The Medical Schools Council is the representative body for all UK medical schools. To share best practice, medical school staff work cooperatively across domains including selection, education, fitness to practise, and assessment.
The MSC Assessment Alliance comprises of assessment leads from UK medical schools and aims to advance the future of undergraduate assessment by:
The Assessment Alliance is currently recruiting medical school staff wishing to join the authoring group for the Common Item Bank. The group will be responsible for writing and reviewing new Single Best Answer items for use by all medical schools in their assessments. There is no direct remuneration for these appointments. This work contributes to the assessment objectives of MSC as a membership organisation and is for the benefit of all members. Participation provides excellent networking opportunities and will help members improve their authoring skills alongside their peers.
An application will be submitted for CPD credits.
By applying, members will be confirming that they have the support of their medical school to take part.
MSC is committed to championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity throughout its work. We wish the experts involved to represent the diversity of medical students and the NHS and would encourage applications from people of all backgrounds including those from a minority background such as; doctors with disabilities, doctors from ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ doctors. As part of this process, we will ask applicants to complete an EDI monitoring form at the end of their application. Applications will be pseudonymised before review and selection.
Applications are managed through Sparksform and can be accessed using the link below. You can also access the job description and terms of reference.
The deadline for applications for the Common Item Bank Authoring Group is midnight on 30th September 2026.
Information about Sparksform is available here. MSC’s Data Protection and Information Security Policy is available on request.