PLAB 2 is a clinical and professional skills assessment with 16 eight-minute scenarios, at least two rest stations and a total duration of around three hours. It is held only at two GMC centres in Manchester, and the fee is £1,036 from 1 April 2026. In 2025, 8,787 of 14,689 candidates passed, a rate of 59.8%.
The exam is for international medical graduates who have an acceptable overseas primary medical qualification and a valid PLAB 1 pass, and PLAB 2 must be passed within two years of the PLAB 1 pass.
At a glance
What the exam tests
The GMC sets the level at work expected of a doctor appointed to a Foundation Programme Year 2 role. Its assessment guidance names three domains:
- Data gathering, technical and assessment skills: History taking, physical examination, practical procedures, investigations leading to a diagnosis.
- Clinical management skills: Formulating a diagnosis, explaining something to the patient, formulating a management plan.
- Interpersonal skills: How you approach the station: whether you establish a rapport with the patient, how you use open and closed questioning, involving the patient and demonstrating your professionalism and understanding of ethical principles.
Local arrangements can differ, so answers should follow published evidence. The PLAB 2 scoring guide follows the GMC method in which each domain carries the same total marks and borderline regression sets the overall standard and minimum-stations requirement for the particular exam.
The station types
The GMC practical-skills list includes:
- checking blood pressure
- venepuncture
- inserting a peripheral cannula
- calculating a drug dosage
- giving intravenous injections
- mixing and injecting drugs into an intravenous bag
- giving intramuscular and subcutaneous injections
- basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation in adults and children
- suturing
- interpreting an electrocardiogram, X-rays or other investigation results
- interpreting basic respiratory function tests
- urinary catheterisation
- taking a cervical smear
- safe disposal of sharps
The same GMC assessment guidance lists these interpersonal tasks:
- explaining a diagnosis, investigation or treatment
- involving the patient in decision-making
- communicating with relatives
- communicating with health care professionals
- breaking bad news
- writing clear, legible instructions, such as a prescription
- obtaining informed consent for an invasive procedure or consent for a post-mortem
- dealing with an anxious patient or relative
- giving discharge instructions
- advising on lifestyle, health promotion or risk factors
Telephone consultation stations can appear, and the GMC tells candidates not to touch the telephone or monitor. Examiners may observe remotely, and other stations can use anatomical models, manikins or a high-fidelity simulator.
Clinical examination may cover the abdomen, breast, chest, hand, heart and joints.
The GMC also expects candidates to be able to perform rectal or bimanual vaginal examination, use equipment for ear, eye and nervous-system examinations, and treat a mental-state examination as a clinical examination. On an anatomical model, narrate only when instructed and never perform an action that would be unsafe or painful on a person. Use the station-types guide to turn the GMC task list into practice cases.
Where and when
The GMC runs test dates throughout the year. Available dates become visible in the PLAB booking service in GMC Online only after your PLAB 1 results are available. When demand is high, the GMC says there may be a wait for a place.
Tests run at two Manchester sites:
- GMC Clinical Assessment Centre, 3 Hardman Square, Manchester, M3 3EB
- GMC Clinical Assessment Centre, 3 Hardman Street, Manchester, M3 3AW
The addresses are very similar, so the booking confirmation is the authority for your centre. Match the instructions in the exam-day guide to your GMC email before travel.
Candidates with a UK NHS job offer that requires GMC registration, or UK refugee status, can email plab@gmc-uk.org and ask the GMC to try to offer a place as soon as possible.
The number of exam places is not directly linked to NHS vacancy numbers. Use the dates, booking and test-centres guide when choosing between the places shown in your account.
Fees and the full cost
These GMC fees apply from 1 April 2026:
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| PLAB 1 | £283 |
| PLAB 2 | £1,036 |
| Cancel PLAB 2 more than 42 days before the exam, 10% | £103.60 |
| Cancel PLAB 2 from 42 to 29 days before the exam, 50% | £518 |
| Cancel PLAB 2 at 28 days or less before the exam, 100% | £1,036 |
A date change requires cancellation first, with the relevant fee deducted, followed by a new booking. Under the GMC cancellation policy, a full refund of the cancellation fee may be considered for evidenced exceptional circumstances such as visa refusal, travel restrictions, ill health or bereavement.
From 8 April 2026, a six-month Standard Visitor visa costs £135. Build a full PLAB 2 cost by adding flights, accommodation, preparation and exchange costs to the fixed charges. Country-specific planning allowances are available for India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Turkey and Egypt.
Eligibility, attempts and timing
Booking requires an acceptable overseas primary medical qualification and a valid PLAB 1 pass. You must pass PLAB 2 within two years of passing PLAB 1, and the GMC uses the test date as the PLAB 1 pass date.
