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Making changes to your curricula A guide and application form for those developing postgraduate curricula
Quality assurance of curricula
We have a statutory function to set and review the standards for medical education and
training. This includes the standards for specialty curricula and assessments.
This document describes our process for the prospective approval of new or amended
curricula and assessments and the plans for their implementation. The process makes sure
curricula and assessments have been developed in a robust way and meet our standards,
Excellence by design: standards for postgraduate curricula.
Once curricula are implemented, we also have a responsibility to monitor their delivery,
including the environments in which doctors are trained. Our Quality Assurance
Framework describes our different quality assurance functions and how they interact.
Making changes to curricula and programmes of assessment
Changes to curricula and programmes of assessment must be prospectively approved by
the GMC.
This form is for use by curriculum development organisations when making submissions
for us to approve:
a new curriculum or assessment (including high stakes college exams)
changes to an existing approved curriculum or assessment
changes to criteria for entry to training
It includes supporting guidance that clearly explains what should be given as evidence
that a curriculum or assessment meets our standards.
You don’t need our prospective approval for the following changes:
Guidance outside of the curriculum, such as advice on how simulation training can
be used or user guides for workplace-based assessments, as long as the guidance
does not alter the way the curriculum is interpreted.
Changes to exam regulations, including currency of exams and permitted numbers
of attempts, provided this meets our stated position.
Pilots for new assessments or curriculum changes, as long as they are carried out
alongside existing assessments, trainees have the option to take part and the
results do not contribute to outcomes or progression.
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Changes to person specifications, provided they match the approved training
pathway in the curriculum.
You do need prospective approval to make an administrative change to a curriculum,
however this does not require any consultation or evidence provided it meets the specified
criteria. Please use the administrative change form for these applications.
How we will assess your application
We will assess your application against our standards, Excellence by design: standards for
postgraduate curricula.
There are two stages for approving a new curriculum or assessment or proposals to
change an existing curriculum or assessment, however, your application may not need to
be submitted through both stages.
Stage one: Strategic support
Your curriculum purpose statement will need to be evaluated by the GMC’s Curriculum
Oversight Group (COG) if your application is for any of the following:
a new curriculum
a change to the curriculum’s purpose statement
addition or removal of one or more high level outcomes of the curriculum
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This group has the same make up as the Medical Education UK Reference Group and has
representation from organisations responsible for UK medical workforce planning and
education, such as NHS Employers, NHS Scotland, Wales Deanery, the Northern Ireland
Medical and Dental Training Agency and the Departments of Health. It meets numerous
times throughout the year.
The group will tell us if the curriculum high level outcomes have the full support of the
four countries of the UK and align with strategic workforce needs. Curriculum development
should not proceed until we have confirmed that the COG endorse the proposal.
Changes that do not fall into the categories above may not need COG endorsement and
can proceed directly to stage two, curriculum approval. Please contact us if you are not
sure if your curriculum needs COG endorsement.
Please note that this form is for stage two, curriculum approval only.
Stage two: Curriculum approval
When you have developed your curriculum and consulted on the changes with your
stakeholders (such as trainees and trainers), you need to apply to us for full approval
using this form.
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We will send your application to the Curriculum Advisory Group (CAG), which is a GMC-run
advisory group made up of medical educationalists, including consultant, lay, and trainee
representatives, and psychometricians. They meet throughout the year according to our
published schedule and make recommendations to us about whether curricula meet our
standards.
After you submit your application, the CAG will complete an initial review and provide
feedback within five weeks. You will have three weeks to provide any further evidence or
clarification before the application is discussed at the CAG meeting and a formal
recommendation is made to the GMC’s Assistant Registrar. The Assistant Registrar will
make the final decision and will issue a decision letter within three weeks of the meeting.
Feasibility subcommittee of the Curriculum Oversight Group
If your proposal has any impact on resources (such as funding) we will also send it to a
subcommittee of the COG made up of postgraduate deans representing each country of
the UK, as well as the lead dean for the specialty. They will confirm whether or not the
curriculum is feasible and deliverable. This will happen simultaneously with the evaluation
by the Curriculum Advisory Group, described above and their recommendation will be
considered by the GMC’s Assistant Registrar.
