IMG doctors
International medical graduates with substantial overseas specialist experience seeking entry to the UK Specialist Register. The largest single cohort of Portfolio Pathway applicants.
01.1 — CESR Evidence System
A complete preparation system
A complete preparation system
for the Portfolio Pathway.
For the IMG and SAS doctor preparing for entry to the GMC Specialist Register. Eleven coherent components that turn an 18–24 month evidence-gathering project into a structured, auditable workflow. Launching soon — the waitlist is the first to be notified.
Built for one specific applicant.
The system is designed for, and only for, the doctor preparing a Portfolio Pathway application. Every choice in its architecture reflects that specificity.
SAS doctors
UK Specialty and Associate Specialist doctors who have practised at consultant-equivalent level for several years without completing a formal training programme. The system translates a long working career into a structured evidence base.
Non-traditional routes
Doctors who completed part of their training in the UK and part overseas, interrupted training, or are applying via the Academic and Research route. The system accommodates all variations of the Portfolio Pathway.
Four pillars, applied consistently.
The system is organised around four working principles. Each pillar maps to specific components, and every component reinforces at least two of the four.
01
Evidence architecture
The hardest part of the application is psychological, not clinical. How do you structure 800–1,000 pages of evidence so an assessor can navigate it? The system provides the working model — HLLO mapping, GMP domain tagging, KSE balance, and a decision tree for every new piece of evidence.
02
Progress tracking
Evidence-gathering across 24 months becomes invisible without structure. The Evidence Tracker surfaces weekly, monthly, and quarterly reviews against the roadmap. You always know where the gaps are and where you are in the process.
03
Real exemplars
Most preparation guides explain the rules. The Exemplar Library shows what assessor-grade output looks like — annotated weak-vs-strong pairs that train your eye to recognise quality. Recognition is more useful than imitation, and it sidesteps the GMC's prohibition on AI-generated reflective content.
04
Submission workflows
The hidden pain of preparation: file naming, folder organisation, cross-referencing, anonymisation, the bundle index, the cross-reference matrix. The system specifies all of it and provides ready-to-populate templates with formula-driven quality gates.
Eleven components.
Each component does one specific job. Together they cover every preparation activity from the day you open your GMC online application to the day you submit it.
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Master Guide & 24-month Roadmap
Orientation document that frames the whole system. The five-phase roadmap with quarterly gate reviews — read this on day one and again at the start of Phase 3.
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Evidence Tracker
A ten-sheet Excel workbook with 153 working formulas. Every piece of evidence enters here once, and feeds the GMP, HLLO, KSE, anonymisation, reflection, and gate-review dashboards automatically.
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Document Organisation Guide
Folder structure, file-naming convention with 20 evidence-type codes, the full anonymisation protocol with worked redaction examples, and the cross-referencing methodology.
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Reflection Template Library
Structured prompt frameworks for the ten most common reflection types — significant events, complaints, M&M, learning from error, leadership, teaching, QIP, MSF, patient feedback, MDT working. Prompts only, in line with current GMC guidance on AI-generated reflective content.
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Referee Briefing Pack
How to choose your four nominated referees, the briefing protocol, a structured report template the referees can work to (so they produce structured reports rather than generic letters of support), and a tracking checklist.
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Submission Readiness Checklist
Eleven domains, around 85 specific check items. The final pre-submission gate. Every item exists because applications have been delayed or returned because of issues at that specific check.
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Structured CV Template
A Portfolio Pathway-specific CV organised around evidence claims rather than chronological work history. Every section signposts to specific evidence files using your Evidence Tracker IDs.
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Exemplar Library
Worked examples and annotated weak-vs-strong calibration sets. CV entries, evidence narratives, reflection structure pairs, referee report excerpts, executive summary, cover letter, bundle index, cross-reference matrix — every artefact type the assessor will see.
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Evidence System Architecture
The conceptual model that ties everything together. The Evidence Categorisation Decision Tree, the deduplication protocol, the gap-identification protocol. Read this when the volume of evidence becomes large enough that the architecture's value is no longer abstract.
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Bundle Master Index
A pre-formatted Excel template for the index of every file in your submitted bundle. Quality checks built in — the workbook flags non-Final anonymisation status, missing primary HLLOs, and submission-blocking gaps.
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Cross-Reference Matrix
The HLLO-by-evidence matrix the assessor uses to navigate your bundle. Auto-RAGs each HLLO by coverage and refuses to mark the application ready while any HLLO is RED.
A few things worth saying explicitly.
The system does not write your application.
It does not draft your reflections, your CV, your evidence narratives, or your equivalence claim. Those have to be your work, on your cases, in your voice — both because the GMC requires it and because anything else fails assessor scrutiny. What the system provides is the scaffolding that makes your own work easier, more structured, and more complete.
It does not replace professional review.
