Acceleration of CCT
Process for Acceleration of CCT date incorporating RCOA & NHSE/COPMED Guidance:
This guidance summarises the processes that will be used by the West Midlands School of Anaesthesia for acceleration of CCT to ensure a transparent and consistent process for all applicants.
- Resident discusses with ES their wish to accelerate training, ES reviews evidence in portfolio with them.
- If supported by ES, resident contacts TPD.
- TPD sends resident the NHSE accelerated progression request form link, which will notify the Regulation & Progression team in NHSE of the resident’s wish to accelerate. This should ideally be 8 weeks in advance of any ARCP.
- TPD notified by NHSE when the completed form received, so they can arrange review.
There are three points where the resident can usually request acceleration:
- On commencement of training where the resident wishes to count evidence gathered outside of the training programme. The TPD and notification process should commence as soon as the resident commences the training programme. The resident should generate an ESSR summarising all of the evidence they wish to have assessed, supported by the ES and College Tutor. The TPD and RA will conduct an ARCP type review within 3 months of commencing the training programme, and complete the RCOA gap analysis forms after making a decision.
- At the end of an interim Stage of training ie end of Stage 2, in exceptional circumstances. On requesting a review the ARCP will be scheduled to be held at the anticipated accelerated end of stage of training ie 3 months before the original end of Stage date. At this point the panel would be expecting the whole Stage to be completed and signed off, ahead of schedule.
- Prior to the penultimate ARCP. At this Stage the resident should be on track for completion of the end training programme, ahead of schedule. The ESSR generated for the ARCP should contain support for the acceleration request documented by both the ES and CT, and a plan of how the outstanding capabilities are going to be achieved in the time remaining.
When the review ARCP has taken place the decision will be documented on the ARCP outcome form. The panel decision will be sent to the RCOA training department for their approval & also the Postgraduate Dean (or their deputy), so that TIS can be updated.
General principles:
- If a resident is in a dual training programme, both TPDs must be in agreement.
- The ARCP panel decision is final, there is no appeals process, and the reasoning must be clearly documented on the ARCP outcome form.
- The usual maximum acceleration time is 3/12 WTE. This can happen only once in a training programme ie you cannot accelerate through both Stage 2 and Stage 3. The only exception to this is with counting evidence prior to training, where the RCOA says up to one year WTE can be counted.
- Acceleration through Stage 2 is less likely to be approved, as there are still two years of training to go, and circumstances may change. If the acceleration is not approved at this Stage, you can request the acceleration at the penultimate ARCP instead.
- Acceleration is not guaranteed. You should not change your CCT date just to be able to apply for a specific job. Acceleration might not always be able to be accommodated by the training programme ie the TPD might not have the training capacity to bring forward specific placements if the CCT date changes.
- At the ARCP review the panel will take into account not just clinical capabilities and accumulation of evidence towards clinical HALOs, but also non-clinical activities, GPC domains, and logbook numbers. The resident will be expected to be ahead of schedule in all areas.
- It is to be appreciated that although the training programme is not time based, there are many skills such as team leadership and communication that can only be achieved by clinical experience within a training programme. The importance of learning from role modelling over a period of time cannot be overemphasised, and should not be rushed.
- The RCOA states that acceleration should be for “exceptional” residents, although there is no definition of exceptional. As a minimum, the panel would expect no adverse ARCP outcomes, exam passes, and no unresolved conduct or capability concerns.
- Acceleration will reduce the amount of time available for examinations. If an acceleration through Stage 2 is approved, and you fail to achieve the Final FRCA by the end of ST5 you are unlikely to be granted extension time automatically. This will be at the discretion of the postgraduate dean.
- When advancing through Stage 3, if you do not achieve all of the required capabilities by the new CCT date, you will receive an outcome 3 at ARCP. You will not automatically revert to the previous CCT date.
- These principles apply equally to residents who are training FT or LTFT.
Further Guidance:
https://www.rcoa.ac.uk/training-careers/training-hub/advancement-cct-dates https://www.copmed.org.uk/publications/copmed-guidance-on-changes-to-programme completion-date
Last updated April 2025
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