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2021 Curriculum (2025 update)

27/05/2025

RCEM is in the process of updating the 2021 Curriculum and are working with the General Medical Council to have the proposed changes approved and implemented in August 2025.

The changes follow consultation with various groups, including resident doctors in training and trainers. The aim of these changes is for resident doctors in training, and their supervisors, to have greater clarity of expectations and improved options for learning and assessment.

Full guidance will be published following approval from the GMC. Changes to assessment requirements will not be applied retrospectively.

The changes consist of corrections, updates and re-arrangements, plus some broadening of options within the Programmes of Learning and Assessment and changes in emphasis on certain elements.

The underlying clinical syllabus and overall curriculum structure remain unaltered as does the structure of training in Emergency Medicine.

Below you will find some more information about the changes and full transition

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this with a member of the College’s Training Team please email – training@rcem.ac.uk

Please read for further details on the transition and summary of changes.

+ Transition

Transition 

Acute Care Common Stem (ACCS)   

All doctors currently in ACCS training will transition to the updated curriculum in August 2025. 

 Intermediate and Higher   

Most doctors currently in Intermediate and Higher training will transition to the updated curriculum in August 2025.  

The only group not expected to move to the updated curriculum is those who, at the implementation date of August 2025 have less than or equal to six months (whole time equivalent) training time remaining before they achieve their Certificate of Completion of Training 

Consideration will also be given to doctors in training who are out of programme or who are on leave at the point of implementation and to retrospective recognition of experience. 

Full transition guidance will be published following approval from the GMC and changes to assessment requirements will not be applied retrospectively. 

+ Summary of changes

ACCS

LO5 & LO7 – Sedation 

  • Assessment of sedation will be moved from ACCS LO7 (Anaesthetic Care) to ACCS LO5 (ACCS Procedural Skills) in order to increase opportunities and be of greater relevance to EM trainees. 
  • In keeping with the other practical skills, sedation will be able to be assessed in any or all of the four ACCS placements with final entrustment level awarded at the end of the two years of ACCS

Intermediate and Higher

SLO5 – Adolescent Care Inclusion 

  • Adolescents and their specific issues were missing from the curriculum, which is now being corrected without altering the clinical syllabus. 

SLO5 – Paediatric Resuscitation Consistency 

  • The current Key Capabilities for SLO5 lack detail on resuscitation/severe illness content found in SLO3 (Adult Resuscitation). 
  • The update will ensure consistency by adding the same relevant Key Capabilities and associated Descriptors. 

SLO6 – Clarification of Adult Sedation Requirements 

  • Adult sedation, already required at Intermediate and Higher levels in SLO6, was omitted from the progression standards table. The change will formally include it, reinforcing existing practice without altering expectations. 

SLO6 – Supporting Assessment of Practical Skills 

  • Doctors in training find it challenging to evidence competency in some SLO6 procedures due to limited assessment options and opportunities. 
  • The update expands assessment flexibility by increasing options while maintaining training standards. 
  • Updated guidance will be linked directly to the SLO6 section on the RCEM curriculum website to make it more accessible than at present. 

 SLO11 – Revised Quality Improvement Assessment Tool (QIAT) 

  • The existing QIAT is outdated, tied to the now-obsolete FRCEM QIP assessment. 
  • The revised QIAT form is broader in scope, aligns with recent AOMRC guidance and facilitates capturing a wider range of QI activities. 

SLO12 – Refining Leadership & Management Terminology 

  • SLO12 title changed from “Manage, administer and lead” to “Lead and manage” to emphasise leadership over administration. 

SLO12 – Strengthening Leadership Focus in Training 

  • The current Key Capabilities for SLO12 focus on management tasks, lacking elements relating to leadership, values, behaviour and culture. 
  • The update adds two new Key Capabilities with associated Descriptors, addressing GMC survey and PIPP study findings on its importance in EM training. 

 SLO12 – Management activities 

  • The options for evidencing particular management activities are being broadened to become less prescriptive about exactly which type of activity and at what stage in training. 

SLO12 – Leadership Assessment Tool (LAT) 

  • NHS Leadership Academy recommends self-reflection and PDP-setting as a foundation for leadership skills. 
  • Relevant EM Leaders framework elements are now explicitly listed on the updated QIAT form rather than just linked. 

Generic SLOs – Guidance 

  • Updated guidance is being produced to support the learning and assessment of the four generic SLOs. 
  • This guidance will be linked directly to the relevant SLO on the RCEM curriculum website to make it more accessible than at present. 

Generic SLOs – Entrustment Rating Requirements 

  • The requirements to meet “satisfactory/good” and “excellent” are being clarified for all stages of EM training. 

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this with a member of the College’s Training Team please email – training@rcem.ac.uk  

2021 Curriculum

The General Medical Council (GMC), in its 2017 report ‘Excellence by Design’ has stated that the curricula for all medical specialties must be revised by 2021. The revised curricula must:

  • introduce Generic Professional Capabilities
  • be structured round a limited number of ‘Specialty Learning Outcomes’ – activities that describe the work of an independent clinician in each particular discipline
  • demonstrate stakeholder involvement in developing curricula
  • reduce assessment burden and avoid a ‘tick-box’ approach

We have received final approval from the GMC for the submitted curriculum for 2021. The Curriculum Sub-Committee would like to thank all those in the wider EM community who fed in to the development by answering surveys, asking questions of the team, and providing feedback. The 2021 Curriculum is available in an interactive format via the bespoke RCEMCurriculum website.

A PDF version of the 2021 EM Curriculum is also now available for download.

See also the RCEM 2021 Curriculum Ultrasound Education & Training.

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