Improvements to the applications process for Specialist and GP certification

Following its merger with the former PMETB on 1 April 2010, the GMC has been undertaking improvement activity of its Certification administration.

By improving efficiency across different parts of the organisation savings have been made and as a result we have been able to reduce or freeze fees for certain doctors or applicants. We have already reduced the fees that doctors pay in a number of areas, including the fees for:

• A Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT)
• A Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR)
• A Certificate of Eligibility for GP Registration (CEGPR)

Following this, in the first quarter of 2011, we plan to introduce a number of other practical improvements to the way that doctors apply for such certificates. More information on how to apply for certification can be found on our certification pages. 

This article highlights some of the main changes which are as follows:

• Unlike now the vast majority of CESR, CEGPR and Combined Programme (CP) applicants will be able to apply for and pay their application fee online.
• The online process will prompt CESR and CEGPR applicants for relevant specialty specific evidence.
• The online system will enable applicants to print off a bespoke evidence checklist at the point when they apply – this will assist applicants in providing the evidence they need to make a successful application. 
• Various security checks undertaken by PMETB are no longer necessary as these will already have been made (or will be made) as part of GMC registration. For example requiring photographic evidence of applicants’ identification.
• Applicants for a CESR / CEGPR through the CP will be approved for this route when they join their specialty training programme. This change will enable applicants to complete the same online process and pay the same fee as a CCT applicant - which, from 9 December 2010, was reduced to £500. (The current process requires a CP applicant to pay the full CESR / CEGPR application fee and then be refunded the difference if they are awarded a certificate under the Combined Programme.)
• CESR and CEGPR applicants who have never been registered with the GMC will be required to combine their certification application with an application for full registration with a licence to practise. This will mean that:
  • They will be asked to provide the evidence that is necessary to meet both the statutory requirements for full registration and certification.
  • Those who want to use their eligibility for specialist or GP registration as evidence of their knowledge and skills for the purposes of full registration will not have to await the outcome of the certification process and then apply for full registration separately.
  • Applicants should no longer be at risk of completing the certification process successfully only to find that they cannot have their names entered immediately in the Specialist or GP Register because they do not have (or, in rare cases, are ineligible for) full registration with a licence to practise. 
  • Applicants will pay both registration and certification application fees simultaneously.

We believe that Certification applicants will welcome these new and improved arrangements and our process which enables eligible applicants, who wish to practise in the UK for the first time, to make a seamless application and transition to full and Specialist or full and GP registration.

Over the coming months we will keep you informed of how our system development is going and tell you when the changes will be implemented. In the meantime please continue to apply using the current application forms and systems, but if you have any questions, please contact us and we will do our best to help.