The early decisions matter most.
FY1 through CCT is when the structural decisions are made: how to work (locum, substantive, both), what to do with the pension, when to set up a limited company, which consultant offers to take. Get them right and the rest of the career runs cleaner. Get them wrong and the cost compounds for decades.
Start here
Three shipped products that map directly to the decisions trainees face.
The trainee arc, in three decisions
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1
How will you work?
Substantive post, locum career, or both. Take-home pay isn't the same as the headline rate; pension accrual changes the answer; tax structure changes it again.
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2
How will you be taxed?
The minute you do any private work, the limited-company question appears. The post-April 2026 dividend rate regime has reshaped the answer.
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3
Which consultant offer?
When the consultant offer comes, the headline figure is one component of the package. Two offers with the same basic salary can differ in total economic value by 20%.
Also worth knowing
One Guide is worth reading even before you need it — and two products are in production for CCT.