General Practice ACF – East of England (Advert 4)
General Practice ACF – East of England (Advert 4) Academic Clinical Fellowship Advertisement Archive
This is the Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) advertisement used on Oriel for the 2026-27 recruitment round.
The information is presented to help you prepare for your future applications. Please be aware that advertisements, application methods, etc. can change and there is no guarantee that future ACF advertisements will remain the same.
| Oriel Advert | HEEOE - General Practice - ACFST1, ACFST2, ACFST3 |
| Vacancy ID | HEEOE/26-27/7315/800/1-R1A |
| Entry Levels | ST1, ST2, ST3 |
| Applications Opened | Thursday 1 October 2026, 10:00 |
| Applications Closed | Thursday 29 October 2026, 16:00 |
See also the ACF application form questions.
| Training Programme | General Practice |
| Post Type | Academic |
| Post Commencing | March 2027 |
| Duration (months) | 48 |
| Recruitment Lead | East of England |
| Recruiting For | East of England |
| Enquiries | https://heeoe.hee.nhs.uk/recruitment/academic-clinical-fellowships-east-england |
| Enquiries Email | england.recruitment.eoe@nhs.net |
Information
This is a 2026 post. The successful appointee must be in post by 31 March 2027 at the very latest. Please check the eligibility criteria below before submitting an application
If you are interested in the August 2027 start date post(s), please note these are on a separate vacancy
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
NHS England, East of England
Employer: University of Cambridge/Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Post type: NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship
Specialty/Level: General Practice ST1,2,3
Expected start date: in post by 31 March 2027
Please be advised that this post is in direct competition with Public Health Medicine applicants and an appointment will only be made in 1 of these specialties.
Applicants for ST1 who do not already hold a National Training Number (NTN) or Deanery Reference Number (DRN) in the GMC specialty to which they are applying for will need to have achieved clinically benchmarking during the 2026 recruitment rounds. There will be no opportunity to achieve this before the post start date
Applicants for ST2 and ST3 must hold an NTN/DRN in the specialty for which they are applying.
This post has been awarded under the research theme: Primary Care & Community Care. The appointee will be expected to develop a research programme in that theme area
Proposed Research:
This post has been awarded under the theme “Primary Care and Community Care”. The trainee will be expected to undertake research within the theme area.
We are not prescriptive about the research projects that the ACF will undertake, and will match the interests of the ACF with ongoing research in the theme within the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, IMS Epidemiology or the MRC Biostatistics Unit.
Outline the clinical and academic programme post:
The Academic Clinical Fellow will have one year of protected research time over the four year appointment. For those starting in ST1, the first six months typically comprise half time clinical GP training and half time academic work, with the remainder of the time in ST1 and 2 spent in hospital and GP posts. Years three and four are split between academic time and clinical general practice. For those starting in ST2 or ST3, all the academic time will be split across ST3 and ST4.
We strongly encourage ACFs to undertake the Primary Care Research theme within the MPhil in Population Health Sciences in either year three or years three and four, although funding for this is not included within the post.
Applicants must apply via our online recruitment system, Oriel
The application window opens on Thursday 01 October 2026 at 1000 hours and closes on Thursday 29 October 2026 at 1600 hours
You will not be able to submit your application after this time. Please ensure that you have completed all relevant sections of the application form as missing information will deem your application incomplete and it will not be considered.
Please visit NHS England, East of England website for the further vacancy information and job description.
Host integrated academic training partnership details.
HEI: ?University of Cambridge
NHS Organisation: Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
NHSE Local Office: NHS England, East of England
This ACF post is of 3-year duration and carries an academic training number – NTN(a) and will allow the successful candidate to spend 75% of their time in clinical training and 25% in research.
Applications from talented and enthusiastic doctors in training who seek a career combining research, teaching and the care of patients are invited for NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowships (ACFs). The Academic Clinical Fellowship forms a significant part of the NIHR Integrated Academic Training Programme. Fellows will develop skills allowing them to compete successfully for funding to study for a higher degree (MD/PhD). Only applicants who can demonstrate that they have outstanding potential for development as a clinical academic will be considered for this programme.???
After this time candidates should have obtained funding for their higher degrees and start work towards these. On completion of the ACF the trainee will either continue their research if external funding has been obtained or enter their designated training programme as a full-time clinical trainee, provided that appropriate clinical competences have been obtained.
Applicants are expected to fulfil the academic person specification available and appropriate clinical person specification.
Applicants that do not already hold a National Training Number (NTN) or Deanery Reference Number (DRN) in the GMC specialty to which they are applying will also be required to undertake the national clinical recruitment process and attend an assessment/interview for that GMC specialty as appropriate. For further details please refer to the NIHR Academic Clinical fellowships (Medical) Guidance for Recruitment and Appointment 2027?
The qualifications and professional registration requirements plus other eligibility criteria can be found in the person specification. The person specification for this specialty is available from the Specialty Training website which can be accessed from Oriel.
The Postgraduate Dean confirms that these placements and/or programmes will have the required educational and Dean’s approval at the time of entry into the programme.
Before you complete your online application, it is imperative that you download and read the linked documents which can be found in the documents section of the vacancy.
These documents contain specific and detailed information with regards to the application form and process, and the person specification. Please read them thoroughly to ensure that you fill out your application form correctly.
All applicants are required to have essential competences or equivalent depending on the level they are applying for. For more information on competences please refer to the resource bank (https://www.oriel.nhs.uk/Web/ResourceBank) on Oriel.
Please ensure you read and fully understand the contents of the Oriel Applicant User Guide which can be accessed on the recruitment system resource bank before submitting your application. Failure to do so may result in you missing vital information in relation to your application. In submitting an application, applicants confirm that they have read and understood the application guide. You will be unable to change your application once it has been submitted; if you have any questions, please ensure you contact the recruitment team at england.recruitment.eoe@nhs.net prior to submitting your application.
Please upload all required evidence of competences to your online application form when completing the application form online. For those experiencing difficulties when uploading evidence, please ensure you contact the recruitment team at england.recruitment.eoe@nhs.net prior to submitting your application.
NHS England – East of England is committed to preventing discrimination and promoting equality. All our hospitals are working towards Equal Opportunities with flexible working practices. We aim to ensure that no employee or job applicant receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of their age, colour, race, nationality or ethnic origin, religion or similar belief, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, trade union membership (or non-membership) or political affiliation.