Frequently Asked Questions (Study Leave) | Health Education Yorkshire and Humber

Study Leave
for Postgraduate Doctors and Dentists in Training

This section provides information about study leave for resident doctors and dentists. The study leave framework is set out in the national study leave policy and the local study leave operational guidance, as well as the gold guide. Resident doctors and dentists are encouraged to familarise themselves with these documents and the pages in this section when planning study leave. Please ensure that you refer to the relevant resources before contacting NHS England or Medical Education.

Pages in this section:

Study Leave Overview | Frequently Asked Questions | ALM Applicant User Guide | ALM Approver User Guide | ALM Trust User Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I report a login error?

If ALM does not recognise your username or password, you may need to follow the instructions in the previous question - How do I change my ALM username or password? If you have followed the instructions to check your username and or change your password and those steps do not apply, please contact the NHSE Study Leave team for help.

My placement details / training grade in ALM are incorrect

Placement information in ALM (including training grade) feed from the NHSE Trainee Information System (TIS). Placements are managed by PGMDE schools. To request an update to your placement information in TIS, please contact your specialty school. ALM syncs with TIS overnight. If your placement is updated in TIS, it will appear in ALM the next day.

It is not always possible to record subspecialties in TIS/ALM and the parent specialty may be recorded instead. Please do not contact the team if the correct parent specialty is displayed.

ALM error message: 'No placements found for selected dates'

Placement information in ALM (including training grade) feed from the NHSE Trainee Information System (TIS). This error may indicate that the training placement related to your leave dates has not been added to TIS. If your leave dates relate to your current placement or you are due to start the relevant placement within the next 8 weeks, please contact your specialty school to request that the placement is added to TIS. ALM syncs with TIS overnight. If your placement is added to TIS, it will appear in ALM the next day.

Please note: When contacting your specialty school, please state clearly that you wish to update your placement details in TIS. The school admin team are not able to help with Accent Leave Manager itself. As future placements may not be not added to TIS / ALM until 12 weeks before the placement start date, please avoid contacting your specialty school until you are within 12 weeks of the next rotation start date.

Please also note: The start/end date for ALM applications must fall within the start/end dates of a single training placement. Applications cannot span two training placements. If you are rotating to a different trust, you will need to submit an application for each placement. Otherwise, please contact the NHSE Study Leave team for advice.

ALM error message: 'There are no approvers available for this placement'

Approval chains are maintained by the NHSE Study Leave team. Approval chains are based on placement data. Placement data is used to route applications to the correct approver. This error indicates that the approval chain needs to be updated before you can submit an application. Please contact the NHSE Study Leave team to ask for the approval chain to be updated. Please include the start/end date for your planned leave in your email. This will help us identify the placement that needs to be added to the approval chain.

ALM error message: 'No entitlements found...' or 'No budgets found for selected data'

Entitlements and budgets are maintained by the NHSE Study Leave team. This error indicates that the entitlement / budget relating to your application leave dates has not been imported to ALM. Please contact the NHSE Study Leave team to ask for your entitlement / budget to be added to ALM. Please include the start/end date for your planned leave in your email. This will help us identify the relevant entitlement / budget that needs to be imported to ALM.

ALM error message: 'An error has occurred with this command.'

This error normally indicates that invalid data has been entered in one of the fields in the event details section; typically when copying and pasting text from a course / conference website. This is because the text exceeds the character limit or contains invalid characters. If pasting text from another website, please check that only the relevant information is copied and that it is not unnecessarily long. Typing rather than copying the text or right clicking and selecting ‘paste as plain text’ may help.

Please note: The fields in the event details section of the application primarily exist to help the approver understand your request. When completing this section, consider the information that will be relevant to your approver / expense approver.

For example: Instead of copying the venue address, enter the venue name and city/town (eg 'Medical Education Centre, Hull' or 'Royal College of Surgeons, London'). Do not use the event details fields to add additional comments.

ALM will not allow me to add estimated expenses to my application

ALM is not optimised for mobile devices. Some ALM features do not work when accessing the site using a mobile browser. Specifically, the pop-up for adding estimated expenses does not work when accessing ALM using a mobile browser.

If you are accessing ALM using a mobile device, please use a desktop/laptop computer instead. ALM can be accessed using Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari on a Windows or Mac computer.

Please note: While expense claims are submitted after the event, expense claims will only be processed if estimated expenses were added at the time of application. So if you are having difficulty adding expenses, you should pause your application and ensure that you are able to add your estimated expenses before submitting.

How do I apply for an online self-paced course or resources?

Online self-paced courses or resources can be applied for in the same way as live online or in person courses. The two conisderations are the leave start/end dates and the entitlement days taken. If you intend to undertake the self-paced course in work time, please enter the dates that have been agreed with your rota coordinator. If you are undertaking the self-paced course in your own time, please enter the date you intend to register for the course and adjust the entitlement days taken as appropriate.

How do I apply for a higher education course?

When submitting study leave application(s) for higher education courses (eg PGCert or Masters), it will likely be necessary to submit a an application for the course fees and if applicable seperate applications for any study days or seminars.

Before submitting an application for higher education course fees, you will need to confirm how you will be invoiced by the institution. If the institution will invoice you per academic year, you will need to submit an application for each academic year. If the institution will invoice you per module, you will need to submit an application for each module.

When creating an application for course fees, please then use the start date of the academic year / module (as applicable) for both the leave start and end date. When entering the event name, please take care to indicate the relevant year or module (For example: 'PGCert Medical Education - Part Time Year 1' or 'PGCert Medical Education - Effective Learning and Teaching module'.). If the application is approved, a study leave expense claim can then be submitted after the academic year / module start date (as applicable).

