Understanding the progression reports - ARCP (postgraduate)

Reporting outcomes outside of the reporting period

Each year the Briefing Note requests all outcomes that took place in the preceding training year defined as from the 1st Wednesday in August through to Tuesday before the 1st Wednesday in August in the following year. On occasion we receive outcomes that relate to an earlier training year. This means that for Deaneries/ LETBs where this occurred there will be very small changes to the previously reported numbers.

Dual-CCT and sub-specialty ARCPs

Please note that these reports are not suitable for understanding trainee progression in 2nd specialty (e.g. General (Internal) Medicine) or subspecialties (e.g. Neonatal Medicine) as despite the requirements of the Gold Guide there is evidence of substantial underreporting to us.

The Gold Guide states

“Outcomes from the ARCP 4.87 The ARCP panel will recommend one of the eight outcomes described below for each specialty/sub-specialty for each trainee, including those on integrated clinical/academic programmes.”

Therefore trainees with a 2nd specialty or a sub-specialty should have ARCP outcomes recorded for that specialty or sub-specialty.

We continue to work with colleagues in LETBs and deaneries to encourage accurate recording of dual and sub-specialties.

GMC confidentiality rules

To protect the confidentiality of doctors, we do not report on any group smaller than three people.

HESA data

The report includes information derived from that collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited (“HESA”) and provided to the GMC (“HESA Data”). Source: HESA Student Record 2002/2003 to present. Copyright Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited. HESA makes no warranty as to the accuracy of the HESA Data and cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived by third parties from data or other information supplied by it.

HESA confidentiality rules

Where we have used HESA's data, we have agreed different confidentiality rules. Here we do not report on any group smaller than 23 people. And all reported group sizes are rounded up to the nearest multiple of 5. For example, a report including information about 28 people will be reported as including 30 people.

Confidence intervals

All our confidence intervals (CI) are calculated to the 95% confidence level using the recommended method for proportions from Altman, D.G., Machin, D. et al. Statistics with Confidence 2nd edition; BMJ Books. 2000.

Benchmark groups

Benchmark groups are allocated by programme specialty.

Read our benchmark group table.

Outliers

Outliers in these reports are where the upper confidence limit of the report group is less than the lower confidence limit of the benchmark group (coloured dark blue), or where the lower confidence limit of the report group is more than the upper confidence limit of the benchmark group (coloured purple).

Deanery/LETB/NHS England local offices

On 1 April 2013, local education and training boards (LETBs) took over the responsibilities of the deaneries for postgraduate training in England, this meant that some deanery boundaries in England were merged or split to create new boundaries.

Those organisations are now known as NHS England local offices.

These reports take account of the boundaries appropriate to the time the data was collected, for example the three NHS England London offices are reported as London Deanery from 2013 and earlier. Some of these reports still refer to LETBs rather than NHS England local offices.

ARCP reporting periods

ARCP data are collected retrospectively from LETB and Deaneries for the preceding training year. The training year is defined as from the first Wednesday in August to the Tuesday before the first Wednesday in the subsequent year. So, for example, the 2018 collection notice requested: all outcomes awarded between 1 August 2018 and the 6 August 2019. The ARCP year for this period is 2021.

Collection notices published by year.

ARCP outcome

Every ARCP is awarded a code denoting the outcome (satisfactory or unsatisfactory) and a description that explains the outcome.

The ARCP outcome reference table.

ARCP outcome type

For these reports, ARCP outcomes are grouped together in types as shown in the list below.

• Unsatisfactory outcome - Outcomes 2, 3, 4, 7.2, 7.3, RITA D or E.
• Unsatisfactory outcome excluding exam failures - Outcomes 2, 3, 4, 7.2, 7.3, RITA D or E, excluding those associated with exam failure.
• Unsatisfactory outcomes excluding incomplete evidence - Outcomes 2, 3, 4, 7.2, 7.3, RITA D or E, excluding outcomes 5 and 7.4 from calculations.
• Incomplete evidence provided - Outcomes 5 and 7.4.
• Extra time required - Outcomes ARCP 3, 7.3 and RITA E.
• Targeted training - Outcomes 2, 7.2 and RITA D. Note that these are not applicable to foundation trainees, so selecting this report type will not yield any results for foundation schools.
• Released from training - Note that there is no equivalent RITA outcome.
• COVID outcomes - Outcomes 10.1 and 10.2 have been reported separately, along with their specific C codes.

Index of multiple deprivation (IMD) quintiles

Each small area within nation (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) is ranked with a lower score indicating greater deprivation. These scores are put into quintiles.

1 - Most deprived
2
3
4
5 - Least deprived

We link to the index of IMD quintile for the postcode included in the HESA data. This is the postcode on application to medical school.

IMD quintiles have been calculated in different years for the period covered by the HESA data. We hold postcode on application to medical school for all cases from 2002 onwards. We hold IMD reference data for the following years:

England: 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2015
Scotland: 2004, 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2016
Northern Ireland: 2005, 2010 and 2017
Wales: 2004, 2011 and 2014

We use the closest preceding year to the doctor’s year of entry to medical school.

U-codes

U-codes are allocated to denote the reason for an unsatisfactory ARCP outcome.

See the U-code reference table.

N-codes

N-codes are allocated to denote the reason where no ARCP is awarded during the year. Please note: Foundation trainees are not included in the N Code report where a training level (i.e. F1 or F2) has not been included in the return.

See the N-code reference table.

C-codes

C-codes are allocated to record the ARCPs where COVID-19 has affected training progression.

See the C-code reference table.

Less than full time

Whether a doctor is working less than full time during any part of the period covered by the ARCP (using Period Start and Period End dates)