UKFP 2025 Key Changes

The following changes have been made to the titles of the Pre-allocation criteria for UKFP 2025:
– Criterion 2a “Primary Carer” and Criterion 2b “Significant Carer” have been merged into a single carer criterion, which is now called Criterion 2 “Significant Caring Responsibilities”.
– Criterion 3 “Medical Condition” has been renamed “Health Condition or Disability”.
– Criterion 4 “Unique Circumstances” has been renamed “Extraordinary Circumstances”.

Character limits have been introduced on the application forms for the applicant statement section and the applicant and supporting signatory answer boxes.

The requirement for applicants to sign and date a declaration on their pre-allocation application form has been removed. The declaration that applicants accept when submitting their main Foundation Programme application on Oriel will apply also to the completion and submission of the pre-allocation application.

Mandatory fields in the application form are now identified with an asterisk, “*”. If a mandatory field has been marked with an asterisk, information is required from either the applicant or supporting signatory/medical school in that section/field of the form. If a field is marked as mandatory and has been left blank, the application is likely to be rejected by the national review panel.

The Widening Participation application form no longer includes an applicant or medical school supporting statement box. This has been removed because it is not information that is required by the national review panels as part of the review/approval process.

Details about how recruitment to SFP for 2025 has changed can be found on our SFP page

In line with our organisational website and accessibility guidelines, applicant guidance is gradually being moved out of Word and PDF documents and directly onto the website pages. This is an ongoing and large piece of work.

For UKFP 2025 the following guides have been moved onto website pages:

– UKFP 2025 Application Timeline
– UKFP 2025 Applicant Handbook (including the application process)
– UKFP 2025 How To Apply (Oriel)
– UKFP 2025 Foundation School information summary
– UKFP 2025 Key Changes

Some information will remain as PDF documents for the 2025 application process.

There are three ways to evidence English language proficiency: Primary Medical Qualification (PMQ), IELTS certificate, OET certificate.

Primary Medical Qualification (PMQ):

A PMQ will only be accepted as evidence of English language proficiency if it was gained from a medical school / university in a country where English is the first and native language. The GMC maintains a list of countries where English is a first and native language. The UKFPO will refer to this list when making decisions about applications.

If an applicant gained their PMQ from an overseas campus of a non-UK university, they will be deemed by the UKFPO as having studied in the country where the campus is located.

If an applicant studied at an overseas campus of a UK university, they will be deemed by the UKFPO as having studied in the UK.

All applicants who gained their PMQ from a country where English is not the first and native language (as cited on the GMC website) must evidence their English language proficiency by either a valid IELTS certificate or a valid OET certificate.

IELTS Certificates:

For entry to UKFP 2025 onwards, the UKFPO will only accept Academic and UKVI (Academic) versions of the IELTS test. The UKFPO will no longer accept IELTS General Training certificates.

The UKFPO’s minimum required standard and validity period for IELTS certificates has not changed.

Applicants must achieve a score of 7.5 in each skill (speaking, listening, reading, and writing), and the scores must be part of the same Test Report Form (TRF). The examination must be dated no earlier than 06 August 2023 to be valid for entry to UKFP 2025.

IELTS One Skill Retake:

The UKFPO is aware of the recent introduction of the IELTS One Skill Retake. Applicants who wish to take advantage of the One Skill Retake option must bear in mind that the UKFPO must be able to view/verify the final result on the IELTS verification portal, by the start of the UKFP eligibility application window. Pending, future or unpublished results will not be considered. Results published after the start of the eligibility application window will also not be considered. More information about IELTS One Skill Retake can be found on the IELTS website.

OET Certificates:

There are no changes to the requirements for OET certificates.

Applicants must achieve a score of 400 in each section (speaking, listening, reading, and writing), and the scores must be achieved in one test sitting. The examination must be dated no earlier than 06 August 2023 to be valid for entry to UKFP 2025.

Eligibility applicants for UKFP 2025 onwards will not be required to submit a Dean’s Statement as part of their application. Instead, applicants will be required to submit evidence of their primary medical qualification (PMQ) in one of the following ways:

Applicant status and evidence required

Qualified from medical school; has medical degree certificate – a copy of the medical degree certificate is required.

Qualified from medical school; has not yet received medical degree certificate – letter from the medical school dean to confirm qualification is required.

Not yet qualified from medical school – letter from the medical school dean to confirm future qualification is required.

For applicants who have qualified but not yet received their medical degree certificate, and applicants who have not yet qualified from medical school, the purpose of providing a letter from their medical school dean is solely to confirm their qualification.

The UKFPO have provided a proforma template letter which must be used.

For applicants who wish to use their primary medical qualification as evidence of their English language proficiency, this will no longer be confirmed by way of the Dean’s Statement, or a letter from the medical school dean. Further details on the changes to English language proficiency are provided below.

Applicants whose primary medical qualification (PMQ) appears on the GMC’s list of overseas medical qualifications they may accept, will have an additional condition of their eligibility to fulfil. These applicants must submit evidence that the GMC considers the applicant likely to gain provisional registration. This evidence must be a letter or an email, with appropriate letterhead(s)/email address(es) clearly displayed. This evidence will be assessed on a case-by-case basis by the UKFPO.

The deadline to provide this evidence is 12:00 (midday, BST) on 06 September 2024. Any applicant who does not provide sufficient evidence by this deadline will be withdrawn from the application process. Therefore, applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the GMC as soon as possible in order to gain this evidence.

This change to the eligibility application process has been discussed with the GMC and the GMC is aware of the introduction of this condition of eligibility.

Some medical schools / universities appear on both the GMC’s list of medical qualifications they may accept, and the GMC’s list of medical qualifications they do not accept. Applicants whose medical school / university appears on both lists, can submit an eligibility application and should follow the guidance provided above.

Applicants whose medical school / university appears only on the GMC’s list of medical qualifications they do not accept, will remain ineligible to apply for the UK Foundation Programme.