Updated for 2024 Applicants

Northern Ireland Foundation School is run by Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency.

Belfast City Hospital is a 900-bed teaching hospital with regional cancer & renal focus, Ulster Hospital is the regional centre for plastic & max-fax surgery, Royal Victoria is the regional specialist in infectious disease and Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children is the only paediatric-only hospital in Northern Ireland. Belfast is very social, with a great nightlife, food culture and fascinating arts scene, including the Titanic Belfast & Ulster
Museum.

For a quieter, more rural life, there are several district general hospitals such as those based in the coastal town of Derry, and the inland towns of Enniskillen and Newry. These are within 90 minutes travel to Belfast via a good train & road network.

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Foundation School Statistics

2023 F1 Places: 284
2023 F1 Applicants: 266
2023 Competition Ratio: 0.94

2022 F1 Places: 238
2022 F1 Applicants: 202
2022 Competition Ratio: 0.85

2021 F1 Places: 236
2021 F1 Applicants: 185
2021 Competition Ratio: 0.78

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Below is an interactive bar chart displaying the competition ratios, and the number of posts over the past 5 years.
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How Does Northern Ireland Compare To Other Foundation Schools?

Check out our article "What are the most competitive foundations schools?" for a full breakdown.

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Hospitals, Rotation Scores, CQC Ratings

In the chart below you'll find a list of hospitals attached to the Northern Ireland Foundation School, and an average of their Rotation Scores from Messly’s Training Navigator. Each rotation is given a score out of 100, which is based on a weighted average of ratings given by Foundation Trainees in the 2023 GMC NTS. The national average Rotation Score is 57 for reference.

Colours correspond to the latest CQC rating of that hospital.

Disclaimer: Please note that hospitals are unscored when there are insufficient responses by Foundation Trainees to the GMC’s NTS survey.

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Need Help Ranking Your Foundation Programmes?

Rank your Foundation Programme rotations with confidence with Messly’s Training Navigator. See how rotations are rated by last year’s foundation trainees to make smarter decisions about where you’ll spend your Foundation Training.

You can use it to answer questions like:‍

👉  Which are the best-rated and worst-rated rotations in my Foundation School?
👉  How do the rotations compare for Workload, Learning and Satisfaction?
👉  Which is the best hospital for my favourite specialties?
👉  Within a hospital, which rotations are best-rated?

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