GMC Registration for Overseas Doctors: PLAB, Costs and Timeline (2026)

Which route is yours

To work as a doctor in the UK you need GMC registration with a licence to practise. Most doctors who qualified outside the UK, the EEA and Switzerland get there one of three ways:

• PLAB. The default route: two exams set by the GMC, then registration. This guide is mostly about this one.
• An acceptable postgraduate qualification. A number of UK royal college qualifications — MRCP, MRCS, MRCOG and others — are accepted in place of PLAB. If you already hold one, or are close, check the GMC's list before booking an exam you may not need.
• Sponsorship. A royal college or other GMC-approved sponsor can sponsor you for registration, usually through a training placement scheme.

Specialists are different again. If you hold a specialist qualification and want to be on the UK specialist register, that runs through the GMC's specialist registration process rather than PLAB, and takes its own timeline.

What you need before you can book anything

• A primary medical qualification from a medical school listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools.
• English language evidence. IELTS Academic at 7.5 overall with at least 7.0 in each component, or OET Medicine at grade B in all four sub-tests. Results must be recent — check the GMC's validity window — and one-skill retakes are not accepted, so a weak band means sitting the whole test again.
• Internship or equivalent experience for full registration: at least 12 months of postgraduate clinical experience including three months of medicine and three months of surgery. You can sit PLAB 1 before completing it, but you cannot get full registration without it.
• Document verification. Your qualifications are verified at source through EPIC. Universities in some countries respond slowly, so start this early — it is the stage most likely to blow your timeline.

The two exams

PLAB 1 is a three-hour written paper of 180 single-best-answer questions, aligned to the GMC's Medical Licensing Assessment content map. It runs four times a year and can be sat in the UK or at overseas centres. Places are limited and go quickly when booking opens.

PLAB 2 is an 18-station clinical OSCE, and it can only be sat in Manchester. That means a visitor visa, flights and accommodation on top of the exam fee. Book as soon as your PLAB 1 result lands, and apply for the visa immediately after — visa processing delays are the most common reason people lose a booked slot.

From 1 April 2026 the published fees are £283 for PLAB 1 and £1,036 for PLAB 2. GMC fees are reviewed each April, so confirm before you pay. There is a limit on attempts at each part, and your PLAB 1 pass has a shelf life — if UK visa delays push your PLAB 2 date past it, you sit PLAB 1 again from scratch.

Applying for registration

Once both parts are passed, you apply to the GMC for registration with a licence to practise. You will need your EPIC-verified qualifications, a certificate of good standing from every regulator you have been registered with, evidence of your internship, and your identity documents. There is a time limit between passing PLAB 2 and applying, so do not let the application drift.

The GMC then assesses the application. Where documents are verified and complete, this stage is measured in weeks rather than months — the long parts of this process are the exams and the verification, not the final decision.

Timeline and cost

From starting preparation to holding a GMC number, twelve to eighteen months is a realistic range for most doctors, and longer if exam places or visa appointments are scarce where you are. The major costs are the English test, EPIC verification, the two PLAB fees, travel and accommodation for Manchester, and the GMC registration fee. Preparation courses and question banks are extra and entirely optional — plenty of doctors pass on self-study and free resources.

The job and the visa

GMC registration is not a job offer. Most international doctors start in a non-training NHS post — a trust grade, clinical fellow or locally employed doctor role — and move into formal training later. Your employer sponsors you for the Health and Care Worker visa, which is exempt from the immigration health surcharge and cheaper than the standard Skilled Worker route.

Two practical points. Employers advertise widely and will consider doctors who are registerable on a credible timeline, so start applying before your GMC number arrives. And the UK operates an ethical recruitment code covering active recruitment from certain countries; it constrains employer-led campaigns rather than individual applications, but it shapes which agencies will work with you.

Worth comparing: Ireland

Doctors weighing the UK often look at Ireland as well, and the entry requirements are not identical — Ireland's English threshold is lower than the GMC's, and Irish registration can exempt you from its licensing exam if your internship is on the Medical Council's recognised list. Our Irish Medical Council guide sets out that route. Doctors with UK or Irish specialist qualifications should also look at Australia's expedited specialist pathway, which is faster than either.

Frequently asked questions