We ran the MS2024 2 years ago, gathering feedback on what College services matter most to you, and how these can be improved. Your feedback informed the development of 6 College commitments, focused on communicating value, communities, content, workforce, query management and continuing professional development (CPD). 

Before we launch our Member Survey 2026, here’s a roundup of the progress we’ve made on these commitments.  

Communicating value 

We heard clearly that members wanted greater clarity about what the College does, how our services support the profession and how we deliver value for membership. We have addressed this in several ways over the last 2 years.  

Firstly, we published the 'Your College, Your Membership' brochure in March 2025. This brochure brings together information about the College’s work, key services and the wide range of benefits available to members, helping you to make the most of your membership. 

We also introduced dedicated communications for new fellows, providing key guidance and support at this important career stage. We continue to develop our communications to ensure members receive information that is relevant, useful and timely. 

Most recently, we launched a new animation highlighting the breadth of the College’s activities and their value to members and the wider profession. All of this serves to clarify exactly what the College does for its members and the profession, and how this supports and advances pathology.  

Communities 

As College members, you told us that you wanted more opportunities to connect with colleagues, share knowledge and access support tailored to your specialty and career stage. 

In response to this, the College has developed an online community offering to provide space for members to network and access bespoke learning resources. Our pilot community, the Medical Examiner/Medical Examiner Officer Hub (ME/MEO Hub), launched in December 2024, followed by the Haematopathology Hub in May 2025.  

In January 2026, we launched the Infection Community, servicing members who work in microbiology, virology and infection prevention and control. Our latest community, the New Consultants Hub, is due to launch in the coming weeks.  

These communities provide a private, professional space for members to access peer-to-peer support and exclusive educational webinars, and share knowledge. 

We’ve had fantastic feedback on our communities so far, and plan to expand our offering further over the coming months to service even more members. 

As well as our online community delivery, we have strengthened support for members at key career stages. The New Consultants Committee (NCC) has been established to represent the views of new consultants and help shape College activities and services for those in their first 5 years of fellowship. The College’s New Consultants’ Day ─ next taking place on Thursday 15 October 2026 ─ also continues to provide practical support for members making the transition into consultant roles. 

Content 

The MS2024 highlighted the importance of providing useful and relevant news, information and educational resources for our members, ensuring that these are easily accessible and that individual members receive content of particular relevance to them. 

The College's project to upgrade member digital services is now well underway. This will significantly enhance our ability to deliver tailored communications to specific groups or specialties. Alongside this, we have been developing a more coordinated approach to content planning and delivery through our content strategy work. All of this will help the College deliver information and resources that are more relevant and useful to you, giving you more time to learn and develop with our support.  

Workforce 

You told us that the College should take a stronger stance on workplace issues and do more to advocate for the pathology workforce. 

In January 2025, we launched our Workforce Strategy 2025–2028, setting out 6 strategic aims covering workforce intelligence, engagement and influence, training, retention, reform and contingency planning. 

Our strategy and advocacy work is supported by robust data collected through the Workforce Census, with more than 2,900 members responding in 2025. We use this data to identify workforce pressures and inform our engagement with policymakers and other stakeholders. Our 2026 Workforce Census closed in May 2026, and as the College moves into delivering its train and retain aims, the data gathered over the past 2 years significantly enhances our workforce intelligence. 

We have continued to use member evidence to inform College responses to major consultations and policy developments, including the NHS 10-Year Workforce Plan and the Government's National Cancer Plan for England. This supports our commitment to being the voice of pathology, ensuring that the experiences and needs of the pathology workforce are represented at governmental level. 

Query management 

We recognise that members want a more responsive service when contacting the College.  

When the College's digital service upgrade is complete, our new CRM will strengthen our member support and streamline our query management service. 

In the meantime, we are working hard to ensure that all member queries are directed to the correct member of staff and responded to in a timely fashion.  

Supporting CPD 

Members told us that educational resources and CPD opportunities are among the most important services provided by the College. 

We have continued to expand our educational offering, including specialty-focused webinars, webinar series for current topics such as World Patient Safety Day, conferences and other online resources. The Pathology Portal continues to grow as a source of learning and professional development, while the College’s CPD portfolio supports members to record and monitor their CPD activity. This portfolio will also be upgraded as part of the College’s digital service upgrade.  

The Member Survey 2026 

The MS2024 was an important step in helping us understand what matters most to our members and where we needed to improve. We are grateful to everyone who took the time to share their views. 

Now, 2 years on, it’s time to hear from you again. 

The Member Survey 2026 (MS2026) will launch on 7 October, and will be open to all College fellows, diplomates, affiliates, medical examiners and medical examiner officers to complete. 

Building on the 2024 survey, it will allow us to benchmark our progress, see where we have improved and identify the areas where we need to focus our efforts next. The more members who complete the survey, the more we can ensure that our future priorities continue to reflect the needs of our membership. 

Look out for an email on 7 October with your link to complete the Member Survey 2026. 

Thank you for your continued participation in helping us to shape the future of your College. 

If you have any questions about this work, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Member Engagement and Support team.