The Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) test provides the main route for International Medical Graduates (IMGs) to demonstrate that they have the necessary skills and knowledge to practise medicine in the
United Kingdom (UK). PLAB is a two part assessment that overseas doctors (or international medical graduates), from outside the
European Economic Area and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, usually need to pass before they can legally practise
medicine in the UK. It is conducted by the
General Medical Council
The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public" by c ...
of the
United Kingdom. The test is designed to assess the depth of knowledge and level of medical and communication skills possessed by the international medical graduates. The PLAB blueprint sets out what candidates are expected to demonstrate in the test and beyond.
The PLAB test has 2 parts:
Part 1: Consists of a multiple choice format examination paper with 180 SBA's (One Hundred Eighty
Single Best Answer
Single Best Answer (SBA or One Best Answer) is a written examination form of multiple choice questions used extensively in medical education.
Structure
A single question is posed with typically five alternate answers, from which the candidate ...
questions with 5 options and one SBA) lasting 3 hours. This is a paper-based exam which is answered on a sheet provided by the invigilator (not computer-based). This part is conducted in a number of countries including
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
Canada,
United Kingdom,
Bangladesh,
Egypt,
India,
Pakistan,
Nigeria and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
Part 2: Consists of an
objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). This part is only available in
Manchester. It consists of 16 clinical stations. All the stations are eight minutes long, plus two minutes reading time. The standard of both parts of the PLAB exam is set at the level of competence of a doctor at the start of
Foundation Year 2
A foundation doctor is a grade of medical practitioner in the United Kingdom undertaking the Foundation Programme, a two-year, general postgraduate medical training programme which forms the bridge between medical school and specialist/general pr ...
(F2) in the
Foundation Programme A foundation programme, foundation program, foundation year, foundation year programme or foundation year program is a one-year introductory course to a full multi-year degree curriculum offered by many universities in the Commonwealth and elsewher ...
.
Eligibility criteria
You need the following to be eligible to take the PLAB 1 exam:
* It is necessary to have a primary medical degree from an institution that is listed in the
World Directory of Medical Schools.
* Passed the academic
IELTS modules with a minimum overall score of 7.5 and a minimum score of 7.0 in each of the four language skills or passed the Medicine OET modules with a minimum overall grade of B and a minimum grade of B in each of the four language skills (Writing, Speaking, Listening and Reading).
As long as it is a post-graduate internship, you can take the PLAB 1 without having finished your house job or internship. If your internship counts toward your graduation (i.e., is pre-graduate), you cannot take PLAB 1 until you have finished it.
The Internship criteria for appearing in PLAB 1 exam is as follows:
* Minimum 12 months
* Absents no more than 20 days
* Must include at least three months in Medicine and three in surgery
Dates
PLAB 1 is held four times an year. The notifications for the upcoming dates are released initially on Twitter handle of GMC and later published on their website. This exam can be taken in the UK as well 15 other countries.
On the other hand, PLAB 2 is held only in Manchester and the dates are often frequently available.
For 2023, the PLAB 1 dates are:
Application fees
The PLAB 1 exam application fee is £ 247, while the PLAB 2 exam application fee is £ 906. The entire application procedure is done online. There are other additional expenses (IELTS/OET, Visa Processing, etc.) in addition to the application fee that you must pay.
Results
The results are usually released 42 days after the exam. The official date for results is provided by the invigilator in the exam hall along with the time.
The recent result dates were as follows:
Pass rates
The pass rates on the first try for PLAB 1 from September 2018 to August 2021 are 71.6% for males and 72.4% for females, which is very similar. For PLAB 2, females have considerably greater pass rates 69.9% than males have 54.3%.
For PLAB 1, the passing scores are usually 115-120. The passing marks are decided based on the Angoff method (based on a discussion of the difficulties involved in credentialing and their judgement of the examination, the Angoff method permits experienced judges to decide on an acceptable pass grade for an examination). An additional standard of error is also included by the GMC in this criteria.
Overall, the year-wise passing rates for PLAB 1 exam were as follows:
References
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External links
GMC PLAB pagePLAB test blueprint
Medical regulation in the United Kingdom
Professional titles and certifications