Demonstrating competencies

All applicants wishing to train through the medical route will need to evidence attainment of Foundation competences within the three and a half years preceding the advertised start date for these posts (i.e. since January 2021).

Applicants are advised to read all guidance carefully to ensure that they can provide appropriate evidence. The acceptable methods for demonstrating foundation competence are as follows:

1. Applicants currently in the second year of a UK affiliated Foundation Programme which is due to finish in August 2024 will need to confirm the name of their Foundation School but do not need to submit any other evidence at the time of application. Any offer of a training programme will be conditional upon successful completion of the Foundation Programme and being awarded a Foundation Programme Certificate of Completion (FPCC) before August 2024.
2. Applicants who have already completed a UK affiliated Foundation Programme with a FPCC signed and dated no earlier than 1 January 2021 will be eligible in terms of the Foundation competence requirement. A scanned copy of the FPCC must be uploaded to the Oriel application.
3. Applicants currently in active clinical or clinical and academic practice in a UK educationally approved training post (CT/ST/LAT or equivalent) holding either a National Training Number (NTN) or Deanery Reference Number (DRN) will be considered as having had their foundation competences assessed on entry to their current post and do not need to demonstrate these again, regardless of when the foundation competences were signed off.   
4. Applicants who have previously resigned voluntarily from the specialty to which they are now reapplying will be considered as having had their Foundation competences assessed previously, providing that they can demonstrate evidence of satisfactory progress in the form of ARCP documentation for the duration of the training undertaken.
5. Applicants who started but did not satisfactorily complete foundation training, are expected to return to the Foundation Programme to complete their training.  In exceptional circumstances you can provide a letter written and signed by the Postgraduate Dean where the previous training took place.  This letter must use the standard proforma available from the Oriel resource bank and be uploaded to the application form.
6. All other medical applicants (i.e. those not in the categories above) will need to evidence competence by providing a Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training (2024 version) which certifies competence completed from a post of at least 3 months duration (whole time equivalent and continuous period) from January 2021. This evidence will need to be complete and certified by the date of submission of application. A scanned copy of the certificate must be attached to the Oriel application form. 

Equivalent competence must be certified by a supervising registered consultant/GP with whom the applicant has worked for a minimum of three months (whole time equivalent and continuous period) since January 2021. Equivalent competence must be certified against all the competences in the Foundation curriculum. Certificates will not be accepted where it is stated that outstanding competences will be achieved before the advertised start date of the post

A Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training will be accepted where the assessed post has been wholly undertaken for at least three months (continuous period), whole time equivalent (WTE) since January 2021. Only the 2024 Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training will be accepted; forms from previous recruitment years will not be accepted.

Clinical attachments/unpaid work do not count as experience

Please ensure the Certificate is uploaded with the application as you will not be able to submit this retrospectively.  Failure to provide a CREST at the time of application will mean your application is unable to progress any further.

The only exceptions to the above requirements are as follows:

• If you are a refugee.  Refugees are advised to contact us for further guidance but should submit a Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training, if possible.
• If you have been awarded a CCT in another specialty and are in current or recent practice as a Consultant or equivalent within that specialty (minimum 3 months within the 3.5 years preceding the advertised post start date and by application closing date) you will not be required to submit a Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training

In addition, applicants are required to have had 12 months experience after achieving full GMC registration, or equivalent post licensing experience, by the start date of the post they are applying for.

For further information please see Foundation Competencies

Demonstration of Agenda for Change Band 6 (or equivalent) competence for applicants through the non-medical route.

Applicants from a background other than medicine will need to be able to demonstrate 24 months practice at Agenda for Change Band 6 (or equivalent), of which three months WTE must be in the three and a half years preceding the advertised start date. Any applicant unable to demonstrate this will be ineligible to apply to specialty training.

All posts will commence in August 2024. Please click on this link for further information on each programme: (this table will be fully populated as information is received from programmes).