NHS England East Midlands – Study Leave
NHS England is committed to supporting training for postgraduate doctors, dentists, and learners. To support this below you can find information on the study leave application and reimbursement process.
Leave applicant
- Familiarising themselves with the NHSE EM Study Leave policy and any relevant Trust/Practice policies.
- Submitting leave requests within an appropriate timeframe (6 weeks+) & including estimated expenses that will cover their needs.
- Contacting their local Study Leave Coordinator/NHSE proactively and prospectively if they have any issues doing so, or need anything amending.
- Managing their study leave days & budget appropriately and requesting changes proactively through the appropriate route (as per policy) as necessary.
- Submitting expenses claims with the required evidence and information in line with their employer’s process, and in an appropriate timeframe (within 8 weeks of completing the activity or, exceptionally, within 8 weeks of the leave request being fully approved; whichever is later).
Thresold Approvers - Head of School (Secondary Care only)
- Assessing the educational and financial suitability of the request for the individual postgraduate doctor/dentist/learner, considering the availability of alternative comparable activities, equity of access for other postgraduate doctors/dentists/learners, individual progression, stage of training and career aspirations, where an the application expenses are above £1000.
- Doing so within an appropriate timeframe (we would suggest within 7 days of receipt).
- NOTE: Leave applications will only progress to the Rota and Exception approvers once the application has been approved by the Threshold Approver (Sequence 10).
- See documents at the bottom of the page for guidance for Educational approvers
International Approver - Associate Postgraduate Dean
- Assessing the educational and financial suitability of any international leave requests for the individual postgraduate doctor/dentist/learner, considering the availability of alternative comparable activities, equity of access for other postgraduate doctors/dentists/learners, individual progression, stage of training and career aspirations.
Rota Approver
- Confirming that the applicant can be released from/is not scheduled for the rota on their requested study leave day/s.
- Confirming any cancelled leave requests.
- Doing both within an appropriate timeframe (we would suggest within 7 days of receipt).
Educational Approver - TPD
- Assessing the educational and financial suitability of the request for the individual postgraduate doctor/dentist/learner, considering the availability of alternative comparable activities, equity of access for other postgraduate doctors/dentists/learners, individual progression, stage of training and career aspirations.
- Doing so within an appropriate timeframe (we would suggest within 7 days of receipt).
- NOTE: Educational Approvers do not receive requests for curriculum required and curricular support activities; these have been preapproved as part of the required training programme. Leave requests will only progress to the Educational approver once the request has been approved by the Rota Approver (Sequence 50).
- See documents at the bottom of the page for guidance for Educational approvers
Study Leave Coordinators - Trust/Programme Office
- Providing information and guidance at Trust/GP Programme inductions/for new starters regarding local study leave process.
- Providing information and guidance on NHSE EM policies and systems as well as local processes.
- Processing of expenses (with exception of PH and Academic applicants employed by HEIs.
- Providing information/updates where required to NHSE EM on rota coordinator changes.
- Act as the first point of contact for postgraduate doctors, dentists, and learners locally.
- For Primary Care, Study Leave Coordinators (i.e. GP Programme Managers) will also act as approvers at Sequence 40.
NHS England Study Leave (East Midlands)
- Policy updates – regular communication with Study Leave Coordinators and Medical Education Managers.
- Provision of study leave funding.
- Provision and maintenance of a study leave recording system.
- Provide information and guidance at School/Programme inductions/for new starters regarding the overall study leave process.
- Support complex/technical queries and provide support/authorisation/ratification for Study Leave Coordinators as appropriate.
Accent Leave Manager is an online system used by many regions to apply for study leave and any associated expenses. To see the flowchart of the application process please see the sections below for Foundation, GP, Secondary Care and Dental.
How can I access Accent Leave Manager?
