Applications for both the Foundation Programme (FP) and Specialised Foundation Programme (SFP) (previously named the Academic Foundation Programme (AFP)) are submitted in a window of approximately 14 days in September. It’s a good idea to start thinking about what needs to be done before the beginning of September so you don’t feel rushed later. Remember there is no flexibility with these deadlines, so try to submit everything before the last day. Sometimes the website crashes in the final few hours due to the volume of activity going on, so don’t get caught out! 

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All applicants have to submit an FP application, and have the opportunity to submit up to two separate AFP applications as well. For the former, you have to complete the national application form, which is divided into 11 sections:

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1. Personal
   Provide your personal contact details and information about any disabilities and health issues that may require reasonable adjustments. 

2. Eligibility
   This section requires your current GMC registration status and information about your right to work in the UK. 

3. Fitness
   Here you provide details of any unspent and spent convictions, investigations and/or warnings into fitness to practice.

4. References
   You have to supply the details of an academic referee. This is someone from your medical school who holds some teaching responsibilities (e.g. a Professor or Lecturer) who has known you for at least 6 months and is able to comment on your performance. The referee will receive correspondence about completing your reference via the email address that you enter on Oriel, so make sure you enter one that they use actively. You should also check with them that they are happy to be your referee in advance to avoid any snags later on in the process as there’s a chance that they don’t feel they know you well enough to comment and may suggest choosing someone else. References aren’t sought until around March, so it’s worth reminding them around that time to look out for an email from Oriel. Don’t get too hung up on what your referee has written about you – the reference is only used as a pre-employment check and has no influence on the application process. 

5. Competences
   Here you are asked to provide details of your medical degree and medical school. Additional degrees are attended to in the ‘evidence’ section. 

6. Employment
   Foundation applicants don’t have to complete this. The page should appear blank. 

7. Evidence 
   This is where applicants can list and submit evidence of any extra academic achievements, namely additional degrees and publications with which you can nab those 7 juicy extra points for your EPM. Make sure you complete all the required fields and upload evidence to support your achievement. Double and triple check that any information you have uploaded meets the criteria laid out in the UKFP handbook. If the verification panel decides that your evidence doesn’t meet their requirements, you will not get the points you were expecting, and there is no opportunity to appeal this later. You don’t have to upload evidence for publications, but you must have a PubMed ID, and must complete all sections in the form correctly. 

8. Supporting
   This section is for the Priority Foundation Programme (PFP) or the SFP only, and will appear blank for FP applicants. 

9. Preferences
   This is where you get to rank all UK deaneries in order of preference. Drag and drop each option to create a list in the order of your choice. Pay attention whilst doing this as the system can be a bit buggy and has been known to list things in the exact opposite of the order you want. There is no submit button here. The last order that was saved when the application is submitted is the order that will be used. 
   When it comes to choosing your order, the first few tend to come naturally, but it can be difficult to choose between the twenty deaneries that you’d previously never considered. One tool that can be helpful when sorting through this is the Foundation Schools Chooser. This is a really useful website that has an interactive map of all of the deaneries, separate maps showing the location of every hospital in each deanery, statistics for each deanery such as competition ratios and score distribution charts from previous years, and links to each foundation school’s website. Double check information with the official website as it can sometimes be out of date. 
   Frustratingly, you have to submit all this before you know your full score as you’ve not yet taken the SJT, but there’s not much merit in being tactical with your preferences. For instance, if your first choice is a really competitive deanery and you’re not sure your score will be quite good enough, you’re not putting yourself at any disadvantage by placing it first anyway. If you don’t get it, you’ll get the next one on your list that your score is good enough for, just as if you had predicted your score and put the less competitive choice at the top in the first place. This way you at least gave yourself the chance to get the one you really wanted. Essentially, just submit the order you want, and don’t think about what your score might be. 

10. Equality
    This section asks you to provide your age, gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs and whether you consider yourself to have a disability.

11. Declarations
    Here there are several declarations that require you to confirm you have read and understood them, before you can submit your application.