First published: 24 March 2020
Revised: 01 October 2023
The following adjustments to the guidelines for application and assessment were first introduced from 24 March 2020, during the period of locally and nationally recommended social distancing and self-isolation resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, where the Association of Clinical Scientists (ACS) was committed to ensure that as much normal practice as possible resumed with regards to the processing of applications and assessments for award of the Certificate of Attainment for onward registration as a Clinical Scientist with the Health & Care Professions Council-UK (HCPC-UK).
Following surveys of previous candidates, prospective candidates, supervisors/trainings and assessors, in 2023 the ACS Board took the decision to keep these adjustments in place and we shall embed these as business as usual in the next revisions to the Guidelines for application and assessment.
Receipt of Applications
All material in relation to applications should now be submitted electronically, with the exception of the original pen ink signed application form which should be sent both electronically (scan and email attachment) as well as by post.
- Unless otherwise stated in this document the procedures as outlined in the Full Document Set on the ACS website remain in effect.
- However candidates should now send a scan of the (candidate and supervisor(s) signed) application form by email to admin@assclinsci.org as well as posting the original pen ink signed application form to ACS, 130-132 Tooley Street, London SE1 2TU.
- We no longer accept payment of application fees by cheque. All candidates should pay the appropriate fees (as outlined in the Fees section of the website) by bank transfer using details; acc name: Association of Clinical Scientists, acc no: 5247 3682, srt cd: 40 11 18 and your last name as the reference.
- Portfolios should no longer be sent as hard copies. Instead the portfolio document should be sent using the portfolio submission form.
Every page in the document must be sequentially numbered. Target sizes for portfolios are 60 pages for RouteONE and 120 pages for Route TWO. This includes the Appendix 1 document and all the contents included in the portfolio (including images). No hyperlinks to external sites should be included in the document, though you may hyperlink from the contents page and/or Appendix 1 document to sections within the portfolio to ease navigation if you wish. The font size for text should be 12 point. Pay special attention to image data – any labels must be legible on the screen. A successful portfolio can be constructed within the guideline sizes (40-80 pages for Route ONE and 80 to 160 pages for Route TWO). Portfolios outside these dimensions may not be accepted by the ACS. It is not expected that the file size for such a portfolio will exceed 20MB.
Please contact the administrator at admin@assclinsci.org if you face any issues with regards to this.
Remote Assessment Interviews
Where possible we will aim to hold assessment interviews via video conferencing normally using MS Teams, but occasionally Google Meet, Skype, Zoom (or equivalent).
It must be recognised that this may not always be possible as this depends on candidate and assessors’ local circumstances and the video conferencing facilities being in operation as desired at the time. Assessment interviews may therefore be subject to last minute cancellation or abandonment, requiring rescheduling for a later date.
1. On assessor approval of the candidate’s application material/portfolio and the date and time for the assessment interview determined, the candidate will be formally invited to participate in the live video assessment interview for that specific date/time.
2. The invitation to interview letter (sent by the administrator by email attachment) will include details for how to download any programme(s) that might be required, instructions for the use of the remote interview platform, and the event link and joining information to use at the specified date/time.
3. A scan of the candidate’s official photographic identity (normally driving licence or passport) will be required before the day of the assessment. This should be sent by email attachment to admin@assclinsci.org with the file size no greater than 10Mb. The administrator will send this to the assessors to compare to the candidate presenting themselves by video on the day.
4. On commencement of the assessment interview, and potentially on occasions throughout, the candidate will be asked to demonstrate that there are no other persons present in the room with them. If the assessors feel this is not the case as the interview progresses, the interview may be subject to abandonment.
5. The result notification following assessment interview may be delayed whilst assessors, and the relevant members of the ACS Board (where appropriate), reach their decision for the administrator to relay accordingly.