If you have questions not covered on this page or in the MS AKT Student Handbook, please contact your medical school for further guidance.
The Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) is a two-part assessment made up of an applied knowledge test (AKT) and a clinical and professional skills assessment (CPSA). All medical students will need to pass the MLA as part of their degree, which is normally taken in the final year of study. For medical schools with written finals in the penultimate year of study, the AKT element will be sat in the summer of your penultimate year of study.
Individual medical schools will choose when to sit the MS AKT, selecting from assessment dates that fit with local school schedules. Speak to your medical school for more detail.
The MS AKT is comprised of two 100-item papers which will be sat on sequential days. The questions are all written in the Single Best Answer (SBA) question format with five answer options. The MS AKT is not negatively marked.
The standard time for each paper is two hours but if you have reasonable adjustments, these will be taken into account with the timings you have as an individual. You can find more information about the content of the assessment in the UK MS AKT Student Handbook or by speaking to your medical school.
The MLA is a pass/fail assessment. The Medical Schools Council will not be using the scores from the MS AKT for national ranking purposes. Your medical school may choose to use the scores of its students to award prizes and honours.
You will need to pass the MLA as part of your medical degree before the GMC will grant your provisional registration, but your MLA scores will not form part of your application to the Foundation Programme. The purpose of the MLA is to provide a common threshold for safe practice of individual graduating students.
Your medical school will be responsible for reviewing any applications for reasonable adjustments for the MS AKT in line with their internal policies and procedures. For more information on how to apply, speak to your medical school.
Please speak to your medical school if you normally receive a paper copy as an adjustment for written exams.
The MLA primarily evaluates your ability to apply well-established medical practices and core medical knowledge, rather than adherence to the latest clinical guidelines. The focus of the MLA is on assessing your competence in safely and effectively practicing medicine as you graduate.
It’s important to be aware of new guidelines and developments in the field, such as the recent updates to asthma guidelines. However, these updates may not directly impact the MLA exam questions, which are based on fundamental and widely accepted medical practices at the time of your studies. The checks we make at time of writing questions, constructing exams and post-exam analysis take account of any potential changes that may affect student responses.
While keeping up-to-date with new medical guidelines is important for your professional growth, the MLA aims to test your understanding and application of essential medical principles and common practice.