Workforce, training and education
East Midlands

Study Leave

For more general information about study leave and the Leave Manager system, please see our main page (www.eastmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/policies/study_leave)

Leave Manager - Threshold approval

In order to balance our desire to support postgraduate doctors with the need to offer fair and equitable support to all of our postgraduate doctors, the Postgraduate Dean has asked the Heads of Schools to review any study leave requests that would take a doctor’s application spend over £1000. This can be submitted through Accent Leave Manager as normal - you do not need to follow any additional steps, other than including your estimated expenses as normal.

To be clear, this is not intended to restrict your access to study leave and financial support. The goal is to ensure that funding is being used appropriately and proportionately. We recognise that some specialties will require a greater proportion of the budget than others, and some curriculum stages will require a greater proportion of the budget than others; your Head of School will take these into account when reviewing your request.

For further information on the Threshold Approver role please visit this site. 

You can still check your budget/associated expenses at any time: once you've logged into your Leave Manager account, go to My Budgets (https://accent.hicom.co.uk/LeaveManager/Live/Web/MyBudgets/Index). Look for the current training year (this will normally be at the top of each section).

As a reminder, the study leave year runs from changeover date in August to the changeover date the following August except for programmes with nationally agreed start dates in September, where the leave year is September to September. This applies regardless of individual trainees’ progression dates.

For postgraduate dentists, there are different arrangements set by your School - please complete the form at the bottom of this page.

International Leave

In line with national policy agreed by NHSE Deans, one international conference/meeting, providing all other curriculum requirements are met, will be considered for each doctor in training for any one programme, which can be defined as Foundation, Core, Higher or otherwise every three years (so as not to disadvantage doctors on a run-through programme). This can be applied for on Accent Leave Manager by selecting the 'International' Leave Type (having entered your leave dates, this should appear in the Leave Type drop-down).

Requests to attend overseas study courses/conferences will only be considered in exceptional circumstances. Such circumstances include:

  • for the presentation of significant research findings from within an NIHR recognised academic clinical fellowship or clinical lectureship
  • for the presentation of research undertaken as part of a clinical training programme
  • where the training course is not available in the UK
  • where the course or activity is part of the college curriculum or guidelines on required training
  • where the course is set out as a mandatory requirement of college training to reach the required qualification to practice

If attending an international opportunity is evidenced to be cheaper than a UK alternative/equivalent, then the international opportunity will usually be approved and would not count as the one occurrence above.

The course/conference must provide a clearly stated curriculum outcome and there must be a documented discussion with the ES about the clear need of the course/conference to meet curriculum requirements. A report/evaluation covering the entirety of the leave may be requested from you after attendance.

Please note that there are restrictions on the expenses that will be supported. Please see "What expenses can I claim for international leave?" in the FAQs below for more information. If you wish to fund a period of international study leave by other means, your ES should still ensure the activity aligns to the curriculum or personal development plan. This must be the case for any period of international Study Leave irrespective of how it is funded.

See here for more information on the International Approver role.

 

Dental and GP budget increases

If you are a postgraduate dentist or a GP doctor on a secondary care programme on an East Midlands training programme, please complete the below form to request a budget increase.

What expenses can/can't I claim?

For international leave, please see the dedicated FAQ below.

In line with the Study Leave Policy (and NHS Terms & Conditions of Service) you can claim the following expenses:

  • Course/Conference fees
  • Public transport (at standard rate)
  • Mileage (at NHS Terms & Conditions of Service Reserve Rate)
  • Parking (at standard rate)
  • Overnight accommodation (in line with NHS Terms & Conditions of Service rates)
  • Subsistence (in line with NHS Terms & Conditions of Service rates)

The rates (including links to the relevant NHS Employers pages for NHS Terms & Conditions of Service) are specified in the Study Leave policy.

No other expenses can be claimed through the study leave budget as standard. Below are examples of excluded expenses, but the list is not exhaustive:

  • Retrospective applications
  • Examination fees
  • Membership/subscription fees
  • Credit card charges
  • Conventions
  • Ceremonies
  • Equipment, incl. books
  • Publication, abstract submission or printing costs
  • Visas, application fees
  • Any costs where evidence of payment cannot be provided (i.e. receipts)

Please note that whether costs can be claimed or not is not affected by whether it is a standard (pre-approved) or Exception request; the above list applies regardless.

What expenses can I claim for international leave?

NHS England will consider funding either the full cost of the course/conference fees or the full cost of economy travel and accommodation whichever is the lower amount. For accommodation, in alignment with the agreed maximum rate for study budget claims within the UK, the overnight rate should not exceed £150 per night. Subsistence expenses will not usually be reimbursed.

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