Optimising Recruitment to Randomised Controlled Trials
This course aims to provide an introduction to the challenges of recruiting people to randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and strategies to address these. The course draws on evidence generated by the QuinteT research programme, which specialises in optimising recruitment to RCTs based on research conducted in over 70 trials to date. Course content and examples will be drawn primarily from trials set in secondary care hospital settings that span a range of medical specialities.
| Date | 26 March 2026 |
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| Fee | £250 |
| Format | Online |
| Audience | Open to all applicants (prerequisites apply) |
Course profile
This course aims to equip attendees with insight into the common sources of recruitment difficulty in RCTs and ways of mitigating or overcoming these.
Please click on the sections below for more information.
This 1-day online course will be held live with a mix of interactive lectures and group discussions.
By the end of the course participants should:
- be aware of common logistical and organisational issues that can impede recruitment;
- understand the purpose of RCT screening logs and their potential to monitor inclusivity and identify obstacles throughout the recruitment process;
- understand the ways in which equipoise issues can undermine RCT recruitment and be aware of strategies for overcoming these difficulties;
- appreciate the importance of understanding potential participants' (e.g. patients') views for/against trial treatments and how strategies can be used to support informed decision making about trial participation; and
- be aware of how language and terminology can influence potential participants’ interpretations of trial treatments and processes.
This course is suitable for health professionals, trial co-ordinators and researchers who have an interest or active role in the design and delivery of RCTs. It will be of particular value to those who organise and/or discuss trial recruitment with potential participants - especially trials in secondary care hospital settings that are deemed difficult to recruit to.
The course content has been informed by two decades of research into optimising RCT recruitment, conducted by the University of Bristol's QuinteT research group. The QuinteT group have worked on over seventy challenging RCTs, most of which have compared very different types of treatment or 'non-treatment' groups in secondary care NHS settings.
The day long course will cover the following areas, using examples from real RCTs:
- common organisational and logistic difficulties that can impede recruitment;
- the purpose of RCT screening logs and their potential to monitor inclusivity and identify obstacles throughout the recruitment process;
- an overview of the concepts of individual and community equipoise, and their implications for recruitment;
- strategies for engaging with patient preferences for or against trial treatments; and
- the implications of language and terminology on recruitment when discussing RCTs with potential participants.
Course leads and tutors are members of the University of Bristol's QuinteT research group and the Bristol Trials Centre. The QuinteT team have specialist knowledge and experience of understanding and addressing recruitment obstacles in RCTs, following two decades of research in this area.
To make sure the course is suitable for you and you will benefit from attending, please ensure you meet the following prerequisites before booking:
| Knowledge | It would be advantageous if course attendees have some knowledge and understanding of randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The course does not go into detail about the design/conduct of RCTs, and therefore individuals unfamiliar with this study design may consider first attending the Designing and Conducting Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trials short course. Experience of having worked on an RCT would be particularly beneficial, although not essential. |
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Before booking this course, please make sure you read the information provided above about the target audience and prerequisites. It is important that you have access to the relevant IT resources needed for the course and meet the knowledge prerequisites to ensure you can get the most from the course.
Bookings are taken via our online booking system, for which you must register an account. To check if you are eligible for free or discounted courses please see our fees and voucher packs page. All bookings are subject to our terms & conditions, which can be read in full here.
For help and support with booking a course refer to our booking information page, FAQs or feel free to contact us directly. For available payment options please see: How to pay your short course fees.
Participants are granted access to our virtual learning platform (Blackboard Ultra) 1 to 2 weeks in advance of the course. This allows time for any pre-course work to be completed and to familiarise with the platform.
To gain the most from the course, we recommend that you attend in full and participate in all interactive components. We endeavour to record all live lecture sessions and upload these to the online learning environment within 24 hours. This allows course participants to review these sessions at leisure and revisit them multiple times. Please note that we do not record breakout sessions.
All course participants retain access to the online learning materials and recordings for 5 months after the course.
University of Bristol staff and postgraduate students who do not wish to attend the full course may instead register for access to the 'Materials & Recordings' version of this course: Further information and bookings.
94% of attendees recommend this course*.
*Attendee feedback from 2025.
Here is a sample of feedback from the last run of the course:
“Felt it was a very comfortable, friendly atmosphere within the group. Extremely informative and well organised into manageable sections." - Course feedback, June 2025
“Good interactions, didactic talks high quality and group exercises useful to reinforce ideas." - Course feedback, June 2025
“Great presenters, good to hear real life experiences." - Course feedback, June 2025
“It was a great way for me to reflect on our own recruitment strategies and understand some issues underpinning recruitment issues." - Course feedback, June 2025
“Really engaging sessions and clear messaging throughout." - Course feedback, June 2025
“The whole day was very informative and run very well." - Course feedback, June 2025