NHS Scotland Medical Workforce Centre

What is the Portfolio Pathway?

The Portfolio Pathway allows doctors to demonstrate that they have the knowledge, skills and experience required to practise as a UK specialist or GP, even though they have not completed a GMC‑approved training programme.

🎥 Watch the CWS Medical Network Learning Session 19 recording for more essential essential information on Portfolio Pathway.

Supporting Doctors’ Development Through the Portfolio Pathway

The GMC is clear that employers have a role to play in supporting doctors’ professional development and progression. This includes:

Supporting the Portfolio Pathway aligns with good workforce planning, clinical governance and the long‑term sustainability of NHS services.

• dedicated protected time to collect evidence, reflect on their practice and engage in ongoing professional development.
• access to the right clinical opportunities to progress, including independent or near‑independent practice and clinics, lists and on‑call duties that match the expectations of their specialty. This may require additional period(s) of training in a different department or hospital base or Health Board to gain the required competencies.
• opportunities to take part in core governance activities—such as audit, QI and M&M—and to contribute to teaching, supervision and leadership as part of their professional development.

Verifying Evidence

Training and experience evidence must be verified by someone in a medical supervisory role, such as a consultant, who:

• works at the hospital where the training or experience took place
• must be able to confirm that it’s a true and accurate record.
• must be available for GMC to be able to contact in the 3-6 months after the applicant submits their evidence.

This is done using an electronic Pro-forma, available for download from GMC website; only one pro-forma can be provided by each hospital/ institution

Completing Structured Supervisor Reports

Structured reports often require supervisors to comment on the doctor’s level of autonomy and supervision, breadth and depth of clinical practice, professionalism, leadership and governance involvement.

Reports should:

• Be completed by someone with direct knowledge of the doctor’s work
• Reflect current or recent practice
• Avoid advocacy or assurance language, focusing instead on clear professional judgement

Acting as Referees

Referees are contacted directly by the GMC and asked to corroborate the doctor’s experience, competence and performance. They'll also be asked to provide an independent, factual account of their knowledge of the doctor’s work.

Supporting doctors through the Portfolio Pathway is an important part of workforce development and good clinical governance. The GMC expects employers to take an active, proportionate and transparent approach to this support.

What employers should understand

When an NHS Board supports a Portfolio Pathway application, it is important to be clear that:

• Support does not guarantee success
  Supporting a doctor confirms that their role, experience and evidence are accurate. Final decisions about specialist or GP registration are made independently by the GMC and the relevant Royal College, on whether the individual meets the required knowledge, skills and experience on the basis of the evidence submitted.
• Honest and accurate reporting is essential
  Supervisor reports, referee statements and evidence verification must reflect observed practice and professional judgement. This protects patients and maintains the integrity of the regulatory process.
• Portfolio Pathway sits within existing governance structures
  Support for Portfolio Pathway applications should be embedded within established clinical governance, appraisal, supervision and educational frameworks, rather than being treated as a standalone or informal process.

To provide consistent, high‑quality support, NHS Health Boards may find it helpful to:

Identify a named Portfolio Pathway lead for SAS

This helps provide a clear point of contact for doctors, supervisors and workforce teams.  There should also be a Health board-based SAS Education Adviser.

SAS funding may be available to support specific aspects of training for those Specialty or Specialist doctors in substantive posts who can otherwise demonstrate their knowledge, skills and experience; but who have specific, defined gaps in their competencies which need to be achieved before making their final Portfolio submission.

Align support with existing processes

Where possible, Portfolio Pathway activity should align with job planning, annual appraisal, and revalidation, reducing duplication and ensuring coherence.

Ensure internal teams understand the process

HR, Medical Staffing, Clinical Directors and Educational Leads should have a shared understanding of the overall Portfolio Pathway timeline, supervisor and referee responsibilities and the distinction between employer support and GMC decision-making.

This approach helps ensure that Portfolio Pathway support is fair, transparent and sustainable, while meeting regulatory expectations and organisational workforce priorities.