The old e-Portfolio was switched off at 5pm on 31 July 2024.
All users, including doctors in non-training posts and trainees who have chosen to finish their training on the 2010 curriculum, have been transferred to a new ePortfolio platform, which is provided by FourteenFish.
Moving to a new platform can be a confusing process. There are bound to be some teething problems and we are continually updating our advice and guidance.
- FourteenFish have asked us to emphasise that all issues relating to the new ePortfolio must be raised with their Helpdesk, not with the RCOphth. They are in the best position to help, and it is important that each case is logged.
- When you raise your ticket you must include a full description of the issue, with screenshots if possible. This will enable the Help Desk to respond to you much more quickly. Their Service Level Agreement requires them to respond within 5 days, but the majority of issues will be dealt with well before then, especially if you provide full information.
- If after 5 days you have had no response, you may then escalate to [email protected] , including the FourteenFish case reference.
Below are Frequently Asked Questions which you are encouraged to view to see if your particular query can be answered. This is being continually updated.
I am a trainee
By now, you should have received final confirmation from FourteenFish team that your account has been set up. This would have involved responding to two emails, including setting up multi-factor authentication (MFA) credential and a password. This enabled the FourteenFish team to link your account to their system.
After that point you should have proceeded to:
- Invite your Educational Supervisor – they will then create their own account. Your ES will not able to view your portfolio until you invite them.
- Go to the Curriculum Catch-up area on your portfolio and complete the required steps.
This is a one-off exercise and only specific documents need to be uploaded. You will not need to upload evidence manually for competencies signed off in the old system. The table below sets out what you need to do. There are how-to guides on the FourteenFish Help page for both curricula.
If you experience technical difficulties, please contact the FourteenFish Helpdesk.
| Item | If you are moving to Curriculum 2024 | If you are staying on Curriculum 2010 |
| Curriculum Transition Checklists
All Curriculum Transition Checklists (CTCs) used to establish gaps in training before discussing transition plans with educational teams must be signed by the relevant ES. CTCs may not have been needed in all instances – please refer to the transition aids for details. |
Yes | No |
| Level Intention Form
It was mandatory to complete the Level Intention Form (LIF) before the summer ARCP to agree the appropriate level of training at the transition point (August 2024). The LIF must be validated by both ES and TPD with real signatures. |
Yes | No |
| ST6/7 and ST4-7 cumulative core competencies
If you did not transfer to Curriculum 2024, you should have compiled a list of ST6/7 and ST4-7 cumulative core competences which showed as outstanding in the old traffic-light grid, accompanied by a screen-capture of the relevant tabs – please contact [email protected] if you did not manage to capture the information before the switch. |
No | Yes |
| Examination result letters/emails
An email or letter is issued by the Examinations department after each sitting. If old correspondence is unavailable, a screenshot of the legacy Exam Results tab will suffice. Please contact [email protected] if you did not manage to capture the information before the switch. The aim is to make exam result records immediately available to your educational team. |
Yes | Yes |
The aim is to give educational teams access to key information and to inform early discussions with the ES. This is because of the technical delay with the transfer of your data to the new ePortfolio which meant that all previous evidence was not immediately visible. However, all the data have now been transferred to your account and is accessible in the Educator Notes section of your FourteenFish portfolio.
The catch-up button is presented with a set of instructions, which you must follow.
If you are staying on the old curriculum, the system will ask you to tick off areas of the curriculum that you have already achieved earlier in training. We suggest concentrating on the core domains (Clinical Assessment, Practical Skills and Surgical Skills) and ticking the relevant learning outcomes (ST4-7 stages) you have already completed, which will then partially populate the horseshoe/circle. Nothing will stop you from selecting other learning outcomes from other domains, but it is not a necessity.
If you have transferred to Level 3 or 4 of the new curriculum, you do not need to revisit old ground or provide evidence retrospectively to show progress in the earlier part of your training (i.e. that equivalent to the new Level 1 and 2). You only need to tick off areas of the curriculum achieved previously. However, as new learning outcomes are rather different from those employed in the old curriculum, it would be impractical to expect both Level 1 and 2 horseshoes/circles to look 100% complete. That is not an issue at all, and educational teams are aware of this. The only way to make the circles look as fully completed would be to tick every single learning outcome for all seven domains.
What you must do is upload the signed Intended Level Form and Curriculum Transition Checklists, and to tick off all Level 3 areas as appropriate to prove that the level transfer was endorsed by your educational team. The system should let you enter evidence for Level 1-2 or 3-4 in any order.
Regarding examinations, legacy results also need to populate the Curriculum Catch-up section. You may upload screengrabs from your old portfolio if results emails or letters are missing. Please email [email protected] if you did not manage to take screengrabs before the switch. Future results will not be visible until the second quarter of 2025, so it is important to retain all examination correspondence.
If you experience technical difficulties, please contact the FourteenFish Helpdesk.
There is no ESR form as such, and this is a feature of the FourteenFish system. ESRs are “built” in stages by both the trainee and their ES, using the Prepare button in the Portfolio Summary lozenge in the Portfolio Overview page.
If you are staying on the old curriculum, the Core Curriculum Progress field (Portfolio summary) is where you will record information regarding your progress with General Ophthalmology and other special interest areas. Such details used to be added by you to the old ESR form.
