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Home › School of primary care in London › Become a primary care educator in London › Approved educator courses › GP educator courses

GP educator courses

NHS England provides a fully funded GP supervisor course for GPs who want to become a GP educational supervisor (GP educator) or clinical placement supervisor for health care placements in primary care in London.

This GP supervisor course has replaced the former ISLA course and GP educational supervision course.

This interactive course runs over 11 weeks (3 hours contact per week) on a virtual platform and has approximately 45 hours' time commitment (33 hours contact plus preparation).

Eligibility and suitability

To be eligible to apply, participants will need to provide evidence of:

  • being in a substantive GP post in London (salaried GP or partner)
  • at least 2 years post CCT (or equivalent)
  • capacity to attend all online sessions
  • capacity and support to train foundation resident doctors and/or GP specialty resident doctors within 1 year of completion
  • engagement with your local clinical and educational supervisor workshop

To meet the eligibility criteria for this funded course, course delegates are required to commit to attending all eleven sessions of the cohort that they have booked. The courses are booked to capacity. If you cannot commit to attending all sessions of the cohort that you are planning, you are advised to cancel your place and rebook when you can commit to all the sessions of a later cohort.

For more details about the pathway to becoming a GP educator or if you are unsure as to where you need to undertake this course, visit the becoming a GP educator webpage for more information.

Overview

The purpose of this course is to prepare you for your role as an educator in primary care:

  • we explore core educational principles that form the foundations of how we learn and how we relate to each other professionally in the myriads of interconnecting contexts and networks that we find ourselves in
  • we consider the relational, psychological, and sociocultural aspects of learning from an interactional perspective
  • we explore the principles underpinning reflective practice, supervision, assessments, supporting learners and supporting educators in primary care to enable a high-quality learning culture and environment
  • we prepare you for your role as a 'supervisor', a facilitator of learning for doctors and other professionals in clinical practice
  • we use the context of the GP speciality trainee trajectory in London GP training as the terrain to navigate our journey together

Through your engagement and commitment to each other on this course by the end we expect that you will be prepared to take up the role of clinical or educational supervisor in general practice.

Intended learning outcomes

The intended learning outcomes are mapped to the General Medical Council (GMC) criteria for trainer recognition. By the end of this course participants should be able to:

  • explain the importance of the educational supervisory relationship in the primary care context, the associated roles and responsibilities including ensuring safe and effective patient care (GMC 1)
  • create an education curriculum to welcome a new learner into a safe professional learning environment (GMC 2)
  • facilitate learning for a learner (GMC 3)
  • observe and provide feedback for a learner (GMC 3)
  • apply workplace-based assessments as set out by the RCGP (GMC 4)
  • support and monitor educational progress including recognising and managing learners in need of support (GMC 5 and 6)
  • reflect upon your own learning journey using the criteria and standards set out by the GMC and the RCGP (GMC 7)
  • recognise your learning needs for your own continued development as an educator (GMC 7)

Registration process

Registration for future GP educator courses is now overseen by Training Hubs. Once you have registered with your Training Hub, new potential GP educators are encouraged to contact their local GP vocational training scheme (VTS) and attend their local multi-professional educator group. Your local Training Hub can direct you to the VTS and multi-professional educator group for your borough.

To register your interest for a future GP educator course, please contact your local Training Hub who will support you with next steps and a sign-up form:

North East London: nelondonicb.traininghub@nhs.net
North Central London: nclicb.approvedlearningenvironments@nhs.net
North West London: nwl.traininghub@nhs.net
South East London: quality@seltraininghub.co.uk
South West London: office.swlth@nhs.net

Venue

Virtual on Zoom (ensure you have good internet connectivity on laptop or desktop and are in a stationary confidential space protected from predictable interruptions for the duration of the 3 hours contact time).

Course dates: Spring/Summer 2027

Cohort 44 (Tuesday mornings, 9:30am to 12:30pm)

  • Jan 19th, Feb 2nd, Feb 9th, Feb 23rd, Mar 9th, Apr 6th, Apr 20th, Apr 27th, May 11th, May 18th, May 25th

Cohort 45 (Wednesday mornings, 9:30am to 12:30pm)

  • Jan 27th, Feb 10th, Feb 24th, Mar 17th, Apr 7th, Apr 14th, Apr 21st, Apr 28th, May 12th, May 19th, May 26th 

Cohort 46 (Thursday mornings, 9:30am to 12:30pm)

  • Feb 18th, Mar 4th, Mar 11th, Apr 8th, Apr 15th, Apr 22nd, Apr 29th, May 6th, Apr 20th, Apr 27th, Jun 10th 

Cohort 47 (Thursday afternoons, 14:00pm to 17:00pm)

  • Feb 18th, Mar 4th, Mar 11th, Mar 18th, Apr 8th, Apr 15th, Apr 22nd, Apr 29th, May 6th, May 20th, May 27th

Cohort 48 (Friday mornings, 9:30am to 12:30pm)

  • Feb 19th, Mar 5th, Mar 12th, Apr 9th, Apr 16th, Apr 23rd, Apr 30th, May 7th, May 14th, May 21st, May 28th 

Cohort 49 (Friday mornings, 9:30am to 12:30pm)

  • Feb 26th, Mar 12th, Mar 19th, Apr 9th, Apr 16th, Apr 23rd, Apr 30th, May 7th, May 14th, May 21st, May 28th

Course intakes

There are 2 annual course intakes for new GP educators in London:

  • September to January (expressions of interest open in May and are open for 4 weeks. Places confirmed by second week of June)
  • February to June (expressions of interest open in October and are open for 4 weeks. Places confirmed by 2 week of November)

Outside of this window, GPs can register their interest for a future GP course by contacting their local Training Hub and will be added to a list to confirm places when the next course is made available. Should there be significant interest, NHS England and Training Hubs will work together to identify the availability of additional course dates.

Training places are prioritised in areas of low educator capacity where there is a need to support the growth of the local workforce. These areas are defined annually by NHS England based on the regions workforce needs.