Recruitment to the
Foundation Programme 2012
Published June 2011
Last year’s successes
 94% of Academic FP vacancies filled
through nationally co-ordinated academic
recruitment round
 100% of standard FP vacancies filled
during the main national recruitment round
 Over 90% of applicants in the main round
allocated to their first choice foundation
school
Recruitment to Academic FP2012
 Recruitment to Academic Foundation Programmes will be
coordinated through the Foundation Programme
Application System (FPAS) and run to a national
timetable
 Academic applicants enrol on FPAS from 1-10 June
2011, complete a generic online application form and
choose up to three Units of Application (UoA)
 They then provide additional information as specified by
each selected UoA, and follow the local application
process associated with the relevant UoAs
 Go to the Academic Programmes page on the UKFPO
website for further information:
www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk
 Anyone who accepts an Academic Foundation
Programme place, will not be able to apply again in the
main national recruitment round
National recruitment round: FP2012
Changes for FP2012:
 Applicants are required to upload documentation to
support information given for educational achievement
points
 Educational achievements will be machine-marked. The
uploaded evidence will be verified during a national
verification day and the scores confirmed
 If, as expected, there are more fully eligible applicants
than vacancies, applications from individuals who cannot
provide evidence of their right to work and remain in the
UK will not be considered
 Applicants will be allocated to foundation schools in score
order. If their first choice is not available, the system will
look at their second choice, and so on down their list of
preferences until a space is available
Key dates
18 Jul – 19 Aug 2011
Eligibility checking
3 Oct 2011
Programmes available to view on FPAS
3 – 10 Oct 2011
Register and enrol on FPAS at
www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk
10 - 21 Oct 2011
Applications submitted
31 Oct – 18 Nov 2011
Applications scored
8 Dec 2011
Primary list allocation
Mar – Jul 2012
Reserve list batch allocations
Apr - Jul 2012
Pre-employment checks
Applications - 100 points (max)
Part 1
Academic Ranking - 40 points (maximum)
• Academic ranking is calculated by each medical school:
•First quartile (the top 25% of the year) = 40
•Second quartile = 38 points
•Third quartile = 36
•Fourth quartile = 34 points
• Applicants will be able to see their academic ranking once they
enrol on FPAS.
Part 2
Application form - 60 points (maximum)
• Educational achievements awarded up to 10 points
• Questions 1 to 5 worth a maximum of 10 points each
Educational Achievements
PART A – Additional postgraduate degrees
(max. 5 points)
 Additional degrees include Bachelors, Masters
and Doctorates, regardless of the subject
 Score given for one additional degree only.
 If applicants have an MA and a PhD, they should enter details of the
PhD as it attracts the highest number of points
 More points awarded for better class degrees
 A 1st class BSc degree will attract more points than a 3rd class
degree, for example
 A copy of the degree certificate needs to be
uploaded
 A letter from the dean/registrar confirming a pass
result is acceptable if the certificate has not been
issued
Educational Achievements
PART B: Publications, prizes and presentations
(max. 5 points)
Up to two points in each category for:
 Publications (must have a PubMed ID)
 Oral or poster presentations at national (or
international) events
 Educational prizes at a national level (this must be a 1st
prize)
5 points are available in total, with a maximum of
2 points from each category
PLEASE NOTE: Fewer than 50% of medical students score
points on this question.
Questions 1 – 5: Meeting the person specification
 Questions 1 to 5 relate to the essential criteria
described in the Person Specification for FP2012
 Applicants must demonstrate through their
answers that they meet the person specification
in order to be allocated to a foundation training
place
 All questions have a maximum score of 10 points
 Each question has a limit of 200 words
 The questions will be available once the
application period opens. They will not be
published in advance
Getting started (from 3 October 2011)
Register and enrol on FPAS
 Applicants must register on FPAS before they
can apply: www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk
 Details must be typed exactly as supplied to the
deanery/medical school
 Once registered, an activation code will be
emailed
 Once the account is activated, applicants can
enrol in the FP2012 recruitment round and
complete their application form
The application form (10–21 Oct 11)
 Application forms must be completed and submitted
on FPAS between 10 and 21 October 2011
 The application form is divided into 8 sections:

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



Personal (name, contact details, etc)
Qualifications (educational qualifications)
Clinical Skills (self assessment of practical and clinical skills)
Equal Opportunities (equal opportunities monitoring information)
References (details of 2 referees)
Questions (Educational achievements and 5 questions which will be
scored)
 Preferences (ranking of all foundation schools in order of preference)
 Submit (includes declarations)
Linked applications
 Applications may be linked to another applicant’s in order
for both to be allocated to the same foundation school
 Both applicants must link to each other
 Both applicants will be allocated based on the lowest
scoring applicant’s score
 Applicants cannot “un-link” once their form is submitted
 Some foundation schools will not guarantee that linked
applicants are in the same area. Check foundation school
websites for more information on their policies
 The link will be severed if one, or both, applicants is not
on the primary list
Preferences: Ranking foundation schools
Check the FP 2012 Applicant’s Handbook for
competition ratios for FP2008-2011.
Check foundation school websites for local
policies and training descriptions.
View the details of individual programmes in each
foundation school on FPAS from 3 October 2011.
