Making our data more accessible for users

Published 20 November 2023

Today (20 November) we’ve relaunched our GMC Data Explorer, and on Wednesday 6 December, we’ll relaunch our education data reporting tool.

These interactive data products are available to anyone via our website. They’ve been moved to a new platform which has allowed us to improve the experience of users and to make them more accessible.

GMC Data Explorer supports free, publicly accessible interaction with our extensive data on the makeup of the medical register, revalidation, training and fitness to practise. This includes geographical and demographic information.

Our education data tool provides access to annual data from our national training survey, which helps us understand more about the quality of postgraduate medical training across the UK as well as data on the Annual Review of Competency Progression (ARCP) and specialty exam outcomes.

All data held is still available, but we’ve improved site navigation and the way information is displayed, making it easier for users to find what they’re looking for. We’ve also added additional support for users through help and information, including short videos which explain how to navigate both the GMC Data Explorer and education data tool.

Our testing has also shown that both tools will be much quicker and that exporting data for offline analysis will be much easier.

We’ve also taken the opportunity to improve their accessibility. Both tools have been developed to improve the experience for users with impaired vision. We’ve used more accessible colours for the data visualisations, and more ‘help’ text to explain what the data on display is and where it comes from.

Users will still be able to access the existing education data tool as they normally would until the relaunch.

Both tools can be accessed through mobile devices but we recommend using laptops or desktop computers, and the latest version of the Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome browsers, to access the full range of data and visualisations.

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Contact us

You can contact our Press Office team on 020 7189 5454. Or by email at: press@gmc-uk.org.

About us

The General Medical Council (GMC) works to protect the public by setting, upholding and raising the standards of medical education and practice across the UK.

It does this by:
- setting the standards doctors must follow, making sure they continue to meet these standards throughout their careers
- deciding which doctors are qualified to work here, and overseeing UK medical education and training
- taking action if a doctor is putting the safety of patients, or the public's confidence in doctors, at risk.
The GMC is independent of government and the medical profession, and accountable to the UK Parliament.

It is in the public interest to have healthcare systems in the UK, both public and private, where doctors practise to the highest ethical and professional standards to provide the best possible, safe medical care.

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Making our data more accessible for users