively or
cumulatively, in the previous 10 years, aged 18 or over.
If successful in being appointed to a training programme in the UK, and require Tier 2
sponsorship, they will be required to provide the criminal record certificate to the Home Office
when they make their visa application. As it can take some time to obtain a criminal record
certificate, applicants should be advised to begin the process of seeking certificates, if required,
at the earliest opportunity.
Details of how to obtain such a check from the relevant authorities abroad is available on the
Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-
for-overseas-applicants
If the country concerned is not listed, please contact the relevant embassy or consulate for further
details. Contact details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-
embassies-in-the-uk
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11.2 GMC/GDC Registration
Applicants need to confirm their registration with the General Medical Council (GMC), and in some
specialties the General Dental Council (GDC), as required by the person specification.
Applicants for specialty training will need to hold full registration with the General Medical Council,
with a licence to practise by the start date for the post they are applying for. Further information
can be obtained from:
www.gmc-uk.org/doctors/before_you_apply/registration_factsheet.asp
Failure to obtain full registration with a licence to practise by the published start date for the post
will result in the applicant being ineligible for appointment and any offer will be withdrawn.
11.3 Reapplication to Specialty
11.3.1 Following removal or resignation
Specialty training posts and programmes are not normally available to any doctor who has
previously relinquished or been removed from that training post/programme.
When applying for a post, applicants will be asked if they have previously relinquished or been
released or removed from a training programme in the specialty to which they are now applying,
or the core training associated with the specialty of application. If the applicant answers yes to
this question they will need to provide full details of the resignation/release/removal from the
training programme to the recruiting organisation, by email, at the point of application. This should
be provided on the Support for Re-application to a Specialty Training Programme form, approved
by both the Head of School/Training Programme Director and Postgraduate Dean in the region
where the specialty training was previously undertaken. A list of appropriate signatories is
available.
A new form has to be completed, with appropriate support for application, each recruitment year.
Forms completed in previous recruitment years will not be accepted.
The form should be submitted to a given confidential email address at the time of application.
Where this is not received when the application is submitted, applicants should be contacted and
asked to provide the completed form. 72 hours should be given to submit the document. Where
longlisting commences before the closing date, applicants should be given until the application
deadline, or 72 hours, whichever is the later of the two, to submit the form.
Applicants who fail to provide the form should be rejected from the application process.
Document 09: Support for Reapplication to a Specialty Training Programme Exclusion Policy
Support Form
Document 10: Exclusion Policy Signatories Exclusion Policy
Signatories 2020
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11.3.2 Currently in the same specialty training programme
Trainees currently working in the specialty, holding a National Training Number (NTN) or Deanery
Reference Number (DRN), applying to continue their specialty training in another region, will be
required to submit a Support for Reapplication of Specialty Training in a Different Region form.
Applicants completing core training and applying for higher specialty training in the same specialty
in open competition will not be required to complete a form.
A new form has to be completed, with appropriate support for application, each recruitment year.
Forms completed in previous recruitment years will not be accepted.
This should be completed and signed by the current Head of School/Training Programme Director
and submitted at the time of application to a given confidential email address. Where the form is
not submitted at the time of application, applicants should be contacted and asked to provide the
completed form. 72 hours should be given to submit the document. Where longlisting
commences before the closing date, applicants should be given until the application deadline, or
72 hours, whichever is the later of the two, to submit the form.
Applicants who fail to provide the form should be rejected from the application process.
Applicants should be advised that if they are already in specialty training and are applying for the
same specialty again, in open competition, that they should advise their current Training
Programme Director as soon as possible and ideally before an application is submitted.
Submission and approval of post numbers for recruitment happens well in advance of training
programmes being advertised. Being aware of a potential vacancy could assist Training
Programme Directors with the management of their training programmes. Early communication
of intention to the Training Programme Director will not affect the trainee’s application.
Document 11: Support for Reapplication of Specialty Training in a Different Region
Support for
continuing specialty training
11.4 Demonstration of Competence
11.4.1 Proof of Foundation Competency
Applicants to CT1/ST1 training programmes are required to provide evidence of having met the
UK Foundation Programme competences, or equivalent. Foundation competency can be
demonstrated in any of the following ways:
• Applicants that are currently undertaking the UK Foundation Programme are not
required to provide any further evidence at the time of application, but will be required to
provide a Foundation Programme Certificate of Competence (FPCC) to the employer and
the HEE Local Office/Deanery on completion of training and prior to commencement in
post
33
• Applicants who have successfully completed the UK Foundation Programme no earlier
than 3½ years prior to the advertised start date for the post are required to upload
their FACD 5.2 or FPCC to their application form, at the time of application submission.
• Applicants who are currently undertaking a specialty training programme and are in
possession of a National Training Number (NTN) or Deanery Reference Number
(DRN) will be considered to have had their Foundation competences assessed on entry
to specialty training and therefore do not need to confirm this again. Applicants applying
directly from specialty training do not need to provide any further evidence at the time of
application. However, where they are appointed from a training programme where patient
contact is not the norm, the receiving Training Programme Director should be made
aware, in order that additional supervision can be arranged, as necessary.
If applicants in this category relinquish their NTN or DRN between the time of application
and commencement, they will be required to submit a Certificate of Readiness to Enter
Specialty Training for the period out of training.
• Applicants who are applying for a specialty where they have previously held a National
Training Number (NTN) or Deanery Reference Number (DRN) where they voluntarily
resigned from the training programme before completion are required to upload
evidence of satisfactory progress with training, prior to resignation, in the form of ARCP
documentation. This can only occur where the specialty being applied to is the same as
the specialty that the applicant was previously training in.
• Applicants who have not completed a UK Foundation Programme within the 3½ years
prior to commencement of the post and who are not already in specialty training at the
time of application will be able to submit a Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty
Training. The submitted form must be the 2020 version of the form and the post that
has been assessed as delivering equivalence of Foundation competence must have been
wholly undertaken in the 3½ years prior to the post to which the applicant is applying.
The Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training should also be used for Public
Health applicants applying from a medical background
• Awaiting MDRS Programme Board sign off: Applicants who have started but who have
not satisfactorily completed a 2 year UK Foundation Programme or a standalone
UK Foundation Year 2 post are not eligible to apply for specialty training using a
Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training. Applicants in this category are
expected to return to the Foundation Programme to complete their training. In exceptional
circumstances, where trainees were unable to continue their training in the Foundation
Programme at that time, for example due to personal illness or family caring responsibility,
applicants can provide a letter written and signed by the Postgraduate Dean where
previous training took place. This letter must use the form of the standard proforma
and be uploaded to the application form and must include the following information:
➢ The dates of the previous training
34
➢ Confirmation of the reasons why the applicant previously resigned, was removed
from or relinquished their post in the training programme
➢ Confirmation that the applicant has met the requirements and/or demonstrated the
competencies of foundation training
➢ Confirmation that the applicant has completed a period of remediation (if
applicable)
Applicants currently in a Widening Access to Specialty Training (WAST) post need to obtain a
fully completed and signed Certificate of Readiness by the start date of the post to which they are
applying. No further evidence needs to be provided at the time of application.
Refugees should be advised to contact the recruiting organisation for further guidance but should
submit a Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training, where possible.
11.4.1.1 Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training Awaiting
MDRS Programme Board approval
Certificates should be uploaded to Oriel and attached to the application form, prior to submission.
Signatories should be independent to the applicant and must not be completed by their spouse,
partner or family member.
When checking certificates during longlisting, administrators should refer to the Certificate of
Readiness to Enter Specialty Training – Reference Version to ensure that the form has been
correctly completed with all necessary evidence provided. It is acceptable for applicants to submit
multiple certificates, signed by different people, to ensure that all competences are covered,
however, each certificate must meet the requirement in terms of the post that it refers to (i.e.
minimum of 3 continuous months WTE, commenced no earlier than 3½ years prior to the
advertised start date for the post).
Additional evidence should be provided in the following situations:
• Signatory works in a non acute setting – administrators should check that evidence
has been obtained from reliable sources. These should be listed in the last section of the
certificate
• Signatory not registered with the General Medical Council – it is the applicant’s
responsibility to ensure they supply adequate evidence of their signatory’s standing with
a regulatory authority. This evidence must be scanned and attached to the Certificate of
Readiness to Enter Specialty Training. Where this is not in English, an English translation
should also be provided. In cases where the signatory has historic but not current GMC
registration, it is their current registration that is required; previous GMC registration will
not be accepted. Where this evidence is not provided, the Certificate of Readiness to
Enter Specialty Training should be rejected and the specialty training application should
not be progressed.
In the event of evidence of foundation competency not being submitted or being submitted below
the appropriate standard, the recruiter should request further information from the applicant. A
period of 72 hours commences from when the applicant is requested to supply the additional
35
information. Where applicants submit applications in advance of the application closing date,
their 72 hours commences from the deadline for receipt of applications. Where initial contact is
made with the applicant after the application deadline, the 72 hours response time commences
from the point of initial contact i.e. when the email is sent.
Where requested additional information is not received within this timeframe, recruiters may, in
exceptional circumstances and at their discretion, extend this to 3 working days, where
appropriate.
Recruiters should refer to the Longlist Decision Summary Document for specific national guidance
on the management of foundation competence evidence.
Document 12: Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training 2020 Awaiting MDRS Programme Board approval
Document 13: Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training – Reference Version Awaiting MDRS Programme Board approval
Document 14: Evidence of Foundation Competence – Applicant Guide Awaiting MDRS Programme Board approval
Document 15: Evidence of Foundation Competence – Signatory Guide Awaiting MDRS Programme Board approval
11.4.2 Proof of Core Competency
Applicants to ST3/ST4 training programmes are required to provide evidence of having attained
core competences or equivalent. Core competence can be demonstrated in the following ways:
• Applicants who are currently undertaking a UK Core Training Programme are not
required to provide any further evidence at the point of application but, if appointed, will
be required to provide a Core Training Certificate or an ARCP outcome 6 prior to
commencement.
• Applicants who have previously successfully completed a UK Core Training
Programme are required to provide a Core Training Certificate or an ARCP outcome 6 at
the time of application submission; similar to foundation competence, some specialties
may have a time limit set on when an ARCP outcome remains valid before alternative
evidence is required; check the relevant person specification for guidance.
• Applicants currently not undertaking a UK Core Training Programme or who have
completed a UK Core Training Programme previously but are unable to provide
appropriate evidence are required to demonstrate equivalence. Satisfactory evidence will
36
vary by specialty and recruitment administrators should seek advice from the lead recruiter
for the specialty.
11.5 Examinations
Some applicants will be required to demonstrate achievement of the specialty specific
examination in order to enter higher training. Recruiters should refer to the specialty specific
person specification for details on when this is required and use the Longlist Decision Summary
Document to determine the course of action.
11.6 English Language Skills
Recruiters should ensure that applicants have sufficient knowledge of the English language
necessary for the work to be performed in a safe and competent manner.
If the applicant’s undergraduate training was not undertaken in English and they do not have a
current International English Language Testing System (IELTS) certificate at the level specified
in the person specification, they need to provide other evidence of English language skills.
Examples of suitable evidence can be found on the General Medical Council website:
http://www.gmc-uk.org/doctors/registration_applications/language_proficiency.asp. Whilst
person specifications allow for demonstration through NHS employment or supervisor testimony,
this does not negate the need to meet the registration requirements of the General Medical
Council for demonstration of English language skills.
The required IELTS score is a minimum of 7.0 in all domains (speaking, listening, reading and
writing), to be achieved in a single sitting within 24 months of the time of application, with a
minimum overall score of 7.5.
Please note: For General Practice, additional English language evidence is required to obtain
access to the National Performers List. Recruiters should review the Longlist Decision Summary
Document for further guidance.
11.7 Experience in Specialty/Employment History
Applicants must declare all experience in the particular specialty/specialty level in the application
form. This includes experience within and outside of the UK, in both training (educationally
approved) and service posts.
When longlisting and shortlisting applications, all posts within the specialty (with the exception of
Foundation and honorary/unpaid posts) count in assessing length of experience against the
person specification requirements. Recruiters should refer to the Longlist Decision Summary
Document to determine the actions to be taken.
When assessing an applicant’s eligibility, time spent in specialty should be calculated using the
following formula:
1 calendar month = (sum of duration between the start and end date) x WTE
30
For periods of 12 months or more, the calculation will be, at the recruiter’s discretion, applied
with a tolerance of up to 14 calendar days either way. This allows for such vagaries as 28 day
months, fixed or staggered start dates, leap years etc.
37
For periods of less than 12 months, the tolerance will be, at the recruiter’s discretion, applied
with a tolerance of up to 7 calendar days either way.
No tolerance will generally be applied to a period of one month or less.
Eligibility for selection to ST1/CT1 requires a maximum experience of 18 months or less (by
commencement date for the post) in the specialty, unless otherwise stated on the person
specification.
There is no maximum limit on experience for eligibility for selection to ST2/CT2 although
applicants are required to have at least 12 months’ experience in the specialty to which they are
applying.
There is no maximum limit on experience for eligibility for selection into ST3/CT3 although
applicants are required to have at least 24 months’ experience in the specialty to which they are
applying, or as specified in the person specification.
There is no maximum limit on experience for eligibility for selection to ST4 although applicants
are normally required to have at least 36 months’ experience in the specialty to which they are
applying. Further details on experience requirements are available on the person specifications.
