Information for trainees
The STP Final Year Assessment – are you up to date?
With the new year now well under way, we’re continuing to work on the new STP Final Year Assessment. Writing groups have been working hard to develop the scenarios and we’re currently working on the support package to guide you through to sitting the assessment.
We have already published a significant amount of information about the assessment on the School website. If you have not already viewed it, now would be a good time to take a look.
Have you got the dates in your diary? Your assessment date and time will be on a working day within the published assessment sitting window, so you need to be available for all of the working days. A time and date for your assessment will be provided nearer to the event. View the assessment sitting dates.
Is your preferred email address up to date? We’ll use your preferred email address to get in touch with you about the Final Year Assessment so make sure yours is up to date.
Read the answers to FAQs about the assessment, including about how to prepare for the assessment.
Read about the format of the Final Year Assessment
Do you need support with reflections for observational training activities (OTAs)?
We recently held a webinar for trainees on ‘An introduction to reflective writing’.
Watch the recording of the webinar
HSST trainees have been sharing their experiences of reflective practice as part of the Sharing Good Practice series.
View the Sharing Good Practice catalogue
View the ‘Reflective Practice in Healthcare Science’ modules
Do you need support with your observational training activities (OTAs)?
We are offering the following webinar to support you with developing evidence for your rotation modules.
Developing evidence for observational training activities (OTAs)
Tuesday 11 February 2025 – 10:30am to 12pm
This session is for 1st year STP trainees. The main aims are to:
- introduce you to the principles of what makes ‘good’ evidence
- apply the principles to developing evidence for the OTAs
View further details and register for this webinar (expired link)
Delay in access to the Agilio Feedback multi-source feedback service
As you will know from looking at your ‘Professional Foundations’ core module, STP trainees are required to carry out 2 multi-source feedback (MSF) exercises during their training. (These are required by training activities 7 and 8 in the ‘Professional Foundations’ core module.) The first of these multi-source feedback assessments should be conducted around the midway point in the programme and the second towards the end of the programme.
At the School we use a website called Agilio Feedback to enable trainees to carry out their anonymised MSF exercises. Unfortunately, we are currently experiencing a delay in setting up the software for the current year 2 trainees, on account of contracting delays that are affecting contracts right across NHS England that the School has no control over.
We sincerely apologise for this delay. We were hoping to supply you with your Agilio account details in December. However, we are unable to do so yet. We will supply you with accounts and instructions on how to use the software, and how to link your MSF report to your OneFile portfolio, as soon as we are able.
View the ‘Professional Foundations of Healthcare and Clinical Science’ module
Are you interested in sharing your training practice?
We’re looking for trainees to share with their fellow STP trainees how they have approached any aspect of the ‘Professional Foundations of Healthcare and Clinical Science’ module.
Express an interest in sharing your training practice
Are you experiencing imposter feelings?
If you are experiencing self-doubt about your abilities, you may be experiencing imposter feelings. If this is you, we have a number of resources available which may help you manage these feelings.
On the NHS Learning Hub we have a short presentation by Sally Clee, Education Training Manager at the National School, introducing imposter feelings and how you can manage them.
View recording of the presentation ‘Managing imposter feelings’
HSST trainees have been sharing their experiences of managing imposter feelings as part of our Sharing Good Practice series.
View the Sharing Good Practice catalogue
Information for trainees and training officers
HSST Sharing Good Practice webinar series
We are pleased to announce the following Sharing Good Practice webinars, featuring talks delivered by current HSST trainees. Although aimed at other HSST trainees, some topics have a universal focus; for example, managing imposter feelings and reflective practice. If any interest you, you are welcome to attend.
Sharing Good Practice: Skills and behaviours of a Clinical Scientist
Wednesday 12 February 2025 – 2pm to 3pm
View further details and register for this webinar (expired link)
Sharing Good Practice: Skills and behaviours of a Consultant Clinical Scientist
Monday 31 March 2025 – 10:30am to 11:30am
View further details and register for this webinar
Sharing Good Practice: Skills and behaviours of a Consultant Clinical Scientist
Thursday 10 April 2025 – 10:30am to 11:30am
View further details and register for this webinar
The webinars will be recorded and made available on the School website.
Browse our catalogue of Sharing Good Practice resources
Information for training officers
Do you need support with assessing reflections for observational training activities (OTAs)?
We recently held a webinar for trainers and Training Officers on ‘Supporting and assessing reflections’.
Watch the recording of the webinar on our website
Do you need help with supporting your trainee with their observational training activities (OTAs)?
We are offering the following webinar to help you to support your trainee with developing evidence for their rotation modules.
Supporting trainees with observational training activities (OTAs)
Thursday 13 February 2025 – 10am to 11:30am
This session is for STP training officers and assessors. The aims of this webinar are to:
- introduce you to the principles of what makes ‘good’ evidence
- explore what makes ‘good’ evidence for OTAs
View further details and register for this webinar (expired link)
March 2025 NSHCS Education and Training Collaborative
We have held 5 successful Education and Training Collaborative meetings since November 2022. All the meetings have enabled the School to develop because of valuable input from our stakeholders.
One of the activities that has arisen out of the Collaborative is the Sharing Best Practice Webinar series. As of today we have had 21 webinars and have many more booked in.
The independent review of the School that is currently being conducted will conclude in the spring, around the same time when we would normally hold the March face-to-face Collaborative.
We will be working through the recommendations of the review around the time the next Collaborative is due to happen. Around the same time we will be asking for further and considerable input from stakeholders around the STP final assessment.
We have therefore decided to cancel the face-to-face Collaborative in March. Currently, we plan to run the November Collaborative online – where we anticipate we will be able to communicate the developments that arise from the recommendations from the independent review.
Are you interested in sharing your practice?
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.
We would be particularly interested in expressions of interest in how you have approached:
- embedding equality, diversity and inclusion into the training experience
- supporting your trainee with the ‘Professional Foundations of Healthcare and Clinical Science’ module
Express an interest in sharing your practice
Missed a previous edition of the STP Monthly Memo?
You will find previous copies of the STP Monthly Memo on our website.