Common questions

The questions programme directors ask before they start. Inside the app, the Help & support page answers the day-to-day ones in more detail.

1. What is adept?

A management platform for a postgraduate training programme: trainees, placements and rotations, ARCPs, less-than-full-time working and time out of programme, the end-of-training date that follows from them, and the reports a Head of School asks for. It was built with training programme directors in anaesthetics and is used daily by NHS programmes.

2. Who uses it?

Training programme directors run their programme from it. College tutors see their own trust: who is coming, who is there, their supervisors, what the trust offers and its induction handbook. Trainees see their own placements and ARCP checklist, choose modules, check in at teaching, and ask their director for a meeting or a change of working pattern.

3. How do we get access?

adept is invite-only. A programme is set up for you, your directors are invited by email, and they invite their trainees from inside the app. There is no public sign-up and every account uses two-step verification. Use the contact section on the home page to request access for your programme.

4. Who can see what?

Directors see the trainees of their own programme (core or higher) in their own region; reports, working-pattern requests and the ARCP early warnings are theirs alone. College tutors see their own trust. Trainees see only themselves. The rules are enforced by the database, not just the screens, and are tested on every change.

5. Can we bring in what we already have?

Yes. A rotation grid spreadsheet, one per level, imports trainees and their placements for each six-month rotation. Records that already exist are kept, placements carry their modules across, and re-importing a corrected grid is safe.

6. How is the end of training calculated?

As the Royal College of Anaesthetists CCT calculator counts it. Each grade is 365 training days; every day counts at the working pattern in force, so a year at 80% takes about fifteen months; days of leave count nothing. A stage that would start within ten days of a February or August changeover starts on the changeover. Higher trainees have a CCT date and core trainees an Outcome 6 date; run-through trainees in ST1 to ST3 carry on to the CCT at the end of ST7. Change the working pattern or record leave and the dates are recalculated when you save.

7. How does less-than-full-time working count against a trust?

That is a choice for each region, specialty and level: either slot shares decide (every trainee is one slot and two trainees recorded as sharing a post count as one between them), or every less-than-full-time trainee counts as half a slot whatever their percentage. Working pattern is recorded separately and drives the timeline.

8. How are parental leave and time out of programme handled?

Record a pause with its reason and dates, or leave it open-ended. The trainee shows as paused, their placements stay where they are, and their end of training moves on automatically until they resume. Out-of-programme training or research (OOPT or OOPR) that was prospectively approved to count can be marked so, and then it does not move the end date. Open-ended leave is extended each night so the dates are always right.

9. How do working-pattern (LTFT) requests work?

A trainee asks from their Home page: the percentage, the start date (16 weeks' notice is asked for), an optional end date and a reason group. Before sending, they see what it would do to their end date, counted as the RCoA calculator counts. The director approves, declines with a note, or asks to discuss; approving saves the new working pattern and recalculates the dates straight away. A programme can add Head of School sign-off. The application itself still follows your deanery's usual LTFT process.

10. Can a trainee change trust part way through a rotation?

Yes. Open the placement on the trainee's timeline, give it its real dates inside the rotation and say where the trainee goes for the rest. Placements still belong to their February or August rotation, so every list and count stays consistent, and a part placement counts for its share of a slot.

11. What about dual, ACCS and other specialty trainees?

A dual programme runs to ST8 or ST9 and a year in the other specialty is recorded as "out of specialty": it uses no slot and does not show the trainee as waiting for a placement. An ACCS trainee from emergency or acute medicine appears on the anaesthetic director's lists only during their anaesthetic year. A specialty trainee doing novice anaesthetics sits on the core or the higher grid, whichever the region chooses.

12. How do ARCPs work?

Create ARCP dates, summer, winter or off-cycle, and allocate trainees and panel members to them. Trainees fill in a pre-ARCP checklist that matches their stage; the panel notes its review of the evidence and records the outcome on the day, it joins the trainee's history, and they move to their next date. A summary document can be downloaded for each date, and panel members can be sent a thank-you letter.

13. Does adept warn us before an ARCP?

Yes. From eight weeks before a trainee's ARCP, directors see what is still open: an educational supervisor's report (ESSR) not confirmed, an incomplete checklist, no educational supervisor or initial meeting recorded, low teaching attendance, an overdue exam or milestone, or a last outcome of 2, 3 or 5. They are fixed rules, reasons to check rather than a judgement, and only directors see them. A director can also switch on reminders that chase a missing ESSR by email.

14. Can we record supervisors and teaching attendance?

Yes. Each placement carries its educational and clinical supervisor, and college tutors can set several at once and see each consultant's workload. Trainees log the type and date of their supervisor meetings, never what was discussed. At teaching, the organiser shows a QR code and a typed check-in code that work that day only; trainees check in from their phone, and anyone who cannot is marked present by hand.

15. What can we report on?

The Reports page has a section for each question: cohort, working pattern (LTFT), time out, end of training, ARCP outcomes, capacity, TIS, notice periods, joiners, supervision and teaching. Reports show real numbers and can name trainees, so keep them inside the deanery. Any table downloads as a spreadsheet, and a summary of one section or all of them as a PDF.

16. What is the annual programme report?

A training year, August to July, as a PDF for a Head of School, a quality visit or the dean's report: a summary with the change since the year before, then cohort and flow, ARCP outcomes, LTFT and time out, progression, capacity, the Code of Practice, supervision and teaching. It can come with a spreadsheet of the same figures. It never names anyone. Small numbers are shown as they are, so check a small group cannot be recognised before sharing it outside the deanery.

17. How do we show we met the Code of Practice notice periods?

For each changeover adept shows when trainees were told their placement and when each trust was given the details of who is arriving, against 12 weeks; the trust's own 8-week work schedule and 6-week rota dates are recorded by the college tutor. "Due now" lists what is still to send. For each trust you can download an arrivals list, with no special-category data, and record the day it was sent. A joiner log records doctors joining or leaving the region, such as inter-deanery transfers, and how long it took to place them.

18. Can we export our data?

Yes. The Summaries page filters by trust, grade and status, shows a cohort timeline, and exports the filtered trainees to Excel. Reports download as spreadsheets and PDFs, training details can be exported in a layout modelled on the template of NHS England's Trainee Information System (TIS), and ARCP summaries download as Word documents. Your data is yours; see the privacy notice for how it is held and returned.

19. Is there a phone app for trainees?

Yes, for Android: search for adept on Google Play. It is the same adept as the website, with the same account and two-factor sign-in; on an iPhone, use the website. Trainee screens are designed for the phone first. Updates about rotations, ARCPs, meetings and requests arrive in an in-app inbox as well as by email, and anyone can make a private calendar link that puts their adept dates into Outlook, Google or Apple Calendar.

20. Is adept accessible?

Every page works with the keyboard alone, pages carry landmarks for screen readers, controls have visible outlines and a 3:1 contrast, and the app reflows at 400% zoom. Light and dark themes both meet the contrast requirements. The accessibility statement lists what is covered and what is still being worked on.

21. Where is the data stored and how is it protected?

In the EU, on Google Cloud, with access controlled by role and region at the database. Only training records are held: no patient data. Every account uses two-step verification, sessions time out, and administrative actions are logged. The security section of the home page and the published plans give the detail.

Something not answered here? support@adept-platforms.com.