Important messages for applicants

This page contains the most important messages that doctors who are considering applying for registration must understand before they apply.

Making sure your evidence and information are true and genuine

Because our primary objective is to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public, we need to carry out a number of checks on your application, including the evidence and information you submit.

You need to be aware that it is your responsibility to make sure that the information you provide is true and the evidence you submit is genuine, whether you submit it yourself or through a third party.

In particular:

• Your evidence must be objective which means: it is issued by a third party, based on facts and not influenced by a relationship to you other than professional or educational relationships.
• Your evidence must be verifiable which means: we can check it is genuine.
• Evidence you provide in isolation or in combination with other evidence and information must clearly demonstrate that you meet the requirements for registration
• We carry out standard verification checks. These may include contacting referees, employers, deaneries, schools, universities and overseas regulators. We will always rely on information obtained directly from such a source.
• Where you are unable to provide evidence, the evidence doesn’t clearly demonstrate you meet the requirements for registration, or we are unable to verify it we may refuse your application.
• We may need to conduct further checks following the submission of your documents at an identity check. Unfortunately, because verification checks take time to complete, where we need to do this, registration may be delayed.
• If you do not provide complete and truthful information, we may refuse your application; and, if you are already registered, your registration may be put at risk.
• We also may carry out further checks after your application has been granted.

Please read our core guidance Good Medical Practice which includes standards of probity and integrity that should reflect your approach to your application. Before you apply, please ensure that you have all the evidence required for registration. It is standard practice to close applications after a specific time if we haven’t received all of the evidence required.