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Standalone flagship programme

Contracts, Job Planning,
Pay & Pensions

Understand what governs the post, make workload visible, verify pay and plan pension decisions without confusing generic guidance with individual advice.

Find your starting point ↓Follow all 12 modules
The employment agreementContract and terms

Define grade, hours, pay and incorporated rules. The title alone is not enough.

The prospective work agreementJob plan or work schedule

Describes activities, time, objectives, resources, locations and review.

The scheme recordPension statement

Records deferred benefits under regulations; it is not the same as gross or taxable pay.

Professional reference · practical starting point

Job planning: prepare an evidence-led discussion

Make the whole role visible, distinguish existing work from proposed development, and prepare specific requests for time, resources and review.

Who this is for: Doctors preparing a job-plan discussion. Identify the nation, grade, contract version and local review process before drawing conclusions about entitlement.

Keep these distinctions clear

  • A description of current work is evidence; a request to change the job plan is a proposal. Keep both clear.
  • Clinical work includes preparation, follow-up and related responsibilities. Record representative work and explain variation.
  • Professional recommendations and contractual requirements are different. No single SPA allocation or timetable applies to every doctor.

Prepare your next step

  1. Bring the current contract, job description and job plan. Record representative activities and time, including work outside scheduled sessions.
  2. Separate recognition of existing responsibilities from new development. For each proposal identify time, resources, support and what may need to change.
  3. Agree what has been decided, who will act and when it will be reviewed. If unresolved, clarify the disputed issue and check the applicable review route.
Build a discussion brief →Work through this with Christine →

Open a guided journey with local working notes. Choose which fields to copy into an editable question; nothing is submitted until you send it. Your normal allowance applies.

Reading, original sources and review information

Continue with the existing resources

For a learning need, explore ClinicalEdu courses and Chris. Use this site to organise the professional application of your learning.

Independent editorial synthesis and practical suggestions, updated 26 October 2026. This is an additional web guide, not an alteration to a published handbook or an individual employment assessment. Source checks have their own dates and scope. Report a correction.

Find the right starting point

What decision is in front of you?

This directs learning only. It cannot interpret an individual contract or recommend a pension decision.

How to use the programme

Identify, evidence, agree, verify and review

For a complete foundation, work through Modules 1–12. For a live issue, use the route finder, preserve deadlines and seek individual representation before signing a disputed variation or making an irreversible pension decision. Each module contains detailed teaching, six scenarios, a complete PDF, sources and relevant workbooks.

Private progress

0 of 12 modules completed

Progress storage is off. Knowledge checks still work, but results are not remembered.

Complete learning pathway

Twelve modules from first contract to later career

Follow the sequence or open the module matching today’s question.

01
Stage 1

Know what governs your work

01
Your employment document map: what actually governs your work

Understand how the advert, offer, contract, terms, job description, rota and job plan fit together—and what to do when they conflict.

18 min read · 6 questions · PDF
→02
UK contracts, grades and four-nation differences

Identify the correct SAS or local contractual framework in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland without assuming uniformity.

18 min read · 6 questions · PDF
→
02
Stage 2

Design and control the job

03
Job planning foundations: time, scope, objectives and resources

Turn duties into a prospective, mutually understood plan that protects clinical work, supporting activity and safe delivery.

18 min read · 6 questions · PDF
→04
Workload evidence, annualisation, travel and hidden work

Use proportionate evidence to make administration, interruptions, cross-site travel and recurring excess work visible.

18 min read · 6 questions · PDF
→05
Job-plan review, disagreement, mediation and appeal

Prepare for annual review, document unresolved issues and use the correct contractual route without personalising the dispute.

18 min read · 6 questions · PDF
→
03
Stage 3

Understand and verify pay

06
Pay structure and the medical payslip

Reconstruct gross-to-net pay, identify contractual components and investigate errors without guessing from take-home pay.

18 min read · 6 questions · PDF
→07
Pay progression, gateways, protection and contract transition

Understand when progression is conditional, how to prepare for a gateway and what to check during transfer or pay protection.

18 min read · 6 questions · PDF
→08
On-call, out-of-hours work and additional duties

Identify what is already contracted, how availability differs from work done, and how to agree extra activity safely.

18 min read · 6 questions · PDF
→
04
Stage 4

Protect time and development

09
Leave, SPA, flexible working, expenses and development time

Understand different forms of leave and supporting time, make workable requests and distinguish entitlement from local approval process.

18 min read · 6 questions · PDF
→
05
Stage 5

Understand the pension

10
NHS Pension Scheme: sections, contributions and record control

Understand the broad scheme architecture, distinguish pensionable pay from total pay and keep records accurate across career changes.

18 min read · 6 questions · PDF
→11
McCloud remedy, pension tax and partial retirement

Recognise when remedy, annual allowance or flexible-retirement issues require official calculations and regulated advice.

18 min read · 6 questions · PDF
→
06
Stage 6

Act, resolve and plan

12
Contract problems, escalation and integrated career planning

Choose the correct route for pay or contract problems and connect job design, pension decisions, health and later-career plans.

18 min read · 6 questions · PDF
→
Five controls

Do not let the documents drift apart

Use these checks after appointment, annual review and every material change.

1

Contract, grade and national terms identified.

2

Job plan matches duties, time and resources.

3

Pay point, WTE and allowances reconcile.

4

Leave, SPA and safe-hours rules remain workable.

5

Pension service and pensionable pay are verified.

Use without uploading documents

Five practical checks

These tools organise questions; they do not calculate contractual entitlement, tax or pension benefits.

Document-control check

Can you reconstruct the post?

Tick only documents you hold in their current accepted version.

Illustrative workload mapper

Make the week visible

Enter representative weekly hours. This does not determine contractual categorisation or entitlement.

Entries stay only in this page and are not stored or transmitted.
Eight-point pay audit

Check the payslip without sharing it

Pension decision boundary

Who can answer the question?

Download and apply

Eight practical workbooks

Use on a trusted device. Do not include patient information or documents you are not authorised to retain.

Workbook 01

Contract and Offer Comparison Workbook

Compare the offer, contract, national terms, job description and local schedules clause by clause.

Download PDF ↓Workbook 02

Job Plan and Activity Diary Workbook

Capture DCC, SPA, other duties, administration, interruptions, travel and annual frequency.

Download PDF ↓Workbook 03

Job Plan Review, Mediation and Appeal Pack

Turn disputed time, classification, objectives or resources into a focused evidence-led case.

Download PDF ↓Workbook 04

Pay, Payslip and Progression Audit

Reconcile salary, WTE, pay point, allowances, arrears, deductions and progression dates.

Download PDF ↓Workbook 05

On-call, Additional Work and Safe Hours Checklist

Check availability, work done, premium time, rest, cancellation and recurring extra duties.

Download PDF ↓Workbook 06

Leave, SPA, Development and Expenses Planner

Prepare clear requests and track approval, funding, protected time and reimbursement.

Download PDF ↓Workbook 07

NHS Pension Record and Questions Pack

Audit membership, employment history, pensionable pay, statements, remedy records and queries.

Download PDF ↓Workbook 08

Retirement and Partial Retirement Planner

Coordinate pension choices with future hours, job plan, income, health, tax and succession.

Download PDF ↓
Situational judgement exercise

Contracts, pay and pensions capstone

Work across contract, job-plan, pay, additional-work and pension decisions. This is educational and cannot determine an individual entitlement or financial outcome.

Question 1 of 24
A Welsh LED is offered a local contract described as 'equivalent to SAS'. The salary is attractive, but the offer omits progression and SPA terms. What should be resolved before acceptance?
Choose one answer to continue.
Current official starting points

Find the live national document

Pay awards, scales and implementation dates change. The announcement date, effective date and payment date may differ.

England · NHS EmployersSAS terms, model contracts and resources ↗Wales · NHS Wales EmployersSAS terms, circulars and resources ↗Scotland · Scottish Government2026/27 medical pay implementation announcement ↗Northern Ireland · Department of HealthSAS 2021 contracts and progression documents ↗
Connected guidance

Use the correct neighbouring programme

Contract questions can overlap with career design, difficult workplace situations, professional regulation and nation-specific Wales arrangements.

Career centre →Wellbeing & dignity →Professional regulation →NHS Wales →
Source and review controls

Verify before acting

Use the contract and official source for the relevant nation, grade, scheme and tax year.

NHS Employers · medical pay circulars ↗NHSBSA · member hub ↗HMRC · annual allowance ↗Content last checked 8 September 2026. Review live sources, contract version and individual advice before a consequential decision.
Ongoing professional development

Prepare for appraisal and maintain your portfolio

Map whole-practice evidence, plan feedback and build a realistic PDP. Keep appraisal, employment progression and specialist registration distinct.

Appraisal, Revalidation & Professional Portfolio →