Supporting a Trainee Following Exam Failure
Resources
Postgraduate exams can be extremely difficult when balancing day to day work. Failing a postgraduate exam can have a significant impact on moral and confidence in the workplace. Below are some resources you may find useful or you may wish to sign post your trainee to.
Principles of exam preparation
Consideration of undiagnosed dyslexia
Consider referral to Trainee Development and Wellbeing Service (TDWS)
1. Principles of exam preparation
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has published guidance to support trainees after exam failure. Guidance for trainers is on page 4.
Going through this with your trainee can provide structure and identify areas of focus before their next attempt.
2. Consider undiagnosed dyslexia.
Many trainees will have completed undergraduate training without issue but repeated exam failure should trigger us to consider an undetected neurodivergent condition. Dyslexia screening can be completed via self referral through Dyslexia Scotland. If a diagnosis has been made this allows additional exploration of reasonable adjustments.
3. Consider referral to TDWS
If a trainee is struggling to pass exams please consider referral to NES Trainee Development and Wellbeing Service. Referrals can be made by trainer or by the trainee. Please note it can take a few weeks to be seen so please consider additional local support alongside this. One of the first steps in their support is screening for dyslexia so please consider this in parallel as linked to above.