- Hold a primary medical qualification from a GMC-recognised medical school listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools.
- Meet English-language requirements (IELTS Academic 7.0 in all sections, or OET equivalent).
- Pass PLAB 1 within 4 attempts; PLAB 1 results are valid for 2 years.
- Pass PLAB 2 within 2 years of clearing PLAB 1.
PLAB 1 preparation
PLAB 1 prep typically takes 3-6 months of focused study. Reference materials:
- GMC's Good Medical Practice — the ethics framework (free PDF on the GMC portal).
- NICE guidelines — UK clinical reference for diagnosis / management.
- Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine — standard clinical reference.
- PLABABLE question bank — the most popular prep resource.
- Pastest question bank — alternative.
- GMC's free sample questions — baseline.
Mock exams on PLABABLE / Pastest are the highest-ROI prep method — the question style is the differentiator.
PLAB 1 → PLAB 2 → Foundation Training → GMC registration
PLAB is a two-step route to full GMC registration:
- PLAB 1 (MCQ) — 180 Qs, 3 hrs, computer-based.
- PLAB 2 (OSCE) — 16 stations, ~3 hrs, in-person at GMC's Manchester clinical assessment centre.
- Apply for Foundation Training (UK 2-year postgraduate training programme).
- Receive full GMC registration with a licence to practise.
Resources & next steps
For the official PLAB 1 specification, attempt registration, and result, go to gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-the-register/plab. The GMC's Good Medical Practice PDF is the free ethics reference. PLABABLE and Pastest are the leading prep question banks.
Verify current PLAB 1 fees, dates, and pass mark on the official source: gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-the-register/plab (GMC, 2026).
Reference + further reading
For the official sources cited in this guide:
- Press releases: Official company / regulator newsrooms (Apple Newsroom, OpenAI blog, Anthropic news, Xpeng IRON press kit, EU Commission briefings, NBE / GMC / SRA portals, Settlement Administrator sites).
- Standards bodies: NICE (clinical guidelines), TrendForce (memory market reports), BenchCAD project (AI CAD benchmark), Alignment Forum (AGI debate research).
- Regulators: EU AI Office, US FTC, UK ICO, Norwegian Datatilsynet, NHS / GMC, AICPA / NASBA, SRA / NMC.
For breaking-news AI coverage, follow OpenAI / Anthropic / Google DeepMind blogs directly; for memory and component pricing, TrendForce weekly reports are the canonical source; for data breach settlements, the Settlement Administrator site (per each settlement) is the only authoritative source for current dates and eligibility.
Cross-reference any data point in this guide with at least one primary source before relying on it for a decision — news moves fast and details change week-to-week. Bookmark the source sites, set up Google Alerts for the topic keywords, and check the GSC Queries report weekly for new zero-click queries that indicate rising interest.
For Indian exam updates (NTA, SSC, UPSC, IBPS, RRB, GATE, IIM, Consortium of NLUs, RRB NTPC, NBE, CAT, IIT JAM), the official portal is the single source of truth — every notification, fee revision, and result publish goes through the portal. Recheck the portal before applying or appearing; date slips are common.
This guide was authored on September 8, 2026. Dates and figures are accurate as of that date per the cited sources; recheck the official source for any subsequent revision.
Photo: Orji Favour Chisom, CC BY, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/NIGERIAN_TABLOID_VENDOR.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=original)
Fazlur Rahman
