Study Leave, Regional Teaching and Maxcourse Guidance and Information

Study Leave

  • F2s have a total of 30 study leave days over 12 months. Please refer to the Peninsula & Severn Foundation School Regional Study Leave Guidance and the Regional SW Study Leave Guidance
  • 1 full study leave day on the regional teaching programme equates to 6 hours of teaching and a half day equates to 3 hours of teaching unless otherwise stated.
  • Ensure you are familiar with the study leave guidance and follow this when booking study leave for regional teaching and other courses
  • All approved study leave must be recorded on the study leave record document attached, so that a cumulative record of the number of days taken can be kept. You will be required to include this in your ARCP evidence documentation
  • Below is a summary of how some of the study leave is pre-allocated:

Summary table for use of F2 study leave time

Use of total study leave time 

5 days for core teaching: recommend a minimum 24 hours from regional teaching programme plus additional 6 hours foundation teaching (30 hours total) 

1 day simulation training (may be delivered in 2 half days) – 6 hours total

5 days Tasters (which can be taken in F1 for Tasters) 

GP learning sets:

F2s in Cornwall, will attend 6 x 3 hour sessions in each 4 month block at Stennack Surgery TOTAL 18 hours

F2s in Exeter, Torbay & North Devon will attend 6 x 3 hour sessions in each 4 month block at the RILD building Exeter TOTAL 18 hours

F2s in Plymouth will attend 3 x 6 hour days in each 4 month block at Derriford TOTAL 18 hours

F2s required to attend these sessions will be contacted directly this means F2s not doing GP will have more days’ available study leave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 


 

 

 

Record of teaching hours

  • ALL teaching attended must be recorded in the personal learning log found in your HORUS ePortfolio
  • You should record all types of teaching that you wish to count to the total: regional teaching, local foundation teaching, departmental teaching, and eLearning modules
  • For all teaching that cannot be verified easily by the postgraduate team, you are required to evidence your attendance by completing an additional achievement form in your portfolio; Course / seminar / other learning attended.

GP Learning Sets

  • Study leave must be booked to attend the GP Learning Sets
  • No Regional Teaching should be booked on GP Learning set days by F2s in GP unless it meets the criteria stated below. 
  • F2s should only miss GP Learning sets in exceptional circumstances.  Sick leave and annual leave are acceptable reasons for non-attendance.  ANY other reason should be discussed with their ES or FPD in advance and recorded on their ePortfolio as to the reason why (using a general form).  Examples of reasons that may be acceptable: 
  • specialty interview
  • specialty exam
  • another Regional Teaching Day ONLY if agreed by their ES or FPD and a clearly documented discussion takes place in advance as to why the regional teaching day was of greater benefit to the Foundation Doctor 
  • If a GP learning set is missed for a legitimate reason for an exam or interview, they can claim the allocated Study Leave back
  • For GP Learning Sets can only be counted as Core learning if the whole session covers a Core learning topic.

As at the time of writing the UK Foundation Core Topics are:

  • Mental health including mental illness
  • Health promotion and public health
  • Simulation
  • Leadership
  • Quality improvement methodology
  • Appraisal of evidence
  • Careers guidance
  • Integration of acute illness into chronic disease management and multiple comorbidities
  • Frailty
  • End of life care
  • High-risk prescribing
  • Teaching skills
  • Patient safety
  • Safeguarding
  • Use of new technologies and the digital agenda 

The requirement for successful outcome at ARCP will be as follows:

  • Minimum total accrued teaching of 60 hours (you can do more – see Appendix 1)
  • Minimum of 30 hours CORE teaching from the foundation-specific programme (local trust foundation teaching and regional programme only)
  • The school does not specify any e-learning that can count towards Core teaching.  Also, whilst there is no national cap on the amount of e-Learning we would expect to see a variety of opportunities utilized for non-Core teaching. All other types of teaching is NON-CORE: department teaching, grand round, eLearning etc

Maxcourse

To book onto Regional Teaching events you will need to create a Maxcourse account.  For guidance on how to correctly create a Maxcourse account please see our Maxcourse account set up guidance.

Expenses

Regional teaching days are free. You can claim travel expenses if required through your employing trust in accordance with the Regional guidance .

