January 2026

Please see below for our KSS January bulletin.

New Updates

Important Update to Medical Specialty Training and Foundation Programme Recruitment (2026)

The Government has introduced a bill to prioritise UK medical graduates for foundation training and give preference to UK graduates and doctors with significant NHS experience for specialty training. This legislation is now going through Parliament.  There is more information on the WT&E website here and a longer paper on the NHS England website here.

Subject to the successful passage of the Bill, the changes will apply to all current applicants, even though applications have closed. 

Please refer to the NHS England Frequently Asked Questions which provides the information we have so far. We will provide further updates as they become available.

Paper on management of fitness to practise issues for resident doctors

The “Management of Fitness to Practise Issues for Resident Doctors” paper co-produced by COPMeD and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has now been published. You can access it here.

KSS Intra-foundation Programme Transfer (IFPT) process.

The KSS Foundation School Intra-Foundation Programme Transfer (IFPT) application window opens on Thursday 05 February 2026 to Thursday 26 February 2026 (at 17.00 GMT). This local process is available for current KSS FY1 doctors who need to train in a particular geography within KSS and whose individual circumstances have changed since the point of initial application/allocation to a 2-year foundation programme.

Guidance on how current foundation doctors can apply to transfer their F2 programme from one hospital Trust to another, including eligibility FAQs and links to forms is now available on the KSS website

UKFPO Fellows – recruitment timeline and live Q&A with current UKFPO Fellows

The 2026-27 Fellow recruitment timeline is now available on the UKFPO Fellow webpage UKFPO Fellow application – timeline and deadlines – UK Foundation Programme.

The UKFPO have arranged a Q&A session hosted by the current UKFPO Fellows, Devon Ward and Kaveeta Malhi, for F1 doctors interested in applying for the UKFPO Fellowship. This session will provide an opportunity to ask questions before the application window opens, share practical tips and to learn more about the fellowship and what it involves.

When: 17 February 2026, 18:00 – 19:00

Details and joining instructions will be published soon on the UKFPO website.

Important Information

Provisionally registered doctors (foundation year one/F1) must not undertake formal locum posts or activities.

Provisionally registered doctors can undertake occasional ad hoc additional/overtime shifts on their current FY1 placement or previous FY1 placements that have formed part of their F1 rotation, where such work is undertaken only within the limits of their current competence and with the support of their educational supervisor. When undertaking such occasional ad hoc additional/overtime work, provisionally registered doctors should be clear with other members of their team about their current experience and level of competence.

SCRIPT – supporting safer prescribing practices

The SCRIPT programme is a collection of innovative eLearning portfolios designed to encourage safe and effective prescribing and medicines management among healthcare professionals.

SCRIPT will enhance your knowledge and confidence in prescribing correctly, improving patient safety, therapeutics and medicines management. You will receive a certificate for each module that you complete, which can be used in your online learning portfolio. SCRIPT is easy to use. You can access the modules at a time which suits you and revisit them even after completion. You can learn more about the SCRIPT eLearning programme and how to sign up by visiting Medicine & Surgery | Safe Prescriber

  • New script modules were released on the 1 July 2025 and are available to all foundation doctors (F1 and F2).
  • The SCRIPT Team completed work on a new edition of the Medicine & Surgery portfolio for Foundation Schools.

The new edition comes with the following enhancements:

  • Reauthoring of selected modules to maintain alignment with the underlying evidence base.
  • Redesign and splitting of larger modules into more discrete modules to reduce per module running time, whilst expanding on scope, in response to Foundation Doctor feedback.
  • Module interfaces and navigation upgraded to a new design to maintain WCAG AA compliancy for improved accessibility for those with learning difficulties.

Please find attached further information here to include the new list of modules available.

It is a local KSS Foundation School recommendation that all F1 and F2 doctors complete 6 script modules per year prior to ARCP.  The topics are not mandated by the foundation school; however, your trust may mandate topics to support learning.

Study Leave

The KSSFS Admin Team often receive queries on how KSS Foundation Year 2 Doctors can apply for Discretionary Study Leave. For clarity, please see the process which is shown on the flow chart in the Study Leave pages SE Study Leave .

