Rcpsych Examinations

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Doris Joo

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Aug 4, 2024, 11:15:59 PM8/4/24

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Memberof the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych) is a prestigious postnominal qualification awarded to physicians who have completed the prescribed training requirements and membership examinations mandated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. MRCPsych is awarded after the completion of the required amount of clinical practice (often during core psychiatry training) and successful completion of rigorous examinations.[1] A further three years within psychiatry and a certificate of completion of specialist training are required to register as a psychiatrist on the General Medical Council specialist register. [2] The examination has undergone a radical change in the past few years, notably in terms of focus and structure.

This meant that there were now three written exams and a Clinical Assessment of Skills & Competencies (CASC).[3] In order to obtain membership candidates currently need to complete 30 months post foundation/internship experience in Psychiatry and a pass in all components of the MRCPsych Examinations. [4] The current examination consists of 3 parts, with 2 written papers and a clinical exam (CASC). Paper A focuses on Neuroscience, Pharmacology, Psychology and theory, while Paper B focuses on Current Clinical Practice & Evidence within General Adult and the various subspecialties of Psychiatry, Epidemiology, Statistics, Critical Appraisal and Psychotherapy.[5]

The qualification was first introduced in 1972 a year after the founding of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.[6] In recent years extensive modernisation has taken place in line with changes occurring in medical training in the UK. Major changes included the replacement of the classical long case method of assessment (where a single case is presented to the candidate, a history is taken and the case is presented to the examiners) with the objective structured clinical exam (OSCE) in 2003, and the subsequent replacement of the OSCE with the CASC exam in 2008. [3] A major factor for these changes has been the perceived reliability of the assessments. The long case assessments were criticised for their inter-test reliability with a study showing the reproducibility coefficient was as low as 0.24.[7] However, some psychiatrists were disappointed that loss of the long case method of assessment may be a detriment to future candidates ability to take an effective clinical history.[8]

Spaces for the CASC online assessments are limited and are allocated on a first-come first-served basis, to be determined by the time stamp of the online submission of the application.

To apply you'll need to complete our online application form. You should allow about 15 minutes to complete it. Here you'll be able to update your contact details and enter your training history including medical registration.

The online form will only be available during the published application dates and must be submitted by the closing date. Applications will not be accepted after the published closing date.

Candidates who have any special requirements (in the form of disability or illness) that may affect their performance in the examination are advised to inform the College at the earliest possible opportunity in order that they may be assisted where possible.

If your name appears on either the UK list of the current edition of the Medical Register of the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom (GMC) or the Irish list of the equivalent Medical Council in Ireland, you do not have to provide documentary evidence.

New entrants outside of the UK and Ireland are required to submit documentary evidence of their Primary Medical Qualification and Registration on entering the examination for the first time. For those who need to submit documentary evidence, an original or attested copy of your medical qualification and registration certificate is required.

All applicants are requested to give details of all previous psychiatric posts in chronological order, starting with the current/most recent. If you have made an application before, your previous training posts will be displayed.

Please ensure you check your junk email folders. If you do not receive both confirmation emails within 24 hours of submitting your application, please contact the Examinations Unit at examin...@rcpsych.ac.uk.

Failure to do this will mean your sponsor will be unable to access the sponsorship page and your application will not be completed. You would then need to contact the Examinations department to re-set your application.

Your validity period will be displayed as well as the number of your previous attempts. If your validity period has expired you will not be permitted to continue with the form and must contact examin...@rcpsych.ac.uk

If you have attended a non-commercial MRCPsych Course attached to your Trust, Deanery or University, please select the relevant course from the drop down list provided. If the course is not listed then please select "Other/Unspecified". If you have not attended a course then there please select "None".

Please note, if you fail the CASC examination having passed four or fewer stations and/or receive two or more severe fails across stations, a copy of your results letter will be sent to your CASC sponsor/supervisor.

Once you have passed all three College exams, including the CASC, the Membership team will send you details on how to register and subscribe as a Member of the College. After registering as a Member, you will be able to use the MRCPsych post-nominals and will receive your MRCPsych certificate and an invitation to a Membership graduation ceremony at the College. As an MRCPsych Member you also have the opportunity to apply through National Recruitment for ST4 posts in the UK.

Please note, if you are a current PMPT and have not yet registered as a Member after passing the exams, your Pre-Membership will stop on 31 December of that year. You will need to register as a Member from the following January if you wish to continue to receive membership benefits including access to portfolio online.

A College resource available is Trainees Online (TrOn) which is an online learning resource to support trainee psychiatrists in preparing for MRCPsych exams. For any queries regarding TrOn please contact tr...@rcpsych.ac.uk.

The College Library provides revision materials for trainees, including an eBook of The Maudsley Trainee Guide to the CASC. Access is via an RCPsych OpenAthens account, if you do not have an account yet, get in touch.

There were 252 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych Paper B Examination held in June 2024. A total of 550 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 45.82%. The trainee pass rate is 65.15%.

There were 471 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych Paper A Examination held in April 2024. A total of 702 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 67.09%. The trainee pass rate is 77.11%.

There were 337 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych Paper B Examination held in March 2024. A total of 638 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 52.82%. The trainee pass rate is 80.00%.

There were 309 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych CASC Examination held in January 2024. A total of 534 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 57.87%. The trainee pass rate is 73.61%.

There were 473 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych Paper A Examination held in November 2023. A total of 757 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 62.48%. The trainee pass rate is 67.16%.

There were 281 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych CASC Examination held in September 2023. A total of 564 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 49.82%. The trainee pass rate is 69.31%.

There were 243 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych Paper A Examination held in July 2023. A total of 599 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 40.57%. The trainee pass rate is 42.81%.

There were 154 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych Paper B Examination held in June 2023. A total of 439 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 35.08%. The trainee pass rate is 41.34%.

There were 98 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych CASC Examination held in January 2023. A total of 214 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 45.79%. The trainee pass rate is 83.33%.

There were 346 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych Paper A Examination held in April 2023. A total of 688 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 50.29%. The trainee pass rate is 59.35%.

There were 342 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych Paper B Examination held in March 2023. A total of 550 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 62.18%. The trainee pass rate is 75.18%.

There were 271 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych CASC Examination held in January 2023. A total of 491 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 55.2%. The trainee pass rate is 79.2%.

There were 422 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych Paper A Examination held in December 2022. A total of 913 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 46.2%. The trainee pass rate is 51.8%.

There were 579 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych Paper B Examination held in September 2022. A total of 813 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 71.2%. The trainee pass rate is 79.9%.

There were 383 candidates who were successful at the MRCPsych CASC Examination held in September 2022. A total of 714 candidates sat the examination. The overall pass rate is 53.6%. The trainee pass rate is 77.2%.