If you are applying for an ST3 medical specialty through Physician Higher Specialty Training (PHST) — cardiology, respiratory, gastroenterology, endocrinology, geriatric medicine, renal, oncology and the rest — training in teaching is a scored part of your self-assessment. It is also one of the most reliable points to bank, because a recognised course satisfies it directly.
How PHST scores training in teaching
PHST uses the same three-tier self-assessment as Internal Medicine Training, word for word. These are the published tiers for 2026 recruitment:
| Points | PHST and IMT wording | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | “I have a higher qualification in teaching e.g. PG Cert or PG Diploma.” | Must be “a university accredited programme”, eligibility must specify “that only graduate entrants can apply”, and it must “be worth an equivalent of least 60 credit points or equivalent”. Roughly £4,400–£5,700 and a year or more. |
| 1 | “I have had training in teaching methods which is below the level of a PG Cert or PG Diploma.” | A one-day teaching-methods course. This is the tier a Teach the Teacher course satisfies. |
| 0 | “I have had no training in teaching methods.” | — |
Confirm the current scoring in the PHST application scoring guidance. PHST states that its current information is for 2026 recruitment and will be updated in October for the 2027 recruitment year. The presentations and publications reweighting announced for IMT 2027 has not been mirrored at PHST as of 21 September 2026.
The six-hour rule, in PHST’s own words
Three conditions sit under the one-point tier, and each of them fails certificates every year:
- At least six hours of live teaching. “Training should be delivered with a duration of at least six hours (i.e. a one-day course) of synchronous (live) teaching time.” A self-paced online course does not meet this on its own, however many hours it carries.
- Additional to your medical degree. “This should be additional to any training received as part of your primary medical qualification.”
- Specifically about teaching. “Training can only be included in this section if it was specifically focused on teaching.” An ALS instructor course qualifies; an ALS provider course does not.
This is why a live, tutor-led course is the cleanest route to the point. Erudical’s course is an 8-hour live day containing 6 hours of live teaching — the published minimum — with 20 self-paced modules and three marked assignments alongside it.
Teaching experience is a separate domain
Training in teaching scores the course you took. Teaching experience scores the teaching you delivered, in its own domain, and the two add together. The tiers run from 1 point for occasional teaching of at least three sessions, through 3 for regular teaching on a defined programme over approximately three months or longer, to 5 for working with local tutors to organise a teaching programme on which you regularly taught.
Every tier requires evidence of formal feedback. If your teaching has no collected feedback, you can only select the none or other option — three years of teaching then scores zero. Hand out feedback forms from the first session; you cannot reconstruct them later.
Teaching points across the other ST3 pathways
PHST is one route among many, and the other ST3 and ST4 pathways score teaching very differently. A selection, taken from the current person specifications:
| Pathway | What a teaching course scores | The detail that matters |
|---|---|---|
| Physician Higher Specialty Training (ST3/ST4) | 1 point | 3 for a PG Cert or PG Diploma. 38 points across all domains. |
| Emergency Medicine (ST3/ST4) | 1 point | A “Train the Trainers” education supervision course. |
| Anaesthetics (ST4) | 1 point | Domain 6. A Teach the Teachers or Generic Instructors course can count in domain 6 or domain 9, but not both. |
| Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ST3) | 2 points | — |
| Psychiatry routes (ST4) | 2 points | General adult, old age, forensic, child and adolescent, medical psychotherapy and learning disability. |
| Occupational Medicine (ST3) | 3 points | The highest award for a teaching course of any pathway, and the only one with 2027 scoring already published. |
| Nuclear Medicine (ST3) | Category C, 2 points | Domain not double-weighted. |
| Clinical Radiology (ST3) | 1–2 points | More than 2 days of study scores 2, 2 days or fewer scores 1. A PG Cert or PG Diploma scores 5 and a three-year Master’s 6. NHS England has decided not to run Clinical Radiology ST3+ recruitment for 2027. |
| Allergy, audiovestibular medicine, clinical genetics, clinical neurophysiology, combined infection training, dermatology, haematology, immunology, intensive care medicine, medical and clinical oncology, medical ophthalmology, rehabilitation medicine, sport and exercise medicine, urology, vascular surgery (ST3) | 1 point | Clinical oncology scores 1–2. |
| Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Paediatric Surgery, Paediatrics (ST3) | Not accepted | A teaching course does not score on these pathways. |
The full table covers 61 UK training pathways with the person-specification wording for each: teaching points by specialty.
Where a one-day course is not enough
It is worth being blunt about the exceptions, because a certificate that satisfies PHST does not automatically satisfy every ST-level pathway:
- Clinical Radiology asks for training in teaching methods “after study of at least 2 days”. A six-hour day on its own does not clear that threshold — see teaching points for Clinical Radiology ST1.
- Core Surgical Training places educational activity focused on learning to teach inside its teaching experience domain at Category D, as an alternative to regular teaching rather than in addition to it. NHS England does not publish the numeric value behind the category letters, and the domains are being restructured for 2027.
- Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery ST1 scores in bands: online-only training 1, a brief course of up to 2 days with evidence 2, and 5 to 20 days 3, with a separate domain for a qualification in medical education — see OMFS ST1.
- Ophthalmology ST1 awards 0.5 points for completing a teaching the teachers course, within a 2-point cap shared with other educational activities — see Ophthalmology ST1.
- Paediatrics, Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery and Paediatric Surgery do not score a teaching course at all.
