Frequently asked questions

Please refer to the entry and training requirements section for your specialty. Do also read the general examination guidelines as well as the relevant candidate information.  If you are still not sure of eligibility, please read the relevant curriculum for UK trainees. The exam is written in line with UK training so the curriculum will give you an idea of what is tested. Please note that the College cannot assess eligibility on an individual basis. You should speak to your educational supervisor or sponsor who can advise you if you are ready or eligible to sit the examination. Applicants that are rejected will be contacted and refunded in full.

Generally, medical trainees are advised to attempt the FRCPath Part 1 examination after at least 1 year of specialty training. Non-medical applicants will need qualifications as approved by College Council (such as veterinary qualifications or a first or second class honours degree in the appropriate science subject). However, please refer to the specialty regulations and guidelines for length of training recommended for your relevant specialty.

To sit the FRCPath Part 2, exam applicants must have passed the FRCPath Part 1 exam in the required specialty, as well as have completed the required years of training as per our specialty regulations.

Each part of the FRCPath/Diploma can be attempted four times unless an exam was attempted in or before Autumn 2004 then they have 6 attempts at each FRCPath Part 1 component. Candidates who have failed their maximum no of attempts may apply to the the Mitigating Cicumstances Panel for a further attempt. The Mitigating Circumstances Panel will make recommendations to Council about whether or not a further attempt can be granted.  Council are responsible for making the final decision in such cases. 

There are no exemptions from any part of an FRCPath examination.

FRCPath is also awarded to successful published works applications or those elected to Council. Both of these routes are for very experienced pathologists and so are unsuitable for trainees.

Candidates should normally have made a first attempt at the FRCPath Part 2 examinations within 7 years of passing FRCPath Part 1. This will be the expectation for medical candidates in UK GMC-approved training programmes. However, there will be circumstances where the guidelines will need to be applied flexibly and candidates who feel that they will not be able to comply with this timescale should contact the Examinations team for further advice.

Candidates who do need to apply for an extension to the 7 years must provide a comprehensive CV and should describe the reasons for the delay in progression. They will be expected to demonstrate ongoing training and/or continuing professional development within their specialty, and explain the reasons for any career breaks. A letter of support from their supervisor must be included in the application. These documents should be sent electronically to exams@rcpath.org

The GMC states:

"If you continue to hold your licence to practise while practising abroad, you will need to revalidate. This means you will need to connect to a UK organisation that will support you with your appraisal and revalidation. However, you may not need a licence to practise if you practise entirely outside of the UK. You may decide it is better to give it up. You can still maintain your registration without a licence, and this will indicate you are in good standing with us. You can apply to have your licence restored if you need it at some point in the future."

If you continue to hold a licence to practise, you will have to revalidate in the same way as doctors practising in the UK – by participating in annual appraisal and maintaining a portfolio of supporting information for discussion at appraisal. You will need to link to a responsible officer (RO) in the UK as the legislation regarding ROs only applies in the UK. If your employer or contractor is based within the UK, it may be that they will be able to provide you with a link to an RO, and you should discuss your revalidation with them at the earliest opportunity.

Applications must be made online via the Examinations page on the Portal during the application window. The only exception is if the exam fee is being paid by a trust as the application would then need to be made by completing a form. 

The spring application windows open at the end of November and close the end of the first week in January. The autumn application window opens at the end of May and closes the end of the first week of July. 

No, please do not send any certificates with your exam application. 

A list of examination fees are available on the College website, under 'Apply and pay online'. 

The Portal accepts debit or credit card payments. We are not able to accept cash/cheque or telephone payments. Please contact the Examinations team if your trust is paying for your application as this kind of application cannot be made online. 

If your trust is paying for your exam application, you will not be able to make the application online as the online application requires a credit or debit card to make payment. 

Candidates whose trusts are paying would need to contact exams@rcpath.org and ask for an application form and include the relevant purchase order number. An invoice would then be sent to the trust for payment. 

Please email the Examinations team to request a receipt. Please note, receipts can only be issued after the close of an examination session.

We will confirm examination entry by e-mail at the end of January for spring examinations and the end of July for autumn examinations.

Late applications for the examination are not accepted.

Applicants should ask their educational supervisor, departmental head or someone with a similar level of involvement in their training to sign their form. Sponsors should ideally be fellows but this is not compulsory. 

