Understanding your results

How do we calculate your results?

How we calculate the pass mark for each station

Examiners will assess your performance in each station against three marking domains:

Data gathering, technical and assessment skills
Clinical management skills
Interpersonal skills

They will also make a standard setting judgement of your performance in the station, which will be Unsatisfactory, Borderline, Satisfactory or Good. This judgement does not determine whether you pass the station and is not included in the results you will receive, but it is required for us to calculate the pass mark for each station.

We then use the above information to calculate the pass mark needed for each station using the borderline regression scoring method.

How we calculate the pass mark for the exam overall

We add up the cut scores for each of the stations in the exam. We then add one standard error of measurement. This creates the minimum score you need to pass.

You must meet or exceed this score, and pass a minimum required number of stations, to achieve an overall pass.

From November 2024 we will remove the standard minimum of 10 stations to pass, and we will instead calculate the number of stations a candidate needs to pass for each separate exam. To do this, we will use a calculation called a regression method. This is similar to the method we use to calculate the current pass mark.

This methodology is designed to keep the level of challenge similar between exams. An extensive pilot study has shown that the shift to this new methodology will improve consistency for our candidates.

You won’t be told exactly how many stations were required to pass your exam, but this logic will be applied to your results automatically.

If you wish to learn more about the minimum stations to pass in your exam, please contact us at plab@gmc-uk.org.

Understanding your feedback

When you receive your exam results, you will also get two types of feedback: quantitative feedback and qualitative feedback.

Back

Quantitative feedback

For each individual station, we will tell you:

the marks you were awarded in each of the three marking domains (Please note - each domain is scored out of the same amount of total marks, so you will be able to see in which domains you were stronger)
the total score you achieved in each station
the score required to pass each station
whether you passed the station.

For the exam overall, we will tell you:

the total marks you scored in each of the three marking domains
the total marks you scored in the exam
the total score needed to pass the exam
whether you passed the exam overall

PLAB quantitative feedback

An example of the quantitative feedback you'll get.

Qualitative feedback

When you have finished each station, the examiner will be able to indicate which of 10 pre-set feedback statements they consider apply most to you. The examiners must do this if their standard setting judgement is that you were Unsatisfactory or Borderline, but they will also be able to do so if they judged your performance as Satisfactory or Good. You will be told which feedback statements were indicated as applying to you in each station.

PLAB qualitative feedback

An example of the qualitative feedback you'll get.

The feedback statements

The ten feedback statements are listed below.

Descriptions of the feedback statements you’ll receive for each station and what they mean
Feedback statement	Description
Consultation	Disorganised / unstructured consultation. Includes illogical and disordered approach to questioning. You did not demonstrate sufficiently the ability to follow a logical structure in your consultation. For example, your history taking may have appeared disjointed, with your line of questioning erratic and not following reasoned thinking. You may have undertaken practical tasks or examination in an illogical order that suggested you did not have a full grasp of the reason for completing them or a plan for the consultation.
Issues	Does not recognise the issues or priorities in the consultation (for example, the patient’s key problem or the immediate management of an acutely ill patient). You did not recognise the key element of importance in the station. For example, giving health and lifestyle advice to an acutely ill patient.
Time	Shows poor time management. You showed poor time management, probably taking too long over some elements of the encounter at the expense of other, perhaps more important areas.
Findings	Does not identify abnormal findings or results or fails to recognise their implications. You did not identify or recognise significant findings in the history, examination or data interpretation.
Examination	Does not undertake physical examination competently, or use instruments proficiently.
Diagnosis	Does not make the correct working diagnosis or identify an appropriate range of differential possibilities.
Management	Does not develop a management plan reflecting current best practice, including follow up and safety netting.
Rapport	Does not appear to develop rapport or show sensitivity for the patient’s feelings and concerns, including use of stock phrases. You did not demonstrate sufficiently the ability to conduct a patient centred consultation. Perhaps you did not show appropriate empathy or sympathy, or understanding of the patient’s concerns. You may have used stock phrases that show that you were not sensitive to the patient as an individual, or failed to seek agreement to your management plan.
Listening	Does not make adequate use of verbal & non-verbal cues. Poor active listening skills. You did not demonstrate sufficiently that you were paying full attention to the patient’s agenda, beliefs and preferences. For example, you may have asked a series of questions but not listened to the answers and acted on them.
Language	Does not use language or explanations that are relevant and understandable to the patient, including not checking understanding. The examiner may have felt, for example, that you used medical jargon, or spoke too quickly for the patient to take in what you were saying.

Is there a fixed pass mark for each section?

No. The borderline regression scoring method means the passing mark for each station will vary with the difficulty of each station, and for each exam.

I’ve added up the score needed to pass in each station and this does not match the score needed to pass the overall exam. Is there an error with my results?

No. When we use the borderline regression method, it calculates the cut score for each station. We then convert this to the score you need to achieve to pass the station itself. As candidates can only score a whole number of marks in a station, we make sure the passing score is also a whole number.

As explained above, in setting the pass mark for the exam, we add one standard error of measurement to the sum of the total cut scores. It is therefore not possible for you to add up the score needed to pass in each station and accurately calculate the overall exam pass mark.

Does the examiner know the station pass mark?

No, the examiner does not know the passing score when assessing candidates. It is calculated after the exam.

Is the pass mark the same across both centres?

No, each test centre operates independently, with a different set of stations. The results from each centre will be generated separately, and with distinct passing criteria.

This means that candidates taking the test on the same day but at different venues will see differences in the passing mark for that day.

There are fewer stations in my results than I sat on the day. Why is that?

As a part of our quality assurance procedures, we may exclude individual stations from your results. When we do this, the pass mark and the minimum number of stations needed to pass are calculated accordingly to ensure that you are not disadvantaged.

We may change our standard setting procedures from time to time without notice.

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