NTS trainee FAQs

Frequently asked questions for trainees about the national training survey.

1. When does the survey close?
2. Can I complete the survey after the survey has closed?
3. Why should I complete the survey?
4. What is the purpose of the survey?
5. Where did you get my training information from?
6. How can I get confirmation I’ve completed the survey for my ARCP?
7. Why would I be excluded from the survey this year?
8. How can I be sure that my answers will remain confidential?
9. What will you use my answers for?
10. Will my answers be used for other purposes in the GMC?
11. Will my responses be held against my personal record in the GMC?

1. When does the survey close?

The survey has now closed.

2. Can I complete the survey after the survey has closed?

If you have not completed the survey and it will affect your annual appraisal (ARCP/RITA), please contact your deanery for further guidance.

3. What is the purpose of the survey?

The survey provides a snapshot of your perceptions of your training posts and programmes, providing us with invaluable information to help us monitor changes to the training environment. Feedback from the survey helps shape the future of postgraduate medical education in the UK. It enables us to identify, at a national level, aspects of medical education and training that are potentially good practice and those which may need to be improved. For example, we have been working with the College of Emergency Medicine to undertake a series of checks to investigate supervision and training in emergency departments and identify good practice that can be shared – the report is due this spring. We have also used data captured through the survey to inform a review of training in a number of small specialties. These reviews have led to action plans which have been jointly agreed with the medical royal colleges. Deaneries also take action as a result of survey findings; we will monitor this through reporting, results of future surveys, analysis of trends and visits. Survey findings also inform our visits and how we respond to concerns. For example, we are using data from the survey to help identify which deaneries or regions to visit as part of our review of Academic Training Pathways.

You can read more about how the survey fits in to our quality improvement framework.

4. Where did you get my training information from?

Your training information is provided to us by your deanery using a secure web portal called GMC Connect. Deaneries only provide information that is relevant to the survey. We combine this with the data that we hold about you on the register to create the profile you can see in your survey record.

5. I don’t agree with the training information provided about me, what should I do?

Before you begin the survey you will have an opportunity to review the information provided about you by your deanery. If you don’t agree with any aspect of it, you can change the information to show the data you believe to be correct and submit this to your deanery for approval.

If your deanery rejects your suggested data and you do not agree, please contact them to discuss the matter.

6. How can I get confirmation I’ve completed the survey for my ARCP?

When you have completed the survey you will be presented with a confirmation screen containing a completion code, which you can print off. If you need to access this again, log in to GMC Online, go to My Surveys. The completion code should be displayed next to ‘National Training Survey 2013’.

7. Why would I be excluded from the survey this year?

If you are not in an approved training post on 26 March, you may not need to complete the survey. Valid reasons for this include:

Maternity/Paternity Leave
Out of Programme Career Break
Out of Programme Experience
Out of Programme Research
Out of Programme Training
Post CCT (i.e. training is complete)
Sick Leave
Suspension
Contract Termination
Gross Misconduct
F2 outside the UK
Other reason

If you have a valid reason to be excluded from the survey and have not been excluded, log in to GMC Online and begin the survey. You will be asked to confirm your training information. Select ‘Amend’ and change ‘your training status’ to one of the out of training reasons in the pick-list. Then click ‘Save’ at the bottom of the page. This will be sent to your deanery to approve.

If you have been excluded from the survey but you believe that you should be included, please contact your deanery to discuss this matter.

8. How can I be sure that my answers will remain confidential?

Protecting your confidentiality is important to us, and we do not publish survey answers alongside your personal details. Where a training location and/or specialty has fewer than three trainees, the responses for that location and/or specialty are not published. However, they can be aggregated. For example two locations can be combined to give an overall result, providing there is a total of more than three trainees across those two locations.

Please see our data protection statement for further information.

9. What will you use my answers for?

Your answers will be used to identify aspects of medical education and training that are potentially good practice and those which need to be improved. Feedback from the survey provides us with invaluable information to help us monitor changes to the training environment.

10. Will my answers be used for other purposes in the GMC?

No. Your survey responses will contribute only to reports about medical education and training. Your individual responses will not be considered with regard to your own registration or viewed by anyone who is not responsible for administering the survey.

11. Will my responses be held against my personal record in the GMC?

Technically, your responses are stored on your personal data record. However, they are only visible to the GMC staff responsible for administering the survey.