For most applicants, two to four hours of pre-submission review by an experienced Portfolio Pathway coach or recently-approved consultant in your specialty is the highest-leverage spend in the entire preparation. The system is designed to make that review more efficient and focused. It does not replace it.
It will not prevent every failure mode.
The most common reason for unsuccessful applications is insufficient evidence in one or more curriculum areas. The system surfaces gaps early, which makes them addressable. It cannot manufacture evidence you do not have. If your underlying clinical or training profile genuinely lacks coverage of a curriculum area, no preparation system will compensate.
Your authoritative reference is the GMC.
Always check current GMC guidance and your specialty’s Specialty Specific Guidance directly. The system references both throughout, but requirements change. We update the system in response to material changes; you should still verify current GMC and Royal College guidance before finalising your application.
Launching soon. £79.
CESR Evidence System
£79
One-time purchase. Free updates included.
- All eleven components, immediately downloadable on launch
- Free updates for the life of the system
- 30-day no-questions-asked refund
- Standard formats — .docx and .xlsx, no proprietary software required
- Use across multiple devices and applications
Frequently asked, fairly answered.
01 Is this system aligned to current GMC requirements?
Yes. The system uses the current Good Medical Practice 2024 four-domain framework and the post-November 2023 Portfolio Pathway terminology. It refers throughout to current Specialty Specific Guidance (SSG) and the Higher Level Learning Outcomes (HLLOs) you'll be assessed against. We update the system in response to material GMC framework changes.
That said: the system is preparation scaffolding, not regulatory advice. Your authoritative reference must always be the GMC website and your specialty's current SSG.
02 Will the system write my reflections for me?
No, and you should be cautious of any product that claims it will. The GMC's November 2024 interim guidance on generative AI in Portfolio Pathway applications is explicit: reflective content must be the applicant's own work. AI-generated reflections breach guidance and are increasingly detectable by experienced assessors.
What the system does provide is the Reflection Template Library — structured prompt frameworks that ask you the questions an experienced supervisor would ask. You write the answers in your own words, on your own cases, in your own voice. The Exemplar Library shows annotated weak-vs-strong reflection structure pairs so you can recognise when your own writing is hitting the quality bar.
03 Does the system work for my specialty?
The universal core works for every specialty — it's organised around frameworks (GMP 2024 domains, KSE, the structural workflows) that apply to every Portfolio Pathway application. Where the system references HLLOs, the universal core provides 25 placeholder rows that you populate from your own specialty's SSG.
Specialty-specific layers are in development. Each adds the actual HLLO list for that specialty, specialty-specific evidence guidance, worked exemplars in that specialty's clinical context, and known specialty failure modes drawn from college feedback. Subscribe to updates below to be told when each specialty layer launches.
04 How is this different from free GMC guidance?
The GMC publishes excellent guidance on what evidence is required. It does not publish a working system for organising 18–24 months of evidence-gathering, nor a tracker, nor exemplars, nor templates, nor a workflow that integrates evidence collection with reflective writing and bundle preparation.
The system fills that gap. Treat the GMC website as the source of truth for what is required; treat the system as the working scaffold for how to actually do it across two years of preparation while continuing to practise medicine.
05 Is this for me if I've already started preparing?
Yes. The Evidence Tracker can absorb work you've already done — open the workbook, set up the Setup sheet with your specialty and timeline, then bulk-load your existing evidence into the Evidence Log. The dashboards immediately show you the coverage you currently have and the gaps that remain. Most applicants find the deduplication and gap-identification protocols particularly useful at this point — work that was scattered across folders and emails becomes visible and structured.
The system is most valuable when adopted in Phase 1 of preparation, but it provides material value at every phase up to and including the final pre-submission month.
06 What format are the documents in?
Word documents (.docx) for everything that's primarily prose — guides, templates, the exemplar library, the reflection prompts. Excel workbooks (.xlsx) for the working tools — the Evidence Tracker, the Bundle Master Index, the Cross-Reference Matrix. All standard formats, fully editable, no proprietary software required beyond Microsoft Office or any equivalent (Google Docs / Sheets, LibreOffice, Apple Numbers / Pages all work).
07 How do I receive the files?
The system is launching soon. Join the waitlist below and we'll email you the moment it's available; waitlist members are notified before any wider announcement.
Once live, purchase will be through Gumroad: you'll receive a download link by email immediately after payment. The system is delivered as a zipped folder containing all eleven files plus a quick-start README. You retain access to your purchase indefinitely. Updates are released as new versions; existing purchasers receive update notifications and can re-download the latest version at no additional cost.
08 What if it doesn't work for me?
Thirty-day no-questions-asked refund. If the system isn't useful for your circumstances, email contact@portiko.co.uk within thirty days of purchase and we'll process a full refund. We don't ask why and we don't require you to delete the files.
Stay in touch
Join the launch waitlist.
The CESR Evidence System launches soon. Join the waitlist for first access — we'll email you the moment it's live, before any wider announcement, plus updates on specialty layers as they ship.
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