Applicants who have not yet started the foundation programme (incoming F1)
You must have had a change in circumstances since the point of initial application to a 2-year foundation programme to be eligible for a transfer. You must be able to demonstrate in your application that a significant change in personal circumstances has occurred that could not have been foreseen at the time of national application to the foundation programme.
Your change in circumstances must meet one of the national criteria and you must be able to provide the requested supporting evidence and documentation at the point of application for an IFST.
All supporting documentation must be submitted alongside your application within the national IFST application window.
Applicants must ensure that all supporting evidence required for their IFST application is provided at the time of application as there will be no opportunity to provide this later or via an appeal process if their application is unsuccessful.
Applicants who previously applied for pre-allocation to a foundation school within the same recruitment round and had their application rejected by the national review panel are not eligible to apply for an IFST transfer under the same set of circumstances. However, if the circumstances are now different and therefore have changed since the pre-allocation application was submitted, then an IFST application can be considered.
Current Foundation doctors in training (F1 or F2)
Applications for a transfer to another foundation school from a foundation doctor will only be considered if their circumstances have changed since commencing their foundation training.
Foundation doctors who have already submitted an IFST application and have had it rejected within the same training year are not eligible to submit another IFST application for the same set of circumstances.
Current foundation doctors cannot apply for an IFST if they are currently on long-term sick leave from their foundation programme (ARCP outcome “Other”).
Current foundation doctors should note that approval of an IFST application is subject to being in receipt of a satisfactory ARCP Outcome 1 (for completion of the F1 year).
For both F1 and F2 applications, IFST applications will not usually be approved if the foundation doctor has received an ARCP outcome 3, 5 or “Other”, except possibly in exceptional circumstances and this will usually only apply to applications which are considered outside of the national process and timeframes. These applications would therefore usually be considered under the Out of Window IFST guidance.
The Foundation School Director who signs the IFST application will be asked to confirm the points above when they complete their section of the form.
All applicants
Your IFST application will not be considered by the national panel unless all of the supporting evidence required for the criterion has been provided by the national application deadline.
Your change in circumstances must meet one of the nationally agreed criteria.
If your application to transfer is approved, it is expected that you will be able to take up a new foundation school placement with the new employing organisation within the national timeframes and start your programme in August.
It will not be possible to defer a transfer start date unless there are statutory reasons for doing so and that reason is due to circumstances that have occurred since applying for the IFST. This is for the applicant to discuss with the new foundation school and employer.
All applicants are asked to disclose if they are currently the subject of a grievance, General Medical Council (GMC), criminal or any other investigation. If you indicate that you are subject to any of the above, you are required to provide additional information through the Fitness to Practice (FTP) disclosure to support your application. Failure to disclose this information could result in the withdrawal of an application from the process.