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MRCGP Explained: What You Need to Know
For doctors entering UK general practice, MRCGP is a major part of completing specialty training and demonstrating readiness for independent practice. The assessment brings together knowledge, consultation ability, professional skills and workplace performance, so preparation needs to match the way doctors are assessed during training.
What does MRCGP mean for doctors entering UK general practice?
MRCGP refers to the membership examination and assessment framework connected with specialty training for general practice in the UK. Successful completion of the required assessment components forms part of the route towards completing GP specialty training and applying for a Certificate of Completion of Training.
The important point is that this is not one single exam taken on one morning.
The assessment system includes the Applied Knowledge Test, the Simulated Consultation Assessment and Workplace Based Assessment. The Royal College of General Practitioners states that these components assess different capabilities across the training curriculum.
For an international medical graduate entering UK training, this distinction matters. You are not preparing for one isolated test. You are building knowledge and consultation skills alongside your everyday training.
Who sits MRCGP assessments and when do they take place?
Doctors undertaking UK GP specialty training complete these assessments during their training, with eligibility depending on the individual assessment and stage of training.
The timing is not identical for every trainee, which means copying another doctor’s exam timeline can create unnecessary pressure. The RCGP currently states that candidates can take the AKT from ST2 onwards, with four annual sittings in January, April, July and October.
The SCA comes later, with the RCGP describing it as an assessment taken from the ST3 training year. Current examination information lists multiple SCA diets across the year.
A practical example can make this clearer.
Imagine an IMG entering GP specialty training and reaching ST2 with solid clinical knowledge but limited experience with UK primary care systems. Booking the earliest available assessment may look attractive, yet the better decision may depend on training progress, supervisor feedback and familiarity with UK guidelines, ethics and primary care organisation.
That is why exam readiness should be judged against your training position, rather than a fixed calendar copied from someone else.
What does the AKT test?
The AKT tests the knowledge base needed for independent general practice, with questions designed around UK general practice and higher-level application rather than simple memorisation.
Since October 2025, the examination has consisted of 160 single-best-answer style questions completed in 160 minutes. The content remains divided across clinical knowledge, evidence-based practice and primary care organisation and management.
The current content weighting is
- 80 percent clinical knowledge
- 10 percent evidence-based practice
- 10 percent primary care organisation and management
That final section can catch candidates off guard. A doctor may be clinically strong yet lose marks through unfamiliarity with UK-specific administrative, ethical, regulatory or organisational issues.
For example, an IMG might know the clinical management of a condition extremely well but struggle with a question involving UK primary care processes or interpreting research data. That gap is not necessarily a clinical weakness. It can reflect unfamiliarity with how medicine is practised within the NHS.
Good preparation therefore needs more than disease revision. It needs question practice, data interpretation and familiarity with the UK primary care context.
What is the SCA designed to assess?
The SCA focuses on how a GP candidate integrates clinical, professional and communication skills during simulated consultations.
The current assessment involves twelve simulated consultations, with each consultation lasting twelve minutes. The assessment is conducted remotely from a local GP surgery and is taken during ST3.
This creates a different preparation problem from a written knowledge exam.
A candidate can know the correct clinical information yet struggle to demonstrate it effectively within a consultation. Communication, information gathering, clinical reasoning, patient-centred care and professional behaviour all need to work together within a limited period.
Picture a consultation where a patient presents with a symptom that appears straightforward at first. During the conversation, the patient reveals a concern about cancer and asks for an immediate referral.
The candidate needs to explore the concern, identify relevant clinical information, explain the assessment clearly and agree a safe plan without allowing the consultation to become disorganised.
That is why repeated consultation practice can be more useful than reading model answers alone.
How do these assessments fit into GP specialty training?
The assessments sit inside the wider training programme rather than operating separately from clinical work.
The RCGP describes Workplace Based Assessment as part of the assessment structure, with training progress reviewed through the Annual Review of Competence Progression. Successful completion of the required assessment components forms part of the route towards CCT.
This changes how candidates should approach preparation.
Your clinical placements, supervisor feedback, consultation experience and portfolio work can all shape your readiness. Exam preparation works best when it supports those areas rather than becoming a completely separate study project.
A useful preparation plan can therefore include
- Reviewing difficult curriculum areas from clinical placements
- Practising UK-focused clinical questions regularly
- Reviewing evidence interpretation and primary care systems
- Recording and reviewing consultation practice where appropriate
- Discussing readiness with your trainer or educational supervisor
- Tracking weaknesses rather than repeatedly revising familiar topics
The RCGP itself recommends discussing AKT timing with a GP Trainer or Educational Supervisor before booking.
What should international medical graduates know before preparing?
One of the less obvious challenges is adapting from medical knowledge to UK general practice thinking.
International graduates may already have years of clinical experience, yet the assessment can still expose gaps in areas such as NHS processes, UK guidance, consultation structure, evidence interpretation and primary care organisation.
This does not mean starting medicine again from scratch.
It means identifying where your previous clinical experience does not perfectly match the expectations of UK specialty training.
That distinction can save months of unfocused revision.
Another practical issue is exam administration. From 2026, RCGP examination bookings for AKT and SCA are handled through MyRCGP, with published booking deadlines and payment requirements. Candidates need to check the current examination information rather than relying on older preparation advice or previous booking systems.
How can candidates prepare more effectively?
The strongest preparation usually starts with diagnosis of weaknesses rather than collecting more study material.
Begin by identifying whether your main problem is knowledge recall, applying knowledge to unfamiliar cases, interpreting evidence, structuring consultations or managing time.
Then build preparation around that weakness.
For example, someone scoring well on practice questions but struggling during simulated consultations needs a different study routine from someone who cannot consistently interpret statistics or primary care management questions.
Professional coaching can be useful when you need structured feedback on those specific gaps. The aim should be to understand why an answer or consultation approach falls short, then practise the correction until it becomes more natural.
The RCGP itself provides preparation resources for both assessment components, including consultation resources and examiner-led preparation courses.
What should you take away before booking an exam?
MRCGP preparation becomes much clearer when you see the assessments as connected parts of specialty training rather than unrelated hurdles.
The AKT tests applied knowledge across UK general practice, the SCA tests integrated consultation skills, and Workplace Based Assessment follows your development through everyday clinical work. Each demands a different preparation method.
Before booking an exam date, check the latest RCGP eligibility rules, examination dates and booking deadlines for your stage of UK GP training. Official schedules can change, so current guidance should take priority over older study plans.
If you are planning your MRCGP AKT preparation, PLAB Coach offers study resources that can fit around your existing training and revision schedule. Explore the courses and find a study approach that works for your current stage of training.