Moving from Portfolio Online to FourteenFish is not simply a change of login. The important work is checking that submitted evidence arrived, understanding what did not migrate, and making your next training review intelligible to a supervisor who did not see the old portfolio. Your own migration invitation, rather than a colleague's timetable, should determine when you act.
Establish which transition applies to you
The RCPsych transition guidance, checked on 13 September 2026, describes a phased move. Training stage, progression date and individual circumstances matter. It directs existing users to wait for an invitation rather than create a new FourteenFish account independently. The College gives separate arrangements for February rotations, final-year training and breaks, so a single migration date would be misleading.
Do not turn a general implementation date into your personal deadline. Put your invitation, current review period, next progression point and named contact together. Where these disagree, ask the College or programme team which arrangement applies before moving records manually. An unanswered administrative question is a task to resolve, not permission to choose whichever date is most convenient.
Separate migration from changes to assessment
A portfolio move changes where evidence sits. Changes to formative assessment change what development you need to demonstrate. They are connected operationally but should occupy separate lines in your planning.
RCPsych's formative-assessment page, reviewed on 13 September 2026, describes changes involving formulation in case presentations, patient and carer feedback, caseload-based discussions and supervisory judgements. Check which changes apply to your stage with your supervisor, particularly near the end of training. A successful data transfer cannot establish that future assessment requirements have been met.
There is also a distinction between possessing an old assessment and making its relevance apparent. The College's migration FAQ, checked on 13 September 2026, says the old evidence cannot be carried across as mapped curriculum attainments. It describes a temporary catch-up form to help identify evidence and development needs. Use that discussion to reconnect the record, not to rewrite a past assessment as newly completed work.
Before migration: make a small, usable inventory
Use the following original inventory in a private, approved working document. It is a checking aid, not an additional College requirement.
| Record or grouping | Check before transfer | Check afterwards |
|---|---|---|
| Completed assessment | Submission status and date | Document present and readable |
| Supervisor review | Agreed outcome and review period | Correct period and attachments |
| Development plan | What remains open | Next action still identifiable |
| Training history | Placement and progression dates | Chronology makes sense |
| Unfinished reflection | Whether it is genuinely ready to submit | No assumption that a draft transferred |
Record enough information to find an item, but do not copy patient-identifiable material into a personal spreadsheet. A short description such as "supervised liaison assessment, spring placement" is usually more useful for this purpose than a detailed clinical history.
Under the College's migration guidance checked on 13 September 2026, submitted records become searchable, read-only PDFs; private, unsubmitted work does not transfer. That is a reason to review unfinished work, not to submit inaccurate or incomplete evidence merely to get it transferred. Resolve unfinished assessments with the relevant supervisor through the approved process.
After invitation: test meaning, not just document counts
Consider a fictional resident doctor moving after a completed review. Their old portfolio contains an assessment about managing uncertainty, a personal learning note on delirium and an agreed development objective. All three relate to the same clinical theme, but they are not interchangeable evidence.
After migration, the doctor checks that the assessment retains its assessor and date, the learning note is identifiable as personal study, and the objective still records what was intended. They then check the relevant training period and supervisor access. Finding three files is not enough when their purposes and chronology have become unclear.
If a document appears missing, first check submission status and the relevant migrated grouping. Record the item's title, date and expected location before contacting support. Avoid uploading a second copy immediately: duplication can make later review harder and may obscure which version is authoritative.
Use the first supervisor meeting to reconnect the record
Bring a concise account of what has transferred, what is uncertain and what you intend to do next. The meeting should not become a tour of every old document. Choose one capability with good longitudinal evidence, one with limited evidence and one open development need.
For each, ask whether the record demonstrates what you think it demonstrates. An examination result may support knowledge development; it cannot stand in for observation of a clinical encounter. A simulated interview can help prepare for such observation, but the subsequent workplace evidence must describe what actually happened.
An effective next action has an owner and a setting: discuss a particular assessment opportunity with the clinical supervisor, check a missing record with support, or revisit an unresolved learning need before the next review. "Improve portfolio" is too vague to guide a working week.
Where supplementary learning belongs
This article is published by iatroX, whose learning tools sit alongside, not in place of, the official training portfolio. The iatroX CPD page, checked on 13 September 2026, describes learning-need selection, a draft record for the learner to review and personalise, PDF export and direct FourteenFish export for linked accounts. Those functions do not migrate a psychiatry portfolio, create workplace assessments or guarantee that a record satisfies a College requirement. The general export description also does not establish compatibility with every specialty-specific form: confirm the destination available in your linked account before relying on it.
For a resident doctor whose migration is complete but whose interview skills need attention, question practice or a relevant simulation can support preparation. For someone with missing submitted evidence, the immediate priority is the College's support route. Different problems deserve different tools.
Frequently asked questions
Should I create a FourteenFish account before my invitation?
Follow RCPsych's current migration instructions, which tell existing users to wait for the invitation rather than create a separate account themselves. Contact the transition team when your individual circumstances are unclear.
Will an unfinished private Portfolio Online entry migrate?
The College's guidance checked on 13 September 2026 says private, unsubmitted work does not migrate. Review it through the proper submission process rather than assuming a draft will appear automatically.
Can an iatroX learning record replace a workplace assessment?
No. A learning record documents study and reflection, while workplace assessment must reflect the actual activity and the authorised assessor's judgement.