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Appointments to training programmes or posts will be offered to the people who ranked the highest in interviews who gave the programme the highest ranking. Not all candidates deemed eligible for appointment by their interview panel would be offered a post. This is because there could be several eligible applicants for a particular post, in which case, the post will be offered to the person with the highest score who gave the programme the highest ranking.

Following your interview and/or assessment, the relevant college or deanery will email or text you with the news of an offer.  If you are successful, you will receive a message to let you know this.

In Round 1 of recruitment to GP and specialty training, all first offers will be issued UK wide by 11 March 2011.

If you are deemed eligible for appointment but ranked below the number of vacancies available, you could receive a Round 1 offer after 11 March if initial Round 1 offers are rejected by higher-scoring applicants.

 

Accepting, holding and rejecting Round 1 offers

The system of coordinated UK offers in Round 1 recruitment is an improvement this year on previous recruitment years.

As in previous years, applicants will need to make a decision on a Round 1 offer within 48 hours of receiving one, but this year, you can hold a Round 1 offer from any specialty while waiting for other offers in Round 1.  All  Round 1 offers will be issued by 11 March 2011 and you will be able to hold a Round 1 offer until 25 March 2011.

If a Round 1 offer is made to you, you will have 48 hours, including weekend and bank holidays, in which to decide whether to accept, hold or reject the Round 1 offer.  After 48 hours have passed the Round 1 offer will be automatically rejected if you do not respond.

You can hold a Round 1 offer , while waiting for a preffered offer, but you may only hold one offer at a time.  You can hold a Round 1 offer up until noon on 25 March 2011, by which time you will need to make a decision or the offer will be deemed to have been rejected.

After 25 March 2011, you can only accept or reject offers.

For offers made in Round 2, you will have a minimum of 48 hours to accept or reject an offer.  Where possible, deaneries will try to give you longer if necessary.  After the agreed deadline, the offer will expire and will be deemed to have been rejected.

If you are sure that a particular offer is the best for you, you should accept it as soon as possible and reject any others.

Deaneries do need an answer to any training offer as soon as possible so that any post you reject can be offered to other applicants deemed eligible for appointment at interview.

 

Exception that allow you to continue to compete after receiving an offer

Once you have accepted a training post, you must withdraw from any further applications, interviews or offers. 

Offers are made on the condition that you have not accepted other offers and that you withdraw from other applications within the recruitment round.  You will be expected to give an undertaking when accepting a post that you have not accepted another post and that you will withdraw from further recruitment.  If you do not agree to this undertaking, then the offer will be withdrawn.

If it is discovered that you have accepted an offer after you have already accepted another post, the offer will be withdrawn. There are a few exceptions to this rule, as listed below.

Exceptions

Academic Clinical Fellowships

If you have accepted a run through training post, you are eligible to apply for an Academic Clinical Fellowship post.

One-year training programmes

If you have accepted a final year core training post (CT2 or CT3 in emergency medicine and psychiatry) or a fixed-term specialty training appointment (FTSTA) in a run-through specialty, you may continue to compete for run-through training posts or for uncoupled training programmes that offer two years or more of core training. You may not apply for other FTSTAs or other posts that only offer one year of training.

Examples:

If you have accepted a CT2 post (or CT3 in emergency medicine or psychiatry), you can continue to compete for run-through training posts.

If you have accepted an FTSTA2, you could still apply for CT2 in emergency medicine or psychiatry because these programmes would run for two years, CT2 and CT3. You could not apply for CT2 in general surgery, because this would only offer one year of training CT2 before the next competition to higher specialty training.

If you have accepted a CT1 post (or CT2 in emergency medicine or psychiatry), you may not continue to compete for other posts, including run-through programmes.

Please note: if you do want to change from having a one-year training programme, such as an FTSTA, to one that offers two or more years of training, you may still be required to work out your notice. This will be at the discretion of your employer. For example, if you accept a CT1 post in core medical training on 10 July 2011, you could reasonably be expected to start your CT1 on 3 August 2011 and work out your notice period from the date you resigned.  The notice period starts from the date you notified the deanery or employer (not from the start date of the post).

 

Download the diagram illustrating exceptions.

Options available to you if you do not gain a training post

Deaneries will continue to advertise training vacancies as they arise throughout the year (up to end of December 2011). These will be for training posts that will commence after the August intake. If you do not gain a training post in the first or second round of recruitment, you will be able to continue to apply during this later phase.

A number of other options are available.

There may be LAT or LAS locum posts available. Time spent in a LAT (Locum Appointment for Training) post can be counted towards the total time required for a CCT, whereas time spent in a LAS (Locum Appointment for Service) does not. LATs can only be appointed by a formally-defined appointments panel, whereas the appointment to a LAS may be less formal and carried out at by a local hospital. Both types of locum can offer good and worthwhile experiences and may help in gaining specific clinical skills.

Some doctors may choose to take non-training jobs available (e.g. Trust Grade) or jobs in research or abroad. These jobs may be taken as a permanent career move, or may be considered as a stepping-stone to a future training post.

Your Educational Supervisor may be able to offer individual careers advice and suggest options to you. You may also be able to speak to the Clinical Tutor or Director of Medical Education in your local hospital. Many of the Colleges have general advice on their websites for doctors considering a career in their specialty. Some of the Colleges and specialty organisations also offer a counselling/advisory service for individuals with career difficulties. The BMA offer a careers guidance service.