11.8 Fitness to Practise
Applicants that make Fitness to Practise declarations on their application forms should remain
flagged during the longlisting phase so that local recruiters can identify these applicants and make
decisions on whether or not they can be accommodated into the training programme. Flag colours
can be changed to amber and a comment to confirm the reason for the declaration, but the flag
must not be cleared.
Applicants should submit details of their Fitness to Practise declaration on a standard form, to
ensure consistency of information provided. Recruitment offices must ensure that their
confidential Fitness to Practise email address is correct on the Recruitment Leads page of Oriel
to allow submission of the forms.
Document 16: Fitness to Practise Declaration Form FtP Declaration
Form
Document 17: Longlisting Decision Summary Document Longlisting
Decisions Summary
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12 Shortlisting and Self-Assessment
All shortlisters must be trained in recruitment and selection principles and processes including
current equality and diversity legislation within the last 3 years. Recruiters should ensure that
they have a copy of the current equality and diversity certification for all shortlisters.
All shortlisters should have access to the shortlisting scoring framework in addition to the person
specification for the specialty they are conducting shortlisting for.
The domains for shortlisting (and self-assessment, where applicable) should be publicly available
on the lead recruiter’s website. Scoring attached to these domains can be published, at the
discretion of the lead recruiter.
Where self-assessment is used, the scoring should be adjusted at interview if the scores given in
the application form are found to be incorrect; scores could be both increased and decreased. If
major discrepancies are found, the probity guidance should be used (see section 21).
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13 Interviews
13.1 Organisation and Communication with Applicants
Recruiting organisations should ensure that they interview enough candidates to fill training
positions based on historical trends and number of vacancies available, subject to the quality and
quantity of applicants.
The minimum time for a specialty training interview is 30 minutes.
Applicants should be given at least 5 working days’ notice of an interview, except in exceptional
circumstances e.g. last minute applicant withdrawal creating a free interview slot. Reasonable
efforts should be made to accommodate applicants’ personal situations regarding interview time
slots, recognising that interview dates are unlikely to be changed.
Recruitment offices should follow the minimum agreed standards for invitation to interview.
Interview invitation letters/communications should include full details of all documents applicants
need to present at interview and give applicants an understanding of what to expect at the
interview/assessment centre, including the number of stations and what they will be assessing.
Applicants should be given a minimum of 48 hours to respond to an interview invitation and book
their interview slot.
13.2 Reasonable Adjustments for Attending Interviews and Selection Centres
Applicants have the right to request adjustments to enable them to attend interviews and selection
centres. Recruiters should consider the requests and accommodate where possible and
reasonable.
Applicants are required to provide evidence (normally medical evidence) to confirm the
adjustments required.
Applicants are advised to request adjustments as early as possible and no later than one week
before the interview date.
Document 18: Reasonable Adjustments Examples
Reasonable
Adjustments Examples
13.3 Applicants Unable to Attend Interview
Applicants may state that they are unable to attend an interview, but that they would still like to
be interviewed and compete for training posts. Applicants will have a variety of reasons why they
are no longer able to attend an interview.
Interview dates will normally be published in advance of the application process opening, allowing
applicants to plan their time and where they should apply.
Individuals should not normally apply for a post where they know in advance that they will not be
able to attend for interview on the advertised date.
40
Where an applicant is unable to attend an interview, an alternative date cannot normally be
offered.
To ensure that our processes do not discriminate against those with a protected characteristic,
every effort should be made to accommodate these individuals. Applicants with protected
characteristics are advised to contact the lead recruiter outlining their circumstances at the earliest
possible opportunity.
13.3.1 Specialties with multiple interview locations
If an applicant believes there are mitigating circumstances they must contact the region they have
applied to, in writing, as soon as possible after becoming aware of the issue.
This region should investigate whether the circumstances warrant consideration, requesting
further information if necessary; this may include a request for evidence, although this will be at
the discretion of the recruiter, based on the circumstances. Supporting evidence should be from
an independent and verifiable source. In some circumstances, evidence supplied directly
(emailed from a secure, verifiable email address) from a clinical or educational supervisor may be
acceptable.
The applicant should normally be informed whether the request will be considered within two
working days of receipt of evidence, although this should be sooner if the interview date is very
close. Applicants should be informed that if a request is being considered, it will be dependent
on there being available interview capacity.
If the request is accepted, the recruiter in the region of application should contact the national
recruitment lead to investigate an alternative interview date.
It is recognised that, where possible, alternative interview dates should be as close as possible
to the original interview date, to avoid delays with offers being released. Alternative interview
locations should try to bear in mind proximity to the applicant’s home to minimise expenses and
inconvenience.
The national recruitment lead will contact the applicant with a list of potential alternative interview
dates, asking them to identify those that they are able to attend in order of preference; usually
giving the applicant two working days to respond.
The national recruitment lead will contact the interviewing regions in order of preference to see if
they can accommodate an additional interview applicant.
If the applicant cannot be accommodated, the region of application will be informed so that they
can inform the applicant that they will either need to attend the original interview date or withdraw
from the recruitment process.
Where a request can be accommodated, the national recruitment lead will inform both regions
(application and alternative interview) and make arrangements for the interviewing region to have
responsibility over the applicant for printing interview documentation etc.
If the new interview date is after the original date, release of offers will have to be withheld until
the applicant has been interviewed in order to include them in the rankings.
Interview scores should be uploaded and checked by the interviewing region.
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The interviewing region should retain all interview documentation. If the candidate accepts an
offer, this will then be requested by the appointing region (the region the candidate applied to).
All parties should retain an audit trail of communications.
13.3.2 Specialties with single interview locations
Lead recruiters need to determine whether an applicant has a genuine case for wanting to move
interview slots. Applicants should provide evidence to support their reason for requesting a
change.
13.3.3 Acceptable and Unacceptable Reasons for Requesting a Change
The following list details acceptable and unacceptable reasons for requesting a change. It is not
possible for any list to be exhaustive so decisions will be at the recruiter’s discretion where they
are not covered.
Any changes to interview dates must be accommodated within the advertised interview window
for the recruitment round.
Evidenced requests can be considered in the following circumstances:
• Ill health
• Death of a close relative (parent, sibling, spouse, child)
• Sudden onset of severe illness in a close relative (parent, sibling, spouse, child)
• Major (publicised) travel disruption (e.g. motorway pile up, bomb scare, volcanic ash)
• Religious reasons
• Marriage/honeymoon
Requests will not normally be considered in the following circumstances:
• Clash of interview dates with another specialty – the applicant must choose their preferred
specialty
• Difficulty changing rota or other hospital duties
• Attendance at other events e.g. training/meetings
• Annual leave
• Local transport difficulty (e.g. late running train, car break down)
13.4 Interview Process
Recruitment offices should use the nationally agreed documentation to undertake
document/identity checking at interview/assessment centre.
The nationally agreed Interview Document Checklist must be used as a minimum, however,
additional fields can be added, as required. For applicants who fail to bring required documents
to interview, the nationally agreed Missing Document Form must be used as a minimum;
additional fields can be added, as required.
The interview process and the scoring system/criteria is determined by nationally agreed
processes for the specific specialty/level. Publishing the marking criteria for interviews is
mandatory, however publishing scores is at the discretion of the national recruitment office which
can decide whether to make these available to the applicant.
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Dependent on the specialty, local amendments to the national guidelines may be permitted e.g.
additional interview stations. However, any deviation from the nationally agreed process must be
approved by both the lead recruiter and the Recruitment Sub Group.
Applicants should be asked to bring their portfolios to the interview/assessment centre in line with
specialty specific guidance. The applicant portfolio must not contain patient identifiable data and
should only include the applicant’s own work. In previous years, there have been examples where
some applicants have presented work which was not their own. If this happens, evidence must
be taken from the applicant’s portfolio and the applicant must be spoken to by the Clinical Lead
and the Recruitment Lead. Further guidance can be found in section 21.
Panel members should be advised in advance of the panel they will be sitting on, advising them
that this could be subject to change if there is a shortage of experienced interviewers on the day.
Interviewers should have access to relevant sections (e.g. employment history and supporting
information) of the application form at appropriate interview stations e.g. portfolio station, if
requested.
Prior to the commencement of interviews, assessors must spend time calibrating their station and
agreeing how scores will be awarded. If multiple panels are being run using the same question,
calibration must include all assessors using that scenario.
The interview process should be used to assess applicants’ communication skills, either via a
global judgement or individual station. Actors should only be used at interview, where appropriate
and where they add value to the selection process and outcome.
Assessors should score individually and should not confer prior to awarding a mark. After the first
three interviews, the scores awarded to the first three interview candidates can be discussed and
scores could be amended if this benchmarking review highlights some inconsistency. Any
changes to scores should be made on the system and saved accordingly. In the event that there
is specialty specific guidance with regards to changing scores, this should be adhered to by
panellists. No further benchmarking discussions or amendment should take place after this initial
benchmarking period.
Where clinical concerns are raised about an applicant, based on their performance at interview,
it is the responsibility of the Clinical Lead on the day to investigate this and decide on the
appropriate course of action. If the Clinical Lead agrees that the concerns are serious, he/she
should report this to the applicant’s current Responsible Officer, and to the GMC/GDC, where
deemed appropriate.
Panel wash ups should take place throughout the day, and no less frequently than twice per day.
Wash ups should only include assessors who have interviewed and scored an applicant. The
wash up session does not necessarily necessitate all required assessors getting together in the
same room. It could be conducted by a lead who is relaying scores and decisions to the panel to
check for issues, with only the highlighted issues needing to be discussed.
All applicants should be assessed against a single threshold for the entry level and should be
classified as either appointable or not, based solely on that threshold. There should not be
differing appointable levels for local and national appointment.
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13.5 Recording of Interview Scores
To allow for statistical analysis to be undertaken interview scores should be recorded on Oriel for
each individual interview station. There is no requirement to record scores by panel member.
Interview scoring is undertaken on the digital scoring system (Qpercom). Paper scoresheets
should only be used as a contingency, if the digital scoring system becomes unavailable.
13.5.1 Hardware and Wi-Fi
All recruitment offices will have the following hardware to equip them to deliver digital scoring:
• Tablets (iPads)
• Charging units
• Back up Wi-Fi units
A Field Guide which sets out how to manage the recruitment iPads in England has been compiled
by IT
The preparation of hardware in advance is very important to ensure that the recruitment
processes run smoothly. More detail can be found in the Digital Scoring Reminder Checklist
found on the landing page of Qpercom.
Wi-Fi connectivity is vital to digital scoring; recruiters should ensure that they read the External
venue booking Wi-Fi requirements when booking venues
Document 19: Field Guide
Field Guide
Document 20: External venue booking Wi-Fi requirements
WIFI requirements
Document 21: Digital Scoring Best Practice Guide
Digital Scoring Best
Practice Guide.pdf
13.5.2 Browsers
When using Qpercom, recruiters should not use Internet Explorer. A plug has been added to the
system to detect the browser engine being used and warn users at the login screen that they
need to upgrade to a modern browser.
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13.5.3 Qpercom Experts
Each recruitment office has been assigned Qpercom experts who are responsible for the
following:
• Adding new recruitment office administrators
• Training new staff members
• Adding and creating specialties on the system
• Ensuring naming conventions on the system are consistent
• Being the first point of contact for Qpercom related questions or issues, escalating as
appropriate
• Disseminate system updates and information to their teams
On the day of a recruitment process, the experts are responsible for:
• Signing off any deletion of results on the system
• Signing off any results that need to be added to the system on behalf of a panel member
• If they are unable to personally attend the recruitment event, they must ensure the
responsibility of completing the above two tasks is handed over to someone else
The following up to date documents can be found on the Qpercom landing page
(https://qpersoft.com/mdrs:
• Qpercom training booklet
• Digital scoring reminder checklist
• Enquiries process and Qpercom expert list
• Crisis management chart
• Example panellist briefing
A dedicated inbox ([email protected]) has been created to enable panellists and
recruitment offices to contact the project team.
13.5.4 Panellist Training
Training material is available for panellists; including a training video on how to log in to the system
and how to score and give feedback for each applicant. There is also an example panellist briefing
presentation which will need to be delivered by recruiters to panellists before the interviews
commence. This should take no more than 20 minutes in total, which should be built into the
interview schedule.
Both resources can be found on the Qpercom landing page.
13.5.5 Release of Interview Scoresheets to Applicants
A key feature of the digital scoring system is the functionality to send applicant scoresheets,
including comments made by panellists from Qpercom directly. This should be undertaken by
the lead recruiter as part of the recruitment process. There is no longer a need to wait for
applicants to request their scoresheets; these should be sent to all applicants as part of the
recruitment process, following interviews and release of offers.
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Please note: It is important to monitor panellists’ comments via the system on the day of
interviews so that any inappropriate comments are picked up and dealt with immediately by
recruiters and clinical leads.
13.6 Selection Centre Roles and Responsibilities
At selection centres/interviews, the following personnel will be available:
• Lay Representatives - These are not medically qualified but have experience of
healthcare management. Their role is to provide impartial oversight of the process,
ensuring that interviews are appropriate and fair. They will observe interview panels and
be available to answer questions or deal with concerns on the day. If there is an issue with
the interview the applicant should request to speak with a lay representative at the first
opportunity
• Recruitment Lead - This person is responsible for the smooth running of the interview
process. They are usually senior administrators in the HEE Local Office/Deanery hosting
the interviews and are responsible for ensuring that interview materials and data are
appropriately handled. They are usually the point of contact for messages handled via
helplines, escalating them appropriately
• Clinical Lead - This person is a medically qualified specialist who is responsible for
delivering the content of the interviews and providing quality assurance of the process.