NB: Discretionary Study Leave should be applied for prospectively and not retrospectively:

**Please note that the management of KSS Study Leave changed from 01 April 2025 and KSS Resident Doctors link to the SE Study Leave  team for guidance on travel and accommodation and subsistence**

2025-26 TAB (Team Assessment of Behaviour) window dates

The recommended dates for TAB are detailed below but these dates are not mandatory. More information on the TAB process can be found on the Horus Website.

Placement 2

Opens: Friday 6 February 2026

Closes: Monday 30 March 2026

Placement 3

Opens: Friday 17 April 2026

Closes: Monday 18 May 2026

KSS Contact details:

For Foundation Year 1 queries please email england.kssfoundationyear1.se@nhs.net

For Foundation Year 2 queries please email england.kssfoundationyear2.se@nhs.net

For any other queries, please email england.kssfoundationenquiries.se@nhs.net

PSA sittings 2025-2026

All sittings are scheduled to commence at 13.00.

  • Thursday 26 March 2026
  • Thursday 23 April 2026

enhance Programme

Hopefully, enhance will have been introduced to you as a Foundation doctor during induction and those wishing to take part will have expressed an interest. However, there is still time to participate, so please contact your local FTPD or PGMDE team if you are interested in taking part and they will be able to help you.

enhance is available to everyone who works for NHS England and you can find more information on the KSS website.

e-learning opportunities

Welcome to your January 2026 update from the Foundation e-learning team and December 2025 update from the Foundation e-learning team.

The Foundation elearning programme covers key areas in your Foundation curriculum. It has been developed specifically for Foundation doctors by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in partnership with NHS England elearning for healthcare (NHSE elfh) and is approved by the UK Foundation Programme (UKFPO).

Foundation School Representatives

KSS Foundation School F1 and F2 Resident Doctor Representatives for 2025-26 have been appointed, please see details below. Please contact your Reps with any feedback so they can bring it to the FSD. For further information on the Reps roles, please see here.

NameGradeEmail
Nicola GallagherF1 (Lead)nicola.gallagher5@nhs.net
Keshav HarivardhanF1 (Deputy)keshav.harivardhan2@nhs.net
Dr Heloise MetzgerF2 (Lead)heloise.metzger@nhs.net
Dr Preeyan ShahF2 (Deputy) – LTFTpreeyan.shah2@nhs.net

Courses, events, surveys and webinars

UKFPO webinars

Held recently:

  • Making the most of your e-portfolio – Tips, tools and reflections. Held on 26 November 2025; recording is available on UKFPO Webinars page under Education and Support.

Please keep an eye on the UKFPO Webinars page for future webinar dates and recordings.

The Left Field Shift: embracing the unexpected opportunities of rural medicine

The UKFPO have published the first iteration of Dr Kaveeta Malhi’s project ‘The Left Field Shift: embracing the unexpected opportunities of rural medicine’. Further “thrival guides” will follow, providing location-specific insights based on what current foundation doctor mentors wish they had known before arriving at their hospitals.

LTFT Conference 2026 – Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust are holding the next LTFT Conference on Tuesday 12th May 2026 at the Academic Centre, Maidstone Hospital.

This conference highlights the importance of Less Than Full Time training, the challenges and the successes. Please see poster here for further information. If you would like to register please email MTW-tr.LTFT@nhs.net. Please do also share this with others who may be interested – this is a free event and everyone is welcome.

Royal College of Pathologists – Foundation Essay Prize

The Royal College of Pathologists’ Hugh Platt Foundation Essay Prize offers foundation doctors the chance to take an in-depth look at a particular aspect of pathology through a written piece. This year’s essay question centres around pathology tests and their impact on patients. The deadline for entries is 23:59 on 11 May. The winner will be awarded £250, will have their essay published on our website and in the College magazine, The Bulletin, and will be presented with a certificate at a Royal College of Pathologists event.

This competition offers the chance to explore how pathology makes a difference to patients, as well as a unique opportunity to boost your CV ahead of applying for your specialty training.  

