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• Specialty Training 2012
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• Stage 2 - Choosing your Specialty
• Stage 3 - Vacancies & Applications
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• About Shortlisting
• About Interviews
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• After you've accepted an offer
• Recruitment Later in the Year (Round 2)
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• Specialty Training 2011
• Specialty Training 2010
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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.

For 2012 recruitment to GP and specialty training, all first offers will be issued UK wide by 9 March 2012.

If you are deemed eligible for appointment but ranked below the number of vacancies available, you could receive a Round 1 offer after 9 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 is an improvement on previous recruitment years.

CT/ST1 core and run-through training

All first offers will be issued UK-wide no later than Friday 9^th March.  If you receive an offer you will have 48 hours (including weekends and bank holidays) to decide whether to accept it, reject it or hold; you can only hold one offer at a time.  You can hold an offer up until noon on Monday 19^th March 2012.  If you do not accept the held offer by this time it will be deemed to have been rejected.  Offers made after this date can only be accepted or rejected.  You can only accept one offer.

CT2/ST3 higher specialty training

All first offers will be issued UK-wide by Wednesday 23 May 2012.  You will have 48 hours (including weekends and bank holidays) to accept, reject or hold an offer; you can only hold one offer at a time.  You can hold an offer up until noon on Thursday 31^st May 2012.  If you do not accept the held offer by this time it will be deemed to have been rejected.  Offers made after this date can only be accepted or 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.

Undertaking

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

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 2012, you could reasonably be expected to start your CT1 on 1 August 2012 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.