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Paediatric Awards For Training Achievements (PAFTA)

Committees team
The national PAFTA celebrates outstanding contributions to paediatric training across the UK each year. Overseen by RCPCH, the award recognises excellence in three categories: Core Trainee, Specialty Trainee and Educational Supervisor. The 2027 round will open on 2 November 2026.
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About

The PAFTA process is delivered in two stages:

  • The regional PAFTA process is coordinated by deaneries or schools. Anyone within a region can nominate individuals for the award categories available locally. If you would like to nominate someone, please contact your local deanery or school for details.
  • The national PAFTA process is managed by RCPCH and are open exclusively to regional winners. Submissions must be made by Heads of Schools or Trainees Committee regional representatives only.

Each deanery across the UK may submit one regional winner per category: Core Trainee, Specialty Trainee and Educational Supervisor.

These regional winners are then entered into the national process run by the College. The submissions for regional winners are scored by two panels in the national review process: National Panel and RCPCH &Us panel.

The 15 Regional Deaneries and Schools
  • East Midlands
  • East of England
  • Kent, Surrey and Sussex
  • London
  • North East, including north Cumbria
  • North West: North Western
  • North West: Mersey
  • Northern Ireland
  • Scotland
  • South West*
  • Thames Valley
  • Wales
  • Wessex
  • West Midlands
  • Yorkshire and the Humber

* Please note: The two former South West regions (Peninsula and Severn) have now merged under the South West School. Therefore, only one submission per award category will be accepted from the South West region.

PAFTA winners

Submitting to the national PAFTA (opens 2 November 2026)

Each year we invite Heads of Schools and RCPCH Trainees Committee regional representatives to submit their regional PAFTA winners to RCPCH for consideration in the national award.

Submissions for the 2027 PAFTA will open on 2 November 2026 at 12:00 and close on 1 February 2027 at 12:00.

For reference, you can download our guidance and vocabulary guide below. If you have any questions, contact us on awards@rcpch.ac.uk.

Changes to the national PAFTA process as of the 2026 round

We made updates in response to feedback from the regional teams over previous years. Here's a summary:

  • Submission questions: The number of questions in the submission form was reduced from four to two. The revised questions are designed to be more focused and avoid repetition. The same set of questions applies across all award categories, which ensures consistency in the review process.
  • Category names: To align with Progress+, we updated the names of the award categories:
    • Core Trainee (previously Junior Trainee) – ST1-4
    • Specialty Trainee (previously Senior Trainee) – ST5-7
    • Educational Supervisor (unchanged