Accent Leave Manager is available online at https://accent.hicom.co.uk/Portal/Live/Web/
You can request your login details from the Accent homepage at any time: go to https://accent.hicom.co.uk/Portal/Live/Web/ and click on ‘Forgotten password’ – type in the email address that you have registered with NHS England (the address held on the Trainee Information System, TIS) and click Send reset password link. Your login credentials will then be emailed to you from NoReply@hicom.co.uk - you may need to check your junk/spam folder as your email provider may filter the email.
If you do not receive login credentials, email england.studyleave.em@nhs.net with your first name, surname, GMC/GDC number and preferred email address. Please put “Trainee Login Request” in the subject.
Can you show me how to apply?
Yes – we have a video in the HEE East Midlands Study Leave catalogue on the NHS Learning Hub, "Accent Leave Manager: Applying for leave and expenses": this takes you through the application process, including applying for expenses.
The system will not let me submit an application, why is that?
If you are trying to submit a retrospective application (ie an activity that starts on the day you're applying or before), the system will not allow you to do so as retrospective applications are not permitted; this will give you a validation error as "There are no approvers available for this placement, please select different dates or placement".
Also, if you try to apply for an activity that costs more than your available budget, you won’t be able to apply for the full cost. The same applies to the number of days you have left.
If you are applying for an activity which takes places over two placements, you will need to submit two applications one for each placement.
How can I check my budget and days entitlement?
Once you've logged into your Accent Leave Manager account, go to My Entitlements (for your study leave days). Look for the current training year and click on it to view details. To view your budget, go to My Budget.
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.
Study Leave guidance for Foundation doctors can be found here:
For doctors in Year 2 Foundation training, there is facility to use some of Taster Leave towards attending aspirational activities, including courses and specialty exams. If this applies to you, you must discuss your request with your Educational Supervisor and local FTPD who can advise whether this is appropriate for you in your circumstances and your current progression within the programme. If both agree that this is appropriate then you can submit an application on Accent Leave Manager. Please note that neither foundation school will grant study (private) leave for exam preparation.
Please note that aspirational applications can only be submitted during Foundation Year 2, which can then be routed to the FTPD/FPC. There is no discretionary entitlement during Foundation Year 1.
Study Leave guidance for GP doctors can be found here:
Budget increase request form (secondary care placement only)
GP doctors can request a budget increase for activities completed while in a secondary care place. These requests are reviewed by the Head of School and assessed based on their educational appropriateness and value for money. Please ensure that you complete all required fields, including the correct activity name, dates and all associated expenses. If you require a budget increase, please ensure to complete the form prior to applying on Accent Leave Manager. If your budget increase request is approved you will receive an email notification for this and your budget will be updated on Accent Leave Manager.
Study Leave guidance for Dental doctors can be found here:
Budget increase request form (any activity exceeding initial budget of £600)
Dental doctors can request a budget increase for any activity required for their training which exceeds their current budget. These requests are reviewed by the Associate Postgraduate Dean and assessed based on their educational appropriateness and value for money. Please ensure that you complete all required fields, including the correct activity name, dates and all associated expenses. If you require a budget increase, please ensure to complete the form prior to applying on Accent Leave Manager. If your budget increase request is approved you will receive an email notification for this and your budget will be updated on Accent Leave Manager.
Schools produce a list of activities that are classified as either curriculum required or curricular support for specific grades and programmes. The full list of activities for all training programmes can be accessed at the bottom of this page.
- Curriculum required activities will come out of your curricular days entitlement. These will include activities required for the curriculum and any exams listed for your training programme and grade.
- Curricular support activities will come out of your discretionary days entitlement. These will include activities that are not strictly required for the curriculum but support gaining curricular competencies.
- Discretionary activities will come out of your discretionary days entitlement. These will include any other activities you want to apply for that support your training and development. This also includes Private study leave for exam revision time.
Leave types
When applying on Accent Leave Manager you need to first select the appropriate leave type:
- Study - for all courses (including exam revision courses, online courses), conferences and any other type of activity
- Exam - for exam leave only
- Private - for exam revision time only (no expenses claimed)
- International - for international leave only
Claims can only be made against leave that was prospectively submitted using Accent Leave Manager, where the estimated expenses were included on the application, and the leave application has been approved; this applies even when the activity takes place on a non-working day. Applicants are therefore reminded to include costs on their application.