Please consult the FourteenFish guidance and contact their Helpdesk directly if you need further assistance.
FourteenFish has transferred historical portfolio data manually and trainees who are having an ARCP this winter were given priority. The data for all other trainees should now be visible. For doctors in non-training posts the process will be completed by the middle of December 2024.
No loss of data has occurred. Your historical data are stored in an area labelled Educator Notes and in zipped files, which will show as repositories of pdfs (assessments and ARCP forms) and other documentation from your old Additional Evidence tab.
You will not be able to map competences because new learning outcomes are rather different from those employed in the old curriculum. Should you need to use old data to show progress to your educational team, you will need to locate and download the item(s) from one of the zipped folders before uploading to the relevant area of your portfolio.
I am a trainee or a doctor in a non-training post
The FourteenFish platform is designed to reassure trainees that an item has been seen by their ES. It is NOT approval as such, and should be regarded as an acknowledgement by the ES that they have noted the item. This is core functionality of the FourteenFish platform and cannot be changed. Please do not raise a ticket with the Helpdesk. You can, however, use the Learning Logs as a repository of information – the information stays private until you notify the ES. You can also decide at a later stage that you want to notify the ES about an item. We will work with FourteenFish to review the Learning Log Help Guide. If items are not acknowledged by the ES, they will not be visible to educational teams and ARCP panels. It is therefore very important that ES respond to email requests from the system as soon as possible.
All previous exam results will not be visible until the second quarter of 2025 time due to ongoing development work with the new platform.
As part of the Curriculum Catch-up process, you should upload all result emails sent to you by the Examinations department after each sitting. If correspondence is unavailable, and you did not take a screenshot of the Exam Results tab from the old system before the switch, please email [email protected] for assistance.
Please contact [email protected] and we will do our best to help you.
Please contact the FourteenFish Helpdesk and use the ‘RCOphth’ option on the form. RCOphth staff can’t assist you directly with this.
In the meantime, you may download the Word version of the new assessment tools, complete them with your assessor(s) and then remember to transcribe the information online once your new account has been set up correctly. If you need forms for the 2010 curriculum, you can download the Word version from here.
Please contact the FourteenFish Helpdesk, use the ‘RCOphth’ option on the form and provide as much information as possible.
Please contact the FourteenFish Helpdesk and copy [email protected] in your correspondence.
If you are on the old curriculum, you can download all assessment forms from the OST Curriculum 2010 microsite.
If you are on the new curriculum, you can download all assessment forms from the OST Curriculum 2024 microsite.
You can complete them with your assessors and then transcribe the information online once your new portfolio account has been set up.
All user details have been shared with FourteenFish. You should check your spam/junk folder to see if the invitation email is there. If it is not, please contact the FourteenFish Helpdesk and copy [email protected] in your correspondence.
The new ePortfolio was only programmed to accommodate senior trainees (i.e. some ST6s and all OST7s) staying on the old curriculum, which will come to an end in August 2026. You will see that some assessment forms (mostly CRSs) and related curriculum competences are missing from the new platform.
A combination of paper/electronic forms is therefore necessary if you are collating evidence to cover all seven training stages. The links below should help to be guided in the process.
https://curriculum.rcophth.ac.uk/curriculum/ost/assessments/workplace-based-assessments/
Alternatively, please ask the RCOphth to move you to Curriculum 2024.
More details about the transition arrangements are here.
You need to provide evidence to show that you have the knowledge, skills and experience required to practise as a specialist in the UK.
Whether you decide to use the new system (or previously used the old one), you will still need to build your application outside of this as the GMC does not have access to Royal College portfolios. It is the quality of the evidence which is assessed, as opposed to how it was collated.
I am an assessor
If you were registered as an assessor in the old system, you will not need to create a dedicated account. Trainees and doctors in non-training posts will be able to email you direct links to assessment forms.
I am an educational supervisor
Your trainee(s) should have sent a direct invitation. The latter will not come from either FourteenFish or the RCOphth. Once you have received the invitation, please follow the steps to create your own account, which will then give you access to view your trainee portfolios.
There will be nothing to see in the new ePortfolio until your trainees, whether existing or new, create their own account.
It is the responsibility of your trainees to invite you to access their account. You will not receive a separate invite from FourteenFish.
You can see the OST Curriculum and accompanying documentation here.
Visit the Curriculum 2024 microsite for quick access to specific sections of the curriculum documentation.
I am a training programme director, college tutor or regional educational advisor
You will have had an email from FourteenFish asking you to register and set up your password.
The FourteenFish support team have manually linked TPD, CT and REA accounts to the relevant trainee portfolios. Trainees do not need to invite them directly. Direct invitations are only required to give access to ESs.
If you are still unable to view your trainee portfolios, please contact the FourteenFish Helpdesk and copy [email protected] in your correspondence.
I am a named clinical supervisor
Your role as named clinical supervisor (NCS) is to complete EPAs in the relevant Special Interest Area (SIA). You are not expected to access trainee portfolios but only need to see the evidence that the trainee is presenting to support the EPA. You will receive direct requests to complete EPAs, similar to any other assessor completing a, say, DOPS or OSATS.
I am a consultant without an education role
Please see separate information regarding the future of the CPD diary , which explains how to register to document activities and keep a record of points.