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Medical Licensing Assessment

Related Pages

This page is for UK medical students only. International medical graduates should visit the GMC website.

What is the Medical Licensing Assessment?

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) which, for students in UK medical schools, will be embedded within your degrees from the academic year 2024-25. If you are graduating in the academic year 2024-25 or beyond, you will need to have a degree that includes passing the MLA before you can apply to the GMC to join the medical register.

What does the assessment involve?

The MLA is a two-part assessment which will be embedded within UK medical schools’ final exams. Students in UK medical schools will sit both parts of the assessment on dates chosen by their school.

  1. The applied knowledge test (AKT)

This is planned to be an on-screen exam, with multiple choice questions. It will test your ability to apply medical knowledge to different scenarios.

  1. The clinical and professional skills assessment (CPSA)

This is a practical assessment of your clinical skills and professionalism. Each medical school calls the CPSA something different – for example, an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) or Objective Structured Long Examination Record (OSLER). The GMC will set requirements that all CPSAs must meet.