If you are looking to apply to CT1-level programmes in internal medicine training (IMT) and/or acute care common stem: internal medicine (ACCS-IM), this website contains detailed information to help you. This covers recruitment for all UK training programmes in these specialties.
The recruitment process section of the website is the home to the majority of information to help you navigate a recruitment round, including: dates & posts, eligibility criteria, planning your application, applying, interviews and offers.
In addition to the website, we produce an 'Applicants' Guide' which overviews how the process works and is a good introduction for those new to specialty recruitment; this is available to download from the document library.
It is advisable to visit the medical recruitment website in order to view the relevant person specification and guidance prior to applying.
You may also wish to view data from previous years, including competition ratios.
2026 recruitment
There is only one round of recruitment planned for programmes starting in August 2026. Applications open at 10am on Thursday 23 October and close at 4pm on Thursday 20 November 2025.
The dates & posts page of the website has the full timetable. Dates can be subject to change, a news item will be published for any substantial changes.
Whilst the vast majority of IMT programmes will start in August 2026, they can start as late as April 2027; the programme start date will be clear when select your programme preferences.
Major changes
There are some major changes to the process for 2026 recruitment:
- Eligibility: Most of the criteria are identical to previous years. However, one major change is that full GMC registration is now required at time of application. It is permissible to apply without a licence to practise, as long as your have registration and appear on the register.
- Shortlisting: The self-assessment process continues with an unchanged scoring matrix from 2025. In response to increasing competition in recent years, it has been decided to acknowledge commitment to specialty where applicants have only applied to the joint IMT/ACCS-IM vacancy in Round 1 of national recruitment. Candidates meeting this criterion will be awarded 5 points in addition to the maximum of 30 points available via the self-assessment score; making shortlisting scores out of 35.
- Separate Scotland vacancy: There will be two vacancies for IMT/ACCS-IM: one for England, Northern Ireland and Wales and a separate one for all programmes in Scotland. Applications will only be considered for one vacancy so applicants should ensure that they only apply to their preferred one. The planning your application section of the website has more details about how this will be managed. Most of the information on this website is applicable to both vacancies, guidance for anything specific to the Scotland vacancy will be available on the Scottish Medical Training website.
JRCPTB-hosted IMT webinar
The JRCPTB hosted an interactive webinar providing information and guidance on Internal Medicine Training alongside the recruitment and application process. This was held on Tuesday 12 September 2023 and the recording can be found on the JRCPTB website. Please note that, although this webinar was recorded for 2024 recruitment, it is largely applicable to 2026 recruitment.