NHS England South West participates in all rounds of recruitment for General Practice. 

We are pleased to submit vacancies in the following areas across the South West during Round 1 2025 recruitment, for commencement of training in August 2025.

Please be aware that these are indicative post numbers. Numbers will be finalised before offers are made (25 March 2025).

Programme

ST1 Posts

Bath

26

Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire

52

Gloucestershire

39

Somerset

42

Swindon

40

Severn*

22

Cornwall

42

Exeter & East Devon

27

North Devon

16

Plymouth

29

Torbay

19

Peninsula*

10

*Severn Programme

Severn School of Primary Care covers five geographical patches (Bath,  Bristol North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Swindon).

20% of non TERS rotations from each geographical patch will be advertised under the preferencing option of 'Severn'.

Candidates who accept an offer of 'Severn' will be randomly allocated to one of the five geographical patches. Candidates will then be informed of the patch they have been allocated to and be given the opportunity to rank from the rotations allocated to 'Severn' for that patch. These posts will then be allocated based on preferencing and recruitment score. You cannot request a patch within the Severn programme and you will not be allowed to swap patches once you have been allocated. 

 

*Peninsula Programme

The Peninsula School of Primary Care covers five geographical patches (Cornwall, Exeter and East Devon, North Devon, Plymouth and Torbay).

20% of non TERS rotations from each geographical patch will be advertised under the preferencing option of 'Peninsula'.

Candidates who accept an offer of 'Peninsula' will be randomly allocated to one of the five geographical patches. Candidates will then be informed of the patch they have been allocated to and be given the opportunity to rank from the rotations allocated to 'Peninsula' for that patch. These posts will then be allocated based on preferencing and recruitment score. You cannot request a patch within the Peninsula programme and you will not be allowed to swap patches once you have been allocated. 

 

Rotations

Once the upgrade deadline (08 April 2025) has passed you will be emailed a link to the available rotations in the location you have been offered and accepted along with a form to preference these rotations. Rotations will be allocated based on rank and preference. If there is only one post available in the location you have been offered you will not need to preference.

The form will also ask if you intend to apply for Less than full time (LTFT), Combined Training and a deferred entry. Once the preferencing deadline has passed the recruitment team will confirm the rotation you have been allocated and pass your details to the GP Team and Patch team who will then be in touch with further details and formal applications for LTFT and Combined Training. 

Please note if you apply for LTFT and it is approved, your rotation may need to change in order to accommodate a different pattern of working. 

If you submit a successful Combined Training application, you will be able to omit six months of rotations. The posts omitted will be one of those AFTER your first ARCP which is held at 6 months. It will usually be the last post in ST2, unless this is GP, in which case it will be earlier posts in ST2. Please bear this in mind when considering your rotation choices as rotations cannot be changed at a later date without statutory reasons.  

Placements cover a wide range of locations and there is a rudimentary public transport system. A valid driving license is therefore highly recommended in order to commute between placements and explore the local area.

During the general practice component of your training you will be working in the community. As well as seeing patients in the surgery you will also visit patients in their own homes, in community hospitals and in nursing homes. You are also likely to attend meetings and teaching sessions in places different from your own surgery. Similarly hospital rotations may involve work at different sites within the trust. It is essential that you are able to get to these places. If you do not have a driving licence, please ensure that you have appropriate alternative transport arrangements in place.

Rotation details are subject to change and cannot be guaranteed.

Health Equity Focussed Training (HEFT)

The Severn and Peninsula Schools of Primary Care are excited to be offering HEFT placements for the 2024/25 intake. These innovative posts have proved popular in other regions of the country and will provide trainees/DiTs with the opportunity to train with inspirational GPs serving our region's most socioeconomically deprived communities. By undertaking one of these posts you will gain the knowledge & skills to offer great primary care to struggling communities and vulnerable groups, and develop your own areas of interest.

For more information please click here

How to Apply and Recruitment Timeline

Applications should be made via Oriel.

Below is the confirmed timeline for recruitment to General Practice for February 2024 entry.

 

Application Window

25 October - 21 November 2024

Invitations to the MSRA

No later than 12 December 2024

MSRA Window

TBC

MSRA Results

TBC

First Offers

25 March 2025

Hold Deadline

03 April 2025

Upgrade Deadline

08 April 2025

Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme (TERS)

The rotations with TERS next to the rotation number are TERS funded posts. Successful applicants appointed to these posts will be entitled to a financial  incentive in the form of a £20,000 salary supplement once they have taken up their post. This scheme is open to GP trainees committed to working for three years.

Please note, it is not possible to defer entry if you are being offered a TERS post, unless the deferment is for statutory reasons e.g. maternity leave.

Further information about the TERS scheme further information can be found here: BMAGP NRONHS England

If you have any questions regarding TERS posts please send them to england.gprecruitment.sw@nhs.net

Combined Training

The combined training pathways provide the opportunity for you to combine previous relevant experience with your GP training programme. 

There are two combined training pathways: 

  • Accreditation of Transferable Capabilities (ATC) for applicants who are transferring to general practice training from another GMC approved specialty training programme 
  • Certificate of Completion of Training: Combined Programme (CCT CP) for applicants who have relevant experience from outside a GMC approved specialty training programme. This might include substantive clinical roles or overseas training and experience. 

For more information on Combined Training please see here.

Deferrals

Non-statutory deferral

Successful applicants appointed to England, Scotland or Wales recruitment can no longer apply to defer entry to GP training on non-statutory grounds; non-statutory deferment has never been permitted in Northern Ireland.

Statutory deferral

Candidates who defer their start date due to statutory reasons will be guaranteed a place on the training programme originally offered, but rotations may be subject to change.

If you are applying for a statutory deferral you will need to supply evidence as to why you are unable to start your training programme. 

Transferring Recruitment Scores

With the introduction of new functionality in Oriel, successful applicants to GP Training from August 2021 onwards who may not wish for whatever reason to take up the offer of a training place in the current recruitment round will be able to transfer their final recruitment score from one recruitment round to another recruitment round. This option will only be valid within a 12-month recruitment cycle and is conditional upon the recruitment and selection process being unchanged in subsequent recruitment rounds. For further information about transferring recruitment scores, please refer to the separate guidance which is available from the GPNRO Website

Frequently Asked Questions

For more information on our recruitment processes, please see our FAQs.