They or their representatives may observe panels. They are available to answer questions
which require clinical clarification during the interviews
13.7 Interview Panel
All interview panel members are required to have undertaken Equality and Diversity training in
the last 3 years. Recruiters must obtain evidence of completion of this training from the
interviewers. This would normally be in the form of a certificate to confirm completion of training.
Verbal confirmation from the interviewer is not acceptable evidence.
Recruitment leads should ensure there is a mechanism in place for interviewing panel members
or trainees to declare any conflict of interest e.g. knowing an applicant. This could be achieved
by providing a list of prospective candidates to the interview panel(s) before the interviews
commence.
Where possible, applicants known to one or more panel members should be switched to another
panel. If this is not possible then the administrative team should arrange for a lay representative
or other member of the recruitment team (e.g. the recruitment lead) to be present, in addition to
the interviewers, at the relevant station.
If it is not recognised in advance of the station that a candidate is known to a panel member, and
there is no opportunity to implement the measures described above, the interviewer should note
their prior knowledge of the candidate on the scoresheet, allow the partner panel member to lead
the questioning for that applicant and notify the selection team of this before or during the post
interview wash up, to ensure that any potential aberrant scores can be reviewed.
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13.8 Lay Representatives
Lay representatives should be used during all interview/selection processes. A best practice
interview guide for lay representatives has been produced and should be followed by all national
recruitment offices.
13.9 Trainee Involvement in Recruitment and Selection
The use of trainees in selection processes is encouraged.
Appropriate trainee involvement in recruitment and selection includes:
• Membership of the specialty recruitment committee/steering group
• Possible attendance at the selection centres in a quality assurance role
• Involvement with writing interview questions and scenarios
Trainees must have undertaken all the pre-requisite mandatory training, including equality and
diversity training. It is unacceptable for trainees to be asked to act as panel members without
appropriate preparation and training.
Where trainees are used as interviewers, all the following must be in place:
• They should have an appropriate level of authority to take part e.g. nominated by their
Postgraduate Dean or Head of School/Training Programme Director. Trainees must not
self-select themselves for interview panels
• The trainee must be paired with an experienced interviewer
• The lead recruiter must specify on what stations/panels trainees may act as panel
members. Local recruiters must seek advice from the lead recruiter on appropriate roles
for trainees acting as panel members
• Trainees must not interview for their peers. Higher specialty trainees can be used to
interview for basic levels of training (e.g. ST1, CT1). When interviewing at ST3 level and
above, only trainees in their final year of training will be deemed appropriate to interview
• Interviewing should be a development opportunity for trainees and therefore must always
have appropriate learning outputs defined
13.10 Disruption to Attendance
It is recognised that both panel members and applicants may face difficulties attending
interviews/selection centres during periods of severe travel disruption, periods of adverse weather
or when there are disruptions to public transport (e.g. tube strikes). The recruitment lead has a
Document 22: Lay Representative Best Practice Guide
Lay Rep Interview
Guide
Document 23: Lay Representative Report
.
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responsibility to ensure continuity and consistency of the interviews/selection centre during these
periods whilst maintaining a fair and transparent process.
Where possible, in advance of the event, the recruitment lead should try to identify any possible
issues that may affect full panel member and/or applicant attendance.
As a minimum, the following should be considered:
• A set number of reserve panel members should be assigned well in advance of the event
to account for any last minute non-attendance. The number required depends on the
number of circuits being run, but generally there should be at least one reserve panel
member per circuit
• Recruitment leads should assign panel members from a wide distribution of areas for each
day of the assessment centre to ensure that disruption to certain regions does not have
major impact on panel member attendance
• It may be appropriate, depending on the size of the event, to have a list of panel members
who are located nearby and could be available at short notice
• Any panel member must have completed appropriate training and receive relevant briefing
documentation
• If the specialty is closely aligned with another specialty, a clinician from the allied specialty
can be asked to attend or act as a reserve
• When releasing interview slots, where possible, the recruitment lead should ensure that
several slots are left free in the afternoon of the last day of the interviews/selection centre
for applicants to use if they cannot attend their allocated slot due to adverse
weather/transport conditions
A plan should be put in place as soon practicable, ideally as part of the initial planning process
and in advance of any event occurring. It is recognised that this may not always be possible. The
plan should include:
• The minimum requirements for the interviews/selection centre to run without any
disruption to the applicant experience and quality of the recruitment process
• The communication plan to be followed in the event of any adverse weather/transport
Where disruption occurs, the following must be addressed:
• Panel member non-attendance – If panel members are unable to attend, the recruitment
lead should determine the minimum number of panel members required to run the event
with no impact on the quality and fairness of the recruitment process. This may involve
changes to the timings or even the process.
Previous analysis has shown that an assessment is less dependent on examiner variability
if there are more independent stations. Based on these findings, in the case of panel
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member non-attendance, the number of stations used in the assessment should not be
reduced to allow the interviews/selection centre to go ahead; the number of panel
members on each station should be reduced.
The Clinical Lead should assist with the interviews/selection centre as a panel member
instead of taking on a lead role throughout the day.
Where there is more than one circuit, there may be an option to reduce the number of
circuits and extend the length of the day to accommodate all applicants scheduled to
attend.
Where the interviews/selection centre are held over several days, it may be possible to
reduce the number of applicants expected on the affected day by rearranging their time
slot to a later date.
It may be possible to run the interviews/selection centre with a reduced number of panel
members without any effect on the timings or the consistency or fairness of the process
by using one or more of the following:
The use of non-clinicians in place of clinicians – Non clinicians cannot be used to mark
a station that usually requires a clinician, but non clinicians can be used in other ways e.g.
an administrative member of staff who has been trained could review portfolios.
Reduce the number of panel members in the portfolio/evidence stations – A
portfolio/evidence station with a review period that uses 4 panel members could be
reduced to 3 panel members and run on a carousel basis whereby two interview the
applicant whilst the other reviews the portfolio.
The time between applicants could be increased slightly which could allow a portfolio
station to run with only two clinicians. The extra time between cycles is used to check the
portfolio/evidence folder and checking can continue within the station.
Alternatively, the portfolio/evidence folders can be checked in batches at break times by
all other panel members.
Determine if any stations can be run with only one panel member – This should be
determined by the Recruitment Lead and the Clinical Lead. If this is deemed appropriate,
only the most experienced panel members should be put on any station that runs with only
one panel member.
Where a station consists of a communication mark, this station could be reduced to one
panel member and an experienced lay representative. A lay representative will almost
always be able to assess communication and discuss their assessment with the clinician.
The clinician will be required to double mark (i.e. their mark for the scenario and
communication is entered twice) with the lay representative remaining present to ensure
consistency and help with any issues.
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Any changes to process should be clearly documented with comments from the lay
representative/s. The Clinical Lead, Lay Representative and Recruitment Lead should
determine whether the interviews/selection centre can return to the normal process for the
remaining assessment days or if the contingency process should be followed for the
remainder of the event to ensure consistency.
• Applicant non-attendance – If there are enough panel members but several applicants
are unable to attend, attendance of the affected applicants should be rearranged, where
possible.
Where possible, the Recruitment Lead should try to accommodate applicants who are
unable to attend due to adverse weather/transport conditions. In some circumstances an
applicant’s journey may not be affected due to the weather but they may have to provide
emergency cover in the workplace preventing them attending for assessment on the
assigned day. Applicants in this situation should be treated in the same way as those
affected by weather and transport, subject to presenting evidence of this.
Where applicants are unable to attend for assessment, they should advise the recruitment
lead as soon as possible and not after the allocated time slot has passed.
Where recruitment is nationally coordinated but locally led, the applicant could be
accommodated by other regions, subject to capacity and interview/selection centre dates.
The region accepting the applicant can decline the request if they cannot be
accommodated without significant disruption to their recruitment.
Where possible, recruitment leads should keep aside a set number of slots on the last
day/at the end of the day that could specifically be used for these circumstances.
In the case of delays to arrival, where possible, the Recruitment Lead should allow the
opportunity for the applicant to attend on the same day they were booked to attend.
However, the Recruitment Lead can decline to accommodate the applicant if they arrive
later than the last scheduled timeslot of the day.
Where it has been established, after all options have been considered, that it is not
possible to put any alternative arrangements in place, the applicant’s application would be
withdrawn due to non-attendance.
• Both applicant and panel member non-attendance – If the interviews/selection centre
cannot be run due to a lack of panel members and applicants attending, the Recruitment
Lead will need to cancel or postpone the event. Cancellation should only take place as a
last resort after ensuring that all options have been exhausted.
The national Medical and Dental Recruitment and Selection (MDRS) team should be
notified of the cancellation/postponement prior to any applicant and/or panel member
communications.
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Affected applicants and panel members should be advised as soon as possible, ideally by
telephone, but as a minimum, by email.
Lead recruiters should update the front page of their websites with definitive information
as soon as it becomes available.
The event should be rearranged and must take place within the stipulated interview
window in the national recruitment timeline, unless special permission has been sought
from the national Medical and Dental Recruitment and Selection team.
13.11 Interview Expenses
13.11.1 Applicant Expenses
In England, a national policy has been implemented to ensure consistency in reimbursement rates
across regions. Applicants will claim through an online system called Selenity from the region
where they attended interview, but all reimbursement will come from a national budget.
Applicants who attend interviews outside of England should claim expenses from the nation where
they are interviewed, under their policy and payment rates; not through Selenity.
For Wales and Scotland, where payable, applicant expenses should be paid by the region in
which the applicant attended interview.
Applicants attending interview in Northern Ireland will not have their travel expenses reimbursed.
Document 24: Applicant Interview Expenses Policy (England)
Candidate Expenses
Policy.pdf
13.11.2 Interviewer Expenses
Where interviewing in their home region, interviewers should claim their interview expenses from
their employer.
Where interviewing in another region, reasonable expenses will be reimbursed by the home
region in England and Wales. In Scotland, reasonable expenses will be reimbursed by the panel
member’s health board.
In England, a national policy has been introduced to ensure that all panel members are paid in
the same way. Expenses will be reimbursed through Selenity. As all reimbursement comes from
a national budget, panel members should be advised to select the interview centre that they
attended when claiming expenses. For interviewers who travelled from England to interview in
one of the devolved nations, they should be advised to select their home region on Selenity.
Document 25: Panel Member Interview Expenses Policy (England)
Clinicians Expenses
Policy.pdf
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13.12 Internet and Telephone Interviews
Internet and telephone interviews will not be permitted, except in exceptional circumstances.
The only permissible situation in recent years has been online interviews for those doctors
assisting with the Ebola crisis.
Exceptional circumstances will be dictated by the MDRS national team. No internet or telephone
interview should be undertaken without the permission of the MDRS team.
Document 26: Minimum standards for interview invitations Minimum
Standards
Document 27: What applicants can expect at interview Interviews What to
Expect
Document 28: Interview Document Checklist
Interview
Document Checklist
Document 29: Standard template for collection of missing documents at interview Missing Document
Form
Document 30: Interview/Selection Centre Roles and Responsibilities Roles and
Responsibilities
Document 31: Interview Incident Form Interview Incident
Form
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14 Offers
HEE local offices/Deaneries are responsible for making offers and should ensure the process is
managed by appropriately trained staff and that stringent quality assurance processes are in
place.
When processing recruitment data, prior to offers release, the following steps should be taken:
• Different individuals should be responsible for each of the following tasks:
➢ Exporting data from the Qpercom digital scoring system
➢ Manual manipulation of the data
➢ Import of final selection data into Oriel
➢ Checking that the Oriel import matches the Qpercom data
• Each stage should be double checked by another colleague
• Where recruitment team size prevents different individuals completing each phase, the
same individual can undertake the different tasks but, all scores at each stage must be
double checked by another member of the team.
• A minimum of 10% of final selection scores must be double checked, but where possible,
it is encouraged to double check as many scores as possible.
➢ The 10% should be from a range of scores i.e. not just the top 10% or bottom 10%
of scores
• Quality checking processes must include double checks on Resident Labour Market Test
status, taking into account current immigration status, Shortage Occupation Lists and
current sponsor (where appropriate)
The first iteration of offers for any specialty should not be made on a Friday. All iterations of offers
should exclude the weekend (but not bank holidays) in response times. Subsequent iterations
of offers can be released on a Friday but the response time must still exclude the weekend.
When offers are made, applicants should also be sent an SMS message through Oriel. This is
not an automated process meaning that recruiters must manually release the messages.
Document 32: Offer letter template
Offer Template
Document 33: Oriel offers checklist Oriel Offers
Checklist
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14.1 Making Preferences
When making preferences, applicants should be advised that preferences should be ranked in
the order that they would like to accept the posts. Some applicants will make their decisions
based on the number of posts available in each preference, but as offers are made meritocratically
(i.e. in rank order based on selection score), they should be advised against this.
14.2 Releasing Offers
The national recruitment timetable lists a date for each recruitment round whereby initial offers for
all specialties must be made. This does not prevent recruiters from releasing offers earlier, if
able.
Lead recruiters should communicate to applicants the date when they can expect to hear the
outcome of their specialty interviews. Where offers may be released by different regions at
different times, each region should ensure that they communicate the offers release dates
accordingly.
