Study Leave/Budget

This page gives an overview of study leave allowance and budget for GP training in Guildford.

A study budget is available through the deanery to fund core educational courses that support GP training, develop skills and improve the care delivered to patients. There is no annual limit (within reason), although there is a maximum reimbursement per course.

Further information is available here: https://kss.hee.nhs.uk/primary-care/kss-gp-school/study-leave

Allowance

  • Study leave funding is available to cover the following activities:
    – Courses/education activities to support resident doctors to achieve the curriculum,
    – Courses to help prepare for postgraduate exams
    – Discretionary courses that add value to doctors individually and support the wider system.

    As a GP trainee you have an annual study leave entitlement of 30 days of which 15 days are allocated to the half-day release programme. Part-time trainees are entitled to study leave on a pro-rata basis.

    Trainees may undertake a maximum of one AKT Preparation Course and one CSA Preparation Course (maximum £600 per course)

    Private study days for exams are limited to 5 days for AKT  and 2 days for SCA. Exam sittings are not counted towards study leave

    The approved course list can be found here:
    https://wessex.hee.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2026/03/KSS-General-Practice-Approved-List-revised-March-2026.xlsx
  • Study leave will not fund:
    – RCGP Membership fees
    – Exam fees
    – Oversees conferences and courses.


The process to apply for study leave is outlined below. There is an application form for prospective approval to attend a course, then a separate expense form to claim for reimbursement after attending the course. This must be submitted prospectively – aim to complete a study leave form 10 weeks before the study leave event to ensure that you have approval 6 weeks in advance.

Study Leave Process

At RSCH study leave will only be granted for trainees who have >90% compliance with their Statutory & Mandatory training – this must be recorded on the application form.

Forms are available from the Postgrad centre office and processed in paper format and require a ‘wet’ signatures (not typed) from the applicant, practice/department approver and TPD.

  1. Check that the course is on the approved list: https://wessex.hee.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2026/03/KSS-General-Practice-Approved-List-revised-March-2026.xlsx
  2. Speak with your Educational Supervisor regarding any study course of interest to ensure it aligns with training objectives.
  3. Complete RSCH study leave form Study-leave-application-form-December-22 with course code – Please include the course code from the approved list above. You must be able to link all educational activity to one of the course codes as outlined above. Any study leave you request where one of these codes is not applicable may be rejected.
  4. Pass form to Educational or Clinical Supervisor to sign that trainee can be released from clinical duties.
  5. Hand the form/scan a signed copy to GP Manager Donna Stevens (donnastevens@nhs.net, x4926) who works Monday to Friday 8am – 4pm.
  6. On Thursdays, a TPD will review application forms and sign if they are approved.
  7. Trainee will be contacted if request is not approved/there is missing information.
  8. Approved forms will be passed to Study Leave Administrator Janet Whitehorn (janet.whitehorn@nhs.net) to process. Janet works Wednesday and Thursday in the Education Centre.
  9. Once study leave has been approved by the administrator (Janet), trainee can book the course.
  10. Having attended the course, expenses can be claimed within three months via Easy Expenses https://royalsurrey.easy.giltbyte.com/user/login/?next=/expenses/. Copy receipts must be uploaded.
  11. Please note the deadline for payroll is the 5th of the month. If submitted after this, the claim will be processed/paid the following month.

The GP training programme is a continuing period of learning and development over three full-time years. The aim of study leave within the GP Specialty Training Programmes is to facilitate trainees in achieving full coverage of the GP Curriculum and success in the MRCGP assessment. Therefore, trainees are allocated 30 days study leave per year of training to pursue courses and activities related to the core GP curriculum, as well as attend local educational half days and GP practice days during hospital rotations.

  1. GP Practice Days for GP trainees in Substantive Hospital Posts. There should be a minimum one day in every four month substantive hospital post spent with the GP Educational Supervisor for ST1/ST2s. Whilst these GP Practice days have a number of aims, a principle one is to increase trainees’ understanding of General Practice and Primary Care during their hospital based ST1/ST2 years.
  2. Organising Educational Days in GP. Each term there are Educational Half Days on a Thursday for which study leave will need to be applied for. The provisional dates for these will be released at the beginning of the academic year. As soon as the dates are confirmed the trainee will need to complete a study leave application form for submission to the Medical Education Team.
  3. Thursday Clinical Updates 1:00pm-2:00pm. At Royal Surrey there are weekly GP Clinical Updates led by GP Practices. These take place at Thursday lunchtime during term time in the Education Centre. Completion of study leave application forms is not necessary but 70% attendance is mandatory.

Discretionary Study Leave

Trainees may undertake aspirational or discretionary courses that add value to doctors individually and support the wider system.

These are typically granted to trainees who have completed both AKT and SCA exams and are on track to CCT.

Trainees must discuss the course with both their educational supervisor and training programme director. An educator note will be added to your portfolio to support the application.

The discretionary study leave form is accessible here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=slTDN7CF9UeyIge0jXdO43JVRmVkEotFnGM7JXWdOzdUMUc1UFZTN1dQTUU5MFZQSDlWTFA4SkVWMi4u

Further information is available here: https://kss.hee.nhs.uk/primary-care/kss-gp-school/study-leave/

Examples of discretionary courses include joint injection, minor surgery, and dermoscopy among others.