Your PA National Exam (PANE) or PA Registration Assessment (PARA) and assuring us you have the required knowledge and skills

  1. Summary
  2. How do I apply for GMC registration?
  3. Qualification details
  4. Your PA National Exam (PANE) or PA Registration Assessment (PARA) and assuring us you have the required knowledge and skills
  5. Registration and licensing history
  6. Work history
  7. Declaring your fitness to practise
  1. Insurance and indemnity
  2. How much does it cost to apply?
  3. How long will it take to process my application?
  4. Completing an identity check
  5. When will you make a decision on my application for registration?
  6. I am ready to apply

Usually, PA applicants will demonstrate that they meet the standards of knowledge and skills through evidence of passing an approved registration assessment within the last two years. The GMC approved registration assessments for PAs are the Physician Associates Registration Assessment (PARA) or its forerunner the Physician Associate National Examination (PANE).

All UK-qualified PAs must have passed both parts of the PANE/PARA before they can apply for registration. For PAs who were on the voluntary register, the FPA provided us with details of when you passed the PANE.

If you passed the PANE/PARA or PANCE (see below) more than two years ago, you may not need to retake an assessment, if you can provide us with satisfactory evidence of recent, post-qualification, UK practise as a PA. You should read our transition policy on demonstrating knowledge and skills to determine whether your evidence of recent UK practise will meet our criteria. You should also note that this policy applies during the transition period, which ends on 12 December 2026.

We’ll make checks on your work history and your employer’s reference.

If you have no UK PA practice within the last two years it is unlikely that you will meet our knowledge and skills standards, in these cases we suggest the best option for you to provide the most robust evidence of up-to-date knowledge and skills would be to re-sit the PA Registration Assessment (PARA).

PANCE

If you are a US-qualified PA, and your US qualification and Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) pass were the basis of your admittance to the FPA's managed voluntary register for PAs, we will accept your PANCE pass in place of a UK PANE/PARA pass. We'll verify your exam pass with the FPA in advance of regulation and ask you to confirm these details when you apply for registration with us.

If you are a US qualified PA and you have never been a member of the FPA’s managed voluntary register, we are unable to accept your PANCE pass and will need you to sit the PANE/PARA.

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