Signed sponsorship forms must be uploaded with your application and cannot be emailed in separately. A sponsor form must be completed with every application made.

Please contact the Examinations team to withdraw from an examination; a withdrawal does not count as an attempt.

Applicants without exceptional circumstances can withdraw from an exam up to 2 weeks after the application closing date. All withdrawals in this period will be refunded where there is no loss of fee. After this point, examination fees will only be refunded in exceptional circumstances. Failure to obtain a visa is not considered an exceptional circumstance. All withdrawals will still need to complete the online form for the next session in which they wish to sit the examination.

Candidates are advised to give adequate notice if they are unable to attend an examination, particularly in the smaller specialties.

If you need to withdraw during an examination due to illness, please advise an invigilator and contact the Examinations team as soon as possible following the exam. 

It is not possible to defer an entry to the following session. All candidates will be withdrawn and a full application must be made again for the next session in which they wish to sit.

Applicants without exceptional circumstances can withdraw from an exam up to 2 weeks after the application closing date. All withdrawals in this period will be refunded where there is no loss of fee. After this point, examination fees will only be refunded in exceptional circumstances. Failure to obtain a visa is not considered an exceptional circumstance. All withdrawals will still need to complete the online form for the next session in which they wish to sit the examination.

Candidates are advised to give adequate notice if they are unable to attend an examination, particularly in the smaller specialties.

If you need to withdraw during an examination due to illness, please advise an invigilator and contact the Examinations team as soon as possible following the exam. 

Part 1 written and Diploma exams are now held online and candidates would sit the exam at home. 

The majority of Part 1 practical and Part 2 practical/oral exams only have one centre. For practical examinations with multiple centres, we will attempt to allocate candidates to the nearest centre with space that is not within their training deanery or LETB, however, sometimes due to operational or logistical reasons a candidate may be allocated to a centre further afield. 

Please log into the Portal to amend your contact details.

Yes, you must complete the online application each time you wish to attempt an examination.

If you require any adjustments to your examination (e.g. extra time), please contact the Examinations team at the point of application to discuss this. You will be required to complete a reasonable adjustments form (download this form Reasonable Adjustments Request Form) and provide supporting evidence such as an educational psychologist's report or specialist's letter.

A response confirming what adjustments have been put in place for your exam will be sent to you. 

For most specialties, written projects can be submitted at any time after completing the FRCPath Part 1 exam – before or after you sit the Part 2 exam. 

In forensic pathology only, the finished project must be submitted at least 4 months before the entry closing date of your Part 2 examination. The closing dates are normally the first Friday of January for the spring session, and the first Friday of July for the autumn session. Therefore, projects are expected to be submitted by the end of March and September, respectively. The College cannot guarantee that an amended submission (if required) will be marked in time for you to undertake the examination if it is submitted later than this. 

In all other specialties, candidates should have submitted and had their proposal approved before applying to sit the Part 2 practical and/or oral examination.

Candidates must submit their finished project no more than 3 years after the original proposal was accepted.

You only need to submit a PDF version of your project along with your application form and CV by email to exams@rcpath.org. Please do not send hard copies of your project.

Presently, all Part 1 exams, the CICE and the Diploma in Dermatopathology written examination are being run online via RISR, an online platform provider. All Part 2 exams are being run offline. 

The exam period dates are on the College website. Each candidate will be told the date and venue of their exam at least 3 weeks beforehand. Practical and oral exam dates are put on the website as soon as they are confirmed. 

Please note that in many specialties it is not possible to provide a date for the examination before the closing deadline for the session or the point of confirmation letters being issued.

The structure and format of each examination can be found in either the relevant specialty-specific regulations and guidelines or the relevant specialty page.

There are no specific reading lists. The exams are mapped to the relevant specialty curriculum so candidates should familiarise themselves with the UK training content. 

Yes, past and sample papers are available for some specialites on the specialty page for those examinations. 

No, but there are sample papers for some specialties available on the website. 

No, the College does not run courses. Some deaneries may run such courses but we do not have any information about these, nor do we endorse them. 

All candidates must bring photo ID (e.g. passport, driving licence, national identity card) to the exam. Any candidate without valid ID will not be allowed into the exam. NHS ID cards are not accepted as valid ID. 

This is set by and made payable to the General Medical Council. A list of fees is available on the GMC's website. 