If there is a delay in releasing offers, for any reason, applicants should be contacted to inform
them of the delay and when offers are likely to be released.
Recycling of offers can continue after the initial offers deadline. Appointable applicants can
continue to be offered until the list has been exhausted or posts are readvertised or the
commencement date for the post has passed.
14.3 Offer Detail
All vacancy (programme/post) information must be provided on the standard Oriel Programme
Preference Import which follows the Oriel taxonomy. Programme preferences submitted in any
other format will not be accepted and will be returned for correction or will be corrected to the
correct format by the lead recruiter.
If a training programme offer is for dual training, this should be clearly stated at the point of offer
and should be included in the import spreadsheet.
The nationally agreed offers template and upgrading templates (accept with upgrades and hold
with upgrades) must be used and must include all offer details including start date, duration and
location.
Applicants who need to satisfy the Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) should not be offered
until the specialty can confirm no UK or EEA applicants remain for a vacancy and all other
requirements of the RLMT have been met. For specialties that use a clearing process, this will
be after clearing has been completed.
14.4 Offer Responses
When responding to an offer of a training programme, applicants will be able to accept, accept
with upgrades, reject, hold or hold with upgrades (within the set timeline for the recruitment round).
Applicants will be given 48 hours (excluding weekends) from the time their offer is released to
them to decide whether to accept, hold or reject it.
Offers not responded to by the deadline given will be classified as expired and the applicant will
have been deemed to have rejected the offer. However, if the applicant contacts the recruitment
54
office, they should be reinstated, but with no guarantee that a further offer will be received, or that
the original offer will be re-issued.
Applicants who accept a post in a recruitment round can continue to apply and accept posts in
future rounds. When accepting a post in a subsequent round, applicants are required to give
appropriate notice. Notice should be discussed and agreed between the applicant and the
appointing recruiter.
If an applicant accepts a post in a subsequent round of recruitment, the initial recruiter
(responsible for the first accepted post) will write to the applicant and give 72 hours to confirm
which offer should be kept. If the applicant fails to decide, the original offer will be rejected by the
recruiter as the default option.
14.4.1 Accepting an offer
Once an offer has been accepted, the applicant will be excluded from any further offers from this
and any other specialty within this recruitment round.
The accepted offer preference will be automatically upgraded through offer matching, if the
applicant has opted into upgrades and preferred preferences become available before the
upgrade deadline.
If the offer is for a Locum Appointment for Training (in the devolved nations) the applicant may
still get a training offer for a core or specialty training programme should one become available,
up until the hierarchy deadline. After the hierarchy deadline, devolved nations may request that
a LAT within their nation be upgraded to an NTN within the same nation, should one become
available.
14.4.2 Holding an offer
Only one offer can be held at any time. If an applicant tries to hold two offers, the initial held offer
will be automatically rejected by Oriel. The system informs applicants of this.
The held offer preference will be automatically upgraded if the applicant has opted into upgrades
and preferred preferences become available before the upgrade deadline.
Offers can still be received from other specialties, if eligible.
The held offer can be rejected or accepted at any time prior to the hold deadline. Applicants must
log back into Oriel and make a firm decision on any held offers before the hold deadline. Offers
still being held when the deadline is reached will be automatically rejected by Oriel.
14.4.3 Rejecting an offer
When an applicant chooses to reject their offer, they will have their offer removed and will receive
no further offers from that vacancy within that recruitment round. However, applicants will
continue to receive offers from other vacancies if eligible/available.
14.4.4 Upgrading offers
Applicants will automatically receive offer upgrades if they accept or hold an offer and opt in for
upgrades. This means that should a higher ranked preference become available where they have
55
held or accepted an offer, they will be automatically upgraded to this offer with no option to revert
to their original offer, if they are next in line to receive that preference.
Applicants can opt in or out of upgrades at any point and this option is on the applicant screen in
Oriel. If an applicant chooses to accept or hold their offer with upgrades, they will be directed to
an additional page, which shows them their upgrade options. They will be able to edit their
preferences at this point.
Upgrading can continue until the dates stated in the national timetable, however, offers will
continue, with no option to upgrade, after the upgrade deadline has passed.
Upgrading of offers is not available for Academic Clinical Fellowship posts.
14.4.5 Hierarchical Offers
The hierarchical deadline is the last possible date where a candidate can be upgraded to a post
that is deemed higher in the hierarchical structure.
Up until the hierarchical deadline, applications will remain active in the groups where a
hierarchically improved sub preference becomes available.
Initial hierarchical offers are made with the full 48 hour window for applicant response. The
availability of hold and/or upgrade options will be dependent on the group settings and the stage
of the recruitment timetable at the point the offer is released.
Document 34: Hierarchical Upgrades Hierarchical
Upgrades
14.5 Applicants Requesting to Swap Their Accepted Post
Applicants may contact the lead recruiter after the upgrade deadline has passed and request they
be permitted to swap their accepted post for one that is still vacant.
Consideration of this request is discretionary and should be on a case by case basis. Requests
should not be considered before the upgrade deadline for the recruitment round.
This should not be used as a way of receiving an upgrade after the upgrade deadline has passed.
An example of a request that could be considered would be where two partners in a committed
relationship wish to train in the same region.
Evidence should be provided to support the reasons for requesting a swap.
14.6 Fitness to Practise and Offers
Lead recruiters should ensure that they forward Fitness to Practise supporting
information/evidence to the receiving region for all applicants who have made a declaration and
who have accepted a training programme, where the reason for the applicant:
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• Is currently undergoing an investigation (by employer, regulator, police, social services
etc.)
• Has conditions, restrictions, undertakings, warnings etc. with their regulator
• Is considered to have serious issues e.g. competence, probity, repeat issues, lack of
awareness
The supporting information should be forwarded on no later than 1 week after the upgrade
deadline for the recruitment round.
Offered applicants with Fitness to Practise issues should be informed within 3 weeks of the
upgrade deadline, or from accepting the post (whichever is the later date), whether they can be
accepted onto the training programme.
Document 35: Fitness to Practise Process
FtP Process
14.7 Late Inclusion of Posts/Programmes
Posts/programmes that appear late in the recruitment cycle must be managed in a consistent way
by recruiters.
Where posts become available for recruitment and appointable applicants are still available for
the specialty/level, the applicants should be offered, regardless of when the initial interview took
place.
Posts can only be included for the date range specified for the recruitment round (see recruitment
timelines in section 1.2)
If the posts are added to recruitment after the upgrade deadline, applicants who have already
accepted an offer cannot be offered them, even if the new post would be preferable.
Applicants who have already accepted a Locum Appointment for Training (LAT) post cannot be
upgraded to a National Training Number post if the new post is added after the hierarchical
upgrade deadline. The exception to this is if the LAT and NTN are both in the same nation and
the upgrade is requested by that devolved nation.
14.8 Recording of Withdrawals and Deferrals
Where applicants withdraw from accepted offers, it is important that these are recorded in a
consistent way by all recruitment offices. Fill rate data should be accurate and reflect both
withdrawals and deferrals and should continue to be updated/recorded until the start date for the
post.
14.8.1 Withdrawals
Where an applicant withdraws from a post that they have previously accepted, they should be
withdrawn from Oriel to reflect that one less post has been filled. Where appointable candidates
remain, this post should then be offered to the next eligible applicant.
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14.8.2 Deferrals
Where an applicant accepts a post but requests and is approved for a deferred start date, this
should be reflected in Oriel in a consistent way.
Deferred applicants should remain within Oriel as having accepted (i.e. they should not be
withdrawn from the vacancy). Where there is still the opportunity to offer the post to another
appointable applicant, the post numbers should be increased by one to allow for this.
An offline record of deferral reasons should be maintained by each HEE local office/Deanery.
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15 Clearing
Clearing should be seen as best practice, where the recruitment model permits its use, to ensure
a high proportion of vacancies are filled in the most efficient and cost effective manner possible.
In some cases, the adoption of a clearing process may result in specialties not needing to re-
advertise.
Specialties with appointable applicants and vacancies remaining after all offers have been
exhausted should enter a clearing round.
The following principles should be followed by all specialties that have a clearing round as part of
national recruitment:
• Clearing should open no more than one week after the final offer has been made or the
hierarchical deadline has passed, whichever is the later
• The timespan of clearing will be specialty specific dependant on the number of applicants
and posts remaining
• The Code of Practice must be adhered to wherever possible
• Applicants offered a post through clearing will have 48 hours to accept or decline. There
will be no option to hold or upgrade a clearing offer
• Applicants who have accepted a Locum Appointment for Training post (in the devolved
nations) will not be eligible for clearing
• Applicants in clearing will have the opportunity to positively preference the remaining
vacancies that they are interested in
It is acknowledged that posts may enter clearing due to attrition from previous acceptances of
training programmes. These posts will not be offered to successful applicants from the initial
rounds of offers who may have preferenced them as the upgrade deadline will have already
passed. The number of instances would be small but this is recognised as a necessary practice
to ensure the recruitment process remains robust.
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16 References
References for all medical recruitment rounds should be requested and collected online, through
the Oriel reference portal. References will be collected for all specialties, for all applicants who
have accepted a training offer.
References are used to confirm employment history and to highlight serious concerns from
referees and they form part of the pre-employment clearances that employers undertake.
References are collected by recruiters solely to aid employers and there is no requirement for
recruiters to check or act on the content of the references received. The responsibility for
checking references lies with the employer.
If a recruiter comes across any negative comments when collecting references, they can flag this
to employers, but it is not their responsibility to follow up on the comments.
The Postgraduate Dean as the incoming Responsible Officer reserves the right to withdraw the
offer of a training agreement due to unsatisfactory references. If a training agreement is
withdrawn this would also, by default, mean the removal of a contract of employment.
The recruitment lead will set up the reference window. The reference submission open date is at
the discretion of the lead recruiter, however the reference submission closing date should
normally be set as the day before the paperwork deadline, as detailed in the medical recruitment
timetable. Specialties running clearing rounds may choose to set the deadline to allow applicants
appointed through clearing to have their references submitted through Oriel.
References will be automatically chased through Oriel. Following the initial request, a reminder
will be sent 2 weeks later and then every week until the reference has been submitted or the
submission window closes; no reminders are sent within a week of the closing date.
Once paperwork has been passed over to the receiving HEE local office/Deanery, responsibility
for chasing outstanding references will pass to the receiving employer.
Where references cannot be submitted through the Oriel reference portal, paper references can
be used. This should be an exception.
Document 36: National Reference Form
Reference Form
Document 37: Academic Reference Form Academic Reference
Form
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17 Applicant Feedback
Applicants should be given feedback at each of the following stages of the recruitment process:
• Longlisting
• Shortlisting (if applicable)
• Interview/Selection centre
Unless specified that it cannot be provided, feedback should be provided to all applicants, not just
those that request it. Minimum standards for feedback templates are provided. Whilst these do
not need to be used verbatim, feedback should meet these standards.
17.1 Longlisting
A rationale must be provided in the longlist unsuccessful communication as to why the applicant
was unsuccessful
Feedback should be provided on completion of the longlisting process.
17.2 Shortlisting
Applicants should be provided with their total shortlisting score, the total score available for
shortlisting and the score needed to be invited to interview.
Feedback should ideally be provided at the time of notification of the shortlisting outcome. Where
this is not possible, it should be no more than 1 week after completion of interviews with the
timescale communicated to applicants in the email that notifies applicants of the shortlisting
outcome.
17.3 Interview/Selection Centre
Feedback should be provided no later than one week after the initial offers deadline for the
recruitment round, as stated in the national recruitment timetable.
It is best practice to provide feedback on the various domains of the interview process:
• Applicant score per station
• Applicant total score
• Maximum score available
• Information on how scores are calculated, including the percentage
contribution of the shortlisting score, where applicable
• Applicant appointability and the minimum score required for appointability (as
appropriate)
• Applicant ranking
Where any of the best practice feedback is not, or cannot, be provided, the reasons for this must
be defensible.
Where copies of scoresheets are requested, these should be sent from the digital scoring system.
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17.3.1 Interviewer Comments
Confidential information should be redacted when supplying interview scoresheets. This includes
information about the panellists and details about the questions asked, plus any other information
specified by the specialty.
Lead recruiters should try to ensure supplying written feedback is as simple as possible, avoiding
the need for information to be redacted e.g. by having interview questions and the scoring
framework separate to the interview scoresheet.
Assessors must be made aware that any comments that they make on a scoresheet will be shared
with the applicant. It is therefore imperative that comments are factual and can be backed up by
examples.
Specialties and interviewing regions should ensure that mechanisms are in place to ensure it is
clear why applicants were found to be unappointable.
Document 38:
Feedback templates and communications
Feedback
Templates
Document 39:
Feedback Comments – Assessor Guidance Assessor Guidance
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18 Applicant Support
Lead recruiters and HEE local offices/Deaneries will need to publish all potential posts that they
will be advertising on their websites, in line with the Code of Practice.
