North West of England - National FP Recruitment
National Foundation Programme Recruitment 2025 – 2027
**KEY LINKS AND DOCUMENTS FOR FP-2025 APPLICANTS**
Applicant guidance for the 2-year Foundation Programme
Frequently Asked Questions (UKFPO)
North West Of England Foundation School Documents
NWEFS : FP- 2025 WELCOME PACK & LOCAL MATCHING GUIDANCE (to be published March 2025)
The North West of England Foundation School wants to ensure that applicants have access to the most up to date and accurate information. Any queries directed to the school for which the answer can be found in the Applicants Handbook may not be prioritised. In the first instance we strongly recommend all applicants to download and thoroughly review the guidance which can be found on the links above.
Welcome to the 2025 application process for Foundation Training and an overview of the North West of England's local matching process.
Application for a UK Foundation Training Programme is through the national Oriel Recruitment system via the national Foundation Programme website, and is open only to UK medical students and entries through the national Eligibility Office. Full details of how to apply can be found on the UKFPO Website.
The following information has been provided to give potential applicants an overview of the local processes carried out in the North West of England School in conjunction with Oriel. This information will only become relevant to those who are allocated to this school in March 2025.
Click here to view the 2025 national Person Specification (FP).
Applying to the Foundation Programme
To access the timeline for the 2025 Foundation Programme recruitment, please visit the UKFPO website via: National UKFPO Timeline for 2025-27 FP Recruitment
FP applications will not be accepted after the deadline under any circumstances. This is a national deadline and Oriel automatically locks after this time.
Applicants wishing to make contact having missed the deadline are advised to direct their enquiries to helpdesk@foundationprogramme.nhs.uk . The North West of England Foundation School will not be involved in any such discussion / appeals that fall outside of the UKFPO national application process.
Amending UoA (Foundation School) Preferences on Oriel
Applicants will be able to amend their UoA (foundation school) preferences after the close of the national application window until the time and date stated in the Foundation Programme timeline. Oriel will lock at 12:00 and further changes to preferences after this time will not be possible. Applicants will not be given a reminder to advise them that this is the closing date for any changes. If either applicant in a linked pairing chooses to amend their preferences after the closing date for applications, the link will be broken.
We advise applicants to plan accordingly to ensure they submit their UoA preferences well in advance of the closure. Applicants contacting us regarding any such incidences having missed the deadline will be advised that no further action can be made to their application.
Linked Applications
A full set of guidance on linked applications can be found on the UKFP Website. We advise that applicants read the information provided before contacting the foundation school.
Linked applications can only be used for the first two stages of the allocation process (UoA /Foundation School and Match to Group/Trust) and the Oriel algorithm will use the lowest of the two algorithmic results to match the linked pair.
Both applicants are allocated to highest preferenced UoA/group with two places available. If there are not two places available, then the link will be broken.
Where a linked pair cannot both be allocated to the same group/trust, e.g. there are not enough vacancies; the North West of England Foundation School will endeavour where possible to allocate the pair to groups within one hour’s commute of each other.
If applicants submit their preferences in a different order at UoA/Group match stages, the link on Oriel will be automatically broken and cannot be reinstated.
Applicants wishing to opt out of their link can do so at any stage by amending their order of foundation school preferences following the close of the application window.
Foundation Programme Applicants - Frequently Asked Questions
For further advice on eligibility, linked applications, the allocations process, offers, appeals, please visit the UKFPO FP FAQ page here.
2025-2027 Programmes available in the North West of England Foundation School
Please navigate to the Training Programme page to view the current *indicative* foundation programmes on offer in the North West
Interviews - Foundation Programme
The North West of England School will not be conducting Foundation Programme interviews for any part of the local matching process, including any subsequent matching processes relating to allocations. However, applicants should note that all trusts will carry out pre-employment checks before any offer of employment can be made and this may require attendance in person.
Local matching process and FP Offers
The North West of England School will then run local matching to Trust and Track as a two stage process, outlined below.
Stage 1: Matching to Trust (Group)
Applicants allocated to the North West of England School will be directed to the 'Group Preferences' page within their Oriel account. From here applicants will be asked to enter their order of preference to group, where each employing trust within the school is identified as a separate group.
Full details of how to rank your order of preference and how to access additional information about each of our employing trusts will be emailed to allocated applicants from Match to UoA release date.
In order to administer a two stage matching process the UK Foundation Programme Office will run an interim match to group and publish the results of this to applicants via Oriel. Applicants will be able to access these results and then progress to the second stage of the process.
Stage 2: Matching to Track (Programme)
Once applicants allocated to the North West of England School have accessed their group allocation result they will be directed to the 'Offers' page within their Oriel account. From here applicants will be asked to enter their order of preference to the programmes available within their allocated group.
In order to adhere to the national timeframe for publication of final results, there will be set deadlines to meet for preferencing groups and programmes. To cview deadlines please refer to the UKFPO applicant handbook. 
Preference informed allocation
Preference informed allocation has been designed to give as many applicants as possible their
first choice of Foundation School. For further information about the preference informed allocation please click here.
Pre-Employment Checks and Mandatory Induction (FP/SFP-2025 Recruitment)
All applicants will be required to attend a mandatory (paid) induction before they can commence employment. The mandatory induction days for incoming F1 trainees are the 4 days immediately prior to the first day of the F1 year.
These days are salaried days and a statutory requirement for new trainees, who are expected to attend. The contract of employment will begin on the first day of induction and if you’re unable to attend any part of the 4 day induction period you must contact the employing trust to notify them and request annual leave in order to be approved absent.
Here in the North West our trusts may also offer you the chance to attend a voluntary shadowing period which will give you the opportunity to shadow the exact job you will be taking on. This voluntary period is likely to run from (date to be confirmed) but further details will be provided by your future employer following allocation.
All applicants are required to attend pre-employment screening at the trust where they have been allocated. Trusts are responsible for arranging their own pre-employment activities, which may include a clinical skills assessment and occupational health review, at a date and time which is suitable to them and the availability of local resource. Applicants will be expected to attend and cannot be offered a contract of employment until this requirement has been completed, you are therefore advised to contact the trust where you have been allocated to find out when their pre-employment screening days are before making personal arrangements, such as holidays, which may impact your attendance.
Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA)
The Prescribing Safety Assessment (PSA) re-sit for incoming F1s will be held on
- Tuesday 10th September 2024
- Thursday 20 March 2025
- Thursday 1st May 2025
Venue to be confirmed.
A PSA pass is required for the completion of F1.
Additional Information
Right To Work Fact Sheet (click here)
Relevant Links and helpful resources
Click here to visit our Postgraduate Centre Contacts.
Click here to visit our map to access further information for each of our employing trusts.
Click here to view a list of commonly used trust/location abbreviations.
Important note
Recruitment is a matching process and an allocation is not a job offer. All job offers will be made by the actual employer after successful completion of pre-employment checks.
If you require any further information which is not cover by any of the above please contact the team on england.foundation.nw@nhs.net