What commitment do we ask for?

Availability of examiners

We expect examiners to make themselves available for at least eight PLAB 2 assessments a year. You will also be required to attend mandatory refresher training, usually held every two years.

Examinations are held year-round on most days, excluding Sundays. We release exam dates via our online booking system GMC Connect; typically examiners are able to book three to four months in advance.  

Examiner timetable at the PLAB 2 exam

Exams are held at our purpose-built clinical assessment centre in Manchester, and you must arrive at 8am in time for an 8:05 am briefing. We run one circuit of candidates before lunch and one in the afternoon. We normally end the day by 4:30pm, and no later than 5pm. You will usually examine the same station all day, but from time to time you may examine more than one station.

Because the exam is set at the level of the successful completion of the first year of the Foundation Programme (F1), we expect examiners to be able to examine in most stations. We won't necessarily allocate examiners to stations in their own specialty.

We allow 60 minutes calibration for each station in the morning. You'll pair up with another examiner, giving you the opportunity to seek advice if you are at all uncertain about the marking scheme. Invigilators will be present to aid the calibration process.

See a sample objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) station in our PLAB 2 guide.

A typical day would be: