Academic Clinical Fellowships

This page contains the questions used in the Supporting Information section of the Oriel application form for Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) posts in the 2026-27 recruitment round. The forms were checked on Oriel in October 2026 for posts starting from August 2027. The questions are presented to help you prepare for your ACF applications.

Important: the application form is largely the same for all ACF posts, but individual posts can add, remove or reorder questions in the Supporting information section, and can change whether a question is mandatory. Not every post will include every question listed here, and some posts may include questions not shown. Always check the form for the specific post you are applying to.

The rest of the ACF application form is on the following pages:

The 2026-27 ACF job adverts, including each region’s links and documents, are available on the Academic Clinical Fellowship Adverts pages, where you can also browse by region.

Unlike Parts 1 and 2, the Supporting information section is set up separately for each post. To capture the variations, the Supporting information pages of all 405 open ACF medical posts on Oriel were checked in October 2026 (300 with entry at ST1, and 105 open only at ST2–ST4). They fall into 7 different versions, labelled Form A to Form G below. Posts using the same version have identical questions and word limits, although some posts also add a few post-specific questions (listed at the end of this section). The order of the questions also varies between versions.

Version Number of posts
Form A 107
Form B 103
Form C 48
Form D 48
Form E 39
Form F 34
Form G 26

Numbers are word limits. * = mandatory on all posts using that form † = mandatory on some posts using that form — = question not included

Question A B C D E F G Appears on
Achievements outside medicine 100 100 100* None* 100 100 100 All forms
Presentations – international 600 200 600* None 600 — 600 371 of 405 posts
Presentations – national 600 200 600* — 600 200 600 357 of 405 posts
Presentations – regional or national — — — None — — — 48 of 405 posts
Presentations – local or regional 600 200 600* — 600 200 600 357 of 405 posts
Presentations – local — — — None — — — 48 of 405 posts
Abstracts published as co-author — — — — 600 — — 39 of 405 posts
Abstracts published as first author — — — — 600 — — 39 of 405 posts
Journal publications as co-author 600 — — — 600 — 600 172 of 405 posts
Journal publications as first author 600 — — — 600 — 600 172 of 405 posts
Publications in peer review journals (single question) — 200 600* None — 200 — 233 of 405 posts
Other publications – conference extracts etc. 600 200 600* None 600 200 600 All forms
Teaching experience 600 200 600* None* 600 200 600 All forms
Teaching course / qualification (yes/no) Yes/No — — — Yes/No* — Yes/No 172 of 405 posts
Details of teaching qualification 250 — — — 250 — 250 172 of 405 posts
Clinical audit 600 200 600* None* — 200 600 366 of 405 posts
Suitability – meeting the person specification 200 200 200* None* 200 200 200† All forms
Commitment to specialty – activities and achievements 200 200 200* — 200 200 200† 357 of 405 posts
Management, leadership, teamworking and communication 200 200 200* — 200 200 200 357 of 405 posts
Research – all projects / experience 600 300 600* None* 600 300 600 All forms
Research – one project in more detail 300 300 300* None* 300 300 300 All forms
Why this ACF / career goals 300 300 300* None* 300 200 300* All forms
NIHR funding – how you would benefit from a 3-year ACF — — — — — — 300* 26 of 405 posts
Most important research advance in last 5 years — — — None* — — — 48 of 405 posts

Wording shown is from one version of the form; the wording can differ slightly between versions.

Achievements outside medicine

Please give details of outstanding achievements outside the field of medicine

Appears on all forms · Limit: 100 words; no limit set on some forms

Presentations – international

Presentations at International level

Appears on 371 of 405 posts · Limit: 200–600 words depending on form; no limit set on some forms

Presentations – national

Presentations at National level

Appears on 357 of 405 posts · Limit: 200–600 words depending on form

Presentations – regional or national

Presentations at regional or national level:

Appears on 48 of 405 posts · Limit: none

Presentations – local or regional

Presentations at Local or Regional level

Appears on 357 of 405 posts · Limit: 200–600 words depending on form

Presentations – local

Presentations at local level:

Appears on 48 of 405 posts · Limit: none

Abstracts published as co-author

Abstracts published as a co-author.If you have nothing to add in this section please type N/A.

Appears on 39 of 405 posts · Limit: 600 words

Abstracts published as first author

Abstracts published as a first author.If you have nothing to add in this section please put N/A.

Appears on 39 of 405 posts · Limit: 600 words

Journal publications as co-author

Publications in peer review journals as a co-author

Appears on 172 of 405 posts · Limit: 600 words

Journal publications as first author

Publications in a peer review journal as a first author

Appears on 172 of 405 posts · Limit: 600 words

Publications in peer review journals (single question)

Publications in peer review journals:

Appears on 233 of 405 posts · Limit: 200–600 words depending on form; no limit set on some forms

Other publications – conference extracts etc.

Other publications - conference extracts etc.

Appears on all forms · Limit: 200–600 words depending on form; no limit set on some forms

Teaching experience

What experience do you have of delivering teaching?

