Applying to region

Regional preferences

If you are applying to the England and Wales vacancy, you will be required to indicate the region in which you wish to undertake IMY3. This will be the only region for which you can be in contention prior to clearing. The exact regions from which you will be able to choose will be confirmed prior to applications opening on the vacancies page. For example, whether ‘South West’ will be a single application choice or split into ‘Peninsula’ and ‘Severn’.

If you are applying to the Scotland vacancy, you will initially be in consideration for all posts in the nation and no choice beyond that is required at that stage.

Priority will be given to those who undertook their core training in that region and those that have ‘special circumstances’; see the Special circumstances section below for more information about this.

This means you will be less likely to be made an offer if you wish to change region. The likelihood of an offer will vary on region and it is difficult to make predictions without knowing application numbers. 

Subsequent to application, you will be required to preference from the options within the region, more information about this can be found in the programme preferences section of the website.


Special circumstances

If you wish to change region and your personal circumstances meet the criteria of the national recruitment special circumstances policy, you will be able to be considered for an offer on an equal basis to those who trained in that region.

Approval of your circumstances does not guarantee you an offer, just an improved chance if you wish to train in a different region to your core training; the after applying section of the website has more information about this process. If you wish to apply to the same IMY3 region in which you undertook core training, there is no need to apply for this process as it will not improve your chances of an offer.

The following categories will be considered for special circumstances:

  • Criterion 1 –  the applicant is the primary carer for someone who is disabled that lives in their preferred region, as defined by the Equality Act 2010
  • Criterion 2 –  the applicant has a medical condition or disability for which ongoing follow up for the condition in the specified location is an absolute requirement

It will be required to load the standard form and supporting evidence to the application form by the time you submit your application. The form and guidance on the evidence required can be found on the Specialty Training website.

Assessment of special circumstances

A panel will meet after applications close, and before ranking takes place, to assess special circumstances applications. There will be an appeals process for any applications which are not approved.

Applicants are encouraged to ensure they follow the guidance closely as many applications have been declined in the past due to providing evidence which does not meet the requirements.