Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board

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, usually need to pass before they can legally practise medicine in the UK.[1] It is conducted by the General Medical Council 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 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, Canada, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.[2]

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 (F2) in the Foundation Programme.

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[3] or passed the Medicine OET[4] 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[5] 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[6] are:

Exam Date Overseas Closing Date UK Closing Date
16 February 2023 5 January 2023 2 February 2023
25 May 2023 13 April 2023 11 May 2023
10 August 2023 To be revealed To be revealed
2 November 2023 To be revealed To be revealed

Application fees

The PLAB 1 exam application fee is £ 255,[7] while the PLAB 2 exam application fee is £ 934. 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.[8]

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:

Exam Results
17 February 2022 31 March 2022- 9.30 AM onwards
26 May 2022 9 July 2022- 10 AM onwards
11 August 2022 22 September 2022- 8 PM onwards
3 November 2022 15 December 2022- 8 PM onwards

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%.[9]

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:[10]

Year Pass Rate
2018 69.3% (5,239 out of 7,559)
2019 63.1% (7,014 out of 11,118)
2020 69.7% (7,384 out of 10,601)
2021 74.1% (7,728 out of 10,431)
2022 70.9% (10,259 out of 14,470)

References
  1. "Registration and licensing: PLAB: Do I need to take the PLAB test?". General Medical Council. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  2. "Registration and licensing: PLAB: Before the PLAB test: When and where can I take PLAB?". General Medical Council. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  3. "Eligibility criteria". Medico topics. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  4. "PLAB 1 Exam for Beginners: Powerful Guide in 2023". MedicForYou. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  5. "https://twitter.com/gmcuk". GMC Twitter. Retrieved 9 February 2023. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  6. "Latest PLAB 1 Exam Dates in 2023 for India and UK". MedicForYou. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  7. "How to get GMC Registration via PLAB". 28 January 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  8. "Registration and licensing: PLAB: Our PLAB fees". General Medical Council. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  9. Matt, Homer (March 2022). "Influences on pass rates in PLAB examinations: PLAB 1 and 2 Annual Report 2021 - March 2022" (PDF). Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  10. "PLAB 1 Exam for Beginners: Powerful Guide in 2023". 28 January 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
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