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MRCPUK JRCPTB CPD

Neurology

Specialty Certificate Examination in Neurology

Exam dateApplication periodPearson VUE UK booking windowReasonable Adjustment DeadlineResults releaseCertificates posted
22 February 202302 November 2022 - 30 November 202230 November 2022 - 28 December 202208 December 202222 March 202322 May 2023
18 October 202328 June - 26 July 202326 July - 23 August 202303 August 202315 November 202311 January 2024
17 July 202427 March-24 April 202424 April-22 May 202401 May 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 in Neurology is delivered every nine months.

Eligibility requirements

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

Qualification: Certificate in Neurology

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

For further details please see the FAQs.

Curriculum and blueprint

The Specialty Training Curriculum for Neurology 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 Neurology 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:

Courses

Journals

  • Practical Neurology (especially major reviews and Bare Essentials)
  • Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
  • Neurology (especially Residents and Fellows section and Neurology in Practice supplement)

Textbooks

  • Anon - Aids to the examination of the peripheral nervous system
  • Compston A, et al. - McAlpine's Multiple Sclerosis (4th Ed)
  • Bradley WG, Daroff RB, Fenichel G, and Jankovic J. - Neurology in Clinical Practice 5th Edition
  • Patten J. - Neurological Differential Diagnosis (2nd Ed)
  • Pendlebury, Anslow, Rothwell. - Neurological Case Histories: Case Histories in Acute Neurology and the Neurology of General Medicine (Oxford Case Histories)
  • Shorvon S, Perucca E, Fish D, Dodson W - The treatment of epilepsy. (Blackwell)
  • Walters RJ, Wills AD, Smith PE. - Specialist Training in Neurology
  • Warlow CP, et al - Stroke: A practical guide to management
  • Warlow CP - Lancet Handbook of Treatment in Neurology

Websites

  • Doctors.net.uk - on-line training modules, including many neurology (all free)

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.

Neurology 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!