Information for year one trainees
New progression requirements guidance
Earlier this year we communicated to you the new progression requirements for the programme which are aligned to the new curriculum. These will apply to all trainees entering the programme from 2023 onwards.
Please ensure you review the information so you understand the requirements and can plan accordingly.
We will be in touch again soon for your 6 monthly check-in, so please look out for emails from the School during March 2024.
Click here to view our guidance, resources and FAQs on the new progression requirements
Information for year one and two trainees
The School’s plans for QA of the work-based assessment standards
The School’s work-based assessment standards were launched in September 2023. They define how work-based assessments should be conducted and the responsibilities of trainees, trainers and assessors.
We are now following up the development of the standards with work to understand and check how they are being applied. As our first step towards developing a process for quality assurance of the standards, in May 2024 we intend to sample approximately 10% of departments delivering the STP and conduct structured discovery sessions with trainees and separate sessions with training officers to understand what their experience is of the application of standards, the extent to which they are valuable and the extent to which they are being followed.
The work-based assessment standards are a new development and so we want to take this ‘discovery approach’ to understanding how the standards are being used. This work will help us to develop a future QA strategy based on evidence. We will publish what learn from these discovery sessions and update any guidance about the use of the standards that we find is necessary.
Click here to view the NSHCS work-based assessment standards
Information for year two trainees
Training activity and competency submissions in OneFile
As part of the work to update OneFile in line with the new curriculum and the transition from ‘competencies’ to ‘training activities’, in January we introduced ‘Training activity’ as a submission method/type in OneFile.
All new training activity submissions should now be made using the ‘Training activity’ submission method. In order to enable the sign off of existing submissions that have used the ‘Competency’ submission method we will leave the ‘Competency’ submission method open until 5pm on Wednesday 4 September 2024.
However, please ensure that any new submission is now created using the ‘Training Activity’ submission method. The ‘Competency’ submission method, while still available, should no longer be used to create new submissions.
Please get in touch with us on the Servicedesk at nshcs.digital@hee.nhs.uk if you have any further queries about this issue.
Training activities and the work-based assessment standards for 2022 starters
The training activity types for all specialty modules are now available for all specialties in the Curriculum Library. These are there for information if you are a 2022 STP starter. The training activity information and guidance contained in the NSHCS work-based assessment standards (including guidance on appropriate evidence for different training activity types) are available for 2022 trainees and trainers to follow and may be helpful. However, 2022 STP starters and their assessors are not mandated to follow the training activity standard.
Click here to read about the various types of training activities
Information for all trainees
New learning module to support trainees to develop evidence for training activities
One of the most frequent requests that we receive at the School is for more guidance about how trainees can and should develop their evidence to demonstrate achievement of training activities / competencies. In response to this important need, we have recently published a new module in our catalogue of learning materials for trainers on the NHS Learning Hub, entitled ‘Developing evidence to demonstrate achievement of training activities’.
This module focuses on what makes good evidence for training activities in work-based training. The module addresses how different types of evidence can be generated in the course of work-based training and it offers guidance about the different types of evidence that can be generated for the different types of training activity (whether for an entrustable training activity, an observational training activity or a developmental training activity).
Although the module is written for trainers, trainees will find much that is of value in the module. We intend to develop a version of this guidance for trainees in the near future.
This new body of guidance is fully aligned with the new STP curricula and the NSHCS work-based assessment standards. It will provide trainers and trainees with concrete help to meet those standards.
To access the NHS Learning Hub you will need to have an account with the service. The details on how to do this can be found within the training standards pages on the School website.
Information for all trainees and training officers
New STP final assessment update
At the end of January, the first meetings took place of the steering group of experienced trainers and assessors from across the specialties that are helping the School to finalise the design of the new STP final assessment that will take place from summer 2025.
The School shared a proposal with the group for a final assessment whose purpose is to assess readiness to practise as a registered Clinical Scientist and which will be comprised of a professional discussion with trainees about a number of clinical scenarios.
The School received a rich and valuable set of feedback from steering group members which it is currently working through in order to present a more detailed proposal about how the assessment will work to a further round of steering group meetings in March. The School intends to publish full and clear details about what the new final assessment will entail by September.
Turnitin and AI writing detection
Trainees and training officers who have recently looked at the similarity reports generated by the Turnitin Checker in OneFile will have noticed that in addition to a similarity score and report, the Turnitin Checker now also generates a score and a report which suggests how much of the text in uploaded documents has been generated by AI.
Trainees should ALWAYS ensure that they review the similarity and AI writing detection reports generated by Turnitin and they will need to be prepared to defend their work with their assessors if it achieves a high score in either report.
If it is clear and obvious from the similarity or AI reports that the work is not the trainee’s and the high scores cannot easily be explained, then assessors should return it to the trainee in OneFile and not sign it off.
The National School WILL reserve the right to refer a trainee to a training management panel if the Turnitin Checker provides repeated evidence of unprofessional practice or clear plagiarism.
