Postgraduate programme and site approval

It is our duty to set and maintain high standards of medical education, making programme and site approval a vital part of our quality assurance activities.

When we receive a request for a new programme or site, we ask the postgraduate training organisations to confirm that the training environment/s meet the standards we set out in Promoting excellence: standards for medical education and training. For a new programme, we also ask for a letter of support from the appropriate royal college or faculty.

If training has been done in a location that isn't approved, the achievement of curricula outcomes should not count towards the award of a certificate of completion of training (CCT), certificate of eligibility for specialist training (CESR(CP)), or certificate of eligibility for GP registration (CEGPR(CP)). This means that a doctor's completion of training date may be pushed back.

• Read the guidance on gaining approval for postgraduate training programmes and sites.
• View our list of approved programmes and training sites. We update this list every two weeks.
• View the list of approved locations with conditions attached.