Restarting PACES
Since May, a group with representation from Federation and each of the three Royal Colleges of Physicians has met weekly to plan and implement restarting of PACES during the Covid-19 pandemic. This group consists of senior examiners, policy officers, exam administrators, psychometricians and trainee representation. Needless to say this has been a significant undertaking during a period of change and great uncertainty. However, we are pleased to report that PACES exams restarted on 1 October with a total of 3 centres running between 1-4 October. A further 23 centres are due to run through October and November.
For the most part, the PACES exams that have already run have done so without any major issues. Stations 1,3 & 5, with timing allowances made for donning and doffing PPE, went well. We would also like to report that the remote version of stations 2 and 4 worked well and that there were no significant technical glitches or failures.
We should like to emphasise that, for candidates taking PACES in Scotland and other areas of the UK with increased restrictions, travel is still permitted for exam purposes. Please see the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges' statement.
We will do everything within our control to deliver these exams as planned. Local pandemic or infection control restrictions out with our control may unfortunately result in late cancellation of exams. We realise this is stressful but will aim to communicate as soon as possible if exams will be cancelled.
We will keep in close contact with the trainees' committees of the three colleges, as well as with all other stakeholders, on a regular basis.
Health Questionnaire
Candidates may be concerned that they only receive the health questionnaire in the 48 hours before the exam and would wish to receive the questionnaire in advance of this. The reason for this is that we need the health information as close to the exam as possible and if the questionnaire was delivered too early, candidates may submit their information prematurely. We need to know their relevant COVID-19-related health information 2 days rather than 2 weeks before the exam. Please remember that everyone involved in the exam will be required to fill in the questionnaire 48 hours before the exam.
Live MRCP(UK) Twitter chats
We recently held a 1-hour long live PACES Q&A Twitter event for candidates. This proved extremely popular, and as a result we were also able to incorporate many of the questions into our FAQ on the website. We are pleased to announce that, following this successful event, will now be holding live PACES Q&A sessions on our Twitter account every second Tuesday afternoon at 3pm BST over the next weeks.
Feedback
We are always keen on feedback. If you have specific queries relating to your exam day please contact the exams office at your College of entry here.
For other general queries or suggestions please email: Policy.Officer@mrcpuk.org