Recruiters will need to:
• Have in place mechanisms for ongoing email communication to applicants and where
possible, provide a telephone support line
• Respond to helpdesk emails within 3 working days, aspiring to 2 working days
wherever possible. Close to deadlines (e.g. application deadline, offers response),
this should be much quicker, depending on the nature of the query
• Provide timely and effective information for applicants on their websites that is specific
to their application process
• Provide guidance to applicants on completion of the specialty specific sections of the
application form
• Link to the national applicant guide which provides a detailed guide to the application
process. This guide contains information on sources for careers guidance and should
be used as a point of reference for applicants
• Link to the guidance on using Oriel, available from the Resource Bank
(https://www.oriel.nhs.uk/Web/ResourceBank) and via the FAQ section
(https://www.oriel.nhs.uk/Web/FAQs)
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19 Recruitment Issues and Risks
Each recruitment lead will be required to keep a record of issues and risks associated with their
specialty recruitment process.
Where issues are experienced by local recruitment teams, undertaking recruitment on behalf of
the lead recruiter, these should be reported to the lead, who will have responsibility for reporting
these .
Each recruitment office will be required to submit a Specialty Recruitment Highlight Report to the
MDRS team on a monthly basis. This report will provide assurance that recruitment is running to
plan, but will also give early warning of where issues may arise. The template is available on the
ROG SharePoint site.
19.1 Issues
An issue is something that has already happened, not something that is likely to happen. Details
should be provided on the nature of the issue, it’s cause, the impact and what actions are being
taken to remedy it.
Any red issues should be escalated to the national MDRS team immediately, by telephone, in
addition to being recorded on the monthly highlight report.
19.2 Risks
A risk is defined as an uncertain event or set of events that, should they occur, will influence the
achievement of objectives. A risk is measured by the combination of the probability of the
perceived threat or opportunity occurring and the magnitude of its impact on objectives. There
are three stages in identifying a risk:
• Risk Cause – What is the source of the risk? What is the event or situation that gives
rise to the risk?
e.g. if it snows on the day of the CT1 interviews
• Risk Event – A description of the area of uncertainty in terms of the threat or opportunity
e.g. applicants may struggle to get to the interviews
• Risk Effect – A description of the impact that the risk would have on the organisation
activity, should the risk materialise
e.g. resulting in a low fill rate for the specialty training programme
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20 Complaints and Appeals
There is a national complaints procedure which should be used by all recruitment offices and
must be published for applicants. Specialties and HEE local offices/Deaneries should not have
separate complaints procedures for national recruitment activity.
Recruitment offices should make efforts to deal with issues outside of the complaints and appeals
procedure and only treat them as official complaints/appeals, including logging, once this is
unavoidable.
The lead recruiter is responsible for managing and owning complaints relating to national
recruitment activity. It is their responsibility to liaise with HEE local offices/Deaneries to ensure
complaints are managed in line with the national complaints procedure.
A log of all complaints, how they are handled and subsequent outcomes should be maintained by
each national recruitment office. The national template must be used for this purpose.
Document 40:
National Complaints Procedure MDRS Complaints
Policy
Document 41:
National Complaints Log Complaints Log
Template
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21 Managing Concerns about Probity
The probity of an applicant may be called into question at various stages in the recruitment
process:
• When answers from two or more applicants are in part, or throughout the application, the
same or so similar that it might reasonably be assumed that the answers have been
substantially formulated around content provided by one of the applicants or a third party
• When an applicant has made more than one application to the same vacancy with same or similar details
• When the veracity of the information contained in answers is brought into question e.g. detailing qualifications not in possession of, self-assessment score which cannot be backed up by documentary evidence
• Possession of patient identifiable data in portfolios; this could include not only patient names, but also hospital identification numbers
• Performance at selection centre causes reason to question the previous experience cited by the applicant
21.1 Investigating Concerns Raised During Longlisting/Shortlisting If an application is received that raises concerns, the recruitment office involved with the process
should be informed. The recruitment office will discuss the issue with an appropriate senior officer
e.g. Clinical Recruitment Lead, Postgraduate Dean, Head of School etc. The senior officer will
consider whether there is cause for concern, in which case the applicant(s) will be offered the
opportunity to provide an explanation.
If it is deemed that there is a case to answer, the recruitment office will contact the applicant(s) in
writing, inform them of the reason for concern and ask them for an explanation.
The applicant(s) may be asked to explain in writing and in such instances, will be asked to sign
their response and provide copies of any supporting documentation upon which they will seek to
rely.
A Scrutiny Panel shall convene to consider the applicant response. In the event that an applicant
has failed to respond, the panel will still convene to consider an appropriate course of action.
Where the issue is one of duplicate material, wherever possible the response of all applicants
implicated should be considered before a decision is made.
The panel will be made up of at least three people who must include a Postgraduate Dean or
nominated deputy and a medical workforce/HR professional.
It is the responsibility of applicants to satisfy the probity concerns raised. It is not for the Panel to
prove that the probity concerns are founded.
The applicant is entitled to attend the meeting if they so wish, and to be represented by a
colleague or professional representative e.g. BMA. Solicitors and other legally qualified individuals
are not permitted (unless not acting in a legal capacity).
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In the event that the investigation relates to suspected plagiarism, applicants will be informed that
their names and geographical location will be divulged to the other applicant(s) in the
investigation.
The Panel may also consider other sources of information including any previous concerns raised
about the applicant; information on external agencies providing model answers; expert witnesses;
and information from other applications during the particular recruitment round.
The Panel will decide whether:
• There is no case to answer and the applicant(s) will be allowed to proceed normally
through recruitment and selection
• The explanation provided by the applicant(s) is satisfactory. The applicant(s) will be
allowed to proceed normally through recruitment and selection
• The panel is only partly satisfied with the explanation. In this case, it may require additional
information from the applicant. Depending on the reason for the investigation certain
action, such as withholding of a score(s) or acceptance of only a single application may
be considered
• The explanation is not satisfactory, or no satisfactory explanation has been offered, in
which case the application(s) should be withdrawn. In this case, those applicants will be
referred to their Responsible Officer who may choose to refer them to the appropriate
regulator
21.2 Investigating Concerns Raised at Interview/Selection Centre
Probity concerns raised at interview could include applicants detailing qualifications, publications
etc. on their application form that they are unable to provide documentary evidence of, an
applicant who has generated a self-assessment score for themselves that is much higher than
the evidence provided would generate, patient identifiable data contained in portfolios, patient
safety concerns. This is not an exhaustive list.
Where an interviewer/assessor has concerns about an applicant’s probity, these should be raised
with the Lay Representative, Clinical Lead or Recruitment Lead either immediately before (where
this has been identified from a portfolio review) or immediately after the applicant has been
interviewed. The applicant should be interviewed in the normal way without raising the suspected
probity issue (except where clarification of the documentation is needed to support scoring) and
without interrupting the interview process.
Where the Clinical Lead and Recruitment Lead agree that the concerns raised are well founded,
the applicant should be interviewed by the Clinical Lead in an appropriately private location at the
interview venue. It is recommended that the Lay Representative in their independent capacity is
included in the discussion and details of the issue(s) and applicant response documented in a
contemporaneous summary note and signed by all parties to that interview.
Where concerns are raised after the applicant has left the interview, the Clinical Lead should
ensure that they contact the applicant as soon as possible, detailing the concerns raised and
giving the applicant the opportunity to respond.
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Where applicants are found to have patient identifiable data in their possession, the Clinical
Lead and Recruitment Lead should, at the end of the interview/selection centre process, recover
the data from the applicant in an appropriately private location. The leads have responsibility for
the appropriate destruction of this data. The applicant should be informed of the fact that, given
the GMC guidance on patient identifiable data, their Responsible Officer will be notified and that
it will be the Responsible Officer who determines whether any additional action is required.
Where concerns are raised that cannot be dealt with on the day, a probity panel of at least 3
people should be convened, constituted of the Responsible Officer in the region where the
interview/selection centre took place, an HR representative and one other. This should be
organised as soon as possible after the event to prevent a delay of offers being released.
Where a panel is required, the process detailed under Investigating Concerns Raised during
Longlisting/Shortlisting should be followed.
21.3 Accountability
Accountability for decisions made rests with the Postgraduate Dean on the review panel, not the
Lead Dean for the specialty.
21.4 Informing Others
Where concerns are raised about an applicant and upheld, the following should be informed:
• The Responsible Officer in the region where the interview/selection centre takes place
• The applicant’s Responsible Officer, where applicable
• Where the applicant is not currently employed in a post in the UK, the Lead Dean for the
specialty should be informed of the concerns raised
• The Lead Recruiter should be made aware and should add it to their issues log
Responsible Officers/Lead Deans have ultimate responsibility for referring applicants to the
General Medical Council, where they feel that the evidence presented makes this an appropriate
course of action.
21.5 Informing Applicants
Where concerns are raised about applicants that are felt to be well founded, it is important that
the applicant is kept informed at each stage, before any referrals are made.
21.6 Appeals
Irrespective of where in the application process a concern is raised, the applicant has a right of
appeal. The decision of any convened panel must be conveyed in writing to the applicant within
10 working days. The letter must include details of the Panel’s decision, and the reasons for it.
The right of appeal must be exercised within 10 working days of the date of the letter. In the event
a Panel has determined that a referral to the GMC should occur, this must not happen until the
right of appeal has expired.
The appeal will be heard by a differently constituted panel including a Postgraduate Dean or
nominated deputy from another HEE Local Office/Deanery and UoA.
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22 Defence Deanery Applicants
22.1 Eligibility
Defence Deanery applicants applying to CT/ST1 posts who completed foundation training more
than 3 years before the start date for the posts they are applying are required to submit a Defence
Deanery Alternative Certificate of Foundation Competence.
22.2 Applications
Defence Deanery applicants will be required to complete the online application through Oriel for
all specialties. In addition, they will also be required to complete a Defence Medical Services
application as this is required for assessment of eligibility and informs the Defence Deanery of
the specialties their applicants plan to apply for.
Applicants who are deployed during the application window without internet access should
arrange for a proxy application to be completed and submitted on their behalf, before the
application deadline.
The Defence Deanery should be given as much notification as possible of application dates in
order that alternative arrangements/proxy applications can be organised, as appropriate.
22.3 Interviews
The Defence Deanery should be given as much notice as possible of interview dates and venues,
to allow military panel members to be sourced. In addition, the Defence Deanery should be
informed of the interview model that will be used for each specialty e.g. single centre, local
interviews etc.
Where multiple military panel members attend interviews on the same day, these should be
spread out across the different interview stations, rather than being assigned to the same station.
Applicants applying for both NHS and military posts in the same recruitment round will be
managed in one of the following ways, in discussion with the Defence Deanery:
• Applicant attends interview at their NHS region with a military representative present, or
• Applicant attends interview at the preferred region, chosen by the Defence Deanery
(usually West Midlands) with a military representative present, and their interview score is
transferred and used for their NHS application, or
• NHS region does not want to wait for the interview score to be transferred, so applicant
attends an interview at the NHS region. If the applicant benchmarks, then the Defence
Deanery will take this score. If the applicant does not benchmark, then they can be
interviewed at the region chosen by the Defence Deanery with a military representative
present.
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22.4 Offers
Defence Deanery applicants should not be transferred to the offers part of Oriel, unless they are
also applying for an NHS post.
Offers for military/Defence Deanery posts must be made by the Defence Deanery only.
Offers to NHS posts can be processed by the lead recruiter.
Defence Deanery applicants who have applied for NHS training posts can hold an offer until
military offers are made or the hold deadline (whichever is the earliest). If a Defence Deanery
applicant is offered a military post, their NHS offer should be declined as the default option.
Interview scores for military applicants should be released to the Defence Deanery 5 working
days before offers are released for NHS applicants. Where less than 5 working days exist
between the completion of interviews and offers being released, recruiters should provide the
Defence Deanery with interview scores as soon as is reasonably practicable. This will allow the
Defence Deanery time to prepare their own offers, although this information will be kept
confidential and offers will not be released by the Defence Deanery until the day that NHS offers
are released.
The following information should also be provided:
• The total number of applicants interviewed
Where there is a single centre or single transferable score model, this should be all
interviewed applicants for the specialty. For cluster models, it should be the total number
of applicants interviewed in the same cluster as the military applicant
• Military applicant rank against total numbers
• Military applicant interview score
The Defence Deanery requires copies of interview scoresheets for applicants who fail to
benchmark, but not for those who reach the required standard. For Defence Deanery applicants,
the benchmark score will be the appointable threshold/cut off, not the score that would have been
required to be made an offer.
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23 Document Management
All recruiters should follow NHS Guidelines on record management.
Employers should only be provided with a copy of the full application form and completed
references.
Before the upgrade date/time the documents will not be visible. After the upgrade date/time
scanned documents will be immediately visible.
Applicant files or other personal identifiable data should not be sent by post, but should be
transferred securely, using the Oriel employer portal. Other forms of media (e.g. CDs, memory
sticks) must not be used.
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APPENDIX 1 – Recruitment to Academic Clinical Fellowships (ACFs)
Applicants to NIHR ACF posts who meet the threshold for appointability at academic interview
will also need to satisfy the requirements of the clinical interview process for the specialty.
Key Processes
• NIHR ACF recruitment timetable will run before the national timetable (see section 8)
• All academic appointees should demonstrate a level of competence equivalent to clinical
appointees.
• Applicants who do not hold either an NTN or DRN in the same specialty at an
appropriate training level at the time of applying for academic recruitment will be
required to attend a national clinical process/interview for the specialty in addition to the
ACF interview
• Applicants who are required to undertake a national clinical process/interview will be
required to also apply for the clinical training programme. Local recruiters are required
to liaise with the lead for the clinical recruitment to arrange clinical interviews for
applicants, as required.