Click here to read the guidance for trainees about using the Turnitin Checker in OneFile
Information for training officers
Capturing feedback on the STP curriculum
With the new year, we opened a route to capture feedback on the revised STP curriculum. You can provide feedback through the Curriculum Library. In each page of the revised STP curriculum, you’ll see a feedback option in the Curriculum Library toolbox.
Feedback can be provided by any and all stakeholders of the programme at any time. Although the process is anonymous, we do ask for some information on your involvement with the STP to help us evaluate the process. The feedback process has been designed to collect information on one element of the curriculum at a time to help us process the data and can be accessed as many times as needed to provide feedback on different elements of the curriculum at different times.
Feedback provided will be used in a rolling review process for curricula. The introduction of a rolling review process to maintain the STP curriculum supports our aim to provide scientifically robust, future-proofed curriculum to ensure that our trainees work at the limits of science. Collecting feedback is the first step to inform this process and we’ll provide more information about how rolling review will be carried out soon.
Click here to provide feedback through the Curriculum Library
The School’s plans for QA of the work-based assessment standards
The School’s work-based assessment standards were launched in September 2023. They define how work-based assessments should be conducted and the responsibilities of trainees, trainers and assessors.
We are now following up the development of the standards with work to understand and check how they are being applied. As our first step towards developing a process for quality assurance of the standards, in May 2024 we intend to sample approximately 10% of departments delivering the STP and conduct structured discovery sessions with trainees and separate sessions with training officers to understand what their experience is of the application of standards, the extent to which they are valuable and the extent to which they are being followed.
The work-based assessment standards are a new development and so we want to take this ‘discovery approach’ to understanding how the standards are being used. This work will help us to develop a future QA strategy based on evidence. We will publish what learn from these discovery sessions and update any guidance about the use of the standards that we find is necessary.
Click here to view the NSHCS work-based assessment standards
New learning module to support trainees to develop evidence for training activities
One of the most frequent requests that we receive at the School is for more guidance about how trainees can and should develop their evidence to demonstrate achievement of training activities / competencies. In response to this important need, we have recently published a new module in our catalogue of learning materials on the NHS Learning Hub, entitled ‘Developing evidence to demonstrate achievement of training activities’.
This module focuses on what makes good evidence for training activities in work-based training. The module addresses how different types of evidence can be generated in the course of work-based training and it offers guidance about the different types of evidence that can be generated for the different types of training activity (whether for an entrustable training activity, an observational training activity or a developmental training activity).
This new body of guidance is fully aligned with the new STP curricula and the NSHCS work-based assessment standards. It will provide trainers and trainees with concrete help to meet those standards. The module is also fully aligned with the recently-published NSHCS training standards and expectations. It is part of a set of learning modules associated with training standard 1: Plan, design and assess learning and training opportunities.
To access the NHS Learning Hub you will need to have an account with the service. The details on how to do this can be found within the training standards pages on the School website.
Express an interest in sharing your good training practice
In many areas of our work, we receive requests to support trainers in the workplace by connecting them with each other and, in particular, by helping them learn from centres and colleagues that have developed good training practice.
This year the School is hoping to launch a new initiative in which we run regular webinars featuring trainers or trainer networks sharing their practice.
We are keen to share and promote good practice in many different areas. We are particularly keen to share practice that is concerned with training planning, work-based training methods, working with the new STP curricula, supporting reflective practice, generating evidence for training activities, supporting trainees and preparing trainees for their final assessment. We will not limit the scope of the webinars to these topics and are hoping to promote good practice very broadly.
If you or your network have developed practice that you feel could be valuable to share with your peers, please express an interest in sharing your practice via the form linked to below.
Click here to express an interest in contributing to our sharing good practice webinar series
Induction webinar for new training officers
If you are new to the role of STP training officer, you will be expected to attend a single webinar induction which will introduce you to the programme and your responsibilities.
Our next available webinar is on Wednesday 10 April 2024 10.30am to 12.30pm.
The event will provide:
- an overview of the STP programme
- an introduction to the role of the STP trainer and what you need to know
- an outline of the responsibilities of those involved with the training of an STP trainee, including the role of the National School
Click here to register for the webinar on Wednesday 10 April
STP trainers drop-in sessions
We are currently running a series of monthly drop-in sessions for trainers where you will have the opportunity to ask Training Programme Directors and School staff about any aspect of the programme.
Click here to find out more about the STP trainer drop-in sessions
Provide feedback on a new pathway for the Neurophysiology STP
After much hard work from the stakeholder review group, we are pleased to share with you the draft curriculum for a new pathway to the STP in Neurophysiology in Interoperative Neuromonitoring (IONM). You can provide feedback until 5pm on Sunday 25 February.
Click here to read more about the curriculum and provide feedback (expired link)
Managing your trainees
We have created a section on our website providing answers about issues ranging from study leave to funding.
This month’s featured FAQ is:
Q – Who do trainees inform of a change of personal details?
A – Personal records must be kept up-to-date with the employing Trust, on the e-portfolio and with the School.
Click here to find FAQs on management of trainees for STP trainers
Missed a previous edition of the STP Monthly Memo?
We’ve published copies of the Monthly Memo for STP trainees and training officers on our website.
Click here to view previous editions of the STP Monthly Memo.