The GMC limits candidates to four attempts. A fifth and final attempt requires an application after at least 12 months of additional learning that meets the GMC evidence rules. If an earlier result has left the window tight, use the failed second-attempt guide to decide what to change before booking again.
How results work
The GMC publishes results within a month of the exam date. It sends an email with access instructions, and the result appears under My Tests in GMC Online. The GMC does not give results by telephone or at reception.
The GMC provides quantitative feedback for every station in your exam result.
It includes your marks in each of the three domains, the station total, the station pass score and the station outcome. The overall record includes totals for each domain, the exam total, the exam pass score and the final outcome.
Qualitative feedback shows which of the 10 pre-set feedback statements an examiner applied in each station. Examiners must select statements when their global judgement is Unsatisfactory or Borderline, and selection is optional for other judgements. The statements identify areas such as consultation structure, recognition of issues, time use, examination, diagnosis, management, rapport, listening and language.
The GMC does not offer a results-checking service. An appeal concerns an irregularity in the exam's conduct or unexpected exceptional circumstances during it. It must reach the GMC within ten working days of publication of the result; disagreement with academic judgement or a claim of under-marking is not an appeal ground. Read the results and appeals guide before deciding whether those grounds fit what happened.
Recent PLAB 2 pass rates
The GMC publishes annual candidate and pass totals:
| Year | Sat PLAB 2 | Passed | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8,648 | 6,043 | 69.9% |
| 2022 | 13,533 | 8,775 | 64.8% |
| 2023 | 15,702 | 9,884 | 62.9% |
| 2024 | 19,594 | 12,902 | 65.8% |
| 2025 | 14,689 | 8,787 | 59.8% |
The GMC gives no reason for the movement across these five years.
These figures describe annual candidate outcomes. They cannot establish why a particular exam produced a higher or lower pass rate. For comparison, 13,691 candidates sat PLAB 1 in 2025, 8,513 passed and the pass rate was 62.2%.
PLAB 2 and the MLA
The GMC describes PLAB 2 as a clinical and professional skills assessment that complies with MLA requirements. UK medical students meet the Medical Licensing Assessment through an applied knowledge test and a clinical and professional skills assessment inside their degree. International graduates meet the same requirement through PLAB 1 and PLAB 2, which have met the MLA standard since August 2024 and are still booked, sat and reported under the PLAB names.
Nothing about the booking, the fee, the two centres or the result changes because of the MLA label. What did change is the content standard the exam is written to, and the UKMLA and PLAB 2 guide explains that alignment and what it means for preparation.
Preparing for PLAB 2
The sequence begins with a valid PLAB 1 pass because PLAB 2 dates become visible only after PLAB 1 results are available. Book through your own GMC Online account, then build visa and travel plans around the confirmed Manchester date. Sharing GMC Online account details with a third party is misconduct under the GMC booking guidance.
Preparation should include spoken practice that completes the task within the eight-minute station format, followed by feedback against the three GMC domains. Full circuits and mocks test whether that performance holds across the exam. Choose a schedule through the preparation plan, then use the mock-exam guide or academy comparison for the relevant decision.
After you pass
After a pass, apply for registration with a licence to practise. The GMC says registration should be approved within two years of passing PLAB 2, using the test date as the pass date.
An older pass requires additional evidence of current knowledge and clinical skills.
For English evidence, a PLAB 2 pass can show maintained English when it was obtained less than three months before the registration application and the required IELTS or OET scores were achieved less than three years ago. Individual evidence questions belong with the GMC because the rule depends on both dates and the evidence held.
GMC registration and finding a first NHS job after PLAB are separate steps.
The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026, explained in the training prioritisation guide, applied priority at the offer stage in 2026 and extends it from shortlisting through offer from 2027.
Questions candidates actually ask
How many stations are there in PLAB 2?
PLAB 2 has 16 scenarios, each lasting eight minutes. There are also at least two rest stations, and the whole exam takes around three hours.
How much does PLAB 2 cost in 2026?
From 1 April 2026, the PLAB 2 fee is £1,036. Visa, travel, accommodation and preparation costs are separate.
Where is PLAB 2 held?
PLAB 2 is held at two GMC Clinical Assessment Centres in Manchester. Your booking confirmation gives the correct address, either 3 Hardman Square, M3 3EB, or 3 Hardman Street, M3 3AW.
How long after PLAB 1 can you take PLAB 2?
You must pass PLAB 2 within two years of passing PLAB 1. The GMC uses the date you took PLAB 1 as the pass date.
What is the PLAB 2 pass rate?
The PLAB 2 pass rate was 59.8% in 2025, when 8,787 of 14,689 candidates passed. An annual pass rate and the pass mark set for a particular exam are different measures.
How many attempts do you get at PLAB 2?
You have four attempts to pass PLAB 2. A fifth and final attempt requires an application after at least 12 months of additional learning that meets the GMC's evidence rules.