Top FAQs

Yes; this will be held in spring/summer 2012.

Dates will be added to this website once confirmed with deaneries/UoAs - please see the calendar and round 2 pages of this website for more information.

Yes - the two recruitment rounds are entirely independent of each other; so it would not matter whether or not you had previously applied in the first round.

However, you would need to re-apply in full - that is, to complete and submit a new application form, and then (if eligible and invited) attend another interview. Any assessment carried out on any applications made in round 1 will be disregarded entirely in round 2.

Yes - the two rounds are entirely independent of each other, so any application you did or did not make in round 1 will have no effect on any round 2 application you choose to make, or whether you are able to make one.

UoA stands for 'Unit of Application', and this is the term used to describe the areas to which CT1 candidates will apply - eg Mersey, Severn, London, etc.

While many UoAs will also be, in effect, deaneries, these areas will almost always be referred to in CT1 recruitment as deaneries/UoAs. This is because the area covered by some UoAs does not coincide with the area covered by a particular deanery.

For example, for CT1 recruitment, the East Midlands Deanery is divided into two sectors - North and South. Each of these acts as an independent UoA, even though both are within the same deanery.

• East Midlands
• East od England
• Northern (England)
• South West Peninsula
• Wales
• Yorkshire & Humber.

The following deaneries/UoAs will not be participating in round 2: KSS, London, Mersey, North Western, Northern Ireland, Oxford, Severn, Wessex, and West Midlands.

Further information on each of these deaneries/UoAs, including programme, website and contact details, can be found in the deaneries/UoAs section of this website.

Rotations will be organised between trainees and the deaneries/UoAs to which they apply. Deaneries/UoAs will request that candidates give preferences of different rotations later in the process.

Please contact any deaneries/UoAs to which you wish to apply to gain more information on this; contact details for all can be found on the deanery/UoA contacts page of this website.

Please visit the post numbers page of this website for information about the availability and location of posts, both in CMT and ACCS-AM.

For more detailed information, we would advise contacting any deaneries/UoAs to which you are considering applying. Contact details for all can be found on the deanery/UoA contacts page of this website.

This will depend on the reason for not possessing an FACD 5.2. If it is because you are currently undertaking a UK or UK-affiliated foundation training programme, or a stand-alone or headroom F2 programme, then any offer of a CT1 post you receive will be conditional upon you successfully completing your foundation programme and being awarded an FACD 5.2 prior to August 2012.

If you have not undertaken a UK/UK-affiliated foundation training programme, or have not completed one since 31 July 2009, you will need to provide alternative evidence. To do this, you must ask someone who has supervised you for at least three months (whole time equivalent) since 1 August 2009 to complete, authorise and sign either 'Certificate A' or 'Certificate B'. The certificate must be completed in full, with all competences rated as 'Able to Demonstrate'.

Which of the two certificates needs to be used will depend upon whether or not the post in which the supervisor in question supervised you was one with acute medical responsibilities; if so, you must submit Certificate A; if not, Certificate B.

Please visit the downloads section of this website to see lists of posts with and without acute medical responsibilities. Certificates A & B are also available for download from this area of the site.

This alternative certificate must be submitted to your first-choice deanery by the application submission deadline. To submit the certificate, either scan a copy of it and send in an email; upload a copy of the certificate to your application; or contact the deanery/UoA to discuss the most appropriate method of submitting the form.

If you have not undertaken a UK/UK-affiliated foundation training programme, you will need to provide alternative evidence. To do this, you must ask someone who has supervised you for at least three months (whole time equivalent) since 1 August 2009 to complete, authorise and sign either 'Certificate A' or 'Certificate B'. The certificate must be completed in full, with all competences rated as 'Able to Demonstrate'.

To decide which of the two certificates to fill in - if the post in which the supervisor in question supervised you was one with acute medical responsibilities, you must submit Certificate A. If the post was one without acute medical responsibilities, you must submit Certificate B.

Please see the downloads section of this website to see lists of posts with and without acute medical responsibilities. Certificates A & B are also available for download from this area of the website.

This alternative certificate must be submitted to your first-choice deanery/UoA by the application submission deadline. To submit the certificate, either scan a copy of it and send in an email; upload a copy of the certificate to your application; or contact the deanery/UoA to discuss the most appropriate method of submitting the form.

Unfortunately, we are not able to give advice or specific guidance to candidates with regard to individual queries on immigration/visa status. Immigration issues are particularly complex, hence it is appropriate that personnel with a deeper and more formal understanding of this area are those with whom you should discuss this.

We are afraid that this applies both to the information contained within this website and our email helpdesk. While we are keen to provide as much assistance and information to CT1 applicants as is possible, equally or possibly more important is to avoid giving people inaccurate or misleading information. Unfortunately, as the issue of immigration is outside of our remit, we cannot be confident that our understanding of the topic is sufficient to avoid this.

Any information relating to immigration/visa issues contained within this website, our applicants' guide or provided by our helpdesk is that which has been provided to us by the Department of Health and the UK Border Agency. As such, we would recommend that any candidates with queries relating to their visa or immigration status, and if/how this will affect their eligibility for CT1, should contact those bodies for further information.

The maximum of 18 months' experience in the specialty only applies to CT1 (ie first-year) posts. It is possible that you may be eligible for CT2 (ie second-year) posts; here, the experience required is a minimum of 12 months in the specialty, with no maximum figure stipulated.

