School of Ophthalmology Home | Cheshire and Merseyside | Greater Manchester and Lancashire | ARCP |
Information and Resources for Doctors in Ophthalmology Specialty Training |
Guidance on this page applies to the School of Ophthalmology across both sectors of NHS England – North West.
August 2024
This page is under review and will shortly be updated to reflect the new requirements as part of the move to the 2024 curriculum and new e-portfolio. Sections with RED headings currently refer to the old curriculum, e-portfolio and process and will be updated shortly.
For further information about the transfer ot the new curriculum and e-portfolio - please visit the RCOphth website:
Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP)
An ARCP (Annual Review of Competence Progression) will take place for all trainees (including LTFT trainees) at least once per calendar year. For most trainees this will take place in June however some trainees may have their ARCP in January. Ad-hoc ARCPs may take place at other times of the year as required. The ARCP outcome will be decided at an ARCP assessment panel at which the trainee will not be present. All evidence must be uploaded to the e-portfolio 2 weeks in advance of the ARCP assessment panel. Documentation should be uploaded regularly throughout the year. Trainees issued a developmental outcome (Outcome 2, 3, 4) must attend the ARCP feedback panel to discuss the outcome and objectives for the next period of training.
The majority of trainees will be assessed as they approach the end of their training year. The programme support team at NHS England will advise the trainee that they are having an ARCP and that their portfolios must be fully up to date. Following the assessment trainees will be issued with an outcome and this will be recorded on both the e-portfolio and NHS England’s Trainee Information System (TIS).
Trainees that are part way through a training year at the time of the ARCPs i.e. LTFT or out of sync due to maternity leave, etc, will be assessed pro-rata. Unfortunately the e-portfolio system works on the basic principle that an Outcome 1 automatically upgrades the trainee to the next stage of training. In this instance a manual adjustment will be made by the College.
Occasionally trainees will have an educational review. This is usually for trainees that are on an adverse outcome and the panel wish to check their progress. Trainees will be advised that they are having an educational review and that their portfolios must be fully up to date. Trainees will be asked to complete a template form (currently being agreed and finalised) and this must be uploaded in the ‘additional evidence’ tab selecting ‘interim review’ as record type (a small ‘IR’ icon will then appear alongside the relevant ARCP). No outcome will be issued and following the review the Training Programme Director or member of the panel will feedback to the trainee.
For a full guide of the standard NHS England – North West process for ARCPs please visit our policies and procedures page:
Dates of Next Assessments
Once the date of your next ARCP is confirmed, it is the doctor in training's responsibility to update their e-portfolio with the correct ARCP dates and cut off date, in line with the relevant ARCP Assessment panel. Please see the college guidance video for information on how to do this.
ARCP Assessment Panel
23 January 2025
Cutoff date: TBC January 2025
ARCP Feedback Panel
6 February 2025 (afternoon)
VENUE: Online via Microsoft Teams
ARCP Assessment Panel
TBC June 2025
Cutoff date: TBC May/June 2025
ARCP Feedback Panel
TBC June/July 2024
VENUE: Online via Microsoft Teams
Form R
Once complete, please remember to upload a copy of your completed Form R (Part B) to the personal library of your e-portfolio.
The Form R is a mandatory requirement from the GMC for all ARCPs. From August 2022, only Form R (Part B) needs to be completed for every ARCP (the Form R is not required for Educational Reviews and the Form R (Part A) is no longer required for ARCP). The Form R must be completed within 4 weeks prior to the ARCP and by the deadline for cutoff date for evidence submission. If a Form R (Part B) has not been completed within the month prior to the ARCP or is incomplete the panel will be unable to issue a satisfactory outcome.
It is important any ongoing or closed investigations/complaints since your last Form R are included.
You must make sure that all parts of the Form R are fully completed including the scope of practice section. The Scope of practice should include:
IMPORTANT: From August 2022, all Form Rs must be completed via TIS Self Service (TSS). Old style form Rs (Word or PDF versions) will not be accepted.
To use TSS you must first sign up using the email address that NHS England have recorded for you. Trying to sign up with any other email address means the sign up process will fail.
Additional Guidance
Please see the following guidelines which outlines the requirements for ARCP – ARCP Guidelines 2018
The above guidelines refer to a number of documents to be uploaded. The templates for these are as follows. Please use only these templates and not alternative versions.
IMPORTANT Additional Guidance 2024 *added 5 April 2024*
Due to the transition to the new curriculum in August 2024, all doctors must complete the RCOphth's "Intended Level Form" so that a decision can be reached regarding progression to the doctor’s desired Level at August 2024. This is to enable smooth transition to the new curriculum on the new ePortfolio.
E-portfolio
It is a postgraduate doctor’s responsibility to set up their own ARCP dates and cut-off point (2 weeks prior to ARCP date) on the e-portfolio. Once the cut-off point is reached the ARCP that is ‘Open’ will switch to ‘Under Review’. The system will prevent ARCP reviews from being completed if the status is ‘Open’.
Following an ARCP, postgraduate doctors must sign off the ARCP form. If the form is not closed off the system is unable to generate another one for the next assessment.
If you have any queries regarding any of the above please email england.ophthalmology.nw@nhs.net.
The Royal College of Ophthalmologists ARCP Guidance
RCOphth Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP) Guidance
RCOphth ‘derogation’ ARCP Guide 2021
OOP Trainees
You need to submit the following:
OOPC Trainees
OOPE Trainees
OOPT Trainees
OOPR Trainees
All OOP Trainees
If you have been in programme for part of the year, the panel will also expect to see evidence that you have achieved the requirements of the ARCP decision aid in proportion to the amount of time you have been in programme, including an educational supervisor’s report.
NHS England – North West Visitor Information
Click here for Visitor Information for our Liverpool office (Regatta Place)
Click here for Visitor Information for our Manchester office (Three Piccadilly Place)
Page Last Updated 16 August 2024