The essay question for this year’s prize is ‘300,000 different pathology tests are performed every working day across the UK. Write about an example from your time as a foundation doctor where one of these pathology tests had a significant impact/outcome for either you or your patient​​​​​.’

Find out more about how to enter on the RCP website. If you have any questions about the essay competition, please contact publicengagement@rcpath.org

National patient safety and QI competition – Bristol Patient Safety Conference 2026

For details, see here: https://bristolpatientsafety.com/poster-competition.html

Deadline for abstracts March 2nd, 2026. Shortlisted entrants will receive an invitation to submit a poster and give a live oral presentation at the online conference on 13th May 2026.

Nature, Health & Wellbeing Course – University of Exeter (Faculty of Health & Life Sciences)

Registration is open for the 2026 University of Exeter Nature, Health & Wellbeing Course. The course dives into core concepts, such as the role of nature in mental and physical health, innovative green social prescribing practices, the connection between nature-based solutions and public health, and emerging research on nature’s pathways to well-being.

The course will run on 16th, 19th, 23rd and 26th March 2026 (09:15 – 13:15 UK time) via Zoom, for further information and registration see University of Exeter Nature, Health and Wellbeing Course.

Intercalated degree Survey

Two fellow Foundation Doctors from the Oxford Foundation School are looking to investigate if an intercalated degree has proven useful to doctors in their careers. This question stems from the recent decision of many specialty training programmes in excluding intercalated degrees counting towards portfolio points, universities encouraging students to intercalate, and the recent decision to randomise foundation training jobs. This survey is open to all doctors, both intercalators and non-intercalators. The survey would take around 5 minutes to complete, so please complete if you are interested in assisting! https://forms.gle/HAkyxSf44oM7A8dVA

Reminders and Guidance

Horus e-portfolio update: Combined CS/ES end of placement report

This new form went live in October 2025. It includes all the elements of the two separate forms and is the only one that needs to be completed if the CS and ES are the same person.

The form is available in the ‘Forms (start new)’ section. A blank version is available on the UKFPO Assessments webpage.

The system will suggest this form to joint CS/ESs and provide guidance on the “Forms (start new)” page.

The overview will count both CS and ES forms as complete if this one form has been completed. However, the combined form can’t be used to replace the ES end of year report.

PLEASE NOTE: A satisfactory ES end of year report is still required prior to ARCP.

TIS Checks

Please can we use this opportunity to remind Medical Education colleagues in Trusts to work with their Medical Staffing teams to regularly check Foundation Doctors’ posts on TIS, against internal records. Early recognition of any discrepancies can help us all to resolve issues quickly.

Also, if you have not already informed us of any F1s that have withdrawn from training, please do so, as we aren’t always made aware by trainees themselves.

Foundation Doctors taking Parental Leave

Please can all foundation doctors who will be taking a period of Parental Leave complete the following training interruption form: https://kss.hee.nhs.uk/kss-foundation/useful-links-and-documents/ and return to england.kssfoundationenquiries.se@nhs.net. This is in addition to informing your employing Trust.

Less Than Full Time (LTFT) Training

Please click the link below for guidance regarding Less Than Full Time (LTFT) training:

Less Than Full Time Training – Working across Kent, Surrey and Sussex

Foundation doctors in GP and psychiatry placements contributing to acute services     

Please see below link for guidance regarding Foundation doctors in community placements contributing to acute services: https://kss.hee.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/09/KSSFS-Foundation-doctors-in-GP-and-psychiatry-placements-contributing-to-acute-services_2.pdf

NHS employers’ guidance on induction for international medical graduates

Please see below link to guidance from NHS employers:

https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Welcoming-and-Valuing-International-Medical-Graduates-A-guide-to-induction-for-IMGs-WEB.pdf

Foundation Doctor Role and Responsibilities

For guidance, please see document “Foundation Doctor Role and Responsibilities within the Local Education Provider and Minimum Requirements for Clinical Supervision of Foundation Doctors” here.

Useful Websites and Contacts

UKFPO Bulletin: