Clinical Teaching Fellow Jobs: A Complete UK Guide
Clinical teaching fellow jobs sit at a distinctive crossroads between clinical practice and academic life. They are designed for doctors, dentists and other registered health professionals who want to spend time teaching undergraduate or postgraduate students without committing fully to a traditional academic career. If you are considering this route, or simply want to understand what these posts involve, this guide covers the essentials: what the role entails, who is eligible, how pay works, and how to make a strong application.
What Is a Clinical Teaching Fellow?
A clinical teaching fellow (CTF) is a qualified health professional, usually a doctor or dentist, employed by a university or NHS trust to deliver teaching as the primary focus of their work. The role is distinct from a standard NHS clinical post, where teaching might happen informally alongside patient care, and it is also distinct from a full academic lecturer post, which typically carries a research component and permanent or longer-term tenure.
CTF posts are normally fixed-term, lasting between one and three years. They are common in medical and dental schools, where the need for clinically qualified teachers is constant and significant. The posts are often jointly funded or organised between a university and an NHS trust or health board, and the contractual arrangements can vary considerably as a result.
Day-to-day responsibilities typically include:
- Delivering small-group tutorials, seminars and problem-based learning sessions
- Supervising students in clinical environments such as hospital wards, GP surgeries and simulation suites
- Assessing students through OSCEs (Objective Structured Clinical Examinations) and written assessments
- Contributing to curriculum development and quality assurance
- Supporting pastoral and academic mentorship of students
- Attending faculty meetings and contributing to programme administration
Some CTF posts include a minor research or scholarly activity component, particularly at research-intensive universities, but teaching remains the dominant commitment, often accounting for 80 to 100 per cent of contracted time.
Who Are Clinical Teaching Fellow Jobs For?
The typical applicant holds a primary medical or dental qualification and is registered with the GMC or GDC. Most posts are aimed at doctors who are in foundation training or early specialty training, as CTF posts offer a recognised way to take time out of the clinical training pathway while gaining a credible, structured experience. Junior doctors who want to explore academic medicine, improve their CV for specialty applications, or simply develop teaching skills find CTF posts particularly well suited to their situation.
That said, eligibility varies. Some posts welcome applicants at any career stage, including more senior clinicians returning to the NHS, those considering a longer-term move into medical education, or allied health professionals with relevant expertise. Posts outside medicine and dentistry, for example in nursing, midwifery or pharmacy schools, may carry different job titles but serve a similar function.
For those thinking about a longer academic career, a CTF post can be a useful stepping stone toward a lecturer post in a medical or health school, allowing you to build a teaching portfolio and educational qualifications before applying for permanent academic roles.
Pay and Conditions
Pay for clinical teaching fellow jobs varies considerably depending on the institution, the funding source and whether the post is primarily university-based or NHS-based.
University-based posts are usually graded on the standard academic pay scale. At most UK universities, a CTF post would fall at a junior academic grade, roughly equivalent to a Grade 6 or early Grade 7 on the Higher Education single pay spine, though exact arrangements differ by institution.
NHS-funded or joint posts may use NHS pay scales instead, often at the foundation or core training equivalent grade (Agenda for Change Band 7 or 8a for non-medical staff, or the relevant medical and dental pay grade for doctors). Some posts are structured so that the appointee holds a clinical contract with the NHS trust and a separate honorary university contract, or vice versa.
It is important to read the job description carefully to understand which contract applies and what the terms cover, particularly around leave, pension contributions and any requirement to maintain clinical practice.
How to Find Clinical Teaching Fellow Vacancies
CTF posts are advertised through several channels. University HR portals and medical school websites are the most direct source. NHS jobs boards, including NHS Jobs and the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland equivalents, advertise posts where the primary employer is the NHS. Specialist higher education job boards, including those covering medicine and dentistry jobs and nursing and allied health jobs, are also worth checking regularly.
Timing matters. Many CTF posts are advertised between January and April for a start in August, to align with the NHS foundation and specialty training rotation cycle. However, vacancies do arise throughout the year, particularly when existing fellows move on or when new funded posts are created.
Setting up job alerts and checking multiple sources is worthwhile, as there is no single central register of CTF vacancies.
Making a Strong Application
A CTF application typically involves a CV or application form, a personal statement or covering letter, and references. The selection process often includes a panel interview and sometimes a short teaching observation or presentation.
What to include in your personal statement
Your personal statement should address the following directly:
- Your motivation for moving into medical education at this stage of your career
- Specific teaching experience you already have, including formal and informal roles
- Any educational qualifications or training, such as a PGCert in Medical Education or completion of modules from a teaching skills course
- Awareness of relevant pedagogical approaches, such as problem-based learning or simulation
- Your plans for professional development during the fellowship
Do not simply list clinical achievements. The panel wants to see genuine engagement with education as a discipline, not just clinical competence.
At interview
Expect questions about your approach to teaching, how you would handle a student who is struggling, and how you would contribute to curriculum development. You may also be asked about your plans after the fellowship, since most CTF posts are fixed-term and panels are aware that candidates will eventually move on. Demonstrating that you have thought about how the post fits into a longer career narrative, whether that is continuing in academic medicine, entering specialty training with a stronger educational portfolio, or pursuing a formal academic route, is reassuring to selectors.
If the post includes an informal visit or pre-interview conversation, take it seriously. This is covered in more detail in the article on how to have an informal chat before applying for a job, which applies just as much to academic health roles as to other university posts.
Career Progression After a CTF Post
One of the most common questions from applicants is what comes next. The answer depends on your goals.
For doctors returning to specialty training, a CTF post counts as an approved out-of-programme experience in many training programmes, and the teaching skills and educational portfolio you build are increasingly valued at specialty selection. Some medical schools encourage CTFs to pursue a postgraduate certificate in medical education during their fellowship, which is often supported or funded by the institution.
For those who want to stay in academic medicine, a CTF post provides the foundation for applying to academic clinical fellow (ACF) or academic clinical lecturer (ACL) posts, which combine clinical training with a formal research component. Alternatively, it can support an application for a university lecturer position in a medical or health school.
Some fellows choose to stay within medical education in a broader sense, moving into roles in postgraduate deaneries, Health Education England (or its devolved equivalents), or medical royal colleges, where experience in teaching and assessment is directly relevant.
The CTF route is not always a straight line, and that is part of its appeal. It offers protected time to develop as a teacher and to work out what kind of career you actually want, within a supported and structured environment.