Completing this form
This form asks questions around the broad areas of the requirements of Excellence by
design: standards for postgraduate curricula. It is important that you answer all relevant
questions, however you may not need to complete every section if it does not apply to
your proposal. To help you, we have colour coded each section: Mandatory sections that
must be completed for all changes are blue; assessment changes are dark purple; and
curriculum changes are lilac.
We’ve provided guidance for each question explaining the evidence or narrative that we
expect to see. This is available by clicking on ‘Click for help’ next to each question. To
close the guidance, click on ‘Click for help’ again. To open hyperlinks within the guidance,
hold down the Ctrl key and click on the link.
For reference, we have also identified which requirements of the standards each question
relates to. Holding your mouse cursor over each requirement will display the full wording
of that requirement. Many of the questions cover more than one requirement.
You can attach supporting documents to the service request in GMC Connect if you like,
but please ensure their purpose is clear and reference to them in the form below.
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Submitting your application
Once you have completed this form and gathered the supporting evidence, you should
submit it using a request in GMC Connect, our secure portal. Please contact us at
[email protected] if you need to set up a GMC Connect account. You will need access to
the Royal College/Faculty - Education user group to be able to submit applications for
curricula or assessment changes.
It is important that you complete this form in full and include all relevant supporting
documentation. If anything is missing we won’t be able to start evaluating your
application, which may mean that it will need to be submitted to a later CAG meeting.
Below is the request view in GMC Connect:
There are two different request types to choose from in GMC Connect when making a
change to a curriculum or assessment:
New curriculum: You should use this request type when you are submitting a new
curriculum for approval, for example when a new specialty is introduced.
CAG submission: You should use this request type should be used when you are
submitting a request for a change to an existing GMC approved curriculum or assessment.
Please note that applications for new dual CCT pairings, training pathway pilots (run
through training) and admin changes follow different processes and require different
application forms. Please make sure that you select the correct request type and submit
the relevant form and supporting documents.
If you have already opened a request to submit your application to the Curriculum Oversight Group for strategic support (stage one), please attach this form and any
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supporting documents to the same request by clicking ‘View Documents’ and then ‘Add Document’. If you did not need strategic support from the COG, please open a new request by clicking ‘Add Request’ and use it to share all documents relating to the proposal with us. We will use the same request to share documents with you, such as feedback from the CAG and the decision letter. Please write a very brief description of the application under ‘Details’ and include the name of specialty, such as ‘General surgery curriculum approval application’.
For further help
We are happy to support you at any point in your curriculum development process and
may be able to provide useful data, for example around trainee progression or
demographics.
You can get in touch with us by emailing [email protected] or by calling us on 0161 240
8324.
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Section 1: Contact details
Details about the curriculum development organisation
Name of organisation
Specialty or sub-specialty
(list all the specialties
affected if the change
affects multiple curricula)
Main contact details
Name
Job title
Address
Telephone number
Email address
Section 2: Description of proposed changes
Which component(s) will the change(s) apply to? (Please tick all that apply)
A core or shared curriculum (eg core medical training (CMT), training
interface group fellowship (TIGs))
The specialty / sub-specialty curriculum
A College/Faculty high stakes exam (eg MRCP, a KBA)
Workplace-based or other assessment
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Please provide a brief description of each proposed change
Number of trainees affected by proposed changes
I have included either:
a) a copy of the curriculum with tracked changes showing where
amendments have been made, or
b) where too many amendments have been made for a tracked changes
document to be clear, a document that shows the changes between the
old curriculum and the new.
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If the specialty is approved to be paired with another specialty as a dual CCT, please tick to confirm that you have attached a mapping document showing any impact on the shared outcomes and indicative duration of the dual programme.
Describe the impact of delivering the
proposed curriculum or assessment on
current resources.
Required for all changes
Referring to requirement 2.3
Click for help
My curriculum is mapped to Good medical practice and the Generic professional
capabilities framework. (Requirement 3.3)
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Section 3: How your curriculum meets the GMC’s standards
1. Explain how the curriculum,
assessment or change was developed,
including your consultation with key
groups.
