Information about the physician associate registration assessment
If you’re applying for GMC registration as a physician associate (PA), you’ll need to have passed both parts of the physician associate national examination (PANE). You won’t be able to apply without completing this.
The PANE is run by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP). You can find more details about the exam on the RCP website.
From September 2025, the PANE will become the physician associate registration assessment (PARA) and will continue to be delivered by the RCP on our behalf. The PARA will be aligned to the updated PA curriculum, but the format of the assessment will be identical, and the content is very similar.
The assessment is made up of:
- a 200-question, single best answer, knowledge-based assessment, taken online
- a 14-station objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), held at the RCP building in Liverpool.
You can have four attempts at each part of the PANE/PARA unless there are exceptional circumstances. If you have any queries about booking and sitting the PANE/PARA, can email PAexams@rcp.ac.uk.
Visit the RCP website – PANE information for candidates for more information around PANE/PARA, including: examination regulations, blueprints, sample questions for the knowledge assessment, and sample scenarios for the OSCE.
US qualified physician associates
If you are a US-qualified PA who was admitted to the FPA’s managed voluntary register for PAs on the basis of your US Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE), we will accept your PANCE pass in place of a UK PANE pass.
We’ll need to verify your exam pass before granting your registration. The FPA will make attempts to do this in advance of regulation, and we’ll ask you to confirm details of your exam when you apply for registration with us.
We will not accept PANCE passes in place of PANE for PAs who have not previously been members of the FPA register.
How do I book to sit the PANE/PARA?
This depends on your situation, please see below requirements for each cohort to understand further.
Newly qualified UK physician associates
Your course provider should tell you the best time for you to book your exam. When you’ve made your application to sit the exam, the RCP will check your eligibility with your course provider to make sure you have met all the requirements of your course.
If you aren’t sure what to do, we recommend that you speak to your course provider for more information about this.
Previous PANE pass over two years old
If you passed PANE more than two years before making your application, then during the transition period (up to 12 December 2026) you may not need to sit PANE/PARA again, if you can provide satisfactory evidence to assure us that you meet the standards of knowledge and skills required for registration. You might be able to do this if you can provide evidence of recent practice as a PA in the UK, accompanied by supportive employer references. You should read our transition policy on demonstrating knowledge and skills to determine whether your evidence of recent UK practice will meet our criteria.
If you cannot evidence that you meet our criteria to evidence that your knowledge and skills are up to date, we recommend you re-take the PANE/PARA. You will need to book this directly on the RCP website.International physician associates
If you have an international PA qualification and are new to UK practice, or have never been a member of the FPA’s managed voluntary register, you will need have your international qualification assessed you apply for registration.
Please see our Registration guidance for international physician associates for prospective international PA applicants. You must wait for further information and individual instruction from us before you try to book the exam. The RCP will not accept bookings from international PAs until they have received confirmation from us that your PA qualifications meets our requirements.
How much does the assessment cost?
You can find the up-to-date cost of the assessment on RCP’s website.
