Acceptable overseas qualifications

If your primary medical qualification is from outside the UK and is not a relevant European qualification, we need to make sure it’s acceptable in the UK for you to be eligible to take PLAB and/or apply for registration.

As part of your application, you'll need to provide a copy of your qualification. 

There are some qualifications we already know aren't accepted in the UK, or are only accepted in some cases (listed in this guide).

You should check whether your qualification is acceptable before you start an application with us.

Please note that you cannot appeal against the decision that an overseas PMQ is not acceptable, it is at the GMC’s discretion to determine which overseas qualifications are acceptable for the purposes of registration in the UK.

Once you have checked your primary medical qualification meets our acceptability criteria, you'll need to have it (and your acceptable postgraduate qualification, if applicable) independently verified before we can grant your registration with a licence to practise. Read about what primary source verification means for you.

Please note that you will also need to meet a number of other requirements in order to be eligible for registration, and a determination that an overseas PMQ is acceptable does not necessarily mean that you will be granted registration.