Core Revision
Where you are, and what to do next
Four quick questions, and this page reorganises itself around your training year, your current post and how long you have. Nothing is sent anywhere — it stays on your device.
Tell us where you are
About fifteen seconds. It changes everything below.
A word about the numbers
Less than full time trainees complete the same totals pro-rata across each review period — with the exception of CPR, AED and safeguarding, which are required every twelve months regardless of how you work. That single point catches out more trainees, and more supervisors, than anything else on this page.
These are minimums. Your deanery may ask for more, and your supervisor may reasonably want more than the minimum in an area you find difficult.
One thing worth knowing right now
The RCGP has confirmed that updates to Workplace Based Assessment and the Trainee Portfolio are being introduced from August 2026, intended to improve consistency. The detail is still being published. We are tracking it and will update these pages — and the date stamp — as it lands.
What to do this month
A six-month placement has a natural shape. Following it is the difference between a steady year and twenty rushed log entries in the final fortnight.
- Weeks one to four — settle and planHold your Placement Planning Meeting. Look at what is outstanding, and agree which of it this post can realistically provide. Sort out consent arrangements for recorded consultations now rather than in month five. Start logging from week one, even briefly.
- Months two to four — gather steadilyThis is where the year is won. Book assessments before you need them. Send your MSF early so you are not chasing responses. Aim for roughly three log entries a month, written within a day or two of the case while you still remember what you were thinking.
- Final six weeks — consolidateAsk for your Clinical Supervisor’s Report before the last fortnight. Fill the visible gaps. Re-read your own entries and check that the capabilities you have linked are actually justified in the text.
- Before the review — read your own portfolioGo into the Educational Supervisor’s Report having looked at your own evidence. Knowing your own gaps before anyone points them out changes the entire tone of that meeting.
The rest of the trainee section
Every assessment explained
What each one is, how to choose a case, what good looks like and what trips people up.
The thirteen capabilities
Plain English, with three concrete examples of evidence for each.
Writing learning logs
A ten-minute method, and what separates a thin entry from a strong one.
ARCP, calmly
What the panel looks at, and every outcome explained without the folklore.
Placements
What each post can give you, what to book early, and what it cannot provide.
When it is harder
Less than full time, IMG, neurodivergent, returning from leave, or struggling.
Core Compass
Your portfolio cases are revision. Let them count towards your exam preparation too.