Eligibility FAQs

This will depend upon your current status and level of training; trainees with different experience will be required to give different evidence.

The application form will guide you on this, but please also visit the core competences page of this website for more information.

Please note - if you are not currently on, or have not previously completed, a UK/UK-affiliated pre-ST3 UK training programme which is valid for the specialty to which you are applying, you will likely be required to submit a completed 'Alternative Certificate' as evidence of your foundation competence.

Information on this can also be found on the core competences page of this website; with further guidance and the certificate itself available to be downloaded from the document library.

The short answer here is no.

If more than one Alternative Certificate of Core Competence is required to demonstrate a complete set of core competences, the version of the form must be the same for comparable purposes.

If you have a previous version of the form partially completed, you will need to get the most current version of the form fully completed for it to be accpeted.

Normally it is a requirement to have the full MRCP(UK) by a set date before your post starts. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, this requirement is being waived in 2021 and there will not be a requirement to have Part 2 Written or PACES before starting in post and these can be completed in ST3 if you accept an offer. 

By the time you submit your application, it is only necessary for you to have passed MRCP(UK) Part 1 to be considered eligible.

It will be a requirement to complete the diploma during ST3 and progressing in your training will be dependent upon this; subject to any further changes the pandemic situation may cause.

Please note - alternative examinations or training can be accepted instead of the MRCP(UK), please see the MRCP(UK) page of this website for more information.

Provided that your ARCP outcome evidences that you completed all competences except for the MRCP(UK), this can be used as evidence of achievement of competences and should be attached to your form; this will generally be an ARCP outcome 3 or 4.

The MRCP(UK) requirement is reviewed separately and in 2021 it is not necessary to complete Part 2 Written or PACES before starting in post and these can be completed in ST3 if you accept an offer. 

Some specialties accept candidates from alternative training routes (ie not from CMT/ACCS).

Applicants must have, as a minimum, passed the initial part(s) of the exam related to their training (eg MRCPCH Parts 1 A & B), and and it must be possible to pass outstanding examinations before the posts commencing from date for that round; in some rounds the dates of examinations and when results are released mean that it will not be possible to apply without the examination.

In some cases it may be permisisble to apply without the full examination as is the case with the MRCP(UK) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Please review the relevant specialty page and person specification for more information.

You can, however, your application will need to be supported by a form signed by both the Training Programme Director / Head of School and the Postgraduate Dean in the region that the training took place. The form can be downloaded from the Oriel resource bank.

The person specification states that this should be in 'exceptional circumstances', which: 'may be defined as a demonstrated change in circumstances, which can be shown on the ability to train at that time and may include severe personal illness or family caring responsibility incompatible with continuing to train.'

In short, no. In general, you would only be considered to have relinquished, been released or removed from a post if you had formally taken up and begun an ST3 post - ie started working in the post - and then departed from it at a later date.

If you applied to ST3 previously, and then:

• withdrew your application

• progressed through the recruitment process before declining a post offer

• accepted a post offer, then withdrew prior to starting the post

You would not be considered as having relinquished/been removed from/released from a post in the manner described in the person specification.

From 6 October 2019, all medical practitioners have been added to the Shortage Occupation List in the UK.  This means that all medical practitioners are exempt from the Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) and can apply for any specialty in any recruitment round, subject to eligibility. Applications from candidates requiring a visa will be considered on an equal basis with those who do not.