After completing the medical degree, medical students are given provisional registration with a licence to practise by the General Medical Council. Students who wish to practise medicine in the UK then go on to apply to the Foundation Programme. This is a two-year training programme for newly qualified doctors. After successful completion of its first year, the General Medical Council grants full registration with a licence to practise. This is necessary to practise as a doctor in the UK.
Medical students will usually apply to the Foundation Programme while still in the final year of their medical degree. Other applicants, including those from outside of the UK, must contact the UK Foundation Programme Office directly to determine eligibility and how to apply. Please note that deadlines for determining eligibility and submitting an application are in place and should be confirmed on the UK Foundation Programme website.
Foundation training is paid employment and takes place in foundation schools, which are based in hospital Trusts. During the application stage, candidates will rank foundation schools according to where they would prefer to work for the two years following graduation. For more detail on the application process, see the UKFPO website.
Trainees will have the opportunity to gain experience in a series of placements in a variety of specialties/healthcare settings and will be offered the same educational resource and teaching opportunities as FY1 and FY2 trainees on 2-year programmes.
To find out more about F1/F2 stand-alone programmes click here.
Access the AFP
Access the AFP, led by academics at the University of Bristol, is an upcoming comprehensive guide to the application process to the The Specialised Foundation Programme (previously known as Academic Foundation Programme). In addition to this, Access the AFP is running a webinar series covering the application process.