Applying to STFS
Why should you consider coming to the South Thames Foundation School?
We are a very large Foundation School with over 800 programmes, including 51 academic programmes based at our teaching hospitals at Brighton, St George’s, Guy's and St Thomas's and King's College Hospital.
Our training is based in 19 trusts over 28 sites in South London and in Kent, Surrey and Sussex; from Frimley in the west, to East Kent in the east and Brighton on the south coast.
Generally our programmes are constructed so that the two years are spent at two different sites, with no more than a year in a teaching hospital or in a London (Deanery) trust. This enables over 80% of our programmes to provide a year in a London trust, which we know that many of our doctors want.
Overall we feel that our training provides a real breadth of experience and we hope that you will explore more by looking at our website and at our prospectus.
Dr Jan Welch
Director
National Application Process
Information regarding application via the national recruitment process can be found on the United Kingdom Foundation Programme Office website at the links below. We would highly recommend reading through the UKFPO Applicant’s Handbook before submitting your application.
- Eligibility Criteria and Person Specification
- UKFPO Application Registration Window
- UKFPO FP2012 Applicant’s Handbook
Information for those considering applying to STFS
STFS manages the allocation process for trusts linked to it, all of which are in south London and Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Applicants are allocated to 2-year programmes via the FPAS system administered by the UK Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO). Only F1 programme information appears on the application site initially. Additional information regarding provisional links to F2 Trusts for the F2 year will be updated in the ‘notes’ box for each F1 programme on FPAS before applicants are required to rank programmes.
Follow the links below to take you to the relevant sections of the website:
- STFS Prospectus
- Trust information (including interactive map of trusts)
- Programme fair
- Information for those considering applying to STFS
- Linked applications
- Matching to programmes following allocation to STFS
- F1 Programmes commencing August 2012
- Completing F1/F2 overseas
Please note that STFS is not responsible for arranging shadowing attachments, either for undergraduate curriculum requirements or pre-employment shadowing. Your medical school should liaise with the employing trust to make arrangements for any undergraduate shadowing requirements. You are also advised to contact the employing trust after allocation to programme to check if you are required to undertake any pre-employment training or shadowing prior to 1st August.
In order to provide a range of experience, the F1 and F2 years are almost always based in two different trusts/hospitals. Some of these are close together, others are more widely spread. Generally one is in a London trust and one in KSS, with no more than one year being spent in a teaching hospital. Some programmes, for example many of those linked to Brighton, are outside London for both F1 & F2. Approx 5% of programmes are unlinked initially. It may be possible, if your circumstances change and there is availability, for your F2 placement to be exchanged for another one but only with the approval of the Director of STFS.
http://www.stfs.org.uk/doctor/special-circumstances
http://www.stfs.org.uk/doctor/swap-shop
Applicants allocated a place in STFS will be invited to attend a programme fair (19 December 2011) at the Guy’s Hospital site (London Bridge office) and all trusts linked to the South Thames Foundation School will be invited. The fair will provide prospective trainees, before they submit their programme preferences, with an opportunity to discuss the programmes/facilities offered by individual trusts.
Applicants successful in gaining a place in STFS are required to complete and return a Registration Form before commencing training.
A transfer of information form will need to be submitted through your medical school.
In participating in the national on-line application process for foundation training, applicants are committed to undertaking the programme to which they are allocated. Unilateral withdrawal by the allocated trainee after completion of the allocation process is viewed very seriously as such action could have serious implications for the employing trust and compromise patient safety. The trainee concerned may therefore be reported to the GMC, and their action would be contrary to the GMCs ‘Good Medical Practice’ guidance in accordance with which all doctors are required to act.
In the event that Foundation Programme training commencing August 2012 is oversubscribed, the top scoring applicants will be placed on the primary list and will be allocated to foundation schools using the current algorithm. Any applicants who do not score highly enough to be on the primary list will be placed on a reserve list. As vacancies arise (due to finals failures and withdrawals) applicants will be allocated to foundation schools based on their scores/preferences in batches, at set intervals. (See the Foundation Applicant’s Handbook for further information).
Matching to programmes following allocation to STFS
2 stage programme allocation process
In order to minimise the number of programmes students need to rank, for 2012/13 STFS will be running a 2 stage allocation process.
Stage 1
Allocation into one of three programme groups.
Stage 2
Ranking of programmes within that group, followed by individual programme allocation.
Why are the programmes being divided into 3 groups?
Students have told us that they value the large size of STFS, but hate ranking 800+ programmes as it is time-consuming and tedious.
Dividing up the programmes into three groups means that no-one will have to rank more than approximately 270 programmes.
How have the programmes been divided up into the groups?
Very carefully, to try and make the groups as equivalent as possible.
For example, all three groups have similar proportions of programmes in which one year is spent in a teaching hospital, and of specialties such as paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecology.
What are the programme groups called?
Yellow, green and blue. The pages of programmes in the prospectus are colour coded.
Are the groups geographically based?
To a degree. Yellow is towards the west of the STFS area, green towards the south and blue towards the east, but all the groups include some programmes containing a year in London. *
* Please download the document at the bottom of this page for a map representation of the STFS colour groups.
Linked Applications
As the area covered by STFS is so large, we have decided that we will be offering linked applicants the opportunity to retain the application link at the local second stage of allocation i.e. to a colour coded programme group (yellow, green or blue).
The colour coded groups are geographically based to a degree. Yellow is towards the west of the STFS area, green towards the south and blue toward the east, but all groups include some programmes which contain a year in a London trust. The pages of programmes in the STFS Prospectus are colour coded.
Once you have received your foundation school allocation on 8th December 2011, we will send an e mail to all linked applicants who have been successful in obtaining a place in STFS. Both applicants will be required to confirm that you either:
i) do not wish the link to be applied at the second stage of allocation (the two original application scores would then be used to allocate to one of three groups) or
ii) if you do wish to retain the link, then STFS will ensure that both applicants are allocated to the same colour group (i.e. yellow, green or blue) using the lower of the two scores
Both applicants will need to rank the three groups in the same order of preference or the link will no longer apply.
NB 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.
NB It is not possible to apply the application link to the provisional F2 trust link for the following year (ie 2013). If linked applicants wish to work in the same group or trust for F2 you may be able to apply through the ‘swap shop’, if this is run for 2013, under the usual rules.
F1 Programmes Commencing August 2012
A composite spreadsheet containing F1 programme information for all trusts is available to download at the bottom of this page. Please note that this information will is correct as of the date of publication and is subject to change. The programme data contained within the national online application process will be amended as and when trusts provide any updates. Please check the national website (www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk) for the most up-to-date programme information.
A spreadsheet containing details of August 2012 F2 programmes is also available to download at the bottom of this page (for information only), however, it is likely that August 2013 F2 programmes will be similar in composition. Details of the trust reference codes for individual hospital sites can also be found at the bottom of this page.
For 2012 entry, for the first time STFS is providing 2-year programmes in one site or local education provider. These programmes have been designed to include community integration and other elements such as leadership and management projects within the trust. Details of the 15 programmes are available to download below.
How is STFS run?
STFS is committed to fairness and transparency. Our policies - for example for less than full time training, maternity leave etc - are set out on the website and if you have any queries it is worth looking through these first, as well as the national information on the UKFPO website. If not, one of our managers will be happy to advise you.