Foundation Programme SJT Preparation Course

Course Details

All our courses for FPAS 2019 are finished. We will have courses for FPAS 2020 starting from October 2019.

If you are sitting the SJT in January 2019, you can purchase access to the video recording of the course we ran in November 2018 for £89. You will receive instant access for 14 days. Includes FREE access to 125 Foundation SJT questions to practise afterwards (worth £20).



Key Points:

• Intensive preparation for the Foundation Programme Situational Judgement Test
• Key tips and techniques to boost your SJT score and help you get one of your top choices
• Understand the SJT domains and attributes being tested
• Comprehensive coverage of the FP Situational Judgement Test
• Both sections covered: ranking and selection SJTs
• Includes details of all the new format ranking and selection subtype questions - fully updated for 2019 entry
• Key topics for the SJT exam - GMC guidance, ethics, confidentiality, consent, capacity
• Realistic mock Situational Judgement Test with detailed explanations
• All questions on the course specifically targeted to the Foundation SJT competencies
• All questions are unique to this course - not available online or in any books
• Ideal for final year medical students who want to boost their SJT exam scores for FP 2019 entry
• 9.30am - 5.30pm
• FREE access to our online Foundation SJT revision service after the course - 125 SJT questions with detailed explanations (usually £20)

This intensive 1 day course is dedicated to helping you boost your scores in the Foundation Programme Situational Judgement Test.

We have helped students from every UK medical school prepare for the SJT since 2012, with excellent results.

In 2018, they reported a mean SJT score of 42.37 - way above the national average! This meant that 98% got a place in one of their top 3 choices. We also have a lot of high scorers - 11.8% scored 46.00 or over. Our best performer in 2018 was Sarah Levy, who scored 49.16 SJT points!


in 2017, our mean was 42.40 (6.6% above the national mean), and 97% got a top 3 choice, 10.9% scored 46.00 or over, compared to 4.4% nationally.

in 2016, our mean was 41.75 (8.5% above the national mean), and 94% got a top 3 choice. 6.2% scored 46.00 or over compared to 1.2% nationally.

In 2015, our mean was 40.96 (6.4% above the national mean), and 93% got a top 3 choice. 5..7% scored 45.01 or over compared to 2% nationally.

In 2014, our mean was 41.5 (6.5% above the national mean), and >91% got a top 3 choice. 7.0% scored 45.01 or over compared to 4% nationally.



The course covers key theory as well as important tips and techniques to help you boost your SJT score. We hope this will maximise your chances of getting your first choice Foundation Programme / Foundation School for FP2019.

This course is aimed at final year medical students at any university applying for entry in the UK Foundation Programme 2019 - you will be sitting the SJT exam in December 2018 or January 2019. The course covers:

Situational Judgement Tests in Foundation Programme Entry - Background, development, piloting for Foundation programme entry. How your SJT score is calculated / used. Why the SJT score is more important than your EPM in ranking.

Key Theory and Techniques for SJT exams - Key attributes and domains tested in the Foundation SJT exam. Differences in how to approach ranking SJT questions vs. selection SJT questions. Understanding how the SJT exam is marked. Key tips and techniques to boost your scores.

Core Knowledge for the FY1 SJT - Medical ethics, confidentiality, capacity, consent, GMC Good Medical Practice, child protection, raising concerns, prescribing, end of life care and advance directives, Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) orders, personal beliefs and medical practice, maintaining boundaries. Fully updated to take account of changes to GMC guidance in 2017 and the recently updated DNAR and consent guidance.

SJT Mini Mock Exam Mock SJT paper with the same timings per question as the real exam. This includes both ranking and selection questions in the same proportion as the real exam. Detailed answers and explanations with discussion of WHY the best responses are correct, mapped to the Foundation Programme SJT attributes / person specification. All questions have been written specifically for the Foundation SJT exam in the same way as the real SJT questions - with a consensus panel including a subject matter expert (SME).

Questions and Answers - Dedicated question and answer session on SJT questions and Foundation programme entry. 1 to 1 clinic at the end of the day if you wish to discuss anything privately.



The course will be taught by Dr Mahibur Rahman - the author of the first article on Situational Judgement Tests in medical recruitment (Tackling Situational Judgement Tests - BMJ Careers 2007). Dr Rahman is a Portfolio GP and a consultant in medical education - he is an expert in medical careers, and has taught over 29,000 delegates since 2005.

We are experts in helping people improve their performance in medical SJT exams - our SRA Crammer course has featured comprehensive teaching on the Situational Judgement Tests used for GP ST Entry since 2007, and we were the first to offer a dedicated Situational Judgement Test online revision service. We have helped doctors succeed in SJT exams for GP entry in the UK and Australia, Public Health specialty training recruitment and Core Medical Training. Since 2012, we helped students from every UK medical school as well as several international graduates succeed in the Foundation SJT and enter Foundation training 2013-2017, with the majority getting one of their top choices.

