Step2ACF

Academic Clinical Fellowship · WSQs · Interviews

Key Dates

Stage	Date	Where
Applications open	Thursday, 1 October 2026, 10:00 am	Oriel
Applications close	Thursday, 29 October 2026, 4:00 pm	Oriel
Shortlisting	November 2026	NHS England local offices
Interviews	November 2026 to January 2027, online	NHS England local offices
Initial offers	From Tuesday 19 January 2027	Oriel
Hold deadline	Tuesday 26 January 2027	Oriel

How ACF selection works

ACF posts are tied to a specialty, an institution and a research theme, and they are advertised on Oriel each October. Selection is run by the NHS England local office for each region: shortlisting from the application form, then an academic interview between November and January. Alongside the academic process, applicants without a training number in the specialty are benchmarked through the standard clinical recruitment round, so an ACF application usually means running two applications at once to different deadlines.

The academic interview differs between local offices, but the core is stable: your research experience and what you actually did, critical appraisal of a paper, why this specialty and this academic path, and a clinical component appropriate to the entry level.

How we can help

ACF Course

£120.00

One day live online, covering the ACF application and the academic interview, taught by doctors who came through ACF recruitment. Your seat includes one ACF mock interview and the recording afterwards.

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ACF Course Recording

£60.00

The full recording of the most recent ACF course, for anyone who could not attend live. Access runs for six months from purchase.

ACF Package

£650.00

Everything for the whole cycle: a seat on the ACF course with its mock interview and recording, five further 1-to-1 coaching sessions, a second mock interview, WSQ reviews with up to two rounds of written feedback included, and email and WhatsApp support through to the end of the interview window in January. One purchase, and we’re with you from post selection to offer.

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1-to-1 Coaching

£70.00

An hour online with a doctor who came through ACF recruitment, spent however it will help you most. You set the agenda and the session is built around it.

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Mock Interview

£80.00

A full mock ACF interview with structured feedback afterwards, run by doctors who came through ACF recruitment.

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WSQ Review

£50.00

One round of written feedback on your white space answers before you submit.

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Meet the Team

Dr Pooja Devani

Founder and Lead Tutor

MBChB BSc MRes MRCPCH

About Me: I’m a paediatric respiratory registrar and the founder of Step2Med. I started it to help people into medicine, whatever their background.

My Role: I’m Lead Tutor for our undergraduate and foundation courses, and I design the courses Step2Med delivers. I also choose every member of our team personally, selecting the people best placed to teach each of the services we offer.

Background: I’ve tutored for more than ten years, coaching applicants through every part of the process. I completed an academic foundation post and an Academic Clinical Fellowship myself, ranking among the highest applicants to secure both, and I teach the SFP and ACF applications from that experience.

Interests: Paediatrics, Education, Learning a new skill regularly.

Mr Arjuna Thakker

Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery Registrar, Step2Ortho Lead

MBChB BSc MBA PGCME MRCS (Ed)

About Me: I’m a specialty registrar in Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, and I lead Step2Ortho.

My Role: I built the orthopaedic video bank and run our mock interview circuits, and I teach on the SFP and ACF courses.

Background: I ranked in the national top 5% in 2025 T&O ST3 recruitment. Before that I completed an academic foundation post and received an ACF offer.

Interests: Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Education, Research.

Dr Holly West

NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow, Obstetrics and Gynaecology

MBChB BSc

About Me: I’m an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the North West, combining clinical training with academic research.

My Role: I teach on the ACF course and run mock interviews for ACF applicants.

Background: I came through the competitive Obstetrics and Gynaecology ACF recruitment process myself. My research interest is gynaecological oncology and early cancer detection, including work on extracellular vesicles in high grade serous ovarian cancer. I care about widening participation and supporting people into medicine and through it.

Interests: Gynaecological oncology, Medical education, Widening participation.

Dr Sanat Kulkarni

NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Medical Oncology, University of Oxford

MBChB BMedSc MEd

About Me: I’m an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Medical Oncology at the University of Oxford.

My Role: I teach on the ACF course and run mock interviews for ACF applicants.

Background: I completed the Academic Foundation Programme and received Medical Oncology ACF offers from Oxford, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield. I graduated from the University of Birmingham with the Arthur Thomson Gold Medal, and hold an MEd with Distinction. My research focuses on cancer epidemiology using large scale linked healthcare data.

Interests: Cancer epidemiology, Medical education, Research.

Mr Alireza Sherafat

NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow, Vascular Surgery

MBBS (Hons) PGCert (Med Ed)

About Me: I’m an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Vascular Surgery at University Hospitals of Leicester, combining clinical training with vascular research at the University of Leicester.

My Role: I teach on the ACF course and run mock interviews for ACF applicants.

Background: I came through ACF recruitment myself. My research focuses on peripheral arterial disease, particularly vascular diagnostics and improving its early detection and management.

Interests: Vascular surgery, Research, Medical education.

What people say, from Trustpilot

Yashar Mashayekhi

In preparation for my ACF and CST… – Sep 26, 2026

In preparation for my ACF and CST applications I used step2med, I found them very useful and learned a tremendous amount. My mentor (Arjuna) has a genuine invested interest in my career and advices me regularly even after the completion of the course, his advice often focuses on strategic career development and goes beyond just interview and application prep. Additionally Dr Pooja has been very helpful in finding the right mentor for me. Arjuna has literally been through the same process as me and I think this is very important because our sessions were specifically tailored to the specialty I was applying for.

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