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MRCPUK JRCPTB CPD

Examinations

Medical Oncology

Specialty Certificate Examination in Medical Oncology

Exam dateApplication periodPearson VUE UK booking windowReasonable Adjustment DeadlineResults releaseCertificates Posted
12 July 202322 March - 19 April 202319 April - 17 May 202327 April 202309 August 2023

12 October 2023

11 September 202422 May-19 June 202419 June-17 July 202426 June 20244 weeks after exam8 weeks after results release

Please ensure you apply for your examination within the application period and have submitted your reasonable adjustment request by the reasonable adjustment deadline.

The Specialty Certificate Examination (SCE) in Medical Oncology is delivered once a year.

Eligibility requirements

There are no entry requirements for the SCE in Medical Oncology, however, trainees in UK training posts would normally take the SCE in their penultimate year of higher specialty training.

Qualification: Certificate in Medical Oncology

Trainees who hold MRCP(UK), have gained the Certificate in Medical Oncology and who are recommended for a CCT will be entitled to apply for the postnominal MRCP(UK) (Medical Oncology).

For further details please see the FAQs.

Curriculum and blueprint

The Specialty Training Curriculum for Medical Oncology is published by the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB).

The examination is made up of questions covering the whole curriculum, selected by a predetermined blueprint:

SCE in Medical Oncology blueprint

Resources for trainees

Preparation for the SCE requires a wide breadth of knowledge around the curriculum and should involve reading of textbooks, journals and guidelines. Experience of the MRCP(UK) examination provides an excellent background to the format of the examination.

Suggested sources and reading are listed below:

Guidelines

Bone health:

Textbooks

Information on genetics and some basic science can be found in the Oxford Desk Reference of Oncology 2011.

Sample questions

The questions are in ‘best of five’ multiple choice format. This format, in addition to testing core knowledge and comprehension, also assesses the ability to interpret information and to solve clinical problems. There will be five options – one correct answer and four alternatives to the correct answer. The four distractors will be closely related to the preferred option but less correct, therefore acting as plausible alternatives.

These questions give an indication of the type of question you can expect in the exam:

Results report

The selected metrics report provides details about the previous year's examination. All the statistics are intended to help candidates to be more informed and better prepared for the examination. The reports are also available to other stakeholders (e.g. deaneries’ representatives, board members, trainees’ supervisors) who would like to find out more about candidates’ performance in order to be able to make informed decisions about training programmes or examination standards.

Medical Oncology results report

Email updates

Click here to get alerts on the opening of application periods as well as info/tips on revision/preparation resources and more!