Course Programme

09.30 Registration
09:45 Welcome and Introduction
09.50 Foundation Programme Entry - SJT overview
10.00 Key Techniques for SJT exams
11.30 Break for Refreshments
11.45 Core knowledge for the FY1 SJT
13.00 Lunch Break*
13.50 Situational Judgement Test Mini Mock Exam
14.40 SJT Mock: Answers, explanations and feedback Part 1
15.45 Break for Refreshments
16.00 SJT Mock: Answers, explanations and feedback Part 2
17.15 Questions and Answers
17.25 Summary and final tips
17.30 Close

*Please note that lunch will not be provided. There are local eateries nearby, or you will be able to bring your own lunch. There will be refreshments available at registration and at the breaks.

Course Feedback

Here is some feedback from our Foundation SJT Prep Course:

"Great course all around and very professional. Expert speaker and good questions. Would definitely recommend to colleagues in the years below me."

"Structured approach and explanation to the SJT"

"Very informative. Helpful to understand why the order was as it was. Speaker was funny and had my concentration the whole way through, which is a great achievement! Good to practice the questions using the actual grids."

"Mock exam was really helpful. Speaker took time to explain every answers & he was really funny hence the talk wasn't that dry."

Very professional, concise, everything you need to know, practice paper plus booklet and questions to take away and do at home.

I B - Leeds 2019 Entry (46.118)

Good examples. Clear structure. Good tips. Engaging.

N P - St George's University of London 2019 Entry (46.166)

Good introduction, clearly outlining the key principles/contents for the exam and then good exam advice tips!

S M - Sheffield 2019 Entry (45.877)

General overview of questions and how to answer them. The explanation of how the scoring worked was very useful. The practice paper at the end was also confidence boosting.

T C - Leeds 2019 Entry (45.6)

Whilst Oxford was my first choice deanery, I actually accepted an academic foundation training post in the NW Thames region. However, I'm still very pleased I attended the course as my SJT score would have given me an overall EPM of 91.58, which would comfortably have allowed me to rank jobs in the Oxford deanery confidently. Dr Rahman you spoke and taught with so much energy throughout the day. It really helps, particularly since the topics covered by the SJT are not necessarily what all medical students find interesting.

P S - University of Manchester 2019 Entry (44.580)

Found the course useful and the past paper particularly good.

F K - King's College London 2019 Entry (44.125)

Good use of questions and examples. The course leader was very good at explaining rationale behind answers.

I H - University of Leeds 2019 Entry (43.678)

Really happy with the course and how it all turned out. I doubt I would have gotten into Scotland if my SJT score hadn't been high and it was only because of your brilliant course.

S M - Edinburgh 2019 Entry (43.057)

Wonderful course, great starting point for anyone who doesn't know what they're doing and isn't sure how to start SJT revision.

B A - St George's 2019 Entry (43.55)

Questions were useful and resources received were excellent. The tips we received were extremely beneficial and transferrable to the exam.

S J - St George's University of London 2019 Entry (43.058)

Run by an actual doctor with a wealth of experience in the process and subject matter. He approached the sjt from a pragmatic and logical perspective and his aim throughout was not some nebulous "make us better doctors" nonsense, but purely to help us get the best results possible by playing the game. Best SJT investment I made without a doubt and will 100% recommend to everyone in the years below.

E M - Glasgow 2019 Entry (43)

Very engaging speaker!! Also, good to have access to practice questions as well as a mock exam where we worked through the answers.

J R - UCL 2019 Entry (42.749)

Excellent course, I'm very pleased to have taken it. I got a solid score and into my top foundation school! Excellent presentation of general strategy and big picture information, then combined with lots of practice questions and explanations. The practice papers with written feedback was very helpful.

M P - St George's, University of London 2019 Entry (42.523)

Very well organized. Knowledgeable presenter who kept the course interesting for the whole day.

M L - Cardiff University 2019 Entry (42.282)

Really well organised. Speaker was clear in his explanations and engaging. The tips for the SJT were handy and helped me in my approach to the exam as well as preparation!

A D - UEA 2019 Entry (42.236)

The presenter provided very clear explanations behind the orders for the answers.

S D - King's college London 2019 Entry (42)

Thank you for helping me! I liked learning the different techniques of thinking to answer the questions and it wasn't boring at all!

M B - Kings college London 2019 Entry (40.7)

Very well organised and well-structured questions on the day.

