News

Part 1 examinations

• The next diet of Part 1 will be on 12 January 2021; to be offered once again as a hybrid model, with candidates sitting it in both standard paper and in online format in the UK.
• For international candidates, the January diet will largely remain paper-based. However, we recognise that many international candidates need to pass Part 1 for career progression in their respective countries. With this in mind, we are looking at alternative solutions for those candidates, including a possible online option, in those specific countries. Further details on this will be released soon.
• The application window for the Part 1 January diet is currently open. UK candidates are being asked at the time of application to state which modality (paper or online) they wish to take for the January exam – bearing in mind that the online provider requires several weeks to register candidates for the online exam, and so late changes from paper to online will not be possible.

Part 2 examinations

• The Part 2 exam ran on 27 October. Aside from some isolated technical issues affecting a small number of candidates taking the online version, the exam ran very successfully. Those candidates affected will be offered a backup exam, which is scheduled to take place on 8 December.
• A few international centres were unable to host the exam and affected candidates will be carried forward to the next diet.
• Results are due for release at the end of November. We will make every effort to release the results on time, however due to the unprecedented situation we find ourselves in due to COVID, and as a result running both paper and online exams which entails significant extra work in results analysis, there may be an unavoidable delay in releasing the results. We will keep candidates informed closer to the time should that be the case.
• The next diet of Part 2 will take place on 23 March 2021. This is again planned to be run in hybrid form (both paper and online formats) in the UK. Internationally it will remain largely paper-based; but as for Part 1, we will be looking to provide alternative solutions for international candidates who require Part 2 for career progression in their countries, which may include an online option. Further details will be provided when available.

Specialty Certificate Exams / European Specialty Exams

• Candidates whose exams have been cancelled due to local Covid-19 restrictions will be offered a backup exam. Plans for this are being developed, and details will be released when available.
• Still to come over the next few months are the SCEs in:
  • Acute Medicine (11 November)
  • Palliative Medicine (11 November)
  • Neurology (18 November)
  • Endocrinology & Diabetes (9 December)

Live Twitter chats

• Live Q&A sessions about the written exams occur on our Twitter account every second Tuesday afternoon at 3pm (GMT) . We have included items which have previously come up into our FAQs, so please check the website first.

Feedback

• We welcome feedback. If you have specific queries relating to your exam day please contact the exams office at your College of entry.
• For other general queries or suggestions please email Policy.Officer@mrcpuk.org