PACES centre resources

All the information on this page is provided to help Host Examiners/Registrars, Chair of Examiners, 11th Examiners and Trainee Examiners deliver PACES.

The  PACES Examiners’ Guide Omnibus contains information about how to run PACES on the day. The Chairman's Letter and Hot Topics contains information about the last diet.

 Examiner's Guide Omnibus September 2012 – August 2013

 Chairman's Letter and Hot Topics

 
Administration of the exam

Exam centres can operate according to two timetables:

Two Cyle Day Timetable	Three Cycle Day Timetable
Two Cycle Timetable .pdf	Three Cycle Timetable.pdf

The Electronic Candidate Performance Survey (eCPS) is used to record candidates’ marks during the day:

Guidance on Electronic Candidate Performance Survey	Electronic Candidate Performance Survey
eCPS guidance	eCPS

After each cycle the examiners discuss the examination, the PACES discussion sheet is used to refer poorly performing candidates for counselling from their home College.

 PACES discussion sheet

To ensure that the exam runs smoothly and efficiently, the Chair of Examiners assesses the exam day afterwards by completing the Centre Audit Form:

  Centre Audit Form

Marksheets and calibration

Examiners carry out calibration before the exam. This is a standard setting process whereby the examiners review and discuss the patients taking part in the assessment.

Download the sample marksheets and calibration sheets to see what will be used on the examination day:

Station	Sample marksheets	Sample calibration sheets
Station 1	Respiratory Abdominal	Respiratory Abdominal
Station 2	History Taking	History Taking
Station 3	Cardiovascular Neurological	Cardiovascular Neurological
Station 4	Communication and Ethics	Communication and Ethics
Station 5	Brief Clinical Consultation 1 Brief Clinical Consultation 2	Brief Clinical Consultation 1 Brief Clinical Consultation 2

To see how to fill in a marksheet please view the PACES Marksheets page.

Other material required to run the assessment may be downloaded below:

Forms	Signs
Definition of Verbal Roughness	Examination in progress
Station 5 information pack	MRCP(UK) direction signs and arrows.pdf
Station 5 Template	MRCP(UK) station signs.pdf

Assessing the exam

In order to maintain a high quality of scenarios the examiners are asked to assess the scenarios they examined after the exam:

Scenarios
Scenario Assessment Form - Station 2	Scenario Assessment Form - Station 4	Scenario Assessment Form - Station 5

Sample scenarios are provided to help candidates who are preparing to sit PACES. These scenarios have previously been used in the examination and are available on the Exam Preparation page.

Trainee examiner forms

Trainee examiners attend a full day of a PACES examination, following three cycles and shadow-marking candidates. All material required for trainee examiners can be downloaded below:

 Trainee Examiner's Guide

Information for patients and surrogates

These information leaflets explain what can be expected for patients and surrogates helping with the PACES assessment on the day:

Stations 1 and 3 leaflet	Stations 2 and 4 leaflet	Station 5 leaflet
Patient leaflet for Stations 1 and 3	Surrogate leaflet for Stations 2 and 4	Patient and Surrogate leaflet for Station 5