Registration
We decide who can work as a PA or AA by setting the standards for entry into these professions and saying what evidence they’ll have to show us to demonstrate they’ve met those standards. When applying to join our register, PAs and AAs must provide or confirm:
- that they have a relevant qualification
- they have passed the PA National Examination (PAs only)
- their work history covering the past five years
- employer and regulator references
- evidence of English language if their qualification was obtained outside the UK
- a fitness to practise and health declaration
- that they have adequate indemnity and insurance cover.
Before a decision is made on registration, PAs and AAs are also required to complete a GMC identity check and pay an application fee.
Find out more by visiting our registration webpages.
The registration process
We encourage PAs and AAs to join our registers as soon as possible if they’re already practising in the UK.
However, there is a transition period of two years, which is set out in law, before it becomes an offence to practice as a PA and AA without GMC registration. This will allow PAs and AAs to keep working while they complete any additional steps required for registration, and so we can process applications.
From December 2026, PAs and AAs must have GMC registration to practise in the UK.
Our registration process
The PA and AA register
The reference number given to PAs and AAs when they gain registration with us is prefixed with the letter ‘A’, for associate, distinguishing it from the purely numerical format that registered doctors have.
In addition to the prefix, we have prominently labelled each profession type on our public-facing registers, and in search functions. This means that when patients search our registers it is very clear whether an individual is a doctor, a PA or an AA.