International Leave – for any expenses paid in a foreign currency, evidence must be provided of the exchange rate applied at the time of payment.
Note that NHS Terms and Conditions standard rates apply for expenses associated to study leave. Details of all standard rates can be found in the NHS England Study Leave policy (East Midlands).
Please note that reimbursement is not made automatically through the system and a seperate claim needs to be submitted via the appropriate process outlined below.
Please note that reimbursment does not happen automatically through Accent Leave Manager. To claim expenses, please follow the process below. All claims need to be submitted within 8 weeks of finishing study leave or receiving approval on Accent Leave Manager, whichever is later.
- GP - claims submitted to local GP Programme Office (see form and guidance at the bottom of this page)
- Public Health and Academic doctors employed by HEIs - claims submitted to NHS England (see form and guidance at the bottom of this page)
- Clinical Radiology - claims submitted to training Trust at the time of study leave (see form and guidance at the bottom of this page)
- Community and Sexual Health, Palliative Medicine, Sport and Exercise Medicine - claims submitted to training Trust at the time of study leave (see form and guidance at the bottom of this page)
- Secondary Care (including Foundation and Dental) - claims submitted to employing Trust via Trust reimbursement process
For all queries relating to reimbursement (except Public Health and Academic doctors employed by HEIs), please contact your local Study Leave Coordinator at the Trust or GP Programme Office.
Please visit our FAQ page.
Please visit our Getting Support page for all relevant contacts.
Many issues with submitting/claiming expenses can be resolved by contacting england.studyleave.em@nhs.net or your Study Leave Coordinator. Please only use this form if advised to do so by the NHS England East Midlands Study Leave Team to ensure your request can be actioned as speedily as possible. Please complete one form per activity. If there are any expenses associated to your activity, please ensure that you list them in the form.
The study leave process provides a mechanism by which postgraduate doctors, dentists, and learners can appeal against a decision where they have evidence that:
- the process that led to the decision was not followed correctly;
- or that there appeared to be bias, resulting in unfair treatment;
- or that new information has been made available that was not known at the time of the original decision and may have influenced the outcome.
Please note that appeals only for the above grounds will be reviewed in this process. You cannot appeal just because you did not like the decision, you must have grounds for appeal. Any appeals submitted without evidence for the selected grounds of appeal will not be considered.
Appeals will be triaged by the East Midlands Study Leave Officer to determine if the request can be managed administratively. If it cannot, the appeal will be reviewed by the Medical and Dental Future Workforce (MDFW) Senior Programme Manager, and the Associate Postgraduate Dean (APD) for study leave.
Appeals against the decision of the MDFW Senior Programme Manager and/or the APD will be reviewed by an appropriate panel in line with NHS England's National Study Leave Appeal Process, which will include the Postgraduate Dean or a delegate, a Head of School (HoS)/Training Programme Director (TPD), postgraduate doctor/dentist/learner representative, and a member of NHS England's Medical and Dental Future Workforce Team.
Medical Training Initiative (MTI) study leave, and NHSE East Midlands
Overseas doctors/dentists appointed through the MTI scheme are the responsibility of their employing Trust, in line with Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AOMRC) guidance.
However, NHS England East Midlands provides limited support to facilitate access to training:
MTI doctors/dentists have equivalent access to training opportunities funded/provided/procured by NHSE East Midlands for Schools/training programmes, except where this would disadvantage substantive trainees (i.e. where there are limited delegate places available) or where it is inappropriate for non-training doctors.
Where applicable, places on such activities can be booked on Course Manager.
Managing study leave, and funding any associated costs for NHS England activities is the responsibility of the employing Trust. MTI appointees will not receive access to Accent Leave Manager.
Any additional study leave activities (ie non-NHS England East Midlands activities) are funded and supported at the Trust’s discretion, and NHS England will not provide support.
