FOI_26-209 Academic progression of NHS staff
Date of response: 16 September 2026
We have now considered your request of 01 September 2026 for the following information:
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding the hierarchy of academic, teaching and honorary academic titles available to NHS-employed doctors who contribute to undergraduate medical education at your Medical School.
For clarity, this request concerns doctors whose substantive employment is with an NHS organisation but who contribute to the University's undergraduate medical programme, including those who may hold an honorary academic appointment with the University.
The principal purpose of this request is to understand the full hierarchy of titles used to recognise NHS doctors contributing to undergraduate medical education, and where NHS consultants sit within that hierarchy.
Question 1. Hierarchy of academic and teaching titles
Please provide the full hierarchy of academic, clinical academic, teaching and/or honorary academic titles that may be awarded to NHS-employed doctors who contribute to undergraduate medical education.
Please list these titles in order of seniority, from the lowest/entry-level title to the highest title available.
For example, a hierarchy might take the form:
Clinical Fellow → Clinical Lecturer → Senior Clinical Lecturer → Assistant Professor → Associate Professor/Reader → Professor
This example is illustrative only; please provide the terminology and hierarchy officially used by your institution.
For each title, please indicate which grades/groups of NHS doctors are eligible to hold it, including whether the title is available to NHS consultants.
Where there are separate pathways or hierarchies for education/teaching, research and clinical academic activity, please identify the pathway(s) applicable to NHS-employed doctors contributing to undergraduate medical education.
Our response:
Please see accompanying document, our ref: FOI_26-209 Appendix A.
Question 2. Eligibility at each level
For each title identified above, please indicate:
• which NHS medical grades/groups are eligible to hold the title;
• whether an NHS consultant is eligible to hold the title;
• whether the appointment is honorary, substantive or may be either;
• whether the title can be awarded primarily on the basis of contribution to medical education/teaching;
• whether publications, research output or other academic scholarship are required or considered for appointment to the title; and
• whether substantive University employment is required to hold the title.
Our response:
Please see accompanying document, our ref: FOI_26-209 Appendix A.
Question 3. Senior and professorial titles
Please confirm whether NHS-employed doctors, and specifically NHS consultants, who make a substantial contribution to undergraduate medical education may be appointed to academic titles such as:
• Assistant Professor or equivalent;
• Senior Lecturer or equivalent;
• Associate Professor/Reader or equivalent; and
• Professor or equivalent.
In particular, please confirm whether an NHS-employed consultant can attain a Professor-level honorary, clinical or other academic title principally on the basis of excellence, impact and/or leadership in medical education, without being substantively employed by the University as a clinical academic.
Our response:
We no longer use the titles of “Senior Lecturer” or “Reader”, only “Associate Professor”.
The titles of Clinical Professor and Clinical Associate Professor may be conferred on NHS-employed consultants in joint substantive appointments.
The titles of Honorary Clinical Professor and Honorary Clinical Associate Professor may be conferred on NHS-employed consultants who:
• Are jointly employed between the NHS and the UEA and whose primary employment is within the NHS; or
• Are recognised through honorary title due to regular and ongoing collaborations and contributions to the teaching, research and other activities of the University that are not specifically associated with their NHS work.
Question 4. Criteria for appointment and progression
For each level of the hierarchy, please provide the criteria used for appointment and/or progression.
Where applicable, please indicate whether consideration is given to factors including:
• volume and duration of teaching;
• quality of teaching;
• educational leadership;
• curriculum development;
• assessment and examining;
• supervision and mentorship of medical students;
• educational scholarship and/or research;
• publications and other research outputs;
• leadership within the Medical School or NHS;
• regional, national or international contributions to medical education; and
• any other relevant criteria.
Where publications are considered, please indicate, if this information is held, whether publications are mandatory or desirable and whether any particular quantity, quality or type of publication is expected at each level.
Our response:
• We use the standards within our Academic Progressions Handbook (see our response to Question6) in relation to promotions criteria for promotions within both substantive and honorary roles. All of the above may be taken into consideration when establishing whether the criteria for promotion have been met, depending on the primary focus of the role.
• Where publications are considered, we do not specify the quantity or type as this will be dependent on the research field. Quality will be of particular focus and the Academic Progressions Handbook criteria set out the degree of excellence expected at each level.
Question 5. Current numbers
If this information is held in an easily retrievable form, please provide the number of NHS-employed doctors, broken down where possible by consultant and non-consultant status, currently holding each of the titles identified in response to Question 1.
I am seeking aggregate figures only and do not require the names or other personal information of individual doctors.
Our response:
Please see accompanying document, our ref: FOI_26-209 Appendix A.
Question 6. Relevant policies and guidance
Please provide copies of, or links to, any current policies, frameworks, guidance documents, appointment criteria, promotion criteria or role descriptions that set out:
• the hierarchy of these titles;
• eligibility for each title;
• the criteria for appointment or progression; and
• the process by which NHS-employed doctors are nominated, appointed and/or promoted.
Where the University's general academic or honorary appointment framework differs from arrangements within the Medical School/Faculty of Medicine, please provide the information applicable specifically to the Medical School/Faculty responsible for undergraduate medical education.
Our response:
• The University applies the same framework across the University.
• The relevant framework can be found in the following accompanying documents:
o Academic Progressions Handbook – FOI_26-209 Appendix B.
o Honorary Academic and Emeritus Professor Appointments Process and Guidelines. – FOI_26-209 Appendix C.