The revalidation assessment and GMC decision-making process for doctors without a responsible officer or approved suitable person

This guide supports licensed doctors who don’t have a responsible officer or suitable person to revalidate.

It includes information about:

  • the use of an assessment to evaluate your fitness to practise
  • booking and taking the assessment
  • the timing of your revalidation
  • our decision-making process.

As you do not have a responsible officer or suitable person, there is nobody with the statutory responsibility to oversee systems such as appraisal and clinical governance that support your revalidation, or to make a revalidation recommendation about you.

This means we need you to give us assurance about your fitness to practise. You can do this through a process of appraisal, annual returns and assessment.

You must fulfil the requirements outlined in this guide and in our step-by-step process for revalidation.

If you're not sure if this guide applies to you, please use our connection tool.

The legal background to this guide

This guide includes extracts from Section 4 of our Guidance for doctors: requirements for revalidation and maintaining your licence (published under section 29G of the Medical Act 1983). It explains your responsibilities and our powers in the General Medical Council (Licence to Practise and Revalidation) Regulations 2012.

You can find all the relevant legal references in the full guidance.

Who is this guidance for?
This guide is for doctors who don't have a connection to a responsible officer or suitable person, who hold registration with a licence to practise in the UK.
Why you need to read this 
If you don't do these activities within the timeframes we specify, without a reasonable excuse, we'll begin the process of withdrawing your licence to practise.
  1. Summary
  2. Why you need to take the revalidation assessment
  3. What the assessment involves
  4. How we assess your performance
  5. Booking, changing or cancelling your revalidation assessment
  1. What happens on your assessment day
  2. When you will revalidate
  3. How we decide whether to revalidate you
  4. The revalidation decisions
Next Why you need to take the revalidation assessment

Related content

Revalidation homepage How to revalidate as a doctor without a connection to a designated body or suitable person.
Guidance on supporting information for appraisal and revalidation Understand which information you need to collect and discuss at your annual appraisal.
Appraisals and annual returns for doctors without a responsible officer or suitable person Find an appraiser, arrange an annual appraisal and submit an annual return.