Work as a doctor in the UK: PLAB 1, PLAB 2 and GMC (2026)

• A primary medical qualification that the GMC accepts, verified at source by ECFMG through EPIC.
• An acceptable internship: at least 12 months' continuous practice in an approved post including at least three months of medicine and three months of surgery (or six and six for programmes of 18 months or more). Without an internship, two years' continuous supervised postgraduate practice in a public hospital with at least three months each in medicine and surgery.
• IELTS Academic with 7.0 in each area and 7.5 overall, or OET Medicine with grade B in each area, from one sitting that is your most recent.
• A registration route: passes in PLAB 1 and PLAB 2, an acceptable postgraduate qualification awarded within three years of approval, a Sponsorship Registration Certificate, or a recognised specialist qualification.
• Certificates of good standing from every medical regulator you have been registered or licensed with in the last five years, valid for three months.
• A full account of your activities over the last five years, including any gaps, with references for non-medical work or observerships over two months.
• For the sponsorship route: medical practice in three of the last five years, including the most recent 12 months.
• For the visa: a job offer and certificate of sponsorship from an approved UK health employer, in an eligible doctor occupation (codes 2211 or 2212).

Check your route with the route finder

• GMCGeneral Medical Council

  Doctors

  How to register with the GMC

1. 1

   1. Check the job market and your eligibility

   Before spending money, look at NHS vacancies in your specialty and region on NHS Jobs, Scotland's and Northern Ireland's job sites and the BMJ careers pages, as the GMC suggests. Then check your medical school, qualification and internship against the GMC's criteria. Many doctors lose time because an internship with long breaks or too little surgery does not meet the GMC's rules.
2. 2

   2. Start EPIC verification

   Open a GMC Online account and an account with ECFMG (Intealth), then submit your final medical diploma for verification through EPIC. The GMC says most medical schools reply within 90 days, but slow or postal replies are the most common cause of delay. Fees are charged by ECFMG in US dollars.
3. 3

   3. Pass IELTS Academic or OET Medicine

   You need IELTS Academic 7.0 in every band and 7.5 overall, or OET Medicine grade B in all four sub-tests, in one sitting. Certificates last two years and must be valid on your PLAB 1 date and when your registration is approved. Plan your timing so the certificate does not expire while you wait for a PLAB 2 date.
4. 4

   4. Sit PLAB 1

   Book PLAB 1 in GMC Online. It is a three-hour paper of 180 single best answer questions, held in February, May, August and November in the UK, Dublin, Madrid and British Council centres overseas. Results come about six weeks later, and you can only book PLAB 2 once you have them.
5. 5

   5. Sit PLAB 2 in Manchester

   PLAB 2 is a 16-station OSCE with eight-minute scenarios, held only at the GMC clinical assessment centres in Manchester. Check UK entry requirements for your nationality well before your exam date, using GOV.UK. You must pass within two years of your PLAB 1 pass, and dates can be in short supply.
6. 6

   6. Apply for GMC registration with a licence to practise

   Apply through GMC Online with your passport, internship evidence, English results, five-year activity history and certificates of good standing, and pay £481 (from 1 April 2026). Your registration must be approved within two years of passing PLAB 2. Certificates of good standing expire three months after signature, so request them close to applying.
7. 7

   7. Find an NHS job

   Apply for posts on NHS Jobs and employer sites. Many international doctors start in non-training posts such as clinical fellow or trust grade jobs, which employers often pay on scales that mirror the resident doctor pay points, though local pay is up to the employer. Employers then run pre-employment checks including GMC status, references and occupational health.
8. 8

   8. Get your Health and Care Worker visa

   Your employer must be a Home Office approved sponsor and will assign you a certificate of sponsorship. You apply online, pay £324 for a visa of up to three years or £628 for longer, and are exempt from the immigration health surcharge. GOV.UK says you usually get a decision within three weeks, and you can apply up to three months before your start date.
9. 9

   9. Start work, appraisal and revalidation

   Your employer's responsible officer becomes your link for revalidation. You need an annual appraisal, and every five years your responsible officer makes a recommendation to the GMC. The GMC runs a free Welcome to UK practice workshop for doctors new to the UK.
10. 10

    10. Plan training or specialist registration

    You can apply for UK specialty training through national recruitment, bearing in mind the planned prioritisation of UK graduates. Experienced specialists can apply to the Specialist or GP Register through the Portfolio pathway, which costs £1,974 and takes 6 to 12 months to process after you submit, according to the GMC.

