Every year, anaesthetists in training (AiTs) undergo an Annual Review of Competency Progression (ARCP). ARCPs are a legal requirement and ensure that doctors are providing safe and high-quality patient care. They are used to assess progression against curriculum standards and provide evidence for General Medical Council (GMC) revalidation that happens every five years.

For AiTs, the ARCP panel reviews evidence submitted as part of the Educational Supervisors Structured Report (ESSR) on the Lifelong Learning Platform (LLP). The ESSR contains 16 sections and is the only thing visible to the ARCP panel, so it needs to be complete with all information required to ‘pass’ the ARCP!

Fortunately, the College has produced an in-depth checklist that outlines the requirements for a successful ARCP. This document clearly states what is required in each of the 16 sections for an Outcome 1 at ARCP. The ESSR itself must be created on the LLP after submission of all the prerequisite forms for all forms to pull through.