Do you require adjustments to your exam due to a health need?

  1. Summary
  2. What is the PLAB 2 exam?
  3. How will you be tested?
  4. When and where can you take PLAB 2?
  5. Information on booking a PLAB 2 place
  6. How to cancel your booking and our approach to other exam disruptions
  7. What resources should you use to prepare?
  8. A sample OSCE station
  9. Do you require adjustments to your exam due to a health need?
  10. What can you expect on the day?
  1. How do you get your PLAB 2 results?
  2. Understanding your results
  3. What do you do after you get your results
  4. Are you eligible for an additional PLAB 2 attempt?
  5. How do you appeal your PLAB 2 result?
  6. Misconduct procedure
  7. Case study of candidate misconduct at the PLAB exam
  8. Anti-bribery policy
  9. PLAB and the Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) requirements

What can we do to support you?

If you have an additional health need that may affect your exam performance, we may be able to make adjustments to practical arrangements of the exam. We won’t be able to change the standard of the exam.

We offer adjustments on a case-by-case basis, using the information and evidence you provide. These are examples of reasonable adjustments we’ve made in the PLAB 2 exam:

 

Candidate requirement 

Reasonable adjustment made

Wheelchair user and impaired vision

  • Candidate visited the Clinical Assessment Centre before the test so they could see what adjustments were necessary.

  • All written material was placed at appropriate heights and in large font size.

  • The examination time began when the candidate’s wheelchair was in position.

  • We provided an assistant to help move the candidate between stations.

Manual dexterity difficulties

  • The examiners opened packages if requested.

  • If the station required gloves, we did not require the candidate to put them on.

Pregnant or those with mobility difficulties

  • We placed the resuscitation manikin on a couch rather than on the floor.

Dyslexia

  • We arranged for the station instructions to be printed on a colour of paper and in a font size of their choosing.

 
What do you need to do?

So that we can make a decision on any adjustments, you must send us the following information:

  • Details of why you require a reasonable adjustment, such as the nature of your health needs
  • What adjustments you require or the barriers you need the adjustments to address
  • An original letter, certificate or medical report, from an appropriate professional confirming the nature of your health needs and the functional impact of your health needs in an exam environment
  • The letter, certificate or medical report must highlight which assessment the report is taking into consideration – i.e. PLAB 2 (an OSCE examination)
  • The letter, certificate or medical report must also include recommendations for adjustments we could make. For example, if extra time is requested, your report should recommend how much additional time is required and what the considerations were in reaching this figure.

If we receive a request without this information, it will delay our decision.

When do you need to do this?

If you believe you need an adjustment, you should contact us before booking your exam to discuss this with us. This is to make sure we have time to review your request and agree a date that we can run an exam with the adjustments you require in place.

If you book an exam before requesting any adjustments you need, this may mean we are not able to make the required adjustments for the exam you have booked on to.

If you have already booked an exam and require adjustments, you should contact us as soon as possible. We may need to rearrange your test date to allow us time to put adjustments in place.

What if you disagree with the adjustments we have offered?

If you wish to request different adjustments to those we have offered, we may ask you for further information and evidence so we can consider your request further.

If you do not agree with our final decision, you can ask for this to be considered under our complaints procedure by emailing feedback@gmc-uk.org.

Please contact us as soon as possible to discuss your requirements.

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Related content

PLAB 2 preparation resources Find resources that you can use to prepare for your PLAB 2 test.
PLAB 2 overview video Watch our video which shows what you can expect when you take PLAB 2.
PLAB pass rates See recent pass rates for PLAB 2.
PLAB reports See published reports about the PLAB test.