UK Foundation Programme 2027 Key Changes you need to know about

Applications open on 23 September 2026 and close at midday BST on 7 October. Several things have changed since last year, and one of them could decide which end of the country you spend F1 in.

1. Pre-allocation: where you can ask to go

Pre-allocation is the process for applicants who need to be in a particular part of the UK for reasons that are nothing to do with preference. There are five criteria and one has changed: Criterion 3, a health condition or disability. It used to be based on where you live: you applied for the foundation school local to your home address, and you could ask for a different one if you supplied evidence about where your treatment had to happen. From 2027 you can only be pre-allocated to the foundation school local to your medical school, and you can no longer ask for a different one with evidence about your treatment.

So if you study in London and your treatment is in Newcastle, that route to the North East has closed. The exception is if you applied through the Eligibility route, or you have already qualified and your medical school is renominating you. In that case it goes to the foundation school where you are already living.

Criterion 2, primary carer, and Criterion 5, widening participation, have not changed since 2026, when they also moved to the foundation school local to your medical school. Criterion 4, extraordinary circumstances, has not changed either.

2. Proof of address

If you are applying for pre-allocation you have to prove where you live, and four things dropped off the accepted list for 2027: TV licences, private/student tenancy agreements, council tax closing or final bills, and GP patient summary records.

A council or social housing tenancy agreement still counts, so if you rent from a private landlord, a letting agent or through your university you'll need a different document. A letter from your GP practice confirming you are registered there is also fine.

What does count is a utility bill, a bank, building society or credit union statement, a solicitor's letter or Land Registry confirmation of a recent house purchase, an annual council tax bill, an annual mortgage statement, an HMRC self assessment or tax letter, an electoral register confirmation, a student finance letter, or a benefits award letter. Some of those have to be dated within three months of the deadline and others within twelve, so check which yours is. For 2027, Ulster University students who live in the Republic of Ireland can use their Irish address.

3. Proof of a name change

If you are applying under Criterion 1 and the name on your application does not match the name on your child's birth certificate, you now need to send proof of the name change as well, such as a deed poll or a marriage certificate.

4. Supporting signatories

A supporting signatory is the professional who fills in part 2 of your pre-allocation form to confirm your circumstances, such as your child's teacher or GP for Criterion 1, or the specialist treating you for Criterion 3. Every supporting signatory, on every criterion, has to be based in the UK.

5. The helpdesk stops answering 24 hours before the deadline

From midday BST on 6 October the UKFPO helpdesk stops answering application queries. That covers Oriel registration, re-nomination requests, problems submitting the form, preferencing, pre-allocation and references. The one thing they will still do is unlock your Oriel account. They have done this because the number of last-minute queries has grown over the last couple of years and they cannot get through them in time.

6. Foundation Priority Programmes (FPP) have no separate process

FPP used to be its own application with its own offers. Since 2026 there has been no separate FPP vacancy on Oriel and no separate offers round, and 2027 keeps it that way. The programmes go into the main allocation instead, and you are matched to them through Preference Informed Allocation (PIA) after you have been allocated to a foundation school.

This comes from the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026, which got Royal Assent on 5 March 2026 and requires training posts to go to certain priority groups first. The UKFPO also puts it down to the application being run through the national Oriel system.

7. You will find out your PIA rank

At the end of the process the UKFPO will release the computer-generated PIA rank to everyone still allocated to a foundation school. If you were withdrawn after allocation, or never allocated, you will not get it automatically, but you can email the UKFPO and ask.

8. Re-applying: you have to resign first

The 2027 person specification now says that if you are re-applying you must have resigned from your allocated foundation programme, and you must not be in post as a foundation doctor when you submit. That includes people who deferred the start of their programme for statutory reasons and people on statutory leave. That means you will not know whether the second attempt worked before you have given up the first. The UKFPO has a re-applying after starting F1 page covering how that works.