History of the MRCP(UK) Examination

The three Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom share a common membership examination in general medicine: this is the examination for the Diploma of Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom. Successful candidates are eligible to apply for the award of the MRCP(UK) Diploma.

The MRCP(UK) Examination consists of three parts. In the UK it is usually taken during the period of general professional training (GPT) in medicine which follows registration with the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom. GPT normally lasts at least two years. The MRCP(UK) Diploma does not, therefore, confer specialist status: in the UK it is recognised as an entry qualification for higher specialist training.

The three Royal Colleges of Physicians have been holding membership examinations for many years. In the London College the Censors, helped by other examiners, had the duty to carry out the assessment of candidates and advise the College. In Glasgow and Edinburgh boards of examiners were responsible for the membership examination. The MRCP(London) examination began in 1859 and a numerical marking system was devised in 1893. In 1861 the RCP(Edinburgh) introduced their membership and in 1881 an examination. In 1886 the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow introduced an examination for their Fellowship and in 1964 when the Faculty became the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow the examination was changed to one of membership for Physicians.

In the late 1960s the need to have a single recognised membership examination throughout the United Kingdom was recognised. Such an examination made it unnecessary for junior doctors to enter several membership examinations and removed the suggestion that the standards of the examination at the three Colleges were different. In October 1968 the first joint examination was set up, and since then the MRCP(UK) has evolved and developed into the three-part (Part 1, Part 2 Written, and Part 2 Clinical) examination that is recognised across the world today.

In 2008, the MRCP(UK) held the first Specialty Certificate Examination. The Specialty Certificate Examinations are computer-based exams developed by the MRCP(UK) Central Office with a number of Specialist Societies. They are a compulsory component of assessment for Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) for all UK trainees whose specialist training began in or after August 2007.