UKMLA Vs PLAB: Will UKMLA be harder than PLAB?
Doctors intending to practise in the four nations of the UK would be required to meet a common threshold for entry onto the UK medical register, or to pass a standard assessment to test their skills and competence.
The UK Medical Licensing Assessment (UKMLA) is a new exam for final year UK medical students graduating in 2025.
It was originally scheduled to start in 2024 but due to COVID-19, the GMC had to postpone it.
So that means that all UK medical graduates from 2025 onwards will need to pass the UKMLA before getting a provisional GMC license to practice and to start foundation training.
Similarly, International medical graduates will be required to also sit and pass this exam from early 2024 (it will not replace the PLAB exam but will take a new MLA format).
So in a sense, this is going to be a unification exam for all UK med graduates and IMGs to demonstrate that they meet a common and safe clinical assessment competent for practice in the UK.
MORE ABOUT THE NEW PLAB/UKMLA:
The new format for PLAB exams using the UK Medical Licensing Assessment (UKMLA) will come into effect in 2024/2025 for IMGs and U.K. medical graduates respectively.
So in a sense, this is going to be a unification exam for all UK med graduates and IMGs to demonstrate that they meet a common and safe clinical assessment competent for practice in the UK.
SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLAB AND UKMLA.
The PLAB exam will still retain its name but Will no longer use the PLAB blueprint as its curriculum, instead it will use MLA content map as curriculum.
It will no longer be PLAB 1 & 2 but will be replaced by AKT & CPSA respectively. So, if you’ve passed PLAB 1 at the time MLA is introduced, you won’t sit for PLAB 2 instead you’ll take CPSA.
1) The applied knowledge test (AKT)
•Computer based test 150-200 MCQs. (similar to PLAB1).
AKT Curriculum: •PLAB 1 + PSA (prescribing safety assessment done by U.K. final yr med students).
2) CPSA-The clinical and professional skills assessment.
•This is a practical assessment of clinical skills and professionalism.
•It is an OSCE based (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) format. Similar to PLAB 2.
Both exams will now be based on MLA
content guide and the new updated GMC Good Medical Practice guideline, no longer PLAB blueprint.
•The MLA content map can be viewed here https://gmc-uk.org/education/medical-licensing-assessment/mla-content-map and shows the topics and areas that the assessments will cover.
No need to panic. It is not going to be much different from what you already know with PLAB.
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