Unsuccessful candidates sitting a practical and/or oral exam will receive limited feedback to discuss with an appropriate specialty adviser or educational supervisor. For the Part 1 written exam involving essay papers, the specialty adviser or educational supervisor can obtain a summary of your performance for each question from the Examinations team. Please see section 3.14 of the Regulations and guidelines on the Examinations section of the College website for further details.

No further feedback is available for multiple choice question exams.

On passing the Part 1, Part 2 or Diploma exams candidates are eligible to be diplomate for Part 1 and Diploma exams, and fellowship for Part 2 exams. 

Appeals can be made within 1 month of the exam. To appeal, candidates must write to the College's Examinations team if they consider that an administrative or procedural irregularity has occurred. In no circumstances will papers be re-marked. Please see section 23 of Regulations and guidelines and the Candidate appeals procedure for further details.

Results are published by candidate number on the My exams page of the Portal by midday on the advertised results publication date.

Certificates are issued for Part 1 exams should a candidate choose to take up diplomateship of the College. Certificates for successful Part 2 fellowship candidates are usually awarded at the New Fellows' Ceremony. If a candidate does not attend the New Fellows' Ceremony, the certificate will be posted to them. 

The Membership team produce and send the certificates. Any enquiries about certificates should be sent to membership@rcpath.org. There may be a gap of 2–3 months between the exam board confirming results and the certificate being sent. 

Those passing Part 1 and the CICE/Diploma in Dermatopathology examinations can choose to become diplomates of the College, with the post-nominals DipRCPath. On passing the Part 2 exams candidates will become fellows of the College – the post-nominals FRCPath can be used after the date that College Council ratifies the exam results

The Membership team produce the certificates and therefore any verifications need to be addressed to the Membership team at membership@rcpath.org.

EPIC registration may require a date as to when the certificate will be sent to be accepted. EPIC queries should also be addressed in the first instance to the Membership team (membership@rcpath.org) if the results letter issued is not accepted for EPIC purposes. 

Diploma and Part 1 written examinations (including multiple choice questions and extended matching questions) are run via an online platform and can be sat anywhere in the world provided that there is a good internet connection. Candidates may sit the exam in their own home and will not need to attend a centre. Please note that exams are run to GMT time. 

It may be possible to take the Part 2 histopathology examination in Irbid, Jordan, Cairo, Egypt or Dubai, UAE. This centre will be offered on an annual basis in either spring or autumn session subject to there being sufficient candidates to run the centre.

All other Diploma practical, Part 1 practical and Part 2 examinations can only be taken in the UK. 

Please apply directly to the College using the online application form.

The written exam last 6 hours and is held from 09:30am (GMT or British Summer Time) to 12:30pm and from 13:30pm to 16:30pm. The multiple choice question and extended matching question exams last 3 hours and are held in the afternoon only, from 13:30pm to 16:30pm. The written exams will take place at overlapping times overseas. 

If you do not work or do not intend to work in the UK, you do not need to prove your English language skills before sitting the FRCPath exam. It is advised, however, that prospective candidates should have an equivalent to 7.5 overall in the academic International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with at least 7 in each of the 4 sections. 

We hope that you will have no reason to be dissatisfied with the service you receive from the College, but if you do experience a problem that cannot be immediately resolved, please read the Examinations complaints procedure. Please note that this procedure covers all the activities managed by the Examinations team not directly linked to an outcome of an exam. Candidates wishing to appeal about an exam result should see the Candidate Appeals Procedure.

New protocols introduced by the financial authorities with regards to online card payments are causing a higher level of card failures than normal. This is particularly affecting our overseas members.  

These protocols require card providers’ banks to verify the transaction and, in some cases, seek additional checks in the form of a passcode sent by your card provider or other verification means. It is a control that is set to become universal so your card provider should be informing you of the steps you need to take to negate these problems. 

If you experience a card payment failure, you should first contact your bank to check if additional steps are required as part of the 3D secure protocol. Once you have spoken to your bank and received guidance, you can attempt to make payment again.  

Please ensure the following to assist with successful online payment: 

• you have a strong internet connection 

• that you keep your browser/page open throughout the process to avoid the payment transfer failing (it takes a long time in some cases for the process to complete) 

• that the credit/debit card used has your personal authority and necessary access to authentication requirements associated with the card. 

If you continue to experience difficulties, please contact the College and we will try and assist you in any way we can.