Registration to Practise in the UK
(For applicants not already registered with the UK General Medical Council)
1. All doctors wishing to work in the UK are required to register with the General Medical Council (GMC). The GMC maintains two registers:
• The Medical Register, which contains the names of all doctors who are allowed to undertake clinical practice in the UK. There are two main types of registration with the GMC: full registration and limited registration. The GMC’s website provides information on registration and the necessary application forms.
• The Specialist Register, which contains the names of doctors (who hold registration with the GMC) and their specialty, who are eligible to work as substantive, honorary or fixed-term NHS consultants.
2. The assessment process for which you are applying is for entry to the Specialist Register. The Specialist Training Authority (STA) is responsible, through the Colleges/Faculties, for assessing applications for specialist registration for doctors with overseas qualifications who are not eligible for automatic entry to the Specialist Register. Your application is made to the relevant College/Faculty who make an assessment on all the documentary evidence which has been provided. The College/Faculty will then send its recommendation to the STA with your details, and the STA will then write to you with its decision. If your application is approved by the STA, the STA will also send a form for you to complete and send to the GMC. Further information on specialist registration for overseas qualified specialists can be found at Information Sheet 6 on the STA’s website.
3. If you are approved by the STA to be placed on the Specialist Register you will have met the standards required for specialist registration, but you will still need to meet the GMC’s requirements for entry to the Medical Register. Therefore, if you do not already hold full or limited registration with the GMC, at the time STA approval for specialist registration is granted, you will need to provide the GMC, amongst other things, with your original Primary Medical Qualification, evidence of English language competency (i.e. a pass mark of at least 7 in all areas of the IELTS test) – unless exempt, and evidence of your good standing, which may be a certificate from the country in which you currently/last practised issued within the previous three-month period. If you do not have these documents available at the time the STA approves your application for specialist registration, then your entry to the Specialist Register may be held up. You will need to decide whether to obtain these documents at the same time your application for specialist registration is being assessed by the STA, or once you know the outcome of your application.
The Specialist Training Authority
of the Medical Royal Colleges
January 2003