My application has not been approved/declined, who do I contact?

While applications will typically be approved promptly, please allow approvers 14 days to approve/decline your application before following it up. If your application is not approved/declined within 14 days, please contact the approver directly in the first instance. If you do not receive a reply after contacting the approver directly, please contact Medical Education at your employing trust for help.

I forgot to add estimated expenses to my application

If intending to claim study leave expenses after the event, estimated expenses must be included on the application at the time of submission. Expense claims will only be processed, if estimated expenses were added at the time of submission.

If you forgot to add estimated expenses when submitting your application, you will need to contact Medical Education at your employing trust with a breakdown of the relevant expenses (eg course fees, milage, public transport, accomodation). This may only be done before the date of the course / conference. If the application has already been approved, the agreement of the origional approver will be needed before any missing / additional expense items can be added.

How do I cancel an application?

If you are not able to attend a course / conference for which you have applied or the event is cancelled, cancelling the application helps to ensure that your entitlement days and budget are record correctly. If you need to cancel an application, you can do so before the date of course / conference. To cancel an application:

Go to My Applications in the Navigation Menu,
Click on the relevant application to open it
Scroll to the bottom of the page
and then click Cancel Application

If the course / conference date has passed, you will need to email Medical Education at your employing trust to request the application is cancelled on your behalf.

Please note: Cancelled applications cannot be reinstated, so please be certain that you need to cancel your application before submitting the request.

How do I find information about the courses / conferences funded for my programme?

To ask about whether a specific course / conference can be supported or funded through study leave, please contact your Training Programme Director. Your TPD or specialty school should also be able to tell you about any school guidance regards preferred or expected courses for your programme or grade.

Please note: Individual study budgets no longer apply, all study leave applications are subject to approval by the TPD approver or Medical Education. TPD approvers will evaluate the educational appropriateness, quality and value for money of any course / conference applied for in relation to the overall school budget.

My entitlement or budget in ALM is incorrect

Entitlements and budgets are aligned to the financial year (1st April to 31st March) rather than the training year. This is because school budgets are allocated by financial year and this helps approvers and the school to evaluate projected / actual spend against the budget.

Entitlements on ALM reflect the default entitlement for doctors & dentists in training. Pro rata entitlements for less than full time and academic doctors & dentists are not reflected on ALM and they are expected to calculate their pro rata entitlement based on their WTE % and to check the calculation with their rota coordinator and Educational Supervisor.

As individual study budgets no longer apply, budgets on ALM appear as £0.00 and unlimited. However, school budgets are limited and TPD approvers will evaluate the educational appropriateness, quality and value for money of any course / conference applied for. Applicants should consider cost effect options when planning study leave.

If you believe that your entitlement or budget is recorded incorrectly on ALM, please contact the NHSE Study Leave team.

I am LTFT, how does this effect my study leave entitlement?

Less than full time (LTFT) doctors & dentists have equitable access to study leave funding and their entitlement is pro rata based on their WTE %. This calculation is not currently made in ALM. LTFT doctors & dentists are expected to calculate their pro rata entitlement and to check the calculation with their rota coordinator and Educational Supervisor.

I am on maternity or parental leave, how does this effect my study leave entitlement?

Per the Terms & Conditions for doctors & dentists in training, trainees on maternity or parental leave retain their entitlement to study leave and this may be taken during 'keeping in touch' days. Doctors & dentists on maternity or parental leave should apply for study leave in the usual way. Any keeping in touch days must be agreed in advance with Medical Staffing at the employing trust.

My rota coordinator has declined or cancelled my leave request

Before submitting an application on ALM, rota coordinator approval for the time off must be requested using the local trust process / e-roster. Rota coordinator approval must normally be requested at least eight weeks before the event. Request received within the 8 week notice period, will be considered at the discretion of the trust.

If rota coordinator approval has been declined, please contact your rota coordinator to identify a suitable opportunity to undertake the course or activity. If previously agreed study leave has been cancelled by the trust, please discuss this with your Educational Supervisor in the first instance or your TPD. Similarly, if you experience difficulty obtaining time off to undertake study leave, please contact your ES or TPD for support.

I am attending a course on a non-working day

Per the Terms and Conditions for doctors & dentists in training: “Study leave should be prospectively sought for all teaching, courses and educational opportunities that fall on non-working days, and where study leave approval is granted it must be compensated with TOIL*, or payment if the doctor prefers.” *TOIL = Time in Lieu of Leave.

Therefore applicants attending courses / conferences on a non-working day may contact Medical Staffing at their employing trust in advance of the event to discuss TOIL.

Alternatively, applicants attending courses / conferences on a non-working day who do not claim TOIL or payment for the hours, may adjust the 'number of days' taken against their study leave entitlement when creating their application on ALM.

How do I claim study leave expenses?

While study leave applications are now submitted using ALM, reimbursement continues to be through the local trust expenses system. Expense systems vary depending on the employing trust, please contact Medical Education at your employing trust for information about or assistance using the trust expenses system.

Please note: Expense claims may only be submitted after the course / conference and must be submitted within 6 weeks of the event. Late claims are considered at the discretion of the trust. Evidence of attendance and receipts must be included with expense claims.

How do I request support?

For help using ALM or claiming expenses, please contact the Medical Education at your employing trust. For technical support, feedback or guidance, please contact the NHSE Study Leave team. Please see the Overview of Study Leave page for the list of support contacts.

When emailing for support, please ensure that you include your GMC Number, and the start/end dates and course / conference name for your planned study leave. If you are emailing about a system error, please include the text of the error message and or a screenshot. Please also include the date and time that you encountered the error.

Go to the list of support contacts

Study Leave for Postgraduate Doctors and Dentists in Training