Do I have to book PLAB 1 before I start studying?

No. Booking is not the first step, and for most people it cannot be. The GMC has to verify your English before it opens PLAB 1 booking to you. Studying has no such gate. You can open a book, or an app, today.

What has to happen before you can book

The order matters, so here it is in plain terms:

1. You show that you have an acceptable overseas primary medical qualification. If you have not graduated yet, the GMC needs confirmation that you have passed your final examinations.
2. You set up a GMC Online account. Only you may use it: the GMC says sharing your account details with anyone else is misconduct, and you must book only through GMC Online.
3. You send evidence of your English. Most doctors use IELTS or OET, and the GMC's English guide sets the minimum scores for each.
4. The GMC verifies your English evidence. Only then does booking open, in GMC Online under My Tests.

If you are still waiting for an English test result, you cannot book yet, however ready you feel.

So when should you start studying?

Early. The English step takes time: a test date, a result, then the GMC's check. That waiting time is not dead time. A doctor who spends it learning the material, one area at a time, reaches the booking screen with a head start instead of a blank page.

PLAB 1 is 180 single best answer questions in three hours, written at the level of a doctor starting the second year of the UK Foundation Programme and answered by current UK best practice. That is a broad syllabus, and broad syllabuses reward an early, steady start.

When should you book?

Once booking is open to you and you have a sitting you can defend. There are four a year, in February, May, August and November. Two things pull in opposite directions:

• The GMC releases places as it sees demand, so waiting for the perfect moment can cost you your preferred venue.
• A booking is a commitment of time and money. The GMC's booking page explains how cancelling and changing work; read it before you pay.

A practical middle path: pick the sitting that gives you enough weeks to cover every area, book it, then check your progress about six weeks out with a timed mock.

One thing to plan early

If you will sit PLAB 1 outside your own city, check the venues in GMC Online before you plan travel. The GMC will stop offering PLAB 1 in Dhaka, Alexandria, Accra and Chennai from February 2027, and its overseas schedule will drop from four sittings a year to three. Read more in can I sit PLAB 1 outside the UK?

Questions people ask