R S - St. Georges medical school 2019 Entry (40)

Got my first ranked job! Went into the sjt feeling confident on how to answer the questions and knowing how to approach each question. Loved being an ambassador for you. Course covered all basis of the exam including exam technique and where to get information from.

V A - Hull York medical school 2019 Entry (40)

Thank you! Don't think I would have got this score without the course.

K - Aberdeen 2019 Entry (42.294)

I got 40.126 in the exam, which I think is much more than I would've got if I didn't attend the course. The course helped pick at difficult topics and open up my mind about how to think about questions from outside the box. I also got into my first choice! Which was really surprising, as I studied medicine abroad in the UAE and I know typically IMG's don't do as well.

J S - Gulf Medical University, Ajman, UAE 2019 Entry (40.126)

Having graduated outside of the U.K, I had no idea about what SJT was. Attending Emedica course was the best thing I did in preparations for sjt. The course gave me a clear idea of what is, what to do in preparation and what not to do. It was very useful indeed. So, thank you very much, I got allocated to my first preference programme.

A P - Comenius University, Slovakia 2019 Entry (40.201)

I left this course feeling really disheartened because I didn't do very well in the mock at the end of the day. But it made me work a lot harder in the few weeks after before the exam, and I used the techniques and the online resources provided, and it clearly helped a lot because I did much better in the real thing.

P R - Barts and the London 2019 Entry (40.695)

Excellent first session explaining the theory, question types and strategy for question answering Knowledgeable speaker gave personal advice and professional help. Really useful

M D - St George's 2019 Entry (39)

I am happy I took the course, it really helped my SJT score. I was previously fully not aware of how the test works but this course gave me a foundation to work with. Thank you

T T - South Thames 2019 Entry (36.309)

Great course, thank you very much! Helped me secure my first choice Deanery

S L - University of Glasgow 2018 Entry (49.160)

Plenty of worked examples of SJT questions and explanations of all the domains. It really got me thinking about how to answer the questions, how to identify the key themes and also the layout of the exam and answer sheet which prior to this course I was completely unfamiliar with!

A C - Leeds University Medical School 2018 Entry (48.575)

Very interactive and well-organised. The booklets given were useful and doing practice paper and going through answers was helpful.

D E - University of Scotland 2018 Entry (46.166)

Clear, concise and organised. Good starting point to help with my preparation for the SJT

D G - University of Leeds 2018 Entry (46.035)

'The explanation of the different exam sections and the rationale behind these was really helpful. The practice questions were brilliant, and the booklet provided was also really useful.

S W - Cardiff University 2018 Entry (46.026)

It was well structured, concise and covered the main topics.

University of Bristol 2018 Entry (44.9)

A brilliant course everyone should take. It goes beyond the generic outline of general tips for the SJT and actually shows you how the examiners think and the strategy of thinking of the scenario as a real life situation. I also liked that we went through a difficult mock exam together because it allowed us to see the gaps in our knowledge. Great course.

N - Imperial College London 2018 Entry (44.822)

I scored 44.148. I'm so happy with this and would like to thank you for all your help. I would really recommend the course to my peers in the year below. I found it useful to go on the course at the beginning of my SJ preparation as it allowed me to guide the rest of my studies.

L K - Foundation SJT 2018 Entry (44.148)

The questions were great and doing a timed practice exam really did put the pressure on and made me consider how it was going to be on the actual exam day. Dr Rahman was engaging and had great tips that made me think about scenarios in a different way.

K S - University of Liverpool 2018 Entry (43.823)

Very good practical advice that was so helpful and the speaker was very effective.

A D - University of Southampton 2018 Entry (43.778)

Alhamdulillah I managed to score 43.236 this year. I managed to get my first-choice deanery, Birmingham. I wanted to thank you and your team for providing such a fantastic course. It really is an amazing course, that has no doubt helped hundreds of students over the years.

N C - Foundation SJT 2018 Entry (43.236)

The run through of common pitfalls in common scenarios was great. Having a strategy for approaching all of the different styles of question was really useful in the exam. Thanks!

A C - Foundation SJT 2018 Entry (42.5)

The whole structure was very systematic and made sense. Excellent day!

A B - Sheffield 2018 Entry (42.09)

I liked the tips given on how to approach the exam and the quality of the questions was excellent.

M A - North west of England 2018 Entry (41.069)

The session was very interactive and the speaker was able to engage with the students well.

N M - South Thames 2018 Entry (40)

The course had great content and was delivered very well. I really valued the discussion of rationale behind correct answers. The mock test was very useful and all the PowerPoint slides that were given to us as a handout were great as well.

Y S - Glasgow Medical School 2018 Entry (35.803)