• Where national recruitment is not undertaken for the specialty and/or level of the ACF
award, applications should only be accepted from applicants who already hold an NTN
or DRN for the specialty associated with the academic award. Local clinical recruitment
processes should not be undertaken.
• Applicants should be assessed against the national person specification for the specialty
and the national ACF person specification.
• ACF panels must have a minimum of one clinician in the relevant specialty.
• ACF offers will be made via Oriel.
• Offers made to applicants needing to attend and meet the threshold of a clinical
interview will be made in January 2020. This offer is conditional upon meeting the
requirements of the clinical process/interview
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Frequently Asked Questions for Applicants
ACF Timetable Round 1 – for August start
Application window Monday 7 October 2019 to Monday 4 November 2019
Interview window Wednesday 6 November 2019 to Friday 20 December 2019
Initial offers issued Monday 6 January 2020
Hold deadline Monday 13 January 2020
No upgrades
The following guidance is for NIHR ACF recruitment into all General Medical Council (GMC)
specialties.
I wish to apply for an NIHR ACF post to commence in 2020. What is the process?
NIHR ACF posts are allocated annually to Integrated Academic Training (IAT) partnerships
comprising a HEE local office, Higher Education Institute and NHS organisation. The recruitment
process is managed by the relevant HEE local office in the IAT partnerships and advertisements
will appear on their websites from October 2019. You will need to apply for NIHR ACF posts
using the online Oriel application system (https://www.oriel.nhs.uk/Web/).
ACF application form: Applicants will need to complete the ACF application form for the
ACF posts advertised in the relevant specialties and levels using Oriel
Specialty Training application form: ACF applicants who require clinical benchmarking
if successful at the ACF interview, will also need to complete the relevant specialty training
application form, when the national application window opens
Following assessment of the ACF application forms, shortlisted applicants will be invited for ACF
interviews (6 November to 20 December 2019) organised by the HEE local office hosting the ACF
post. The ACF interview has several components assessing the clinical-academic potential of
the applicant. Appointable applicants at the ACF interviews will be ranked, with the top ranked
applicant being offered the ACF post (conditionally if clinical benchmarking is required) when the
offers window opens on 6 January 2020.
Conditional offers will be given to successful applicants at the ACF interviews that do not already
hold a National Training Number (NTN) or Deanery Reference Number (DRN) in the GMC
specialty and level to which they are applying for academic training. The condition of the offer
relates to clinical benchmarking in the GMC specialty of the ACF post for which you are applying.
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If the top ranked applicant at the ACF interviews requires clinical benchmarking then reserve
appointable applicants, at the ACF interview, will also be invited for clinical benchmarking, if
required. An unconditional offer to the reserve applicants, who pass clinical benchmarking, is
dependent on higher ranked ACF applicants withdrawing or failing clinical benchmarking.
What is clinical benchmarking?
Clinical benchmarking relates to reaching the threshold of appointability at the national standard
clinical interviews/assessments for the GMC specialty and level of the ACF post for which you are
applying. Only applicants successful at the ACF interviews that do not hold an NTN/DRN in the
GMC specialty and level to which they are applying need to be clinically benchmarked.
For example:
• Applicants who hold a DRN in a core specialty, who are applying for an ACF at ST3/4 will
be required to attend clinical benchmarking at the higher level. The clinical interview that
resulted in the award of the DRN will not be acceptable for clinical benchmarking
• Applicants who hold an NTN for ST3 Cardiology, who are applying for an ST3 Cardiology
ACF post do not need to attend clinical benchmarking as they would have already passed
the clinical benchmarking required for this post
Applicants who fail to reach the appointability threshold at clinical benchmarking will be ineligible
for appointment to the ACF post if there is no further opportunity to clinically benchmark before
31 March 2021. Under these circumstances, the conditional ACF offer will be withdrawn.
Withdrawal of a conditional ACF offer does not prevent the applicant from applying in future
recruitment rounds.
Where there is further opportunity to clinically benchmark, the conditional offer should not be
withdrawn until after this opportunity has passed.
If applicants require clinical benchmarking at national clinical assessment/interviews then the HEE
local office hosting the ACF post will arrange this.
Do I need to submit separate applications for standard clinical training in that specialty in
order to be able to attend an interview for clinical benchmarking?
If you require clinical benchmarking then you must also complete a separate standard clinical
application form. You will be asked on your standard clinical application form whether you wish
to be considered for academic recruitment only (i.e. clinical benchmarking only) or whether you
wish your standard clinical application to be considered for both academic and clinical
appointments. Once you have made your selection and submitted the standard clinical
application form you will not be able to change this decision, even if made in error. It is therefore
important that you check the answers given in your application, prior to submission. The two
options are described below:
Academic Recruitment only: This informs the national recruitment office that you wish
your standard clinical application form to only be used for clinical benchmarking for the
ACF post you have applied for. You will only be invited to standard clinical interviews if
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you were appointable at the ACF interviews and thus invited for clinical benchmarking.
Selecting this option on the clinical application form informs the national recruitment office
that they should remove your application from the offers process for the standard clinical
training posts. Your score will only be used to assess whether you reached the level of
appointability.
You will not be offered a clinical training post regardless of how highly you score at
interview.
Academic Recruitment and Specialty Training: This advises the national recruitment
office that in addition to using the standard clinical application for clinical benchmarking
as part of the ACF recruitment process (as above), you would also like to be considered
for a standard clinical training post in the related specialty. Your score will be used to
assess whether you have reached the level of appointability for the ACF post offer and
you should be informed of the outcome as soon as possible. If your score is also high
enough to be appointed to a standard clinical training post then you will receive this offer
when the national standard clinical training offers window opens.
I currently hold a clinical NTN in the GMC specialty associated with the ACF I am applying
for. Do I need to be clinically benchmarked?
No. You will have already passed the assessment at the national clinical interview for this GMC
specialty and therefore will not have to do so again.
I currently hold a Deanery Reference Number (DRN) having previously successfully
applied for core level training. Will I still need to be clinically benchmarked?
It depends on the level of training of the ACF that is being applied for.
If you hold a DRN whilst applying for a post linked to a GMC specialty that has relevant core level
training (e.g. core trainee in Anaesthetics, Internal Medicine Training for medical specialties, Core
Surgical Training for surgery), then you will have already passed the assessment at the clinical
interview previously and therefore will not have to do so again.
However, if you hold a DRN for core training but are applying to academic training at a higher
training level (i.e. ST3/4) you will need to attend a national clinical assessment/interview at the
appropriate level.
If the core level training you are undertaking is not relevant to the GMC specialty you will be
applying for in the NIHR ACF round then you will need to undergo clinical benchmarking.
I hold a National Training Number (NTN) but not in the same GMC specialty that I am
applying for academic training in. Will I still need to be clinically benchmarked?
Yes. Although you have met the required standard in a national clinical interview before, it was
not in the same GMC specialty. Therefore, to ensure a consistency of approach with all
applicants, you will need to undergo clinical benchmarking for this GMC specialty.
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When will ACF offers be released?
Academic Round 1 offers will be released in January 2020. If you already hold an NTN in the
relevant GMC specialty and are the preferred applicant following the ACF interview, then you can
be offered the post. If you require clinical benchmarking, then the offer will be conditional upon
meeting the required standard in the clinical assessment/interview.
What is the process of accepting an ACF post after clinical benchmarking?
If, after confirmation of clinical benchmarking you choose to accept your ACF post, you must
ensure that you withdraw from all other applications that you have submitted. It is your
responsibility to contact the appropriate lead recruiter(s) and inform them that you would like to
withdraw your application. This should be done within 5 working days of confirmation of clinical
benchmarking. Withdrawal from other applications will not automatically occur in Oriel.
What happens if I do not reach the required standard at clinical benchmarking?
Your NIHR ACF offer will be withdrawn by the relevant HEE local office.
Will I receive a rank at clinical interviews when I am clinically benchmarked?
It depends on the option selected in the standard clinical application form.
Applicants who select academic recruitment only will not receive a rank at the standard clinical
assessment/interview.
Applicants who select academic recruitment and specialty training will receive a rank at the
standard clinical assessment/interview.
What will be the likely delay between my round 1 ACF interview and my clinical
benchmarking interview?
It depends on the level of the NIHR ACF post that you are applying for. Round 1 NIHR ACF
interviews will take place in November and December 2019.
Standard clinical assessments/interviews for ST1 level specialties will take place between
January and March 2020. Interviews for ST3/4 level specialties will generally take place between
March and April 2020 although some will take place earlier.
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Frequently Asked Questions for Recruiters
ACF Timetable Round 1 – for August start
Application window Monday 7 October 2019 to Monday 4 November 2019
Interview window Wednesday 4 November 2019 to Friday 20 December 2019
Initial offers issued Monday 6 January 2020
Hold deadline Monday 13 January 2020
No upgrades
Optional ACF Re-Advert Timetable
Application window Monday 20 January 2020 to Friday 6 March 2020
No upgrades
The following guidance is for NIHR ACF recruitment into all General Medical Council (GMC)
specialties.
What is the process for applicants applying for NIHR ACFs to commence in 2020?
NIHR ACF posts are allocated annually to Integrated Academic Training (IAT) partnerships
comprising a HEE local office, Higher Education Institute and NHS organisation. The recruitment
process is managed by the relevant HEE local office in the IAT partnerships and advertisements
will appear on their websites and Oriel from 7 October 2019.
ACF application form: Applicants will need to complete the ACF application form for the
ACF posts advertised in the relevant specialties and levels using Oriel
Specialty Training application form: ACF applicants who require clinical benchmarking
if they are successful at the ACF interview, will also need to complete the relevant specialty
training application form, when the national application window opens
Following assessment of the ACF application forms, shortlisted applicants will be invited for ACF
interviews by the HEE local office hosting the ACF post. The ACF interview has several
components assessing the clinical-academic potential of the applicant. Appointable applicants at
the ACF interviews will be ranked, with the top ranked applicant being offered the ACF post
(conditionally if clinical benchmarking is required) when the offers window opens on 6 January
2020.
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Offers or an indication of interview performance, are not to be released to applicants (either
officially or unofficially) before the offers date. This ensures that applicants are given a fair
opportunity to attend all of the ACF interviews they have applied for without undue pressure to
accept a post they interviewed for at the start of the window. This also ensures that IAT
partnerships are able to make full use of the interview window.
Conditional offers will be given to successful applicants at the ACF interviews that do not already
hold a National Training Number (NTN) or Deanery Reference Number (DRN) in the GMC
specialty and level to which they are applying for academic training. The condition of the offer
relates to clinical benchmarking in the GMC specialty of the ACF post for which they are applying.
If the top ranked applicant at the ACF interviews requires clinical benchmarking then reserve
appointable applicants from the ACF interview, will also be invited for clinical benchmarking, if
required. Any offer to the reserve applicants who pass clinical benchmarking, will be dependent
on higher ranked applicants at the ACF interviews withdrawing or failing clinical benchmarking.
ACF applicants will be ranked and offered on their performance at the ACF interview and not the
national standard clinical interview where they just need to pass the clinical benchmark. If
applicants require clinical benchmarking then the HEE local office hosting the ACF post will need
to ensure that the HEE national recruitment team are made aware of this in a timely manner.
What is clinical benchmarking?
Clinical benchmarking relates to reaching the threshold of appointability at the national standard
clinical interviews/assessments for the GMC specialty and level of the ACF post for which they
are applying. Only applicants successful at the ACF interviews that do not hold an NTN/DRN at
the appropriate level in the GMC specialty to which they are applying need to be clinically
benchmarked.
Applicants in training who hold a DRN in a core specialty who are applying for an ACF at ST3/ST4
level will be required to attend clinical benchmarking at the higher level. The clinical interview
that resulted in the award of the DRN will not be acceptable for clinical benchmarking.
Applicants who fail to reach the appointability threshold at clinical benchmarking will be ineligible
for appointment to the ACF post if there is no further opportunity to clinically benchmark before
31 March 2021. Under these circumstances, the conditional ACF offer will be withdrawn.
Withdrawal of a conditional ACF offer does not prevent the applicant from applying in future
recruitment rounds.
Where there is further opportunity to clinically benchmark, the conditional offer should not be
withdrawn until after this opportunity has passed.
If applicants require clinical benchmarking at national clinical assessment/interviews then the HEE
local office hosting the ACF post will arrange this.
How will clinical benchmarking be coordinated?
Clinical benchmarking relates to applicants reaching the threshold of appointability at the national
standard clinical interviews/assessments for the GMC specialty and level of ACF post for which
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they are applying. Only applicants successful at the ACF interviews that do not hold an NTN/DRN
for the appropriate level in the GMC specialty to which they are applying need to be clinically
benchmarked.
Applicants in training who hold a DRN in a core specialty who are applying for an ACF at ST3/ST4
level will be required to attend clinical benchmarking at the higher level. The clinical interview
that resulted in the award of the DRN will not be acceptable for clinical benchmarking.
Applicants who fail to reach the appointability threshold at clinical benchmarking will be ineligible
for appointment to the ACF post if there is no further opportunity to clinically benchmark before
31 March 2021. Under these circumstances, the conditional ACF offer will be withdrawn.
Applicants who fail clinical benchmarking and become ineligible are still able to reapply in future
recruitment rounds.
Where there is further opportunity to clinically benchmark, the conditional offer should not be
withdrawn until after this opportunity has passed.
