Applicants to the Foundation Programme must either be nominated by a UK medical school, or apply via the UKFPO Eligibility application process.
UK medical school nomination
UK final year students will be nominated by their medical school to apply for the Foundation Programme if they are expected to qualify by 05 August 2025.
Applicants who have qualified from a UK medical school on or after 06 August 2023 can be re-nominated by their medical school to apply for the foundation programme. This includes applicants who chose to withdraw from their allocated 2024 foundation programme so that they could re-apply for the 2025 foundation programme.
Applicants who wish to be re-nominated must inform their medical school of their intention to re-apply to the foundation programme (if they are not already aware) so that the medical school can include their details in their nomination data submission.
Important: If you are an eligible applicant who has not received their nomination email, you MUST inform your medical school and the UKFPO as soon as possible at the start of the application window.
UK applicants who are due to be nominated are advised to check the exact email address their medical school will be using for them (for example, some medical schools provide students with more than one email address or ‘alias’). Applicants must use that email address to register on Oriel.
Applicants who have qualified from a UK medical school on or prior to 05 August 2023 cannot be re-nominated by their medical school. These applicants must apply via the Eligibility application process.
Eligibility application route
Applicants are required to apply via the Eligibility route (prior to applying to the Foundation Programme) if one of the following applies to them:
The applicant is studying at or has qualified from a non-UK medical school;
OR
The applicant has qualified from a UK medical school on or prior to 05 August 2023;
OR
The applicant is studying at or has qualified from a UK medical school campus outside of the UK, that is, St George’s University of London in Cyprus, Newcastle University Medicine in Malaysia (NUMed), or Queen Mary University of London in Malta. (This applies to both non-UK applicants and settled UK nationals.)
OR
One of the above applies to the applicant AND either they have applied in a previous recruitment cycle and their application was unsuccessful, or they withdrew their application and did not begin the Foundation training programme. (Applications do not carry forwards from year to year, and all applicants must submit a new application for the relevant recruitment year.)
Separate guidance and the application timeline can be found on the Eligibility Application page.
Defence Deanery cadets
Applicants who are military cadets at a UK medical school do not need to apply via the national application process on Oriel for their foundation training programme. Military cadets are placed into selected foundation programmes which are managed separately by the Defence Postgraduate Medical Deanery (DPMD).
The DPMD manages the placement of these students to foundation schools outside of the national UKFPO application process. Military cadets will be notified of this process directly by the DPMD.
UK medical schools do not need to include the details of their military cadets with their nomination data for Oriel as they are not required to take part in the national application process on Oriel.
Military cadets who think that they have been accidently nominated should notify either their medical school or the UKFPO via helpdesk@foundationprogramme.nhs.uk and their details will be removed from Oriel.