What to submit as evidence
Provide your dated certificate of completion, naming the provider and the CPD accreditation, and showing the duration in hours with the live hours identified separately. The live figure is the one a scorer looks for, so a certificate that states “12 hours of CPD” without distinguishing live from self-paced is doing you no favours.
Pair it with a short reflective note linking the training to your own teaching practice. That note is not scored in the self-assessment, but it is what makes the same certificate useful at appraisal, where the GMC sets no minimum hours and assesses the reflection instead.
One hard deadline applies to everything: an achievement gained after the closing date cannot be counted, even by a day.
Presentations at ST3
Presentations are scored in a separate domain again, and at ST3 the published 2026 values are 6 for an oral presentation at a national or international meeting and 4 for a national poster, first or second author. The 2027 values for PHST are not yet published; the IMT conversion, which raises a national oral to 8, has not been announced for PHST. Erudical enrolment includes a place at NMERC 2026, where an oral or poster presentation can score in that domain — see how presentation points are scored for the conditions and the dates.
What ST3 doctors say
“This module was extremely helpful and well-structured. The content was clear, practical, and directly applicable to real clinical teaching.”
— M. Taj“Overall very do-able and useful. Thank you for creating this for doctors with a busy schedule who cannot do it face to face.”
— S. Noor Mohamed AnverThe course, and the guarantee
Erudical enrolment is £199: an 8-hour live day containing 6 hours of live teaching, 20 self-paced modules worth over 12 hours, three marked assignments and a place at NMERC 2026. It is accredited by The CPD Certification Service, provider number 13684, for up to 24 CPD hours in total. If your teaching point is not accepted, the fee is refunded in full within 14 working days under the points guarantee — no claim has been made in eight years and more than a thousand doctors. The nine other UK providers, with prices checked on 21 September 2026, are set out on Teach the Teacher courses compared.
Frequently asked questions
How many points is a Teach the Teacher course worth for ST3?
It depends on the pathway. Physician Higher Specialty Training awards 1 point for training in teaching methods below PG Cert level, and 3 for a PG Cert or PG Diploma. Occupational Medicine ST3 awards 3 for a course. Obstetrics and Gynaecology ST3 and the psychiatry ST4 routes award 2. Nuclear Medicine ST3 awards Category C, worth 2. Clinical Radiology ST3 awards 1 or 2 depending on whether the study exceeded two days. Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Paediatric Surgery and Paediatrics do not score a teaching course at all.
What evidence do I need for the ST3 teaching point?
A dated certificate of completion naming the provider, the CPD accreditation, the total duration in hours, and specifically how many of those hours were live and synchronous. The live figure is what the criterion turns on, so a certificate that only states total CPD hours is ambiguous. Add a short reflective note linking the training to your own teaching practice — it is not scored in the self-assessment but it is what makes the certificate useful at appraisal.
Does teaching medical students count on its own?
Not for the training-in-teaching point — that is teaching experience, which is a separate domain. Teaching experience scores 1 for occasional teaching of at least three sessions, 3 for regular teaching on a defined programme over approximately three months or longer, and 5 for organising a teaching programme you regularly taught on. Every tier requires evidence of formal feedback; without it you can only select the none or other option. The two domains add together, so pair your teaching with a recognised course.
Does a self-paced online teaching course count for PHST?
Not on its own. PHST requires that training be “delivered with a duration of at least six hours (i.e. a one-day course) of synchronous (live) teaching time”. Self-paced modules can sit alongside a live day and add depth and CPD hours, but the live component is what satisfies the criterion. This is the most common reason a teaching certificate is rejected.
Which specialties does PHST cover?
The medical specialties recruited through Physician Higher Specialty Training, including cardiology, respiratory medicine, gastroenterology, endocrinology and diabetes, geriatric medicine, renal medicine, medical oncology, neurology, rheumatology, palliative medicine, acute internal medicine and general internal medicine. All of them use the same training-in-teaching tiers.
Is a PG Cert worth it for an ST3 application?
For PHST it buys two extra points over a short course — 3 rather than 1 — for roughly £4,400 to £5,700 and a year or more of part-time study. As a way to buy points that is poor value. It is a reasonable choice if you want a career in medical education, or if you are applying to a pathway that scores higher qualifications separately and heavily, such as Clinical Radiology ST3, where a PG Cert or PG Diploma scores 5 and a three-year Master’s 6.
Has PHST scoring changed for 2027?
Not as of 21 September 2026. PHST states that its current information is for 2026 recruitment and will be updated in October for the 2027 recruitment year, and its 2027 announcement covers prioritisation and timelines rather than the self-assessment matrix. The presentations and publications reweighting announced for IMT 2027 has not been mirrored at PHST. Check the PHST application scoring page before you submit.
Does one teaching certificate work for every ST3 specialty?
No. A six-hour live day satisfies PHST, Emergency Medicine, Anaesthetics and most ST3 physician routes. It does not clear Clinical Radiology, which asks for training in teaching methods “after study of at least 2 days”. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery ST1 scores in day-count bands. Ophthalmology ST1 awards 0.5 points within a shared cap. Paediatrics, Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery and Paediatric Surgery do not score a course at all. Check your own pathway before you book.
See the full teaching points by specialty table, read how teaching is scored at ST3, compare the ten providers, or read about the Erudical course.
Ready to secure your PHST teaching point?
Enrol nowSources: PHST Recruitment — application scoring · IMT Recruitment — application scoring · NHS England — specialty person specifications
Last checked against PHST, IMT and specialty person specifications: 21 September 2026.