If applicants require clinical benchmarking then the HEE Local Office hosting the ACF post will
need to ensure that the HEE national recruitment team are made aware of this in a timely manner.
How will clinical benchmarking be coordinated?
It is the responsibility of the HEE local office hosting the ACF post to provide the national HEE
team, and thus the lead recruiter for national clinical interviews, the following information:
• How many applicants will require clinical benchmarking; and
• Details of applicants requiring benchmarking (e.g. forename, surname, GMC number,
Oriel applicant PIN, ranking, top applicant/reserve applicant etc.)
Who is responsible for releasing the outcome of clinical benchmarking?
The recruiting organisation responsible for clinical benchmarking will update a spreadsheet on
the ROG SharePoint site with the clinical benchmarking outcomes. HEE Local Offices recruiting
ACF posts will be able to review the spreadsheet to determine whether their applicants have
passed clinical benchmarking.
How many appointable applicants, following ACF interviews should be put forward for
clinical benchmarking?
If the top ranked applicant at the ACF interview requires clinical benchmarking then all appointable
applicants (up to a maximum of 5 per post) at the ACF interview, without an NTN/DRN in the
specified specialty, should attend clinical benchmarking.
The top ranked applicant at the ACF interview should be informed that the ACF offer is conditional
on attaining the required standard at the national clinical assessment/interview. The reserve ACF
appointable applicants should be informed of their appointability at the ACF interview and of their
reserve status.
Offers and notification of reserve status, where necessary, should be provided from 6 January
2020.
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Will all applicants need to attend clinical benchmarking?
No. If the applicant already holds a NTN/DRN in the same GMC specialty as their NIHR ACF
application, there is no need for them to attend a national clinical assessment/interview as they
will have previously met the required clinical standard.
Applicants holding a DRN for core training (e.g. in Internal Medicine Training) who are applying
for academic training in a linked specialty at the same level (e.g. Cardiology ST1) will not be
required to undergo clinical benchmarking. However, applicants holding a DRN applying for
academic training at higher specialist training level (i.e. ST3/4) will be required to attend clinical
benchmarking at the appropriate level.
What are the options for applicants filling out the standard clinical application form?
Applicants who have applied to or are intending to apply for an ACF will be asked to answer an
additional question within the clinical specialty application on Oriel. This is to determine whether
they are attending academic recruitment only (i.e. clinical benchmarking only) or whether they
wish their standard clinical application to be considered for both academic and clinical
appointments; the two options are described below. Once applicants have made their selection
and submitted the standard clinical application form they will not be able to change their choice,
even if made in error.
Applying for academic recruitment only – This option confirms that an applicant wishes
for their standard clinical application for clinical benchmarking for the ACF post they have
applied for only. Applicants will only be invited to standard clinical interviews if they are
appointable at the ACF interviews and thus invited for clinical benchmarking. This
selection informs the HEE local office that they should remove the applicant from the offers
process for the standard clinical training post. Their score will only be used to assess
whether they reached the level of appointability and they will not receive an offer for a
clinical training programme, regardless of their interview score.
Academic Recruitment and Specialty Training – This option confirms that in addition
to using the standard clinical application for clinical benchmarking as part of the ACF
recruitment process (as above), applicants would also like to be considered for a standard
clinical training post in the related specialty. Their score will be used to assess whether
they have reached the level of appointability for the ACF post offer. If their score is high
enough to be appointed to a standard clinical training post then they will receive this offer
when the national standard clinical training offers window opens.
Applicants are advised that their choice cannot be changed post submission and that they should
ensure that they check their application answers fully, prior to submitting the application form.
Will applicants who hold a clinical NTN in a different GMC specialty to the ACF they are
applying for be required to attend clinical benchmarking?
Yes. Although they have met the required standard in a national clinical interview previously, it
was not in the same GMC specialty. Different specialties assess different skills and competences
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at interview and therefore it should not be assumed that success in one clinical interview is
appropriate for all specialties.
As applicants now attend a separate clinical interview, can the NIHR ACF interview now
cover academic topics only?
This is at the interview panel’s discretion. The NIHR ACF interview should cover clinical-academic
and academic elements. The addition of clinical specific questions is at the interviewing panels
discretion.
Do we need to set up separate clinical benchmarking interviews for those that have applied
for NIHR ACF posts?
No. It is expected that they will attend the specialty specific national clinical interviews that already
take place during the NIHR ACF recruitment window (between October 2019 and 31 March 2021).
Where specialty specific national clinical interviews are not available (e.g. for ST2 ACF posts),
applications should only be accepted from applicants who already hold an appropriate NTN or
DRN and therefore do not require clinical benchmarking. Local clinical benchmaking processes
should not be set up.
How do we manage the offers process?
Offers to NIHR ACF posts should be made in line with the published academic recruitment
timeline, through Oriel. Following ACF interviews, if the preferred applicant holds a clinical NTN
or DRN in the same GMC specialty they should be offered the post.
A conditional offer should only be given if the top ranked ACF applicant at the ACF interview
requires clinical benchmarking. The conditional offer relates to the applicants reaching the
required standard at clinical benchmarking. Conditional offers for subsequent NIHR ACF
applications would need further clinical benchmarking.
It is the responsibility of the HEE Local Office which has been allocated the ACF post to release
applicant offers/conditional offers, not the HEE Local Office responsible for clinical benchmarking.
The applicants will be ranked based on the ACF interviews regardless of their ranking in the
national clinical interview. If the top ranked ACF applicant fails clinical benchmarking, and there
is no further opportunity for clinical benchmarking before 31 March 2021, then the next ranked
reserve applicant should be given an unconditional/conditional offer, dependent on the
requirement for clinical benchmarking, where relevant.
Do applicants receive a rank at clinical interviews when being clinically benchmarked?
It depends on the option selected in the standard clinical application form.
ACF applicants who select:
Academic recruitment only will not receive a rank at the standard clinical
assessments/interviews.
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Academic recruitment and specialty training will receive a rank at the standard clinical
assessments/interviews
What happens if an applicant, who we make an academic offer to, fails to reach the required
standard at clinical benchmarking?
Where there is no further opportunity to clinically benchmark before 31 March 2021, their
conditional academic offer will need to be withdrawn by the HEE Local Office where the ACF will
be based and this will need to be communicated to the applicant.
Under these circumstances, if the second ranked applicant already has the relevant NTN/DRN or
has passed clinical benchmarking they may be offered the ACF post. If the post is rejected then
offers should continue through the ranking to the other ACF applicants deemed appointable at
the ACF interview and who have been successfully clinically benchmarked (where required).
What is the required standard for NIHR ACF candidates undergoing clinical
benchmarking?
Applicants who do not hold an NTN/DRN will need to be assessed and interviewed through the
relevant national process for the specialty. The applicant will be required to reach the threshold
of ‘appointability’ at national selection assessment/interview. They do not need to have been
ranked highly enough to have received a specialty training post i.e. ‘appointed’.
Applicants that do not reach the appointable score threshold at national selection
assessment/interview will have their ACF offer (or place on reserve list) withdrawn, where there
is no further opportunity to clinically benchmark before 31 March 2021.
All ACF offers to applicants not holding an NTN/DRN must clearly state that this is a conditional
offer subject to passing the threshold of appointability in the national process and that offers will
be withdrawn from applicants that are unsuccessful in that process.
It is important that specialties clearly determine their appointable threshold in a way that is
transparent, fair and equitable to all ACF applicants. It is recommended as best practice that cut
off scores are agreed prior to interviews.
What is the timescale for an applicant accepting an ACF post after clinical benchmarking?
It depends on the level of the NIHR ACF post that the applicant is applying for. Round 1 NIHR
ACF interviews will take place in November/December 2019. Standard clinical
assessments/interviews for ST1 specialties will take place between January and March 2020.
ST3/4 standard clinical assessment/interviews take place between March and April 2020.
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ACF Readvertisement Frequently Asked Questions
What is the process for readvertising and recruiting to unfilled NIHR ACF posts from
academic round 1?
In order to readvertise NIHR ACF posts, NIHR needs to be made aware of recruitment outcomes
in round 1 e.g. accepted unconditional offer, conditional offer or unfilled post. The 2020 NIHR
ACF recruitment window runs from 7 October 2019 to 31 March 2021 and is divided into round 1
(7 October 2019 to 20 December 2019) and readverts (January 2020 to 31 March 2021).
Recruitment outcomes, specialty change requests and general queries should be sent to
[email protected]. This will allow accurate readvertised posts to be shown on the
NIHR website and provide information regarding the current recruitment status of posts. An
update on recruitment status should be provided to NIHR Academy on the 1st of the month or until
all posts are unconditionally filled.
Readvertising unfilled posts should commence as soon as possible after the posts have been
confirmed as unfilled and NIHR has been notified. NIHR need to be made aware of unfilled NIHR
ACF posts as soon as possible. The deadline for successful applicants to be in post for 2020
allocated NIHR ACFs is 31 March 2021. Where possible, recruitment to unfilled posts should
continue until the post is filled. If the post is unfilled on 31 March 2021 then the NIHR ACF post
will be withdrawn from the IAT partnership’s allocation.
How can applicants for readvertised ACF posts attend clinical benchmarking?
To facilitate successful ACF applicants attending clinical benchmarking, where possible,
readvertised ACF posts should follow the following timetable:
Application window 20 January 2020 to 6 March 2020
Interview window 9 March 2020 to 7 April 2020
Please note: Following the above timetable is advised to maximise the availability of clinical
benchmarking interviews. However, it is not mandatory and recruitment to unfilled posts should
continue until the post is filled (up to 31 March 2021), assuming the applicants have already been
or scheduled to be clinically benchmarked or already hold an appropriate NTN/DRN.
If the successful applicants at the ACF interviews require clinical benchmarking then this should
be coordinated through HEE local offices and the lead recruiter for the related specialty as soon
as possible to ensure placement at the national clinical training interviews, as per round 1.
What is the process if the ACF applicant has not applied for standard clinical training in
addition to the ACF?
Where national clinical recruitment at the appropriate level and specialty as the readvertised ACF
post is available in the 2020 NIHR recruitment window, applicants must also complete the clinical
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application form. If the clinical application is not completed, then the ACF application may be
withdrawn by the HEE local office hosting the ACF post.
If an applicant applied for an ACF in round 1 and failed clinical benchmarking, can they
apply to readvertised ACFs and have another attempt at clinical benchmarking?
Yes. Applicants can apply for readvertised ACF posts and if available clinical benchmarking.
What happens if national clinical training interviews are unavailable for clinical
benchmarking?
Where standard clinical training interviews are unavailable then only the following applicants will
be eligible for readvertised ACF posts:
• Applicants that are scheduled to be clinically benchmarked in the current round
• Applicants who have been successfully clinically benchmarked in the current round
• Applicants who hold an appropriate NTN/DRN eligible for the post
When are the national clinical training interviews for clinical benchmarking?
National clinical interview windows, for specialty training and clinical benchmarking are:
Round 1 (CT1/ST1 and Run Through) 2 January 2020 to 6 March 2020
Round 1 Readverts 4 April 2020 to 24 April 2020
Round 2 (ST3/ST4) 2 March 2020 to 22 April 2020
Round 2 Readverts 25 August 2020 to 2 October 2020
What if the ACF post is unfilled following the optional readvertisement timetable?
Readvertising unfilled NIHR ACF posts should continue beyond the optional readvert timetable,
where necessary to ensure the posts are filled by 31 March 2021. However, the NIHR ACF
adverts should state the following applicant eligibility criteria:
Applicants must either:
• Be scheduled to be clinically benchmarked in the 2020 NIHR ACF recruitment window; or
• Have been successfully clinically benchmarked in the 2020 NIHR ACF recruitment
window; or
• Hold an appropriate NTN/DRN for the post
Do successful ACF applicants, for readvertised posts, who have passed clinical
benchmarking in academic round 1 have to be clinically benchmarked again?
If the ACF applicant has been clinically benchmarked in the same GMC specialty and level as
their NIHR ACF application (since 2020 ACF recruitment opened) then the applicant will not need
further clinical benchmarking. However, HEE local office recruitment teams will need evidence
to confirm clinical benchmarking from the relevant national recruiter.
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When applicants are invited to the ACF interview, the HEE local offices will be responsible for
ascertaining if they require clinical benchmarking for that specialty. If the applicant has previously
been deemed appointable and may even have been offered a post, they must inform the HEE
local offices and provide evidence. They will not be required to undertake further clinical
benchmarking.
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APPENDIX 2 - Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) Guidance for
Applicants to Public Health
When processing applicants to Public Health, it is important to understand the regulations round
the Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) and which applicants are subject to/exempt from it.
When recruiting, applicants who are subject to the RLMT should be ranked below any eligible
UK/EEA/EU/settled workers at the offers stage. This is because the RLMT requires recruiters to
appoint these eligible applicants first and exhaust the current labour market before appointing
others.
The following guidance provides detailed information required to meet UK Visas and Immigration
(UKVI) regulations relating to RLMT: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sponsor-a-tier-
2-or-5-worker-guidance-for-employers.
For information regarding applicants’ eligibility based on the their immigration status, please refer
to the Immigration Eligibility Pathways.
It is important to note if an applicant who is subject to the RLMT is appointed, their Certificate
of Sponsorship (CoS) must be issued within 6 months of the date that the advertisement was first
posted. This is referred to as the 6 month rule.
