Last month, the UKFPO decided to allow SJT resits to students who had their exams terminated prematurely by Pearson Vue. While we are glad that the UKFPO listened to our letter and responded to the concerns expressed many medical students and doctors on social media, these students had by this point been left for over a month with the state of their future careers in medicine placed in limbo – yet there was no apology, and resits were offered only as a ‘gesture of goodwill’.
DAUK remains concerned that without accountability and careful consideration of how this situation was allowed to unfold, students cannot be confident that similar situations will not happen again in the future. Unfortunately, it seems that this is not an isolated incident – just this year there have been repeated issues, including problems with Oriel during Academic Foundation Programme (AFP) applications, a lack of information about when the SJT booking system would open, and technical errors that initially prevented students from booking tests with reasonable adjustments.
On this basis, DAUK would like to push for student representation within UKFPO, to enable students to have some say in the major decisions that affect the first two years of their training as doctors. A more collaborative relationship, and a clear point of contact within UKFPO with a defined role, could pave the way for more support, clarity and transparency in the application process.
Please let us know if this is something you’d like to see!