Travel Time

You cannot claim back any travel time. When a study leave day is booked this covers travel time and the event.

 

F2 Regional Teaching

  • You must be a F2 at the time of the teaching session to book onto a teaching session.  Please do not book onto any teaching if you are a F1 your booking will be cancelled.
  • To attend a regional teaching session, you must book study leave giving the required period of notice to the speciality and rota you will be working in at the time. The regional teaching sessions are free and you can claim travel expenses if required.
  • The regional teaching programme will be accessed online through Maxcourse: https://www.maxcourse.co.uk/penfoundation/
  • You will need to sign in and set up your account to access and book regional teaching session, see guidance
  • Regional teaching sessions will be delivered in different formats according to the agreement made with each facilitator. Some sessions will be delivered via Microsoft Teams alone or a combination of local face to face sessions that will also be streamed on Microsoft Teams.  See Maxcourse for what format the session will be delivered.
  • Foundation Doctors should not attend any virtual teaching whilst on the ward. As study leave will be used the F2 must find somewhere quiet to participate in the training.
  • The number of hours that can be counted towards teaching will be clearly indicated on Maxcourse.
  • Foundation Doctors must not record any teaching session on Microsoft Teams for Clinical Governance reasons. Any F2 being found to be recording the sessions will be asked to stop.
  • For virtual/remote teaching to be successful facilitators will need Foundation Doctors to be fully engaged throughout the session. You are encouraged to have your video and microphones on unless requested otherwise by the facilitator.
  • The Foundation School expects Foundation Doctors to behave in accordance with their professional capabilities as set out in the Foundation Curriculum and GMC Good Medical Practice. An attendance register will be taken at the start and end of every session. 
  • We ask all F2s not to book any more than 36 hours of teaching to ensure all the cohort have a fair opportunity to attend sessions.
  • You must not book all your sessions within one 4 month placement – you are asked to spread them across the year. Not all sessions will be available at the start of the year so please make sure you continue to check Maxcourse for additional sessions. You will not be emailed separately every time a new session is added.
  • If you have any questions about the F2 teaching, or how to book onto the regional teaching days then please ask for help early from your trust foundation programme co-ordinator / educational supervisor / foundation programme director. Teaching remains a requirement for successful progression at ARCP and not understanding the process will not be acceptable reason for not evidencing a minimum of 60 hours teaching. 

 

APPENDIX 1

The requirement to attend a MINIMUM of 60 hours teaching applies to F1s and F2s.  

e-Learning

The school does not specify any e-learning that can count towards Core teaching.  Also, whilst there is no national cap on the amount of e-Learning logged we would expect to see a variety of opportunities utilized for non-Core teaching.

F1s

CORE TEACHING (defined as teaching delivered specifically to foundation doctors and is available to ALL F1s in the trust) including simulation training.

Core teaching for F1s Min 30 hours required this will be the weekly F1 teaching provided by each trust.

NON CORE Teaching

Non-Core teaching for F1s could include but is not limited to

  • Departmental teaching
  • Grand rounds
  • E-Learning 

The total or Core and Non-core teaching should total 60 hours or more by ARCP.

 

F2s

CORE TEACHING (defined as teaching delivered specifically to foundation doctors and is available to ALL F2s in the trust) including simulation training.

Core teaching for F2s Min 30 hours required 

We recommend booking 24 hours from the Regional Teaching sessions

NON CORE Teaching

Non-Core teaching for F2s could include but is not limited to

  • Departmental teaching
  • Grand rounds
  • E-Learning
  • GP Learning Sets (unless entire session is one of the core curriculum topics – see above guidance)


The total or Core and Non-core teaching should total 60 hours or more by ARCP.

The following cannot contribute to the 60 hours for F1s or F2s:

• Statutory and mandatory training (except where specifically mandated by the curriculum for example safeguarding)
• Induction sessions
• ILS/ALS/equivalent
• Completion of SLEs
• Standard ward rounds
• Other regular on-the-job activities (including tasters)
• External study leave (for example conferences or similar)
• University/higher education course

 

Further information on teaching can be found here

This page was last updated November 4th 2025 (5 days ago)