Appears on all forms · Limit: 200–600 words depending on form; no limit set on some forms

Teaching course / qualification (yes/no)

Have you undertaken a teaching skills course or a formal qualification in teaching?

Appears on 172 of 405 posts

Details of teaching qualification

Please provide details of the teaching qualification attained

Appears on 172 of 405 posts · Limit: 250 words

Clinical audit

What experience of clinical audit do you have? Please state clearly where and when this was undertaken and state specifically your role in each of the projects.

Appears on 366 of 405 posts · Limit: 200–600 words depending on form; no limit set on some forms

Suitability – meeting the person specification

Describe how you believe you meet the person specification for the programme you are applying for. Include the particular skills and attributes that make you suitable for a career in this specialty

Appears on all forms · Limit: 200 words; no limit set on some forms

Commitment to specialty – activities and achievements

Please provide evidence of activities and achievements which demonstrate your commitment to a career in this specialty and/or have led to the development of skills relevant to career in this specialty

Appears on 357 of 405 posts · Limit: 200 words

Management, leadership, teamworking and communication

Please provide evidence of activities and achievements which demonstrate your skills in the above, relevant to a career in this specialty

Appears on 357 of 405 posts · Limit: 200 words

Research – all projects / experience

Please give brief details of all research projects, and/or relevant research experience that you have undertaken or are undertaking, including methods used. Indicate your level of involvement and your exact role in the research team detailing when this took place, your time commitment, your contribution/involvement and source of funding. If you have been awarded a higher degree as a result of research, this must be detailed additionally in the appropriate section above. Detail your academic career plans, if applicable.

Appears on all forms · Limit: 300–600 words depending on form; no limit set on some forms

Research – one project in more detail

Please describe in more detail one of the research projects above

Appears on all forms · Limit: 300 words; no limit set on some forms

Why this ACF / career goals

Please say why you want this particular Academic Clinical Fellowship, indicating your medium and long term career goals in relation to an academic career in this specialty area.

Appears on all forms · Limit: 200–300 words depending on form; no limit set on some forms

NIHR funding – how you would benefit from a 3-year ACF

An ACF post comes fully funded from NIHR for 3 years and is not transferable to another doctor after the post has commenced. The specialty is also not transferable. If a doctor does not complete the ACF the funding is lost. Please describe how you benefit from a 3 year ACF to progress your academic career in your chosen specialty

Appears on 26 of 405 posts · Limit: 300 words

Most important research advance in last 5 years

Please tell us what you consider to be the most important advance in research in the last 5 years in your chosen specialty and why?

Appears on 48 of 405 posts · Limit: none

All versions ask for the following as tables (one row per item), usually on the first Supporting information page:

  • Additional undergraduate degrees and qualifications (qualification, grade, date completed, place of study)
  • Postgraduate degrees and qualifications (subject/qualification, place of study, grade/result, date awarded)
  • Additional achievements – prizes, awards and distinctions (prize/award, awarding body, undergraduate or postgraduate, date awarded)
  • Training courses attended (course title, training provider, duration, date completed)

Differences between versions: some use a repeating table, others a fixed set of numbered boxes (e.g. Qualification 1 to Qualification 5); some limit each box to 50 words; one version (Form F) adds tick boxes to confirm “I have left this section blank because I have nothing to add”, and one version asks for expected progression and CCT dates.

March / August entry

For specialties with two entry points: “Are you applying for the March entry…?”, “…currently in a training post and hold a training number for this specialty?”, “…already passed clinical benchmarking for this specialty in the 2026 recruitment round(s)?”, “Are you applying for the August entry…?” (Yes/No, mandatory; must answer Yes to at least one entry point).

Found on 4 of 405 posts

Which post / specialty you are applying for

Posts covering more than one specialty or post number ask you to tick or select which you are applying for (e.g. “NIHR Post 002 in competition with Haematology”, or a list of medical specialties).

Found on 16 of 405 posts

Current training post and ARCP

Current training grade, whether training less than full time (and percentage), date and grade of next rotation; trainees with an NTN/DRN in the specialty upload their most recent ARCP; confirmation that the documentation required by the NIHR supplementary person specification has been provided.

Found on 39 of 405 posts

Eligibility declarations (re-advertised 2026 post)

Tick boxes confirming awareness that it is a 2026 post requiring a start by 31 March 2027, and that clinical benchmarking was achieved in the 2026 recruitment rounds.

Found on 1 of 405 posts

Infectious Diseases dual training pathway

Infectious Diseases posts entering at IMT3/ST3/ST4 explain the two dual training pathways (Infectious Diseases with General Internal Medicine, or with Medical Microbiology/Virology) and ask which pathway you wish to pursue.

Found on 1 of 405 posts

Note: the 6 dental ACF posts open at the time use dental-specific forms and are not included in this comparison.

The dental ACF forms are shown on the Dental ACF application form questions page.

View Application Forms