Linked Applicants
Linked applicants will be asked during the programme preferencing window to confirm whether they wish to maintain their linked applications, or break the link at programme allocation stage. For clarity, both applicants are required to send confirmation individually, otherwise the Foundation School will assume the link should be broken.
If applicants choose to maintain their link, the Foundation School will place them within a reasonable commute (less than 1 hour drive) of each other. The score of the lower scoring applicant will be used to allocate both linked applicants to programme.
The Foundation School has used the AA Route Planner to determine the travel times between Trusts as depicted below and will use this as a basis for making decisions during the programme allocation process; we suggest that applicants linking their applications do the same.
Ranking the Programmes
We still require linked applicants to rank ALL programmes via the online system, in the same way as other applicants.
However, unlike when ranking the foundation schools, applicants do not need to rank the programmes in exactly the same order as each other. Individuals may have different career aspirations and therefore prefer different trusts/specialties.
When ranking the programmes in Severn, linked applicants should keep the time between hospitals in mind. For example, if one candidate ranks Bath highly and the other ranks Taunton highly, one half of the linked pair may be disappointed with the outcome.
A linked pair could select their joint top two or three hospitals (as long as they are less than an hour away from each other), and rank the rotations in that grouping according to their individual preference. They could then look at their next favourite Trust or two and do the same.
Once all programmes have been ranked, the Foundation School will run the initial allocation algorithm and look at where the linked applicants have been placed. If allocated to hospitals less than an hour apart, the allocations will be fixed without further adjustment. If not, the school will look at the higher scoring applicant and work down the programmes in the order they have ranked them until a suitable rotation that is less than an hour away from the lower scoring person is found.
More information about the Trusts and programmes in Severn can be found on our Trusts webpage
Please also see our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Travel Time between Hospitals
| Time | Cheltenham General Hospital | Gloucester Royal Hospital | Great Western Hospital, Swindon | Southmead Hospital, Bristol | Royal United Hospital, Bath | Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton | Bristol Royal Infirmary | Weston General Hospital | Yeovil District Hospital |
| Cheltenham General Hospital | 20 minutes | 42 minutes | 51 minutes | 1 hour 8 mins | 1 hour 36 mins | 52 minutes | 1 hour 10 mins | 1 hour 56 mins | |
| Gloucester Royal Hospital | 20 minutes | 44 minutes | 46 minutes | 1 hour 4 mins | 1 hour 32 mins | 48 minutes | 1 hour 6 minutes | 1 hour 52 mins | |
| Great Western Hospital, Swindon | 42 minutes | 44 minutes | 49 minutes | 49 minutes | 1 hour 38 mins | 47 minutes | 1 hour 12 mins | 1 hour 47 mins | |
| Southmead Hospital, Bristol | 51 minutes | 47 minutes | 49 minutes | 39 minutes | 1 hour 5 mins | 17 minutes | 39 minutes | 1 hour 25 mins | |
| Royal United Hospital, Bath | 1 hour 8 mins | 1 hour 4 mins | 49 minutes | 39 minutes | 1 hour 26 mins | 36 minutes | 1 hour 1 mins | 1 hour 14 mins | |
| Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton | 1 hour 36 mins | 1 hour 32 mins | 1 hour 38 mins | 1 hour 5 mins | 1 hour 26 mis | 1 hour 8 mins | 42 minutes | 50 minutes | |
| Bristol Royal Infirmary | 52 minutes | 48 minutes | 47 minutes | 17 minutes | 36 minutes | 1 hour 8 mins | 42 minutes | 1 hour 24 mins | |
| Weston General Hospital | 1 hour 10 mins | 1 hour 6 mins | 1 hour 12 mins | 39 minutes | 1 hour 1 mins | 42 minutes | 42 minutes | 1 hour 2 miins | |
| Yeovil District Hospital | 1 hour 56 mins | 1 hour 52 mins | 1 hour 47 mins | 1 hour 25 mins | 1 hour 14 mins | 50 minutes | 1 hour 24 mins | 1 hour 2 mins |