Before anything else in the registration process, the GMC has to be satisfied that you have the necessary knowledge of English. For most international medical graduates that means sitting IELTS Academic or OET, and it is worth choosing deliberately rather than defaulting to whichever one your friends took.
The two accepted tests
IELTS Academic is a general academic English test. Four sections — listening, reading, writing, speaking — scored on a nine-band scale. The content is not medical: you will read about glaciers and write about charts.
OET (Medicine) is written for healthcare professionals. The reading and listening material is clinical, the writing task is a referral letter, and the speaking task is a role play with a patient. Scored A to E with numeric scores behind each grade.
Which one should you take?
For most doctors, OET is the easier route to the required standard because the vocabulary and scenarios are already familiar and the writing task is something you do every working day. The trade-off is that OET is generally more expensive and has fewer test centres in some countries.
Choose IELTS if:
- You need the result for a non-medical purpose as well, such as some visa or university routes.
- OET centres are impractical where you live.
- You are already comfortably scoring at the required level in practice IELTS papers.
Choose OET if:
- Your general academic English is weaker than your clinical English.
- The IELTS writing task is the section holding your score down.
We compare them section by section, with current prices, in OET vs IELTS.
The single most common reason for a retake is one section falling below the minimum, not a low overall score.
Minimums are per section, not just overall
Both tests require you to reach the minimum in every component, not merely on average. A brilliant speaking score does not rescue a weak writing score. When you plan revision, spend the most time on your weakest section, however unglamorous that feels.
Both tests also allow results to be combined across sittings within a defined period under certain conditions — check the current GMC rules carefully before you rely on it, because the conditions are specific.
Validity: the trap
Your English result has a validity window, and it must still be valid when the GMC assesses your application — not merely when you sat PLAB. Doctors who pass their English test, then wait many months for PLAB 2 seats, sometimes find the result has expired by the time they apply for registration.
Plan the sequence backwards from registration, not forwards from today.
The exemption routes
Some doctors do not need to sit a test at all. The main routes are:
- A primary medical qualification taught and examined in English in a country the GMC accepts for this purpose, where the institution can confirm the language of tuition and examination.
- Recent employment as a doctor in an English-speaking country where English was the first and native language, with a suitable reference confirming your English was of the necessary standard.
Both routes require documentary evidence, and the GMC assesses them case by case. Do not assume you qualify because your degree was taught in English — get the institution's written confirmation in the exact form the GMC asks for before you cancel a test booking.
A realistic preparation plan
- Four weeks out: sit a full timed practice paper to find your weakest section.
- Weeks 3 and 2: targeted work on that section, plus one full paper a week.
- Final week: speaking practice out loud with a partner every day. It is the section people neglect and the one that feels worst unpractised.
If you are already working clinically in English, resist the urge to skip preparation entirely. The tests reward familiarity with their own formats as much as language ability.
Dates and fees
Current IELTS and OET prices, plus every GMC and PLAB fee, are listed on the exam dates and fees page. Once your English result is in hand, the next step is GMC registration step by step, and the timeline calculator will show you how the dates line up.