Guides for a portfolio that lasts your whole career.
Practical guidance for UK medical students and doctors on collecting and documenting portfolio evidence. Every requirement claim is checked against the official source it cites, and each guide shows the date its sources were last reviewed.
Specialty training applications
How UK specialty selection scores portfolio evidence, and what to collect from medical school onwards.
Specialty training applications: how UK selection works and what to evidence
Every UK specialty training application is decided by evidence: some specialties score a self-assessment, some grade a portfolio at interview, and some select on the MSRA. This guide explains the selection routes, what they have in common, and why the evidence you collect years earlier decides your options.
Last reviewed 13 July 2026
IMT portfolio and self-assessment
Internal Medicine Training scores applicants on a 30-point self-assessment across six achievement domains, plus a 5-point bonus for applying only to IMT. This guide walks through each domain's bands for the 2026 cycle, how "highest band counts" scoring works, and the evidence worth keeping for every claim.
Last reviewed 13 July 2026
CST portfolio station
Core Surgical Training does not score a self-assessment. You are shortlisted on the MSRA, and your portfolio is graded by assessors at interview - 45% of the final score - against published A to E indicators, with a mandatory index page. This guide explains the 2026 process and the evidence each domain expects.
Last reviewed 13 July 2026
Medical student portfolios
Medical schools set their own portfolio requirements, but the record that matters longest is the one you keep for yourself. This guide covers what is genuinely worth tracking as a UK medical student, what evidence to keep for each achievement, and how the same items score in specialty applications years later.
Last reviewed 13 July 2026
ARCP and foundation evidence
What the annual review expects from foundation doctors, and how to document each evidence type properly.
ARCP preparation: how the Annual Review of Competence Progression works
The ARCP is the annual, evidence-based review that decides whether you progress through UK postgraduate training. This guide explains how the process works for foundation doctors, what the panel actually looks at, and how to have your portfolio ready well before the deadline.
Last reviewed 13 July 2026
Foundation evidence requirements
The Foundation Programme publishes exactly what evidence an ARCP panel expects from F1 and F2 doctors. This guide walks through the national checklist item by item, explains the curriculum structure behind it (3 HLOs, 13 FPCs), and covers how evidence mapping works in Horus and Turas.
Last reviewed 13 July 2026
Documenting teaching
Teaching you deliver only counts if it is documented. This guide covers what counts as teaching, what to record for each session, the Developing the Clinical Teacher SLE, and how to collect feedback so a one-off session becomes durable portfolio evidence.
Last reviewed 13 July 2026
Documenting an audit or QIP
Quality improvement is a named foundation capability and a staple of specialty application frameworks, but a project only becomes portfolio evidence if each stage is written down. This guide covers audit vs QIP, the improvement cycle, and exactly what to document as you go.
Last reviewed 13 July 2026
Reflective practice
Reflection is a required thread through foundation training and beyond, and it is governed by clear joint guidance from the GMC, AoMRC, COPMeD and the Medical Schools Council. This guide summarises what that guidance says, how to anonymise properly, and how to write reflections that are actually worth re-reading.
Last reviewed 13 July 2026
Common portfolio mistakes
Most portfolio problems are process problems, and the same handful recur every year. This guide lists the common mistakes foundation doctors and early-career doctors make with portfolio evidence, and the specific habit that prevents each one.
Last reviewed 13 July 2026
Clerkfolio is independent and is not affiliated with the NHS, the GMC, the UKFPO, or any Royal College. These guides summarise officially published guidance and always link to the original source - check the current version of the official guidance and your own foundation school or deanery requirements before relying on any summary. Guides are written and maintained by Clerkfolio; they are general information, not advice about your individual training situation.