All medical royal colleges and faculties are required by the General Medical Council (GMC) to introduce a limit on the number of attempts at their examinations. The GMC have specified that the maximum number of attempts allowed at each part of the examination should be six.

Interim policy - for candidates who commenced before January 2022

When did the policy come into effect?

The policy came into force from 1 January 2014. From January 2014, if a candidate has not attended the examination and is recorded as absent, this will be recorded as one attempt. If a candidate was marked as absent before January 2014, this will not count as an attempt. A withdrawal (as determined by the regulations on acceptable withdrawals) will not be deemed an attempt.

The number of attempts a candidate has had will be counted from the moment they became an MRCP or SCE candidate and not from when the policy started.

GMC notice

The original statement from the GMC can be viewed on the GMC website.

How to apply for an additional attempt after having six attempts at an examination:

• Discuss your past examination attempts with your educational supervisor (or equivalent), to locate areas of persistent weakness and produce and implement an educational plan designed to target these weak areas. For more information on this see our FAQs.
• Once additional educational experience has been undertaken, discuss with your educational supervisor (or equivalent) when you should attempt the examination again.
• Once you have identified which exam you should next attempt, download and complete the Additional Attempt Form which can be found here.  
• Your educational supervisor and training programme director (or equivalents) must sign the form confirming that you have demonstrated an improvement in knowledge and skill so that a pass result is highly likely at the next attempt. Your educational supervisor must then scan in a copy of the form and email it to your College of Entry. The form must be emailed from your educational supervisors work email address. For more information on this see our FAQs.
   
• Forms must be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to the application period opening. Once the form has been received it will be verified by your College of Entry and restrictions will be removed from your record on the MRCP(UK) database; this will usually take no longer than 5 working days from receipt of the form. You will then be able to apply online or by paper for an additional attempt at the examination.

Limited attempts for MRCP(UK) examinations

* Candidates have six attempts for Part 2 Written and six attempts for PACES.

New policy - applicable from 2022/1

All medical royal colleges and faculties are required by the General Medical Council (GMC) to limit the number of attempts at their examinations. The GMC have specified that the maximum number of attempts allowed at each part of the examination should be six.

Candidates sitting MRCP(UK) Part 1 for the first time from the 2022/1 diet onwards, will be allowed a maximum of six attempts at each part of the MRCP(UK) Diploma (Part 1/Part 2 Written/PACES). Candidates who reach six attempts at any examination will be allowed to apply for an exceptional additional attempt; the procedure for this outlined below. Only one exceptional additional attempt will be permitted.

Withdrawals (as defined by the MRCP(UK)) will not be counted as attempts.

Applying for an exceptional additional attempt

Candidates can apply for an exceptional seventh attempt at any part of the MRCP(UK) Diploma, based on additional educational attainment.

Candidates should discuss previous examination attempts with their educational supervisor or a senior colleague to identify areas where they have performed less well. Candidates should prepare an educational plan to target these areas for improvement.

After undertaking relevant additional learning, candidates should discuss when they intend to take the examination again with their educational supervisor. Once this has been agreed, candidates should complete the exceptional additional attempt form.

Your educational supervisor and training programme director (or equivalents) must sign the form confirming that you have demonstrated an improvement in your knowledge and skills so that a pass result is highly likely at the next attempt. Your educational supervisor must then scan in a copy of the form and email it to your College of Entry. Please note the form must be emailed from your educational supervisor’s work email address. For more information on this see our FAQs.

Forms must be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to the relevant application period opening. All requests for exceptional additional attempts will be considered by the MRCP(UK) Regulatory Sub-Group, whose decision will be final. Once approved, restrictions will be removed from a candidate’s record on the MRCP(UK) database; this will usually take no longer than 5 working days from receipt of the form. You will then be able to apply for an additional attempt at the examination.

MRCP(UK) will not accept requests for additional attempts based on exceptional circumstances. The MRCP(UK) regulations make clear that any candidate who starts an examination is declaring themselves fit to sit it. Candidates have a right to withdraw from an examination anytime up until it starts without penalty. Any candidates who believe their performance in an examination was affected by exceptional circumstances should inform MRCP(UK) about this as soon as possible after the examination and submit an appeal after they receive their results.

Candidates who have already undertaken attempts at the examinations and receive a late diagnosis of any condition which requires reasonable adjustments to support them to sit, and which they had not previously received, should contact MRCP(UK) (via reasonableadjustments@mrcpuk.org) to discuss this situation.