The Undergraduate Procedural Skills Assessments (UPSAs) are a mandatory requirement for completion of your medical degree by the General Medical Council (GMC). They provide the GMC with evidence of competence for you to begin work as a Foundation Doctor. Each UPSA must be completed and assessed in order to successfully graduate. UPSAs are undertaken during years 3-5 of the MBChB programme. Please refer to the year specific guidance on when and how these should be completed.
UPSAs can be assessed by any professionally registered clinician who is themselves deemed competent at the skill (doctors, nurses, physios etc). In hospital settings, assessors should be permanent members of staff (not bank or locum staff) who have an NHS trust email address. In the community, assessors should be a member of staff who works regularly at the practice and has an NHS e-mail. You cannot be signed off by a fellow student, even if they have another qualification which makes them competent at the skill. NHS staff who may be specifically trained for a role, but whom are not professionally registered also cannot sign off student UPSAs (e.g. phlebotomists, cardiorespiratory technicians, lab workers etc).
Assessments are primarily undertaken in the clinical workplace with the exception of two of the UPSAs (N18 and N21) which can be signed off in a simulated setting. UPSAs are evidenced by uploading the correct e-form in your iPad logbook
UPSA for Year 3, 4 and 5 students
Students will follow this skills curriculum:
- The majority of skills are to be performed on real patients by graduation. Only blood transfusion (N18) and nasogastric tube placement (N21) can be signed off entirely in a simulated setting.
- It is essential that you demonstrate progression in competency in procedural skills. This means you need to engage with the same skills multiple times and this will need to be evidenced in your logbook. The more you practice, the more competent you will become.
- The GMC defines 3 different levels of competence:
- Level 1 (safe to practise in a simulated setting).
- Level 2 (safe to practise with direct supervision).
- Level 3 (safe to practise with indirect/distant supervision).
A list of the current UPSAs including year of introduction and the competency level required for graduation is detailed below:
| UPSA | Description | Year introduced | Competency level required for graduation |
| N01 | Perform patient observations and calculate Early Warning Score | year 3 | 3 |
| N02 | Instruct a patient in collecting an MSSU and perform a dipstick test | year 3 | 3 |
| N03 | Take nose, throat or skin swabs | year 3 | 3 |
| N04 | Venepuncture | year 3 | 3 |
| N05 | Cannulation of a vein | year 3 | 3 |
| N06 | Measure a capillary blood glucose | year 3 | 3 |
| N07a | Perform a peak flow | year 3 | 3 |
| N07b | Inhaler and Spacer technique | Year 3 | 3 |
| N08 | Administer oxygen and discuss its prescription | year 3 | 3 |
| N09 | Perform a 12 lead ECG | year 3 | 3 |
| N10 | Scrubbing up for a procedure | year 3 | 3 |
| N11 | Female catheterisation | year 4 | 2 |
| N12 | Perform ophthalmoscopy | year 4 | 3 |
| N13 | Perform otoscopy | year 4 | 3 |
| N14 | Take blood for culture | year 5 | 2 |
| N15 | Take a blood gas sample from the radial artery | year 5 | 2 |
| N16 | Set up an IV infusion and connect to patient | year 5 | 2 |
| N17 | Prepare and administer parenteral medication | year 5 | 2 |
| N18 | Simulate the process involved in giving a blood transfusion | year 5 | 1 |
| N19 | Insert a male urethral catheter | year 5 | 2 |
| N20 | Provide basic wound care and apply dressings | year 5 | 2 |
| N21 | Simulate placement of an NG tube and check correct position | year 5 | 1 |
| N22 | Safely use topical or injected local anesthetics; be aware of toxic doses | year 5 | 2 |
Please note that as of academic year 2025/2026, UPSA N1-N10 will need to be repeated in year 5. This is regardless of the competency level acquired in year 3. This will enable you to demonstrate ongoing professional development in your procedural skills.
Important: If you are repeating a year or have had some time out of programme AND were previously on the old M-UPSA system please contact your sector year lead and the clinical skills lead at the start of the year to discuss your individual requirements.
General Principles for UPSAsThe UPSA list and details can be found on onemedinfo
- It is your responsibility, to ensure each UPSA is completed in a timely manner as outlined in the year guidance.
- Plan ahead and think about which UPSA are most likely to be achieved in which placement.
- Each UPSA must be completed and assessed by a member of clinical staff who is competent in the procedure and holds a professional registration (i.e: GMC / NMC number).
- Only members of staff with NHS email addresses are eligible to be assessors. These will be verified by the university and those without NHS email addresses will be rejected.
- Assessors must enter their name, NHS email address and professional registration number.
- Assessments must be carried out on patients (according to your local trust policy) wherever possible with the exception of N18 and N21.
- Assessments must be signed by the assessor and submitted by you at the time of the assessment.
- It is essential that you demonstrate progression in competency in procedural skills. This means you need to engage with the same skills multiple times and demonstrate this in your logbook.
See Also:
Year 3 UPSAs and PMS
Year 4 UPSAs and PMS
Year 5 UPSAs