What is the PLAB 1 pass mark, and how is it set?

There is no fixed pass percentage. The GMC sets a pass mark for each PLAB 1 sitting, so it can differ from one exam to the next. What stays the same is the standard it is set to: a doctor entering the second year of the UK Foundation Programme.

How the pass mark is set

The GMC uses the Angoff method, an internationally recognised way of setting a standard. In general terms, experienced judges look at each question and decide how a borderline candidate at the required standard would do on it, and those judgements are combined into a pass mark for that paper.

The GMC adds one more thing: its standard setting includes one standard error of measurement. That allows for the fact that no exam measures anyone perfectly.

Because each sitting has its own pass mark, a harder paper gets a lower pass mark and an easier paper a higher one. That is fairer than a single fixed number, but it means a score from one sitting cannot be compared directly with a score from another.

What your score is

Your PLAB 1 score is simple: the number of questions you answered correctly. Your result shows that score, the pass mark for your sitting, the average of all candidates, and feedback across ten clinical areas.

What this means for how you prepare

• Aim for breadth, not a number. Since the target is a standard, not a percentage, the safest plan covers every area the exam can test: common, important and acute conditions an F2 doctor sees, and long-term conditions managed in primary care.
• Answer by UK practice. The GMC says answers follow current UK best practice and published evidence, not local arrangements. A habit from home can cost you marks even when it is good medicine where you work now.
• Watch the trend in your practice scores. No practice score, including PLAB Vault's, is on the GMC's scale. Use them to compare one mock with the next, and to find the areas pulling you down.

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