Submissions to the 2026 national PAFTA will open at 12:00, 2 November 2025. We will invite Heads of Schools and Trainees Committee regional representatives to submit their regional winners.
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 16 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 Norther
- Ireland
- Scotland
- South West: Peninsula
- South West: Severn
- Thames Valley
- Wales
- Wessex
- West Midlands
- Yorkshire and the Humber
Submitting to the national PAFTA - next opens on 2 November
Each year, Heads of Schools and RCPCH Trainees Committee regional representatives are invited to submit their regional PAFTA winners to RCPCH for consideration in the national award.
The submissions window for the 2025 national PAFTA closed on 6 January 2025 at 17:00 and it will open for the 2026 round on 2 November 2025 at 12:00.
Download our guidance and vocabulary guide below. If you have any questions, contact us on awards@rcpch.ac.uk.
Changes to national PAFTA
We are making updates to the national PAFTA process in response to feedback gathered from the regional teams over the past few years. Full details are available in our guidance, but here is a summary of the key changes:
- Submission questions: The number of questions in the submission form has been reduced from four to two. The revised questions are designed to be more focused and avoid repetition. Please note that the same set of questions will apply across all award categories, ensuring consistency in the review process.
- Category names: To align with Progress+, we have updated the names of the award categories to ensure greater clarity and consistency. These updates reflect the same paediatric training levels, now with clearer terminology:
- Core Trainee (previously Junior Trainee) – ST1-4
- Specialty Trainee (previously Senior Trainee) – ST5-7
- Educational Supervisor remains unchanged
- Timeline: RCPCH Conference, where national winners are awarded, will take place on 11–13 May 2026, later than in previous years. As a result, the submission timeline has shifted:
- Opens: 2 November 2025 at 12:00
- Closes: 2 February 2026 at 17:00