Special circumstances guidance for Dental Foundation Training (DFT) applicants
If you have a requirement to complete your Dental Foundation Training (DFT) in a particular location, you may wish to be considered for special circumstances.
You must fall into one of the following eligibility criteria and meet the requirements of your training programme to be pre-allocated into post.
Criterion 1
Criterion
You are the primary carer for someone who is disabled, as defined by the Equality Act 2010.
Description
Definition of 'disability' under the Equality Act 2010:
The Equality Act 2010 defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment, that the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day to day activities. For the purposes of the Act the below apply.
Substantial means more than minor or trivial.
Long term means that the effect of the impairment has lasted or is likely to last for at least 12 months.
Normal day to day activities include things like eating, washing, walking and going shopping. Some conditions, such as addictions to non-prescribed substances, are specifically excluded.
People who have had a disability in the past that meets this definition are also covered by the scope of the Act.
There are additional provisions relating to people with progressive conditions. People with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), cancer and multiple sclerosis are protected by the Act from the point of diagnosis. People with visual impairments are automatically deemed to be disabled.
For you to meet this criterion, you must be the primary carer for this person who would normally be your partner, parent or sibling.
If the person you are caring for is not your partner, sibling or parent, you will be expected to explain clearly and present a strong case as to why and how you have the role of primary carer for this person.
If you provide care for a person as part of a group of carers, for example, a family, you are not eligible to apply under this criterion.
It is expected that you and the person who you care for in this category will remain in your current address(es) and application for pre-allocation will be to a scheme local to that address. If this is not the case, relevant evidence must be supplied as to why follow up arrangements could not continue as present.
Supporting evidence
You will be required to supply the following supporting evidence.
- Criterion 1 request for Special Circumstances form (form attached to vacancy on Oriel).
- Written statement on headed paper from a general practitioner or social services professional, dated within the last 6 months of the application date, confirming their role as primary carer for this person, together with confirmation of the disability.
- Care plan on headed paper from a general practitioner or social services professional, dated within the last 6 months of the application date. Where an official care plan is not available, details of caring responsibilities and activities should be provided, attested by the general practitioner of the person who is being cared for or Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) for the child being cared for or, where this is unavailable, confirmation that an assessment has taken place and that the development of the EHCP is in progress. The care plan needs to be signed and demonstrate how you will combine the responsibilities of a Foundation Dentist and primary carer and ensures that you have fully considered local support and resources.
- Proof of current address for example, driving licence, utility bill dated within the last 3 months of the application date.
Criterion 2
Criterion
You have a medical condition or disability for which ongoing follow up for the condition in the specified location is an absolute requirement.
Description
As this medical condition already exists for you as a dental student, it is expected that you will remain in your current address and application for pre-allocation will be to a scheme within the region local to that address. If this is not the case, clear arguments need to be made as to why follow up arrangements could not continue as present.
Supporting evidence
You will be required to supply the following supporting evidence.
- Criterion 2 request for Special Circumstances form (form attached to vacancy on Oriel).
- A report from the current medical specialist treating your condition or an Occupational Health physician. The report must be provided on headed paper and must be current - written for the purpose of this application. Older medical evidence will not be accepted as there is no way of the panel confirming that this is still the current situation.
The written report must contain all of the following information.
- Description of the current medical condition or disability.
- Description of the nature of the ongoing treatment and frequency. What treatment is required? Where is this delivered? How often is the applicant required to attend hospital?
- Reasons why the follow up treatment cannot be delivered elsewhere in the UK.
- Impact on your health and wellbeing of transferring care elsewhere.
- It must also include where the applicant lives in adapted housing that could not be easily replicated elsewhere, confirmation of this from the General Practitioner (GP) or local council in written form, dated within 6 months of the application deadline.
- Proof of current address for example, driving licence, utility bill dated within the last 3 months of the application date.
Criterion 3
Criterion
You are the primary carer for someone who is disabled and you have a medical condition or disability for which ongoing follow up in a specific location is an absolute requirement.
Description
As you already have this medical condition, it is expected that you will remain at your current address, and application for pre-allocation will be to a programme local to that address.
If the request for pre-allocation is not local to your current address, relevant evidence must be supplied as to why follow up arrangements could not continue as present.
Supporting evidence
You will be required to supply the following supporting evidence.
- Criterion 3 Primary Carer and Personal Medical Condition or Disability application request for Special Circumstances form (form attached to vacancy on Oriel).
The following supporting evidence must be provided for evidence of Criterion 1.
- Written statement on headed paper from a general practitioner or social services professional, dated within the last 6 months of the application date, confirming your role as primary carer for this person, together with confirmation of the disability.