Person specifications for CT2 posts in CMT and ACCS-AM are available on the DH medical specialty training website

Please note that recruitment to CT2 posts is not coordinated nationally via our process here, and takes place on a local, deanery-by-deanery basis. Please contact directly any deaneries/UoAs to which you wish to apply for further information.

If you undertook undergraduate medical training in English, you are not required to provide further evidence of your English skills. If you did not, then you will need to supply evidence of your English skills to support your application.

The most common method by which candidates can do this is via the IELTS - International English Language Testing System. The minimum IELTS requirement is for a candidate to achieve a score of 7 overall, and a minimum of 7 for each component (speaking, listening, reading and writing). Also, this must have been within 24 months of your application.

Applicants who did not undertake English undergraduate training and who do not possess valid IELTS qualification will need to provide other supporting evidence of their English skills.

In most cases, it is likely that a letter from a supervisor attesting to your language skills will be suitable - although we would advise verifying this with any particular deaneries to which you wish to apply. The following information should be included in this letter:

• Name and position of the person confirming English language skills (preferably your current or most recent supervising consultant), ie the author of the letter.
• How long the author has known the applicant, and in what capacity.
• Confirmation of satisfactory English language skills in all domains (reading, writing, comprehending, speaking).
• This must be written on the employer's headed notepaper (ie hospital / Trust-headed paper), and signed by the employer.

Please note that communication will also be assessed at the interview stage.

You are not required to - nor will you be able to - register with the CT1 application system before the time/date at which applications open. Please see the calendar page of this website for more information on timeline.

The first stage of completing the CT1 application form will be a short registration phase. You will be required to provide an email address by which you can be contacted (which will then also act as your username), and a password that you can use to log back in to the system as necessary at later dates.

Once you have entered and confirmed both of these, the registration stage will be complete - we expect this will take no longer than five minutes.

You can only complete and submit a single application in any round of the CT1 recruitment process, this is irrespective of whether you wish to apply for ACCS-AM or CMT posts (or both). This application will be used jointly for CMT and ACCS-AM.

In the event that you wish to be considered for both CMT and ACCS-AM posts, you still need complete only one application form. You will be invited to state preferences for posts within the two specialties around the time of interview (should your application progress to that point).

Please note that not all UoAs/deaneries have ACCS-AM posts. Especially if you are considering taking up an ACCS-AM training programme, please ensure you have checked the post numbers on the CT1 website before submitting your application. If you wish to apply for both ACCS-AM and CMT, you should only apply to deaneries that have both ACCS-AM and CMT posts.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to introduce an option allowing candidates to link applications in this manner. Obviously, you can both select the deanery/UoA preferences, but applications cannot be linked formally.

To be eligible for the Guaranteed Interview Scheme you must have a disability or long-term health condition that is expected to last for at least 12 months and which puts you at a significant disadvantage in either obtaining or keeping jobs. You do not have to be registered as a disabled person to apply under this scheme.

For more information, please see the Equality Act 2010.

No - the 2012 CT1 recruitment process will not include a knowledge test at any stage.

The national CMT recruitment project is for CT1 posts only. Each deanery will be handling CT2 posts separately. The timing of the adverts for these posts vary, so please keep an eye on individual deanery websites and the NHS Jobs website.

CT2 posts are likely to be one-year appointments; person specifications are available on the DH medical specialty training website.

If your previous experience exceeds the stipulated amount at CT1 level (18 months), you should consider applying for CT2 posts.

In most cases, no. Deferral of start date for CT1 is only possible on statutory grounds, such as maternity leave or long-term illness.

If you wish to go abroad before commencing a CT1 training programme, you are advised to either delay your application until you return, or to at least apply from abroad, in the same year* as that in which you wish to start training.

(* recruitment year, ie academic year. For example, candidates wishing to take up a CT1 post in August 2012 will actually submit applications in November/December 2011.)

Should you believe that your personal circumstances make it necessary to apply to CT1, but to then defer the start date of any post offer you receive, you will be given the opportunity to state your case for requesting deferral on the application form (within the 'personal information' section); however, please note that deferral of start date is now much less commonly granted than it has been in previous years.

For more information, please see the Gold Guide - the particular section concerning deferral of post start date is 6.20, on page 36.

In the main, no. Each period of recruitment to CT1 posts is entirely independent, even different rounds within the same year. So if you apply to CT1, any applications you may have made in previous years will not be taken into account; nor will any applications you 'haven't' made, so to speak.

Thus if you wished to take some 'time out' after completing foundation training and before applying to CT1/ST1 posts, this would not affect your chances of gaining a post when you are ready to apply in the future. Indeed, plenty of trainees do spend some time away from UK training between foundation and core/specialty training, without any problem.

However - there are some factors you should bear in mind if you wish to consider this option. Firstly, the 2012 CT1 ACCS-AM and CMT person specifications both specify a maximum level of medical experience that candidates can have.

For both ACCS-AM and CMT, all applicants must have 18 months' or less experience in the 30 physicianly specialties (these 30 specialties are listed on the JRCPTB website), anywhere in the world. Thus, if you are thinking of spending some time out of UK training, but will continue to practise medicine in some form, please make sure you bear this in mind.

In addition, if you wish to apply to CT1 using your UK foundation training documentation as evidence of achievement of foundation competences, please note that there is a 'use-by' date on this of three years; so for example, if you completed foundation training in summer 2012, when applying to CT1 this could only be used as evidence of foundation competence up until 2015.