Recruitment to Foundation Training

 

We are delighted that you are considering applying to work as a Foundation Doctor within the Northern Foundation School.

 

Foundation Recruitment

 

Entry at F1 level each August is via the annual national FP applications process overseen by the UK Foundation Programme Office. Applicants must apply through the Oriel recruitment system.

Key Dates for August 2025 Recruitment Cycle

 

  • Registration opens on Oriel on 17th September  2024
  • Application window (including Pre-allocation) opens on Oriel from 25th September (09:00 BST) - 9th October (12:00 noon BST) 2024
  • National allocation to Foundation School is 27th February 2025
  • The FP Group Preferencing window opens on 27th February 2025
  • The FP Programme Preferencing window opens on 20th March 2025
  • Match to programme will be confirmed for all applicants on 10th April 2025

The list of Indicative Posts available for August 2025 can be found by clicking here 

Please find a Summary of the UK FP 2025 Information here

Please note:  It is important to note that placements offered as part of each programme may be subject to change at any point, including the formal recruitment cycle. This can be for a variety of reasons including clinical reconfiguration of services or a change in training or supervision capacity of a particular department. We do try to minimise the number of changes which are made however as the indicative programmes are uploaded to Oriel almost a year in advance of the programme starting, this is sometimes unavoidable. We will inform candidates of any changes to their allocated programme as soon as we possibly can in line with the Code of Practice guidance from NHS Employers.

 

Linked Applications

 

The Northern Foundation School honours linked applications however once both applicants are allocated to the Foundation School then the link is broken. The link does not allocate you to a specific Local Education Provider or programme.

Approved special circumstances pre-allocate you to a Foundation School but not to a Local Education Providers or programme within the Foundation School so you should rank all of the programmes by the specified deadlines.

If you have any further queries, please email Foundation recruitment

 

Foundation Priority Programmes

 

The Northern Foundation School offer 61 Priority Programmes in total.  6 of these programmes offer the  Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education and are offered at the following Local Education Providers (LEP):

  • County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
  • Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust
  • North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust
  • Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
  • The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The remaining 55 priority programmes are all with North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust and all programmes include a £3,500 financial incentive in F1 and F2 as part of the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme (TERS).

 

 

F2 Stand alone Recruitment 

 

There will be national F2 stand alone recruitment ran by the UKFPO. These posts are available for applicants who hold or are eligible for full registration with the General Medical Council (GMC). Stand-alone programmes provide an opportunity for overseas graduates who qualify with full registration to enter the training system in the UK. Doctors who are already working as part of a recognised two-year foundation programme are not eligible to apply for F2 Stand-alone posts.  The details of specific programmes and posts available within each foundation school are not yet confirmed.  These will be available to applicants on Oriel during the programme preferencing window .  For further information please visit the UKFPO website.

Inter-Foundation School Transfers

 

If a F1 trainee's circumstances have changed and there are specific reasons as to why a current F1 trainee needs to transfer to a different programme for their F2 year, they may be eligible to apply for a transfer based on set criteria. Please refer to the Inter-Foundation School Transfer (IFST) guidance available on the UKFPO website. 

 

 

Useful links

Better Doctors Better Patients (BDBP) is the regional professionalism course that is available to all of our Foundation year 1 doctors.

It is a fun and interactive course that is delivered across 3 days encompassing many aspects of professionalism with the aim of making Foundation doctors safer, happier, more effective and efficient and therefore more able to deliver excellent quality care to our patients.

The face to face course training is supported by a manual and webinars.

It covers key themes such as well being, self-development, communication and teamworking skills, patient safety, quality improvement, non-technical skills and leadership.

These themes overlap extensively with the Enhance programme which is also available to Foundation doctors.

 

Many LEP’s have taken the principles and concepts of the better doctors better patients course to provide further training into Foundation year 2.

 

The programme is led jointly by Dr Rhian Jones and Dr Charlotte Bates who both work at the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital

They are supported by ‘core trainers’ Dr Nigel Stout, Dr Shrikanth Mada and Mrs Liz Klein

 

The BDBP team are keen to expand their faculty, and anyone wishing to know more or become involved would be welcome to contact the programme leads.

Rhian.jones@nhct.nhs.uk

Charlotte.bates@nhct.nhs.uk

 

Additional resources for LEP trainers can be found here.