Applicants who have applied for pre-allocation to a foundation school and who wish to withdraw that application, must follow the below process.
If an applicant is approved for pre-allocation to a foundation school, their Oriel application record is updated, and this informs the system which foundation school to allocate them to when this allocation process takes place in 2026.
If your circumstances change after submitting your application and pre-allocation is no longer required, you can request to withdraw your pre-allocation application and be allocated via the standard Preference Informed Allocation (PIA) process.
If you wish to withdraw your pre-allocation application, you must complete and submit an online form by the published date in the application timeline.
The link to the online form is provided below. When the submitted withdrawal form is received, the UKFPO will update your Oriel record and remove the request for pre-allocation from the system.
Link to withdrawal form
Non-urgent advice: IMPORTANT
If you log into Oriel and change your Foundation School preferences on the system after your pre-allocation has been approved, this action alone will not change your foundation school allocation. This is because pre-allocation takes precedence in Oriel. This means that you must withdraw your pre-allocation application first, before changing your preferences in Oriel by the deadline which is published in the application timeline on the UKFPO website.
How do I withdraw my pre-allocation application?
If you wish to withdraw your pre-allocation application and no longer be pre-allocated to the foundation school you requested, you must complete the above online form.
You can withdraw your pre-allocation application at any point from November 2025 onwards and up until the deadline.
When is the deadline to withdraw a pre-allocation application?
The deadline for applicants to submit the online form to request to withdraw their pre-allocation application is date TBC
Why is it important that I withdraw my pre-allocation application if I no longer require pre-allocation?
If you had originally needed to be pre-allocated to a particular region in the UK due to your personal circumstances, but those circumstances have changed since you submitted your application, you may no longer want to be pre-allocated to that foundation school. You may instead wish to be allocated via the standard allocation process and preference a different foundation school as your first choice. If this is the case it is important that your pre-allocation application is withdrawn because if it isn’t, you will still be pre-allocated to the foundation school you had requested in your pre-allocation application.
What happens if I don’t withdraw my pre-allocation application by the deadline?
Failure to withdraw a pre-allocation application (that has been approved) by the deadline will result in you being allocated to the Foundation School that you requested in your pre-allocation application, and this cannot be changed.
My pre-allocation application was rejected by the national review panel. Do I also need to withdraw my pre-allocation application using the online form?
No. Applicants who have had their pre-allocation application rejected do not need to follow the withdrawal process and do not need to complete the online form.
My circumstances have changed since I applied for the Foundation Programme, and I am worried that I will be allocated to a foundation school region that is unsuitable for me. What can I do?
If your circumstances change after the Foundation Programme and pre-allocation application deadline you can no longer apply for pre-allocation. It is also not possible to change your allocated foundation school once allocation has taken place in 2026.
If you are an applicant in this situation, you should contact the Foundation School Director (FSD) of the foundation school you have been allocated to so that you are able to discuss your circumstances and understand the options available to you. An application to change allocated Foundation School after national allocation has taken place in will be treated as an Inter-foundation School Transfer (IFST) request, for which there is a separate process and national eligibility criteria. Contact details for foundation schools can be found here.
If you are unsure if you should withdraw your pre-allocation application, and would like advice about the process, please contact the UKFPO via helpdesk@foundationprogramme.nhs.uk.
