PLAB / UKMLA Explained for Indian Doctors

A quick but important note before anything else: this article relied on web search across multiple independent exam-prep and IMG-guide sources, cross-checked against each other. Direct access to the GMC's own site (gmc-uk.org) was blocked by this environment's network policy, so every figure below — especially the 1 April 2026 fee change and the exact PLAB 2 station count, where sources genuinely disagree — should be re-confirmed on the GMC's own site or with a GMC-registered adviser before being used to set a client's expectations.

The site already covers the English-test side of medical migration through our IELTS coaching and OET coaching software pages, but had no coverage of the GMC's own clinical licensing exam that sits alongside those English tests for a doctor aiming to practise in the UK. This article closes that gap.

What PLAB structurally is

PLAB (Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board) is the General Medical Council's two-part test of clinical knowledge and skills for doctors who did not qualify at a UK medical school and are not otherwise exempt. Passing both parts is one recognised route to full GMC registration and a licence to practise medicine in the UK. It sits alongside, not instead of, the GMC's separate English-language requirement.

PLAB 1 and PLAB 2: what each part actually tests

PLAB 1 is a written exam of 180 single-best-answer questions, sat over 3 hours, covering clinical knowledge across the breadth of a UK Foundation Year 2 doctor's practice. PLAB 2 is an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) held at the GMC's own Clinical Assessment Centre in Manchester — a circuit of short, timed stations using simulated patients to test history-taking, examination, communication, and clinical decision-making. Sources disagree on the exact station count (16 and 18 are both widely reported, each around 8 minutes), so treat the precise number as unconfirmed until checked against the GMC's own current guide.

The English-language requirement sits outside PLAB itself

Before a candidate can register with the GMC, it separately requires evidence of English proficiency: IELTS Academic (not General Training) with 7.5 overall and no individual band below 7.0 in a single sitting, or OET in the Medicine profession with grade B (or 350+) in all four sub-tests in a single sitting. Either result is valid for 2 years from the test date, so a candidate needs to plan the English test's timing against the rest of the PLAB and registration process rather than treating it as a formality to fit in whenever.

Fees, and the reported 1 April 2026 change

Multiple independent exam-prep and IMG-guide sources, each citing the GMC's own fees page, consistently report a PLAB 1 fee of £283 and a PLAB 2 fee of £1,036, both effective for bookings made from 1 April 2026. This article was unable to fetch gmc-uk.org directly to confirm the figure first-hand from this environment, so a consultancy should treat these as reported figures and re-check the GMC's current fees-and-funding page before quoting a client an exact cost.

Attempt limits: 4, then a conditional 5th, then a permanent bar

Each part allows 4 attempts. A candidate who fails a 4th time may apply for a 5th and final attempt, but only after at least 12 months have passed since that 4th attempt and only after completing either 12 months of additional clinical practice or a relevant postgraduate qualification — it is not granted automatically. A 5th failed attempt at either part permanently bars the candidate from retaking that part. PLAB 2 also carries its own attempt window measured from the candidate's PLAB 1 attempt, so the timing between the two parts matters as much as the raw attempt count.

Is PLAB being replaced by the UKMLA?

Not as a scheduled replacement — the two are converging rather than one replacing the other on a fixed date. The UK Medical Licensing Assessment (UKMLA) is the GMC's overarching content and standard-setting framework: UK medical school graduates meet it through their own finals (the AKT and CPSA components), while international medical graduates continue to book exams still named "PLAB 1" and "PLAB 2." Since PLAB's content was aligned to the same MLA content map (reported from August 2024), both routes are now assessed against the same underlying standard, even though the IMG route keeps the PLAB name for booking and administrative purposes. No independent source found in this research reports a fixed date for PLAB itself to disappear, and this point could not be confirmed directly against gmc-uk.org from this environment.

What a consultancy should actually verify before advising a case

Given that fees change from 1 April 2026, that PLAB content now sits under the UKMLA content map, and that this article could not verify either point directly against gmc-uk.org, confirm current fees, the current PLAB 2 format and station count, and the current English-test score requirements directly on the GMC's own site or with a GMC-registered adviser before setting a client's expectations. Our immigration consultant software page covers how VisaBOS helps a consultancy track cases like this from intake, though it is a case-management tool, not a source of GMC regulation, and does not replace confirming current requirements with the GMC directly.

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