• PLAB 1

  An applied knowledge test of 180 single best answer questions in three hours, covering conditions seen by a Foundation Year 2 doctor and long-term conditions in primary care. It runs four times a year. UK venues are Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Oxford and Sheffield; it is also held in Dublin and Madrid and at British Council centres including Dubai, Riyadh, several Indian cities, Karachi, Islamabad, Dhaka, Cairo, Lagos and Colombo.

  Read the guide

• PLAB 2

  A clinical and professional skills assessment in OSCE format: 16 scenarios of eight minutes each, including mock consultations and acute ward settings, with at least two rest stations and a total time of about three hours. It is held only at the GMC Clinical Assessment Centre sites on Hardman Square and Hardman Street in Manchester.

  Read the guide

• IELTS Academic or OET Medicine

  Not GMC exams, but you need one before booking PLAB 1. IELTS must be the Academic version (7.0 in each area, 7.5 overall); OET must be the Medicine version (grade B in each sub-test).

  Read the guide

• Portfolio pathway (specialist registration)

  Not an exam but a documentary assessment. You show, with verified evidence, that you meet the high-level outcomes of the UK curriculum for your specialty. You need a specialist qualification or at least six months' continuous specialist training in the specialty, and you must hold full registration with a licence when specialist registration is granted.

• IELTS Academic (including UKVI, IELTS Online and One Skill Retake on the GMC's conditions): at least 7.0 in each of reading, writing, listening and speaking, and 7.5 overall.
• OET Medicine (paper, computer or OET@Home): at least grade B in each of the four sub-tests.
• Scores must be achieved in the same sitting, and it must be your most recent sitting.
• Certificates are valid for two years and must be valid on your PLAB 1 date and when your registration is approved. A recent PLAB 2 pass (under three months) can extend a certificate that is under three years old.
• If you have worked as a doctor for the past two years in a country where English is the first and native language (such as the USA, Australia or Ireland), the GMC may accept your employer's confirmation for registration, but not for PLAB or sponsorship.
• For the visa, GOV.UK says you do not need to prove English again if you have passed an English assessment accepted by your regulator.

Estimate your total cost

• EPIC verification: the GMC says most medical schools reply within 90 days, so start this first.
• PLAB 1: four sittings a year, with results about six weeks after the exam.
• PLAB 2: must be passed within two years of PLAB 1. The GMC warns that demand is high and you may wait for a date.
• Registration: must be approved within two years of passing PLAB 2; you have three months to complete the online application once started.
• Visa: GOV.UK says you usually get a decision within three weeks of providing your documents and identity, and you can apply up to three months before your start date.
• Portfolio pathway: up to 24 months to build your application, then 6 to 12 months to process, according to the GMC.

Basic annual pay for doctors in England from 1 April 2026, from NHS Employers Pay and Conditions Circular (M&D) 1/2026 R2. Resident doctors received a 3.5% uplift and a new ten-point pay structure; consultants and SAS doctors received 3.5%. Figures exclude extra pay for additional hours, nights, weekends and on-call. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own scales. Employers may pay locally employed doctors on these scales but are not required to.