- Care plan on headed paper from a general practitioner or social services professional, dated within the last 6 months of the application date. Where an official care plan is not available, details of caring responsibilities and activities should be provided, attested by the general practitioner of the person who is being cared for or Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) for the child being cared for or, where this is unavailable, confirmation that an assessment has taken place and that the development of the EHCP is in progress. The care plan needs to be signed and demonstrate how you will combine the responsibilities of a Foundation Dentist and primary carer and ensures that you have fully considered local support and resources.
The following supporting evidence must be provided for evidence of Criterion 2.
- A report from the current medical specialist treating your condition or an Occupational Health physician. The report must be provided on headed paper and must be current - written for the purpose of this application. Older medical evidence will not be accepted as there is no way of the panel confirming that this is still the current situation.
The written report must contain all of the following information.
- Description of the current medical condition or disability.
- Description of the nature of the ongoing treatment and frequency. What treatment is required? Where is this delivered? How often is the applicant required to attend hospital?
- Reasons why the follow up treatment cannot be delivered elsewhere in the UK.
- Impact on your health and wellbeing of transferring care elsewhere.
- It must also include where the applicant lives in adapted housing that could not be easily replicated elsewhere, confirmation of this from the GP or local council in written form, dated within 6 months of the application deadline.
Proof of current address for example, driving licence, utility bill dated within the last 3 months of the application date.
Criterion 4
Criterion
You are a parent or legal guardian of a child or children under the age of 18 who reside primarily with you and for whom you have significant caring responsibilities.
Description
This criterion is based on childcare. Pregnancy is not part of this criterion. An applicant whose sole circumstance is that she (or a partner) is currently pregnant will not be regarded as eligible.
It is expected that you and your child(ren) in this category will remain in your current address and application for pre-allocation will be to a scheme local to that address. If the request for pre-allocation is not local to your current address, relevant evidence must be supplied as to why caring arrangements could not continue as present.
If you and your child(ren) do not normally reside together, this should be referred to on the application form, and information must be supplied as to why the caring responsibilities remain equally significant.
Supporting evidence
You will be required to supply the following supporting evidence.
- Criterion 4 Request for Special Circumstances form (form attached to vacancy on Oriel).
- The full version of the birth certificate (detailing parent(s) name(s)) for each child. This is to confirm that the applicant is the parent of the child(ren) they have detailed. The birth certificate must also include the full name of the child.
- The short version of the birth certificate which contains only the child’s details will not be accepted.
- For legal guardians, a copy of the legal document that confirms your status for the child named in the birth certificate. If you are a legal guardian then you may submit the short version of the birth certificate.
- Statement confirming that you have significant caring responsibilities for the child(ren). This statement must be signed by someone who is in a position to confirm they have known the applicant for at least 6 months and has a professional working relationship with the applicant and child(ren) and can confirm that s/he has a significant caring responsibility for a child or children under 18. This statement must be dated within 6 months of the application date. The signatory must: be over 18, have a relevant professional working relationship with the applicant and their child(ren) for example, Midwife, GP/Doctor, Head teacher, Social Worker, not be related to the applicant by birth or marriage, not be in a personal relationship with the applicant and not live at the same address as the applicant.
Applying for special circumstances
If you wish to be considered for special circumstances pre-allocation, you should ensure that you state this on your application form and submit supporting evidence directly to the London and KSS Recruitment team via the Applicant Support Portal at the time of application/stated deadline.
Requests for consideration of special circumstances received in any other way will not be accepted.
When completing the Special Circumstance form kindly also review the 'Checklist for Applicants' section on the form and ensure you meet the criteria requested for each document.
Once completed, this form must be printed and scanned, along with all of the supporting evidence as a single document (either in PDF or a word document) and attach it to your special circumstance application on the Applicant Support Portal.
Images will not be accepted.
Supporting evidence
Full details of the supporting evidence required can be found above. Special circumstances applications will be reviewed by a specialty panel and a decision on whether the application has been successful will be communicated.
If you are unhappy with the decision of the specialty review panel, you are permitted to submit an appeal to the national review panel. The decision of the national review panel will be final.
Allocation
If you are accepted as having a special circumstance, you will be pre-allocated into a scheme within your approved region subject to the following criteria being met.
- You are deemed appointable.
- You are ranked highly enough nationally to receive an offer in any region.
If these conditions are met, you will be pre-allocated into a scheme within your approved training region. You are not guaranteed a particular practice within the preferred training scheme.
If you do not rank highly enough nationally to be offered a training place
If you do not rank highly enough nationally to be offered a training place in the first round of offers, you will be placed on a reserve list, pending more posts becoming available or offers being declined.
Posts in approved locations are prioritised for special circumstances applicants based on national ranking. No guarantee exists for placing special circumstances applicants in preferred locations after the initial offers. If an applicant without special circumstances accepts a post in the same approved location, they won't be displaced for the special circumstances applicant.
When choosing posts, you must ensure that you meet the eligibility for those posts. This is also relevant if you are currently on or will require a visa.
Page last reviewed: 11 March 2024
Next review due: 11 March 2025