what makes a good application?

There's nothing worse than having to redo work you thought was finished.  We receive hundreds of applications annually and most of them are processed easily.  However, we do occasionally have to return applications for one reason or another.  The following guidance can help you avoid that application being yours.

Complete all sections of the form

Even if you have applied for sponsorship before, please fill in all your details as this will allow the coordinate to process your application more quickly.

Submit one copy of your form

Submitted your application via post, email and fax can cause problems for the administrative team.  Please just submit one copy of your form and enquire after a week if you have not heard from Frontier.  The greenest way to apply is by attaching your application as a Word document or pdf to an email to frontier@londondeanery.ac.uk.

Always answer the question

Each question is placed in the application form for a reason.  The distribution of public funds has to be justifiable, and these are the questions that we use to justify each application.  We're all busy people, and filling in application forms tends to be squeezed in where we have a precious spare few minutes, but make sure you read the questions fully.  If the question isn't answered directly, we may have to return your form for more information.

Know when to give more information

Using the same application form for £100 or £1000 can make it difficult to know how much we want to know.  Do you fill the whole text box or use as few words as possible?  Applications are all about knowing how much to write.  We'd recommend that you provide more detailed information if:

• You are asking for a large sum of money - if your qualification or the one year secondment costs thousands of pounds you'll need to be able to justify it in more detail than a request for £200 to attend a local conference.  A good rule of thumb is that the more funding you need, the more information we'll need to make that decision.  If you provide the information when you first submit your form, we can process your application faster and let you know sooner. 
• Your activity doesn't seem related to your specialty - if your specialty is GUM and you want to attend a course in Emergency Medicine, we need to know why.  There's probably a really good reason but, unless you tell us, we'll need to come back and ask and this will mean delays in processing your application.  The same applies when you want to study skills like Medical Education or Leadership.  Tell us how you want to use them and your application has more chance of initial success.
• Your activity takes place outside the UK - we have over 1500 SASG doctors on our database, and we want to make sure that they all have the chance to benefit from Frontier sponsorship.  We do not usually fund courses, conferences or secondments abroad as they tend to be costly.  If your activity is taking place outside the UK, we need more information about it.  Let us know in more depth why you believe the skills or knowledge you hope to gain can't be found at home.

Check the form

Applications can be a pain, but taking the time to check over the form can save a lot of time later.  Before submitting your form please make sure that:

• Your personal details are all legible.  Any ambiguity in your email address could mean we can't respond to you.
• All necessary sections of the form are completed.  This includes the sections for your clinical supervisor.
• You and your supervisor have both signed the form.  Electronic signatures are not sufficient, nor are typed names.

Avoid snail mail wherever possible 

You can post, email or fax us your form.  But posting carries with it disadvantages.  We have had some forms lost in the post - please make sure that if you post your form to us you retain a copy of it to prevent you having to fill the whole thing in again.  Also, the post takes longer - this might mean you miss one of our review sessions and experience a delay in your form being processed. Where possible scan your application form and email to frontier@londondeanery.ac.uk or fax it to +44(0)20 7866 3277 FAO Frontier.  This will help us to process it and give you a decision sooner. 

Please note: Claim forms must be submitted by post with the original receipt in order to be processed by our finance department.