Document 42:
Immigration Eligibility Pathways Immigration
Pathways
Evidence required for RLMT
In order to evidence that the RLMT has been met, Tier 2 sponsors must hold the following
documents:
• Screenshots – The lead recruiter should take and send a screenshot of the advert
(regardless of whether or not the specialty is likely to appoint RLMT applicants) via email
to the relevant Tier 2 sponsorship team, no later than 2 days after the advertisement is
first posted. The Tier 2 sponsors’ contact details can be found in appendix 3.
• Job descriptions – The Tier 2 sponsor will require a detailed job description outlining
duties and responsibilities of the post which must include the skills, qualifications and
experience required for the post.
• Copy of all applications shortlisted for interview – The lead recruiter is required to
forward a copy of these to the Tier 2 sponsor to evidence RLMT. These are applications
shortlisted for final interview in the medium they were collected (i.e. Oriel PDFs). They
should include as a minimum, the applicant’s name, date of birth and address
• Spreadsheet of scores – The names and scores of all applicants interviewed including
those who were invited but did not attend. This must include whether the applicant was
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appointable or unappointable and their right to work status (i.e. to evidence resident and
non-resident workers)
• Scoresheets (and/or notes) from the interviews, which shows for each EEA national who
was rejected and the reasons why they were not employed
The documents will need to be sent to the relevant Tier 2 contacts (depending on the area to
which you have recruited). Each nation may have different processes so please refer to other
guidance documents relating to this.
Retention Periods – Under Home Office regulations, these documents should be retained for
the duration of the training programme for which RLMT applicants were appointed.
Advertisement/Screenshot Requirements
Length of advertisement
Jobs can be advertised in one of two ways:
• Advertise the vacancy for a single continuous period, with a minimum closing date of 29
calendar days from the date the advertisement first appeared (this time frame covers the
minimum 28 day requirement plus an additional 24 hours to the delay in the NHS Jobs
advertisement transferring to Find a Job).
• Advertise the vacancy in two stages, with each stage being advertised for no less than 7
calendar days but where both stages total a minimum of 30 calendar days (this time
frame covers the minimum 28 day requirement plus an additional 24 hours to cover the
delay in the NHS Jobs advertisement transferring to Find a Job for both advertising
periods).
For example, you could advertise the vacancy for 14 calendar days and appoint any
suitable settled worker who applies. If no suitable settled worker applies, you cannot
appoint a migrant worker at this stage as you must advertise the vacancy for a further 14
calendar days, making 28 calendar days in total (remembering to allow for the 24 hour
delays in the adverts transferring to Find a Job). If no settled worker applies during
either the first or second stage, then the Resident Labour Market Test has been met and
you can appoint a Tier 2 migrant. The 6 month rule will apply from the date of the first
advertisement.
Type of advertisement
Two advertisements must be placed per vacancy, using the methods set out in this guidance.
All jobs must be advertised online to settled worker through the Find a Job service (or Job
Centre Online for posts based in Northern Ireland). The second advertisement is usually
through NHS Jobs. Please note, there is an automatic upload onto Find a Job, 24 hours after
posts are placed on NHS Jobs.
A screenshot of the post on Find a Job must still be taken to evidence that it was advertised on
the site. The post on Find a Job cannot be accessed after the application closing date has
passed.
The site can be accessed at: https://findajob.dwp.gov.uk/employer
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Methods of Advertisement
Online – NHS Jobs
A screenshot must be taken from the website hosting the advertisement on the day the vacancy
is first advertised, clearly showing all of the following:
• the website URL
• the name of the website
• skills, qualifications and experience needed
• job description/person specification attached
• the closing date for applications
• the date the advert was posted
• salary range or package (this must be a monetary value)
• location of post (this must cover all the areas you are recruiting to e.g. England,
Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales)
• job title (it is advisable to state the specialty as part of the title)
• the full contents of the advert
• vacancy reference number (job ID Number/Job Reference Number)
Online – Find a Job
A screenshot must be taken from the Find a Job website, on the day the vacancy is first
advertised, which clearly shows all of the following:
• website URL (this must contain the Job ID number)
• job title (it is advisable to state the specialty a part of the title)
• closing date for applications (this must be in the advert text)
• salary range or package (this must be a monetary value)
• location of post (this must cover all the areas you are recruiting to e.g. England,
Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales)
• the date the advert was posted
• vacancy reference number (job ID number/job reference number)
• the website logo
• the full contents of the advertisement
• Additional: although the JD/person specification is attached to the NHS Jobs advert,
you should signpost the applicants to this as it is not possible to attach documents on
Find a Job
National Newspaper/Professional Journal
A copy of the job advertisement as it appeared in the given medium. This must clearly state the
title, date of publication and closing date for applications. Where the advert does not show your
name, a letter or invoice must be kept, to prove the application was placed.
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RLMT screenshot 1a – NHS Jobs The screen shot can be taken in multiple segments. Screenshot 1b is the remainder of the advert.
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RLMT screenshot 1b – NHS Jobs This is the second part of the screenshot demonstrating the remainder of the advert.
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RLMT screenshot 1c – NHS Jobs The screenshot below can be used to evidence the posted date and closing date which shows the 28 day rule has been met.
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RLMT screenshot 2a – Find a Job
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RLMT screenshot 2b – Find a Job
This is the second part of the screenshot to demonstrate the remainder of the advert.
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Shortlisting and the RLMT
Where shortlisting is used to reduce the number of applicants invited to interview, recruiters must
ensure that no applicants with right of residence, or who are exempt from the RLMT are displaced
in favour of inviting applicants who are subject to the RLMT to interview. The RLMT cannot be
demonstrated as met if eligible applicants were not invited to interview.
All settled workers who have met the required standard should be shortlisted above any migrant
workers. For any settled workers that are rejected, recruiters would need to show why they have
been rejected and retain evidence to show this. The RLMT is designed to protect the resident
workers, so they should always be considered over any migrant workers who meet the same
criteria.
RLMT and Interview Capacity
If recruiters are unable to interview all eligible applicants due to interview capacity and there are
eligible applicants that are subject to the RLMT, the applicants who are exempt from the RLMT
should be interviewed above those who are not
Additional Requirements from Lead Recruiter
Tier 2 Sponsors may ask the lead recruiters for the full list of names and immigration statuses of
appointed applicants even if not all are subject to the RLMT. This is so that they know who will
need to switch to Tier 2 sponsorship (e.g. current Tier 4s/dependant visa holders etc.) and they
will therefore know the number of CoS they are likely to need to issue.
Offering Applicants Subject to the RLMT
When applicants subject to the Resident Labour Market Test accept training posts, it is important
that the process to apply for and issue a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) commences as early
as possible, as there are time restrictions in place for application and issue.
The body responsible for applying for the CoS will need to collect evidence from the recruitment
process to confirm that the candidate requiring sponsorship is not being offered ahead of a
suitable UK/EEA candidate. Among other evidence, this will include information on all applicants
shortlisted for the vacancy. Making offers on Oriel to those subject to the Resident Labour Market
Test is a complex area but one that it is crucial for recruitment administrators to understand and
process appropriately. For information regarding applicants eligibility based on their immigration
status, please refer to the Immigration Pathways.
The approach to be taken will differ depending on the vacancy type:
• Devolved vacancies prior to clearing – No offers should be made to this subject to the
RLMT prior to national clearing. To complicate matters, some applicants may be subject
to the RLMT for some vacancies and not for others
• National vacancies and clearing form devolved vacancies – The procedures are
different for national vacancies as there is no clearing and RLMT applicants can be
considered as soon as non RLMT applicants are no longer in contention for a post. For
devolved vacancies, RLMT applicants cannot be considered until clearing has been
completed and all non RLMT applicants have been considered for posts, as appropriate.
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APPENDIX 3 – Contact Details – Tier 2 Lead Sponsors
Lead Sponsor: Health Education England
Email Address: tier2@ hee.nhs.uk
Lead Sponsor: NHS Education for Scotland
Email Address: [email protected]/nhs.uk
Initial Contact: Wales Deanery
Email Address: [email protected]
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APPENDIX 4 – National Recruiters
Lead Recruiter: Physicians Recruitment Office, Health Education England – London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Lead Contact: Stephen Harding
Email Address: [email protected]
Telephone Number: 020 3022 0227
Specialties:
Acute Care Common Stem – Acute Medicine CT1
Acute Internal Medicine ST3
Allergy Medicine ST3
Audiovestibular Medicine ST3
Cardiology ST3
Clinical Genetics ST3
Clinical Neurophysiology ST3
Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics ST3
Combined Infection Training ST3
Dermatology ST3
Endocrinology and Diabetes Mellitus ST3
Gastroenterology ST3
Genitourinary Medicine ST3
Geriatric Medicine ST3
Haematology ST3
Immunology ST3
Internal Medicine Training CT1
Medical Oncology ST3
Medical Ophthalmology ST3
Neurology ST3
Palliative Medicine ST3
Rehabilitation Medicine ST3
Renal Medicine ST3
Respiratory Medicine ST3
Rheumatology ST3
Sport and Exercise Medicine ST3
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Lead Recruiter: Health Education England – East Midlands
Lead Contact: Marcia Reid
Email Address: [email protected]
Telephone Number: 0115 823 3379
Specialties:
Metabolic Medicine ST3
Public Health Medicine ST1
Lead Recruiter: Health Education England – East of England
Lead Contact: Hilary Foster and Susan Woodroffe
Email Address: [email protected] and [email protected]
Telephone Number: 08448 940179
Specialties:
Community Sexual and Reproductive Health ST1
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Lead Recruiter: Health Education England – North West
Lead Contact: Clare Kerswill
Email Address: [email protected]
Telephone Number: 0161 625 7646 / 0161 625 7646
Specialties:
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry ST1
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry ST4
Core Psychiatry Training CT1
Forensic Psychiatry ST4
General Psychiatry ST4
Medical Psychotherapy ST4
Obstetrics and Gynaecology ST1
Obstetrics and Gynaecology ST3
Old Age Psychiatry ST4
Psychiatry of Learning Disability ST4
Lead Recruiter: Health Education England – South West
Lead Contact: Leann King
Email Address: [email protected]
Telephone Number: 01454 252656
Specialties:
Ophthalmology ST1, ST3
Oral and Maxillo Facial Surgery ST1, ST3
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Lead Recruiter: Health Education England – Wessex
Lead Contact: Jemma Martell
Email Address: [email protected]
Telephone Number: 01962 718448
Specialties:
Cardiothoracic Surgery ST1, ST3
Paediatric Cardiology ST4
Lead Recruiter: Health Education England – West Midlands
Lead Contact: Kelly Chambers
Email Address: [email protected]
Telephone Number: 0121 695 2262
Specialties:
Acute Care Common Stem – Anaesthetics CT1
Anaesthetics CT1, ST3
General Practice ST1
Intensive Care Medicine ST3
Paediatrics ST1, ST2, ST3, ST4
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Lead Recruiter: Health Education England – Yorkshire and the Humber
Lead Contact: Martin Foster
Ryan McKenzie
Email Address: [email protected]
Telephone Number: 0113 887 1670
0113 887 1690
Specialties:
Defined Route of Entry – Emergency Medicine (DRE-EM)
Emergency Medicine ST3, ST4
Neurosurgery ST1, ST3
Otolaryngology ST3
Paediatric Surgery ST3
Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery ST3
Urology ST3
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Lead Recruiter: London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex
Lead Contact: Marc Terry
Matthew King
Mark Bellaera
Email Address: [email protected]
Telephone Number: 020 7125 7167 or 020 7125 7214 or 020 7863 1655 or
020 7863 1621 or 020 7862 8626 or 020 7125 7130
Specialties:
Acute Care Common Stem – Emergency Medicine ST1
Clinical Oncology ST3
Clinical Radiology ST1
Core Surgical Training CT1 (including Improving Surgical Training ST1 and ENT Run Through Pilot ST1)
Diagnostic Neuropathology ST3
General Surgery ST3
Histopathology ST1
Nuclear Medicine ST3
Occupational Medicine ST3
Paediatric and Perinatal Pathology ST3
Plastic Surgery ST3
Vascular Surgery ST3
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APPENDIX 5 – Glossary of Terms
We have attempted to keep this guide as free from jargon and acronyms as is possible, but in
some instances the use of terminology cannot be avoided.
HEE Health Education England
HEE local offices This term is only used in England; in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the term ‘deanery’ remains in use
Deaneries Within the NHS, the UK is divided up into regional areas, which each manage the postgraduate medical training carried out within their borders. To date, these regions have been known as ‘deaneries’
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Recruiting Organisations This term refers to those bodies coordinating recruitment for a specific specialty. They are also referred to as Lead Recruiters
Interview/Assessment Centre This refers to the stage of recruitment where an applicant will visit a local office/deanery/UoA to be assessed in person
ACF Academic Clinical Fellowship
CoS Certificate of Sponsorship
CREST Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training
DRN Deanery Reference Number
FACD Foundation Achievement of Competence Document
FPCC Foundation Programme Certificate of Competence
FTP Fitness to Practise
GDC General Dental Council
GMC General Medical Council
IELTS International English Language Testing System
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LAT Locum Appointment for Training
MDRS Medical and Dental Recruitment and Selection
MSRA Multi Specialty Recruitment Assessment
NTN National Training Number
RLMT Resident Labour Market Test
WTE Whole Time Equivalent