Required for all changes
Referring to requirements 2.1 and 2.5
Click for help
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2. Describe the educational
approaches, learning opportunities
and breadth of experience necessary
to meet the outcomes of the
curriculum.
Required for curriculum changes
Referring to requirements 3.2 and 3.4
Click for help
3. Describe the responsibilities,
capabilities and expected levels of
performance of trainers.
Required for curriculum changes
Referring to requirement 3.5
Click for help
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4. Explain how learners will receive
meaningful and timely feedback.
Required for curriculum changes
Referring to requirement 3.6
Click for help
5. Describe the rationale for the choice
of assessment and its role within the
wider programme of assessment.
Required for assessment changes
Referring to requirements 4.1a, 4.1b,
4.1h and 4.3
Click for help
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6. Describe how the assessment has
been piloted or validated.
Required for assessment changes
Referring to requirement 4.1c
Click for help
7. All assessments are
blueprinted to the learning
outcomes within the
curriculum.
Required for all changes
Tick to
confirm
Referring to requirements 4.1d and
4.1e
Click for help
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8. Describe the standard setting
methodology for the assessment.
Required for summative assessment
changes
Referring to requirements 4.1f
Click for help
9. Describe how examiners will be
trained and calibrated to ensure that
they assess to agreed standards. This
should include comment on equality
and diversity training.
Required for assessment changes
Referring to requirements 4.1g, 4.10,
4.11, 4.12 and 4.13
Click for help
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10. How will poor performance be
managed safely and fairly?
Required for assessment changes
Referring to requirement 4.2
Click for help
11. Describe how you will monitor the
assessment and identify any issues or
future improvements.
Required for assessment changes
Referring to requirement 4.5
Click for help
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12. How will you publish information
about the assessment, for example
pass rates (in addition to sharing
exam data annually with the GMC)?
Required for summative assessment
changes
Referring to requirements 4.6 and 4.7
Click for help
13. How will feedback from the
assessment be provided to trainees?
Required for assessment changes
Referring to requirement 4.8
Click for help
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14. Please describe the role and
responsibilities of
assessors/examiners.
Required for assessment changes
Referring to requirement 4.9
Click for help
15. Implementation plan
Required for all changes
Referring to requirements 2.4 and 5.1
Click for help
Transition arrangements
Stage of
training
Required
to
transfer
(Y/N)
Deadline for
transfer
Impact of transfer
(eg will trainees
need to take new
assessment or
learn new
procedure?)
Support available
for trainees and
trainers
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Less than
full time
Out of
training
Timeline for implementation
Task/milestone Responsible Target date
Communication plan
Target group Method Date
Trainers
Trainees
Relevant external bodies
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16. Describe how you will monitor the
curriculum and identify any issues or
future improvements.
Required for curriculum changes
Referring to requirement 5.2
Click for help
17. Equality and diversity analysis
Required for all changes
Referring to requirements 2.6, 4.4 and
5.3
Click for help
Assessing the impact
Assessing the impact
Will the change affect stakeholders or interest groups that share protected
characteristics?
Will some groups be affected more than others?
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Evidence
What evidence do you have to support this (data, research or other information)?
In developing the change, have you consulted or involved anyone who shares
protected characteristics?
Identifying potential discrimination
Will the change lead to differential access, experience or outcomes for people who
share protected characteristics?
Consider:
Does the change have a legitimate aim?
Is the change a proportionate way of achieving that legitimate aim?
Can differential access, experiences and outcomes be objectively justified?
Are there any other equality, diversity or fairness issues that arise from the
proposed change?
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Action planning and monitoring
What steps will you take to minimise differential access, experiences and
outcomes?
What steps will you take to remove any unlawful discrimination?
How will you monitor and review the impact of the change on people who share
protected characteristics post implementation?
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This information can be made available in alternative formatsor languages. To request an alternative format, please call us on 0161 923 6602 or email us at [email protected].
Published May 2017
© 2017 General Medical Council
The text of this document may be reproduced free of charge in any format
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The material must be acknowledged as GMC copyright and the document
title specified.
The GMC is a charity registered in England and Wales (1089278)
and Scotland (SC037750)
Code: GMC/MCCAS/0517
