There are 3 foundation schools within the London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex region;

North Central and East London Foundation School (NCELFS)

North West London Foundation School (NWLFS)

South Thames Foundation School (STFS)

The London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex Foundation Schools website contains detailed information about local programmes, policies and processes for the 3 schools.

You may access the website at the following address; https://london.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training/foundation

Oriel is the national online application system used to manage recruitment to training programmes. Oriel can be accessed at https://new.oriel.nhs.uk/Web. 

For technical support please contact the helpdesk via support@hicom.co.uk. Unfortunately, the London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex recruitment team cannot advise you on any technical issues except a locked oriel account.

1. London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex Foundation Programme 2020 Local Recruitment Timeline

2. London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex Foundation Programme - 2020 Programme Information

A provisional list of programmes will be available for applicants to view on Oriel from 12th October 2020. The programme information will also be available to download from this page as an Excel spreadsheet on Monday 23rd September 2020. A definitive list of 2020 programmes will be available both on Oriel and to download from this webpage in early February 2021.

It is important to note that the NHS is constantly changing and, even after being matched to an individual programme, there may be situations when placements within that programme may change because of service redesign, working time directive regulations or national directives (UK-wide).  For this reason, all allocations are provisional and subject to change until confirmed by employing organisations.

3. Preferencing Programme Information & Matching Process

If you are allocated to one of the 3 London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex foundation schools, you will be invited to preference programmes within the school you have been allocated to.

For North Central and East London Foundation School and North West London Foundation School, applicants will be invited to rank the programmes in order of preference between 11 March 2021 - 30 March 2021.

As the South Thames Foundation school has a larger number of programmes, the programmes have been clustered into groups. In this instance, applicants will be matched to programmes in two stages: -

1) Matched to a group

Applicants are required to rank the South Thames Foundation School groups in order of preference between 11 March 2021 - 17 March 2021. Applicants will be matched to groups based on their rank and group preferences on 22 March 2021.

2) Matched to a programme

Once matched to groups, applicants will be invited to rank the programmes in that group in order of preference between 22 March 2021 - 30 March 2021.

Applicants will be notified via Oriel of their match to individual programmes on 8 April 2021

IMPORTANT: applicants are advised to save preference choices regularly on the Oriel system. Failure to save group / programme preferences by the deadline will result in a random allocation to a group / programme with the most vacancies. Late preferences cannot be submitted under any circumstances.

Groups within South Thames Foundation School

4. Decile & Quartile Score Ranges Within Each Foundation School

Decile Ranges

North Central and East London:

North West London Foundation School:

South Thames Foundation School:

Quartile Ranges

Quartile ranges are calculated for South Thames Foundation School only. 

5. Programme Fair

Due the uncertainty surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic a decision has been taken, for the wellbeing of all involved, to change the way in which we deliver the 2021 Programme Fair. Further Information will be made readily available to applicants via this webpage sin due course.  We appreciate your understanding during this time.

6. Shadowing Arrangements

You will be required to undertake a mandatory induction and shadowing period for a minimum of 4 days at the Trust before 04 August 2021 (Please be aware that some Trusts organise longer periods of shadowing and you are advised to be available from 26 July 2021. 

7. Linked Applications

If you have linked your application on the Oriel system and wish to retain this link at the group allocation stage (for STFS only), both applicants will need to rank the five groups in the same order of preference or the link will be broken.

WARNING: The score of the lower scoring applicant will be used to allocate both linked applicants to a group. It is only possible to break the link at this stage by both applicants ranking groups in a different order.

Linked applications are not taken into account at the programme allocation stage and your individual scores are used to allocate you to a programme.

If you both wish to be allocated to the same Trust, ranking programmes in your group in exactly the same order may increase the chances of this. However, we cannot guarantee that you will be allocated to the same Trust or programme as the applicant you are linked with, particularly if there is a significant difference in your scores.

8. Special Circumstances

A small number of F1 doctors have special circumstances approval from their graduating medical school in order to ensure allocation to a foundation school in an appropriate geographical location.

All applicants are now required to submit offline applications directly to the UKFPO team. Applications will be considered by a central panel and pre-allocations will be actioned on Oriel by UKFPO staff.

9. Supporting Trainees Entering Practice (STEP)

Full information on this process is available via UKFP 2021 Applicants' Handbook and the on the UKFPO website.

Foundation Priority Programmes (FPP) have been developed to support specific areas of the UK that have historically found it difficult to attract and retain trainees through the foundation and specialty recruitment processes. The main aim is to maximise the opportunity for applicants who wish to be located in less popular areas and therefore improve supply for specialty training and beyond.

During 2019/20 and 2020/21, priority programmes, specifically designed to attract and retain trainees in remote, rural and coastal geographies, under-doctored geographies and shortage specialties, with psychiatry as an initial priority, will be introduced and evaluated. These programmes also often a range of incentives.

As part of this process, applicants will have the opportunity to rank individual priority programmes that have been determined by a specific location as part of the application form and prior to national allocation to FP. Successful applicants will be offered specific programmes prior to national allocation to foundation schools.

2021 Foundation Priority Programmes Recruitment Timeline

London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex Foundation Priority Programme Information

Programme data will be available for applicants to view on Oriel from Monday 10th August 2020. A spreadsheet summarising all the available programmes is also available to download from the bottom of this page. 

National recruitment to stand-alone foundation (F1 & F2) training programmes across the four nations is managed centrally by the UK Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO). Detailed information about how to apply is available via the UKFPO website.

Please note that current trainees are not eligible to apply for stand-alone foundation programmes.

If you have any queries regarding the stand-alone recruitment process, please contact the UKFPO directly via helpdesk@foundationprogramme.nhs.uk.