- Our rotation data comes directly from Oriel, the official NHS recruitment platform used by UKFPO, and is checked against the foundation schools' published lists.
- We use the GMC National Training Survey 2025, which surveys all resident doctors in the UK. Ratings are broken down by post specialty and trust, so you can see how trainees rated specific specialties at specific hospitals.
- Our Before You Rank data is community-sourced from resident doctors across the UK. It covers EPR systems, paper vs electronic notes, e-prescribing, and system integration for each trust. This data has been cross-checked with multiple contributors and resources but is crowd-generated and may not reflect the very latest changes at any given trust.
- Rotation data is sourced directly from Oriel, GMC ratings from the official National Training Survey, and digital systems data is community-sourced and cross-checked. While we take every care to ensure accuracy, data can change and we recommend verifying details with your foundation school. Rankings are for guidance only.
- You rank specialties and hospitals into Dream, Like, Neutral, Dislike, or Hate (Dream + Hate are Complete-only). Items higher in your Like list get more weight. Each rotation is scored based on how well its placements match your preferences, factoring in your specialty vs location priority slider. Anything in Hate is a hard dealbreaker, so rotations containing it drop straight to the bottom. A Dream pick is the opposite: rotations containing it float to the top.
- The banner compares this rotation with what other Foundation Ranker users in your group ended up ranking highly, and where the data allows, with applicants who share your priorities or specialty preferences. It's a signal from real users like you, not from Oriel's allocation pool. In demand marks the rotations most often ranked highly and hidden gem the ones least often, and only when there's enough data. Most rotations don't get a banner.
- Hate is a Complete-only feature. You can mark up to 3 specialties or hospitals as hard dealbreakers. Any rotation containing a hated item is pushed to the bottom of your ranking, regardless of how well the rest of the rotation matches your other preferences. We warn you if hating something would push most rotations to the bottom, and we block picks that would leave almost nothing to rank.
- Dream is the positive mirror of Hate. Pick one must-have specialty (or one must-have hospital) and any rotation containing it gets pushed to the top of your list. Cap of 1 by design, since this is meant to be a real dream not a wishlist. Drag a different specialty in and it swaps automatically. Hate still wins if a rotation has both, since hate is a dealbreaker.
- Foundation Ranker Complete adds GMC trainee satisfaction data, digital systems information, hospital proximity scoring, the Dream pick (one must-have float-to-top), the Hate list (3 hard dealbreakers), Excel export, a free copy of '42 Things I Wish I Knew Before My First Night Shift', and 25% off Pastest.
- We calculate the straight-line distance between all hospitals in each rotation. Rotations where hospitals are close together score higher. This helps you avoid long commutes between placements.
- Yes - type your home postcode into the search bar at the top of the hospitals step. We detect that it's a postcode and show a 'Sort by distance' button. Hit it and the neutral hospitals reorder by how far they are from your postcode (your liked and disliked picks keep their order).
- On the Like list, you can drag your most-wanted picks to the top. When 'Order matters' is on, the item at the top counts more in scoring than the ones below it. When it's off, every liked item carries the same weight regardless of position. Default is on.
- Step 1 shows a UK map with every foundation school as a clickable region. Hover for the name, click to select and move on. If you'd rather scan a list (e.g. you already know the name), there's a Map / List toggle at the top - click List for a flat alphabetical view of all 18 schools. Either way, one click takes you straight to the next step.
- Yes - the basic ranker is completely free. You can rank all rotations by specialty and hospital preference at no cost. Foundation Ranker Complete is an optional upgrade for deeper insights.
- The digital systems data in Foundation Ranker Complete is sourced from Dr Dev's community via Before You Rank. However, Foundation Ranker 2026 costs a significant amount to build, host, and maintain, including server costs, software licenses, and ongoing development. Foundation Ranker Complete helps support this so we can keep the basic ranker free for everyone. You're welcome to check each hospital individually on Before You Rank if you prefer.
- Foundation Ranker Complete includes an exclusive 25% off Pastest discount code bundled with your free copy of '42 Things I Wish I Knew Before My First Night Shift'. Valid on 12 month subscriptions - for example, save £45 on MRCP. Both are included as part of your Foundation Ranker Complete purchase.
- No - Foundation Ranker 2026 is built by Doctor Devify, an independent resource for resident doctors. We are not affiliated with Oriel, UKFPO, or any NHS organisation.
