Every medical student from 2024 and every international graduate wishing to practice in the UK will need to pass the GMC UKMLA exam.
What is the Medical Licensing Assessment?
The MLA, also now being widely referred to as the UKMLA, is a new medical exam introduced by the General Medical Council (GMC) which every medical student graduating in the academic year 2024-2025 will have to pass.
The GMC has indicated that the MLA will allow graduates from each medical school in the UK to demonstrate a common consistent threshold for safe practice. It will be part of the medical degree – so if you don’t pass the MLA you don’t graduate.
Please note the information on this page is subject to revision. Please always check with the GMC website for updates.
What about international medical graduates?
From early 2024, international medical graduates who would normally sit the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) exam will start to sit the MLA.
Whilst the UK is in the EU and during any transitional period, EU law does not allow the GMC to test doctors from the European Economic Area or Switzerland. Due to Brexit, there is the possibility of students who graduate from the EU being classed the same as an international medical graduate and having to take the MLA at some point.
What does the assessment involve?
The GMC has indicated there are two parts to the assessment. For UK students both exams will be sat at your own medical school on dates chosen by the medical school.
The Applied Knowledge Test (AKT)
The GMC has said this is planned to be an onscreen exam based on an MCQ type format. The type of questions will be similar to the current PLAB 1 but mentions this only on the IMG section of the website. It is not clear whether the AKT for UK medical students will the same as for international graduates. For international graduates the exams are expected to be run four times a year at centres worldwide.
Results of the AKT will be released through the medical school for UK candidates. The GMC has stated that for UK candidates the exam will be run by your medical school.
The clinical and professional skills assessment (CPSA)
This is a practical exam which assesses your clinical skills and professionalism. Each medical school can call the CPSA type exams something different, such as an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) or Objective Structured Long Examination Record (OSLER).
The GMC has indicated it will similar to the PLAB 2 exam on the international graduate section of its website. For international graduates the exam will be held in Manchester in the United Kingdom.
This way the GMC can also assess your communication skills, as well as your clinical examination and how you come to a diagnosis.
The GMC has indicated that for UK candidates your medical school will set and run the CPSA. It can be sat in your final year or penultimate year of medical school - this decision will likely be made by your medical school as we know some medical schools currently hold ‘final exams’ in the 4th year of medical training.
What about fees and resit exams?
In the UK the medical school should cover the cost (but not necessarily the cost of a resit). International graduates will have to pay a fee.
There will be a maximum number of attempts allowed and some sort of appeals process
What will happen with my results?
The GMC has indicated it will share information to improve medical education and training. The GMC has said that it will won’t release students individual scores but appears to hint that some data will be made public. From the current wording on the GMC website it appears it will be possible to rank medical schools based on students’ performance and create league tables.
What about the transition from PLAB?
Until 2024, international medical graduates can still apply for the PLAB exam if they wish registration with a licence to practice in the UK.
If you have passed PLAB 1 but not attempted PLAB 2, the GMC has said provided you have passed PLAB 1 less than 2 years ago, you won’t need to take the MLA AKT and can sit the MLA CPSA. When you pass the MLA CPSA, you can apply for a registration to practice.
If you have attempted PLAB 1 and not passed it, you will be able to sit the MLA AKT. Your number of attempts at PLAB 1 will count towards any maximum number of attempts allowed at the AKT. The exact details of how many attempts you will have has not been determined at the time of writing.
What is Blue Peanut Medical Education?
We are a medical training company run by a group of fully qualified practicing NHS doctors. We have our own NHS practice in Lancashire, England in which we train foundation year trainees (FY) and specialist GP (GPST) trainee doctors.
We also host undergraduate placements for medical students from the Universities of Manchester, UCLAN and Lancaster medical schools. We also help sixth form and postgraduate students who aspire to study medicine with entrance examinations (such as UCAT and BMAT) as well as help with applications and medical school interview training.
We have over 32 years experience in medical education and have a high success rate in examinations for our students.
Where can I go from here?
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