ACF General Psychiatry 2025 (Sheffield)

The following post is available:

•            One post in General Psychiatry at ST1/ST4 (ST2/ST3) - Research Theme: Mental Health

Please note: Applicants looking for an ST2/ST3 General Psychiatry ACF post are encouraged to apply to this vacancy at ST1; if successful your experience can be assessed upon commencing in post enabling you to work at the appropriate ST level.

The University of Sheffield, in partnership with NHS England North East and Yorkshire and the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, have developed an exciting pathway of academic clinical training opportunities.

Applications are now invited for an Academic Clinical Fellowship in General Psychiatry at ST1/ST4 (ST2/ST3) level in Sheffield from August 2025.

This new post has been created as part of the NHS England (NHSE) programme of Integrated Academic Training and offers candidates a comprehensive experience of clinical academic medicine working alongside internationally renowned clinicians and researchers.

We are seeking highly motivated, enthusiastic individuals with the potential to excel in both their clinical and academic training and who have the ambition to be the next generation of academic clinicians.

This Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) programme in General Psychiatry will be run by the University of Sheffield, in partnership with NHS England North East and Yorkshire and the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Academic Clinical Fellowships (ACFs) are 3 year fixed-term national training posts. They attract an NTN(A) and trainees undertake 75% clinical and 25% academic training over the term of the post. They are employed by the NHS Trust and have an honorary contract with the University at whose Medical School their academic research is supported.  

ACF trainees also undertake a Research Training Programme provided by the University for which funding is provided by NIHR. They also are eligible for a £1,000 bursary per year to support research training activity (e.g. to attend academic conferences). 

 ACF trainees would also normally complete and submit an external funding application for a research fellowship to enable them to complete a higher degree (PhD or research MD) following the completion of their ACF fixed-term post, which would be completed as Out-of-Programme-Research (OOPR). 

 All Academic Clinical Fellowships are run-through posts, regardless of specialty, with the exception of ‘Medical Education’ ACFs.  A trainee entering ACF in a specialty during a Core Training period would therefore be guaranteed continued training to CCT in the eventual specialty, as long as they progress satisfactorily through both their academic and clinical training. Run-through status is withdrawn if ACFs do not complete the academic component. 

The full Job Description for this post is available to download from the right of this page.

Please note: Applicants who submit the competency form within the application window will only have 1 opportunity to resubmit incomplete or inaccurate competency documents. Applicants who fail to submit a competency document during the application window will only have 1 subsequent opportunity to submit the form. Please therefore ensure that you have thoroughly read the guidance and checked the document you are providing carefully before submitting.

Please note: Applicants who hold a National Training Number (NTN) in the specialty to which they are applying, or have been recently successfully clinically benchmarked in the 2025 specialty interviews are eligible to apply for this post. All other applicants are required to be benchmarked. Specialty interviews may not be held for all specialties, therefore, the ability to be benchmarked in this round is not guaranteed.

NIHR have produced some Frequently Asked Questions for applicants. You are advised to read this document in full before submitting your application.

Further sources of information

• National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
• Yorkshire and the Humber Academic Training webpages
• University of Sheffield

Details of the recruitment process are provided below.