Report on F1 to F2 matching 2014
Introduction
Trainees undertaking the two year Foundation programme in the Peninsula are appointed to a specific F1 post and to an unspecified F2 post within a particular trust. Trainees are given the opportunity to swap their F2 trust location in a process managed centrally by the Foundation School. Following this, each trust is responsible for matching the trainees within their own F2 pool using the guidelines in the ‘Matching from F1 to F2’ policy agreed by the Foundation School Committee and attached as Appendix A.
Trust pool swaps
The Foundation School wrote to each trainee in December 2013 to confirm the F2 trust pool to which they had been matched previously and to invite applications to swap this allocation. The process aims to swap those with special circumstances first followed by matching on a random basis.
39 (20%) trainees requested a swap; of these 35 (90%) were approved and 32 (91%) of those approved received their first preference. This suggests that 80% of trainees were previously due to complete F2 in their preferred Trust and that following the swaps process 96% were in their most preferred location for their F2 post.
Of the 39 applications received, 22 (56%) wanted to stay in their F1 trust as a first choice, rather than move. 5 wanted to stay in Plymouth, 8 in Cornwall, 2 in Torbay, 3 in Exeter, and 4 in Barnstaple. Of the 22 who wanted to stay in their F1 trust as a first choice 19 (86%) of these requests were granted.
Prior to the swaps process 3 vacancies existed Barnstaple.
The table below is a comparison of this year’s and previous years’ swaps process and outcomes.
|
|
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
Swap applications received |
27 (14%) |
33 (17%) |
26 (14%) |
40 (21%) |
44 (23%) |
39 (20%) |
|
Number of vacancies |
Not available |
19 |
14 |
9 |
3 |
3 |
|
Swaps approved |
23 (85%) |
27 (82%) |
21 (81%) |
28 (70%) |
26 (59%) |
35 (90%) |
|
% trainees with first choice swap |
18 (78%) |
25 (93%) |
19 (90%) |
25 (89%) |
17 (65%) |
32 (91%) |
The percentage of approved swaps rose this year, as did the number of trainees receiving a first choice swap. Last year the reason for a drop in approved swaps was attributed to a lower number of vacancies at the start of the process. The vacancy rate was identical this year but the number of applications dropped in 2014 and this may help explain the return to a higher approval rate.
2 F1s in the two year programme who were expected to complete F2 abroad were not included in the matching process.
Trust matching process
Trusts were asked to match trainees to F2 posts in accordance with the agreed policy.
The Foundation School prepared an individual spreadsheet for each trainee detailing the specific programmes for which F1s could submit a preference. As in previous years, the School circulated trainee guidance and correspondence for trusts to use in order to ensure consistency across the Peninsula when writing out to trainees and managing the general process.
As agreed at Foundation School Committee, a slight change to the matching rules for North Devon was introduced for 2014 (see Appendix A). For all Trust posts except North Devon, the rules remained the same and Trusts were asked to match to first choice posts in the first instance. In the event of first choice conflicts, priority was given to trainees on the basis of their F1 application score. The subsequent process maximised the total number of trainees getting one of their top 10 choices. In the North Devon pool, the Trust tried to match all trainees to a top 3 choice post. In the event, this was not possible and the process described for all other trust pools was applied.
The process resulted in 109 (57%) trainees being allocated to their first choice post; a similar percentage to previous years. 166 (86%) trainees were matched to one of their top 10 preferences; again, similar to previous years. The tables below shows the outcome of the matching process for trainees by trust from 2009-2014.
|
Trust |
Trainees matched to their 1st choice post |
|||||
|
|
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
NDHT |
6 (67%) |
6 (60%) |
6 (60%) |
6 (46%) |
5 (31%) |
7 (54%) |
|
RDE |
18 (56%) |
17 (52%) |
15 (45%) |
16 (48%) |
23 (64%) |
26 (70%) |
|
SDHT |
20 (62%) |
22 (71%) |
23 (64%) |
21 (58%) |
20 (54%) |
18 (50%) |
|
PHT |
30 (59%) |
26 (57%) |
31 (61%) |
30 (60%) |
28 (53%) |
31 (57%) |
|
RCHT |
27 (55%) |
27 (63%) |
22 (44%) |
22 (43%) |
25 (49%) |
27 (53%) |
|
Total |
101 (58%) |
98 (60%) |
97 (54%) |
95 (52%) |
101 (52%) |
109 (57%) |
|
Trust |
Trainees matched to a top 10 choice post |
|||||
|
|
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
NDHT |
9 (100%) |
10 (100%) |
10 (100%) |
13 (100%) |
16 (100%) |
13 (100%) |
|
RDE |
28 (88%) |
27 (82%) |
26 (79%) |
31 (94%) |
31 (86%) |
34 (92%) |
|
SDHT |
28 (88%) |
30 (97%) |
31 (89%) |
32 (89%) |
35 (95%) |
33 (92%) |
|
PHT |
43 (84%) |
43 (93%) |
49 (96%) |
40 (80%) |
48 (91%) |
48 (89%) |
|
RCHT |
47 (96%) |
36 (85%) |
39 (78%) |
39 (76%) |
44 (86%) |
38 (74%) |
|
Total |
155 (87%) |
146 (88%) |
155 (87%) |
155 (85%) |
174 (90%) |
166 (86%) |
As well as the variation in the School’s number of vacant F2 posts each year, the trusts also have different numbers of trainees, posts and vacancies and different programmes so it is difficult to interpret the relative success of the outcomes. In 2014, Exeter had the best first choice outcome for trainees (70%) and North Devon the best rate of match to a top ten post (100%), a consistent figure since 2009.
Four different trusts have had the highest rate of first choice outcome for trainees in the last six years. However, on average, trainees in Torbay and Exeter have the highest rate of match to a first choice. North Devon trainees have the highest rate of match to a top ten choice post on average over the last five years and Cornwall the lowest.
Appeals
One formal appeal was received by the School. The appeal was not upheld, however the opportunity for an improved outcome was noticed as part of the review associated with the appeal. Compared with the initial match, this represented 5 more people getting a top 10 choice with 9 people getting a better outcome and, unfortunately, 4 getting a worse outcome.
Summary
20% (39) of Peninsula F1s requested a swap of Trust location for their F2 post. After the swaps process, 10% (4) of those who applied still wanted a swap. 96% of trainees were in their most preferred location at the end of the process.
Within trusts, 57% (109) of trainees got their first choice post. The best first choice outcome was in Exeter (70% matched to first choice). The highest proportions of trainees getting a top 10 choice by Trust were in Barnstaple (100%), Torbay (92%) and Exeter (92%). Overall, the proportion of trainees getting a top 10 choice was 86%. The proportion of 1st choice and top 10 choice matches for trainees were in line with or slightly better than in 2013.
Recommendations
Overall, the process appears to have worked well and the outcomes for trainees have been similar to previous years. The Foundation School Committee should consider whether the appeal and match re-run have any implications for changes to the matching policy for 2015.
Jane Bunce
Foundation School Manager
April 2014