Completion of Training (CCT)

If you are eligible to apply for entry to the Specialist Register with a CCT or a CESR(CP) the College will notify the General Medical Council (GMC) of your completion of training date during your final year of training. The GMC will then invite you to make an application roughly about four months before your completion of training date.

The award of a CCT and inclusion on the Specialist Register are not automatic procedures; you (the trainee) are required to apply for your CCT or CESR(CP) Certificate. It is a legal requirement for you to be on the Specialist Register before taking up a substantive or honorary NHS consultant post.

Visit the RCOA website for more information.

Step 1
Towards the end of the CCT training programme trainees will undergo an Exit ARCP assessment and, if successful, will be issued with an ARCP Recommendation for completion of training (Outcome 6) by the Postgraduate Dean. The ARCP panel should be convened about three months before a trainee’s provisional date for completion of training

Step 2
When a trainee is within six months of their completion date, trainees should complete the College notification of completion of training form (on the College website) and send it to the Training Department at the College. The TPD will sign the form if there is a reasonable expectation that you will complete your training. If for some reason you are unable to complete the training the TPD will email the College to withdraw their recommendation.

Step 3
Once the Notification form and the ARCP Outcome 6 have been received, the College will formally make a recommendation to the GMC for the award of a CCT or CESR(CP). The trainee will also receive a letter from the Training Department, advising them of the recommendation for the CCT/CESR(CP).

Step 4
At this point the trainee will already have received an email from the GMC inviting them to complete the GMC online application. The Certification applications are now done on the secure web portal, GMC Online, which has made it easier to enter your information and pay the relevant fees.

Step 5
Once the College has made the recommendation to the GMC, there is no further involvement by the College in the process and it becomes a trainee/GMC relationship. GMC add the trainee’s name on to the Specialist Register; the trainee must have indicated this on their certification application. Failure to do this by the trainee will delay specialist registration and being able to take up a consultant post.