Linked applicants must rank their foundation school
preferences in the same order or the link is broken.
For the past four years, 90% or more of applicants were
allocated to their first choice foundation school.
Applicant’s work must be their own
 Medical school staff, clinical tutors and former
scorers have been told that they cannot give
applicants personal coaching or advice as it is
unfair to students at those schools who do not
provide it
 Applicants must confirm that their answers to the
application questions are their own before they
submit the application
 The examples and situations used in answers
must have been experienced by the applicant
personally – not something they heard about
through colleagues or lecturers
Unfair practice
 Unfair practice, including collusion and plagiarism,
is not tolerated
 Plagiarism software will check answers to ensure
that standard answers have not been downloaded
from the web or that applicants have not provided
duplicate answers
 If evidence of unfair practice is found, applicants
will be contacted and asked to verify their answers.
If they cannot, they will be withdrawn from the
recruitment process
 Please note that if two people or more have similar
answers, all those involved are considered
culpable.
Allocation to a foundation school
 The top ‘n’ highest scoring applicants will be placed on
the primary list
(where ‘n’ is the number of FP2012 vacancies across the UK)
 If there are a number of applicants with the same score at
the primary list cut-off, random selection will decide which
ones are included on the primary list
 Applicants not on the primary list will be included
automatically on a reserve list
Primary List allocation (8 Dec 2011)
 Applicants on the primary list will be allocated to a
foundation school in score order. If their first choice is not
available, the system will look at their second choice, and
so on down their list of preferences until a space is
available
Allocation to a foundation school
Reserve list batch allocation (Mar – Jul 2012)
 Subsequent to the primary list allocation, it is
expected that a number of allocated applicants
will be withdrawn from the process, e.g. they fail
final exams, fail PLAB, etc
 Applicants on the reserve list will be allocated to
these vacancies in batches on pre-determined
dates between March and July 2012
 The top scoring applicants remaining on the
reserve list will be included in each batch
 Applicants in each batch will be allocated to a
foundation school in score order
Local matching to programmes
Primary list applicants
 Those on the primary list will be invited to state their
programme preferences by their allocated foundation
school
 Foundation schools each have their own process for
matching applicants to programmes.
 Check the foundation school websites for more
information. (Most match to programme based on score
first, then preferences - highest scoring applicants get
first pick)
Reserve list applicants
 Those on the reserve list will be matched to whichever
programmes are available when they are allocated to a
particular school
Planning and preparation
Applicants should:
 Print and read the person specification and FP2012
Applicant’s Handbook available online now at
www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk
 Start collecting the required documentation for their
educational achievements (i.e. additional degrees and
relevant qualifications, publications, presentations and
prizes
 Ask one GP, consultant or associate specialist who can
provide a reference about their clinical skills; and one
lecturer, senior lecturer, professor or reader at their
medical school to act as referees. Request that they
supply an email address they access regularly
Planning and preparation
Applicants should (continued):
 Book at least three sessions in their diary to write
their answers
 Make sure they give themselves plenty of time and
don’t leave it until the last minute
 Use a word-processing programme to draft their
answers, check all spelling, and confirm the word
count. Then copy and paste them into FPAS
 Register and enrol on FPAS as soon as the
system is available, i.e. from 3 Oct 2011
 Make sure they remember their username,
password and security question/answer
Planning and preparation
Applicants should (continued):
 Ensure they submit their application before the
last morning as they may encounter last minute
problems with their local PC or internet
connection.
 Remember that technical support is available via
e-mail Monday to Friday, 8.30 am – 5.00 pm
(BST). This is particularly important if they are
submitting their application from overseas
 Be aware that late submissions will not be
accepted under any circumstances
Important dates
8 June 2011
FP2012 Applicant’s Handbook available
3 Oct 2011
Applicants can register and enrol online
Programme information is available to view
10 - 21 Oct 2011
FPAS is open for applications**
8 Dec 2011
Foundation school allocations notified to primary list
applicants
By 25 Jan 2012
Primary list applicant preferences for training
programmes are submitted (deadlines and methods will
vary by foundation school)
15 Feb 2012
Results of match to specific programmes are notified
to primary list applicants
Mar – Jul 2012
Reserve list batch allocations completed
**Late applications will not be accepted
What happens if . . .
. . . more people apply than there are vacancies
available?
 This situation is anticipated
 In this instance, applications from individuals who cannot
provide evidence of their right to work in the UK by 7
October 2011 will not be considered
 The top ‘n’ scoring applicants will be placed on the
primary list and allocated to a foundation school in
December 2011
(where ‘n’ = the total number of FP places across the UK)
 Other fully eligible applicants will be placed on a reserve
list and allocated to vacancies that subsequently arise in
batches between March and July 2012
(vacancies typically arise due to failed finals or not passing PLAB, etc)
What happens if . . .
. . . there are not enough applicants for all
the vacancies?
 This situation is known as undersubscription
 If under-subscription is significant, a
percentage of posts will be suspended in
each foundation school in England
 Posts will not be suspended in Wales,
Northern Ireland or Scotland
Where to go for more info
Go to
www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk
 for further details on the
application process
 for answers to frequently
asked questions
 for a list of foundation
schools with web links
 to sign up for regular
e-updates