Overview of Core Training

The Core Training programme usually lasts 36 months and prepares you for progression onto Higher Training.

These pages should be your first 'port of call' for specific information relating to the Core Training programme in Psychiatry. within England, Scotland and Wales. They should be read in conjunction with the Medical Specialty Recruitment pages which contain more generic recruitment and application guidance.

Core Training programme

You have to successfully complete the 3-year programme before you are able to apply for a place in a programme leading to a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) in one of the six Psychiatry specialties.

The Core Training programme is comprised of the below.

• Completion of a minimum of 36 months post-foundation or internship in a Core Training programme. The programme must be approved by the General Medical Council (GMC) from CT1 to CT3, or at a level above CT1 to CT3.
• The MRCPsych Examination which is comprised of two Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) written papers and a Clinical Assessment of Skills and Competencies (CASC).

The programme provides you with a range of essential skills and knowledge. This includes knowledge of common psychiatric disorders and their treatment, as well as skills in a range of assessment and therapeutic approaches.

You will work in a range of service settings, across the development range including direct experience of delivering psychological therapy.

Academic Clinical Fellowships (ACFs)

Academic Clinical Fellowships (ACF) are available in Psychiatry training. These are independent from the national process and are recruited to locally by individual Health Education England Local Offices and Deaneries. 

This guidance only relates to CT1 Psychiatry, ST1 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and ST1 Psychiarty of Learning Disability.

• Recruitment timelines

  The key Core Training recruitment dates