Research centres
Institute of Medical, Biomedical and Allied Health Education (IMBAE)
  1. Centre for Biomedical Education
  2. Centre for Clinical Education
  3. Centre for Allied Health
  4. Education life
  1. Physician Associate Section
Medical, Biomedical and Allied Health Education (IMBAE)

Attendance

Secondary Care

Secondary care placements

In Year 2 secondary care placements, students will attend clinical placement full-time for 42 weeks (excluding holidays), with approximately every third Monday back in the university for small group discussion and revision sessions designed to complement clinical placements. 32/40 weeks is spent in secondary care.

Students will attend each core specialty as follows:

  • AMU: 9 weeks
  • ED: 6 weeks
  • COTE, Mental Health, OBGYN, Paeds, Surgery and elective: 3 weeks

Guidance on attendance

Students should attend placement 5 days per week, for a minimum of 7 hours per day (excluding breaks). We encourage students to discuss their start and finish times with their appointed supervisor at the beginning of placement to establish a regular pattern of attendance and to ensure learning opportunities are maximised.

Students must ensure they have appropriate supervision in place if they are attending outside of core working hours. If students are working directly with a supervisor, they may be expected to follow their shift pattern. This is reasonable, if the student is working sensible hours and evenly distributing these hours across the week.

Students should evidence their attendance clearly on their Attendance Log and add notes to clarify or explain absences, which should be verified by the supervisor (or delegated supervisor). Daily sign-off is required and can be completed by senior members of the clinical team, however overall placement sign-off must be undertaken by the supervisor.

Absences

If a student is unwell and cannot attend their placement, they are required to email their supervisor (including other relevant members of the clinical team) and PA_CP@sgul.ac.uk by 9am on the day affected. Please contact the university if the student has reported an absence directly to you, without notifying PA_CP@sgul.ac.uk, as this is considered a professionalism issue.

Absences will be monitored on a termly basis and any student who has consistent periods of absence will be required to meet with the placements team, as a supportive measure. If you have any concerns regarding a student absence/s, please do contact us as a priority.

Missed days may be remediated (such as attendance at weekends if feasible and/or agreed by the designated supervisor), however if the period of absence is significant, the student should discuss what is achievable with their Clinical Supervisor and the placements team. The result of this will be reflected in the Clinical Placement Assessment completed at the end of the placement by the Clinical Supervisor.

If a student has experienced considerable absences and has not adequately demonstrated their clinical competency, they may fail the placement. This will be left to the discretion of their Clinical Supervisor. If the supervisor feels the student has not met the minimum competencies outlined in the Clinical Placement Assessment due to absence, they will be expected to repeat the placement in full, during the elective block at the end of the academic year. This means that there is only one opportunity for students to mitigate and repeat a failed placement.

General Practice

Year 1

In Year 1, students are expected to attend the practice every Wednesday during the following placement blocks:

  • Wednesday 12 November - Wednesday 17 December 2025
  • Wednesday 4 February - Wednesday 10 June 2026

Students are expected to attend for a minimum of 7 hours (excluding breaks) during their GP and should not attend at any other time, unless by mutual agreement between student, supervisor and university staff. As per the PAPER A module, students are required to maintain attendance on placement of 90% and above. If any student falls below this threshold, they should contact the practice to arrange remedial days to compensate for absences.

During these placement blocks, students also have the opportunity to attend a singular placement at the Urgent Care Service at East Surrey Hospital for either a morning or afternoon. Your student will advise when this has been scheduled, as they will be unable to attend their GP placement on this date.

Year 2

In Year 2, students will attend clinical placement full-time for 42 weeks (excluding holidays), with approximately every third Monday back in the university for small group discussion and revision sessions designed to complement clinical placements. They will return to their GP placement for a period of 9 weeks and attend full-time, Monday to Friday.

Students are expected to attend their placement five days per week, with the exception of university holidays, Bank Holidays, study days and exams. As per the PAPER B attendance requirements, students are expected to attend 100% of the time. However, where students may have absences due to ill health or other circumstances, they must achieve above 90% attendance in total on these placement days to pass PAPER B.

In order to meet the required outcomes of the programme, we recommend that students aim to complete a minimum of 35 hours per week or 30 hours if the week is impacted by a university study day, exam or Bank Holiday, with attendance Monday - Friday. How these hours are structured daily can be established between supervisor and GP Supervisor.

Students cannot compress hours and should expect to attend 5 days per week.

Guidance on attendance

Attendance should be evidenced via completion of an Attendance Log. It is the student’s responsibility to seek supervisor sign-off. If the supervisor is unavailable, sign-off can be delegated to another GP who can verify attendance.

Absences

If a student is unwell and cannot attend their placement, they are required to email their supervisor (including other relevant members of the practice team) and PA_CP@sgul.ac.uk by 9am on the day affected. Please contact the university if the student has reported an absence directly to you, without notifying PA_CP@sgul.ac.uk, as this is considered a professionalism issue.

Absences will be monitored on a termly basis and any student who has consistent periods of absence will be required to meet with the placements team, as a supportive measure. If you have any concerns regarding a student absence/s, please do contact us as a priority.

Missed days may be remediated (such as attendance at weekends or during holidays), however if the period of absence is significant, the student should discuss what is achievable with their GP supervisor and the placements team. The result of this will be reflected in Clinical Placement Assessment.

If a student has experienced considerable absences and has not adequately demonstrated their clinical competency during the placement, the supervisor may be required to fail the student. This will be at the discretion of their supervisor; however, we would encourage a discussion between practice and university staff so that we can ensure all options have been explored.