FRCEM Eligibility 2026: Who Can Sit the SBA and OSCE

FRCEM Components and Their Eligibility Rules

The FRCEM has two exam components, and RCEM lets you take them in either order:

• FRCEM SBA — the written exam: two 2-hour papers, taken at test centres worldwide.
• FRCEM OSCE — the practical exam, held only in London.

Eligibility — FRCEM SBA and OSCE

RCEM applies the same eligibility criteria to both exams, and you must meet them when you apply. Its regulations also set an English requirement for the OSCE (step 4).

• 1
  MRCEM (or equivalent)

  You must have completed MRCEM — the Primary, SBA and OSCE — or an equivalent that RCEM accepts.

• 2
  A primary medical qualification the GMC accepts, and full registration

  You need a current full medical registration with a licence to practise. RCEM's criteria do not specify GMC registration.

• 3
  Emergency-medicine experience — trainee or non-trainee

  UK trainees: 12 months' full-time emergency medicine experience at higher specialty training level, or equivalent, when you apply. For the SBA only, you can instead apply with an ARCP outcome recommending progression to ST5 on your ePortfolio, provided you will have the 12 months by the exam date. Non-trainees: 4 years' full-time emergency medicine training, one year of it at higher specialty level — a UK training post is not required.

• 4
  English for the OSCE

  RCEM's exam regulations also require FRCEM OSCE applicants to have IELTS Level 7, OET or equivalent, and you may be asked for evidence when you apply. For the SBA, RCEM advises that IELTS Level 7 is the expected standard.

Order, Exam Currency and Venues

• 1
  Either order

  RCEM lets you apply for the FRCEM SBA or the FRCEM OSCE first — there is no required order.

• 2
  Seven years to complete

  After completing MRCEM you have seven years to pass your first FRCEM exam, then seven years from that pass to complete the FRCEM. Candidates already past the first limit have had a 24-month extension added automatically.

• 3
  Where you sit them

  The FRCEM SBA is taken at test centres worldwide; the FRCEM OSCE is held only in London.

QIP — withdrawn from the Fellowship

RCEM's FRCEM exam regulations list the Fellowship as two exam components — the SBA and the OSCE. The FRCEM Final QIP appears among past components with no current equivalent; it was withdrawn in 2021.

FRCEM for International Medical Graduates (IMGs)

RCEM's criteria do not require a UK training post. As a non-trainee you can apply for the FRCEM with a primary medical qualification the GMC accepts, a current full medical registration with a licence to practise, MRCEM (or equivalent), and 4 years' full-time emergency medicine training, one year of it at higher specialty level. For specialist registration in the UK there are two routes:

Route A — Enter UK higher specialty training

• Complete MRCEM (see our MRCEM eligibility guide)
• Apply for an ST4 post through national specialty recruitment
• Once appointed, complete the training programme, including the FRCEM SBA and OSCE

Route B — the GMC's portfolio pathway

• The GMC's route to specialist registration for doctors who have not completed a GMC-approved training programme; it replaced the CESR equivalence route on 30 November 2023
• You apply with evidence that you meet the GMC's requirements for the specialty — your training, qualifications and experience
• A successful application leads to entry on the GMC's Specialist Register

The GMC publishes specialty-specific guidance for portfolio pathway applications.

Frequently Asked Questions — FRCEM Eligibility