CCT (Certificate of Completion of Training)

A CCT is the formal end point of UK postgraduate medical training. It is awarded by the General Medical Council (GMC) to doctors who complete an approved specialty training programme. Holding a CCT makes a doctor eligible for entry on the Specialist Register (or the GP Register for general practice). In the NHS, specialist registration is required to take up a substantive consultant post, and GP registration is required to work as a GP.

The date a doctor is expected to finish training is called the CCT date. It can move later if training is extended, taken less than full time, or interrupted.

The GMC's guide to a certificate of completion of training sets out the steps:

1. You will most likely need to apply to your royal college or faculty first; each has its own process.
2. The college or faculty notifies the GMC that you are eligible to apply.
3. The GMC then emails you, around four months before your expected training completion date, inviting you to apply online through GMC Online.
4. You apply and pay the fee, which is £516 from 1 April 2026.

You must apply within 12 months of your training completion date. The GMC says that if you do not, you will not be eligible for a CCT and can only apply for specialist or GP registration through the Portfolio pathway.

A CCT is only available through a GMC-approved UK training programme. A doctor who trained as a specialist abroad cannot get a CCT for that training. Instead there are two other routes to the Specialist or GP Register:

• The Portfolio pathway (formerly CESR and CEGPR), where you show with evidence that you meet the standard of a UK CCT holder in that specialty.
• A recognised specialist qualification, where the GMC lists certain overseas specialist qualifications it accepts.

International doctors who enter UK specialty training, usually after PLAB and some time in a non-training post, can finish with a CCT in the same way as UK graduates. Entry to training is competitive, and since 2026 UK graduates and some other groups are prioritised; see our specialty training entry.

• You are in, or completed, a UK training programme: CCT.
• You trained or worked as a specialist outside UK training programmes: Portfolio pathway or a recognised specialist qualification.
• You completed part of UK training and then left: you may be able to use the Portfolio pathway, which counts UK and overseas experience together.

Both routes lead to entry on the same GMC Specialist or GP Register. Specialist registration does not replace your licence to practise: you still need full registration with a licence and must take part in revalidation.

• Missing the 12-month application window after completing training.
• Assuming a CCT is automatic. The college recommendation and the doctor's own application are both needed.
• Confusing a CCT with a college membership exam such as MRCP(UK) or MRCS. These are exams taken during training, not the end-of-training certificate.