See your NHS band and annual pay

• The NHS is the main employer. In England, hospital doctors are employed by NHS trusts and foundation trusts; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own health boards and trusts. Vacancies are advertised on NHS Jobs and the national sites for Scotland and Northern Ireland, and on BMJ Careers.
• Most international doctors start in non-training posts (often called clinical fellow, trust grade or locally employed doctor roles). These give UK experience and appraisal, and can support a later application for specialty training or the Portfolio pathway.
• Some trusts, universities and royal colleges run GMC-approved sponsorship schemes. If accepted, you receive a Sponsorship Registration Certificate and can register without PLAB, though you still need IELTS or OET from the last two years. Check the GMC's current list of approved sponsors.
• The Medical Training Initiative (MTI), run by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, closed to new applicants at midday on 31 March 2026. Doctors already on MTI placements continue, and the Academy says no replacement scheme has been confirmed.
• Specialty training is recruited nationally. The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill means UK graduates and certain other groups will be prioritised for Foundation and specialty training; international graduates can still apply but face more competition.
• Private hospitals and independent providers also employ doctors, but for the Health and Care Worker visa your employer must be the NHS, an organisation providing medical services to the NHS, or an adult social care provider, and a Home Office approved sponsor.
• Expect pre-employment checks covering GMC registration and licence status, references, identity, right to work and occupational health. Some employers recruit from overseas directly; practice varies by trust.

• Most overseas doctors use the Health and Care Worker visa. You need a job offer from a Home Office approved UK health or care employer and a certificate of sponsorship for an eligible role; doctors fall under occupation codes 2211 (generalist medical practitioners) and 2212 (specialist medical practitioners).
• GOV.UK says you will usually need to be paid at least £25,000, or the going rate for your job if that is higher. NHS doctor pay scales are above this.
• The application fee is £324 per person for a visa of up to three years, or £628 for more than three years, the same inside or outside the UK. You and your dependants do not pay the immigration health surcharge.
• You need at least £1,270 held for 28 days in a row, unless your employer certifies it will cover your costs during your first month or you have been in the UK for 12 months with a valid visa.
• English must be at CEFR level B2, but GOV.UK says you do not need to prove it again if you have passed an English assessment accepted by your regulator, as GMC applicants have.
• The visa can last up to five years before you need to extend it. Your partner and children may be able to come as dependants. Check GOV.UK for current settlement rules before you plan long term.

1. 1

   Certificates of good standing: the GMC needs one from every medical regulator you have been registered or licensed with in the last five years, such as DHA, DOH Abu Dhabi, MOHAP, SCFHS, QCHP or regulators in Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, even if you are no longer working there. Ask each regulator to email it directly to the GMC. Each certificate is valid for three months from signature, and the GMC's certificate of good standing directory shows whom to contact.

2. 2

   English: no GCC country is on the GMC's list of countries where English is the first and native language, so employer confirmation of English from a Gulf hospital is not accepted. Plan on IELTS Academic (7.0 each, 7.5 overall) or OET Medicine (grade B in each sub-test).

3. 3

   Postgraduate qualifications: the GMC's list of acceptable overseas postgraduate qualifications does not include any qualification awarded by a GCC body, so a Saudi Board, Arab Board or similar Gulf certificate does not by itself replace PLAB. UK college qualifications on the list, such as MRCP(UK), MRCS, MRCOG or FRCR, do count if awarded within three years of your registration being approved. The GMC's recognised specialist qualification list currently covers Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand only.

4. 4

   Gulf experience: supervised practice in a Gulf public hospital can count towards the GMC's two-year postgraduate practice alternative to an internship, if it meets the GMC's criteria (including at least three months each in medicine and surgery). Your Gulf practice also counts towards the sponsorship rule of three years' practice in the last five, including the most recent 12 months.

5. 5

   Specialist registration: Gulf specialty training and board certification can help you meet Portfolio pathway eligibility (a specialist qualification or at least six months' continuous specialist training), but you must still show you meet the UK curriculum's outcomes with verified evidence.

6. 6

   Exams close to home: PLAB 1 is held at British Council centres in Dubai and Riyadh. PLAB 2 is only in Manchester. Your five-year activity history must cover your Gulf posts, and you should keep employment letters with exact dates and specialties.

• Application plan with every step, fee and deadline

• Document checklist tailored to you, and a review of each document before upload

• Timeline built around the regulator's closure windows and document validity periods

• Help completing the application forms accurately and consistently

• Support with profession-specific evidence, such as the HCPC standards of proficiency mapping

• Guidance on certificates of good standing, references and certified translations

• Preparation for identity checks and declarations on health and character

• Tracking your application and help responding to regulator requests

• Next steps after the decision: exams, adaptation, PIN or licence and your first job

Regulators make all registration decisions and set all fees. Our fee is separate from the regulator's fees, exam fees and translation costs.

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