Doctor CV for the NHS: GMC registration, PLAB and the medical CV
A doctor with a Turkish degree needs GMC registration with a licence to practise, usually after PLAB 1 and PLAB 2 with IELTS 7.5 or OET grade B. Specialty training uses Oriel forms; trust jobs use NHS application forms.1
Written 13 October 2026. CitedCV. How we write our guides
Check your degree and your English score first
The GMC must accept your primary medical qualification before you can book PLAB or apply for registration, and it publishes a list of institutions it does not accept or accepts only after assessment. Then get your English evidence: IELTS Academic with at least 7.0 in each part and 7.5 overall in the same sitting, or OET Medicine with grade B in all four parts. With either, you open a GMC Online account and enter the result under My Tests; the GMC aims to verify it within two working days.
IELTS and OET results are valid for two years and must still be valid on the day you sit PLAB 1. Rules and fees change; read the linked GMC pages before you book or pay.
PLAB and the other routes to registration
The GMC says that if you graduated outside the UK, the EEA or Switzerland you will probably need PLAB. The test checks that you know and can do what a doctor starting the second year of the UK Foundation Programme can.
| PLAB 1 | PLAB 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | 180 single best answer questions in three hours, each starting with a short scenario | A clinical exam (OSCE) of 16 scenarios of eight minutes each, such as a consultation or an acute ward |
| Where and when | Four sittings a year, in February, May, August and November, in the UK and overseas | Throughout the year at the GMC clinical assessment centre in the UK |
| Fee from 1 April 2026 | £283 | £1,036 |
| Cancellation | 10% more than 42 days ahead, full fee after that | 10% more than 42 days ahead, 50% at 42 to 29 days, full fee at 28 days or less |
| Attempts and time limits | Four attempts, then one more only on application | Four attempts; must be passed within two years of passing PLAB 1 |
After PLAB 2 your registration application must be approved within two years. Full registration with a licence to practise costs £481 from 1 April 2026, or £184 at the fixed-term discount if you gained your medical degree within the past five years. The GMC lists Istanbul among its PLAB 1 locations in the version of the locations page we read; check the current list in GMC Online, since overseas bookings close about six weeks before the exam.
The internship rule
The PLAB route also needs an internship: at least 12 months of continuous practice in an approved training post in a public hospital, immediately before or after graduation. It must include at least three months each of medicine and surgery if it lasted 12 to 18 months, or six months each if it lasted longer. You prove it with a letter or certificate giving the dates and specialty of every rotation. Without such an internship the GMC accepts two years of continuous supervised practice after graduation, with at least three months each in medicine and surgery.
Routes that skip PLAB
- Sponsorship: you were selected for postgraduate training by a UK medical royal college, faculty or approved sponsor, and you practised medicine for three of the last five years, including the most recent 12 months.
- A relevant European qualification: the GMC accepts it without assessing it.
- Specialist or GP registration through the portfolio pathway, for doctors already trained as specialists; its application fee is £1,974 from 1 April 2026.
Oriel, the person specification and the 2026 prioritisation law
UK specialty training posts are applied for on Oriel through an application form. The 2027 person specification for Internal Medicine Training CT1 asks for full GMC registration at the time of application, complete details of your employment history including any gaps, and proof of foundation competences. For a doctor trained abroad that proof is usually 12 months of experience after full GMC registration plus a Certificate of Readiness to Enter Specialty Training (CREST).
Who is prioritised from 2027
The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 became law on 6 March 2026, and regulations laid on 14 September 2026 extend it. In 2027 recruitment for most specialties, applicants are prioritised for interview and offers if they hold a UK, Irish, Icelandic, Liechtenstein, Norwegian or Swiss medical degree, if they are British or Irish citizens or hold indefinite leave or EU settlement status, or if they have done the UK Foundation Programme. A doctor with a Turkish degree on a work visa falls outside the priority group unless one of those applies; partner or dependant status does not count. Oriel shows your status the day after the application deadline, and Round 1 for 2027 closes on 19 November 2026.
Trust posts outside Oriel
Posts that trusts advertise themselves, outside training programmes, go through NHS Jobs or Trac forms. How those forms and their supporting information work is explained on the NHS nurse page; the same rules apply to doctors.
The medical CV block for an international graduate
You need a medical CV for the CREST and portfolio stage, for interviews and for any post that asks for one. Build it from the selection criteria the NHS publishes. The CT1 specification lists audit, quality improvement, research, teaching and management as desirable experience and MRCP(UK) Part 1 as a desirable qualification, so each of those gets its own heading.
| CV heading | Sample line | Criterion it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | GMC full registration with a licence to practise, 03/2027. PLAB 1 02/2026, PLAB 2 08/2026. IELTS Academic 7.5 overall, 7.0 or above in each part, 2025. | Eligibility; English |
| Clinical posts | Emergency department doctor (Pratisyen Hekim, general practitioner in the Turkish public service), Example State Hospital, Türkiye, 08/2021 to 07/2023. About 30 patients a shift, 6 night shifts a month. | Initial management of an acutely ill patient |
| Specialty training abroad | Internal medicine resident (Uzmanlık öğrencisi, entry by the national specialty exam TUS), Example University Hospital, Türkiye, 09/2023 to 08/2026. Cardiology 6 months, nephrology 4 months, intensive care 3 months. | Clinical knowledge; prioritising clinical need |
| Internship | Internship (İntörnlük), 07/2020 to 06/2021: internal medicine 3 months, general surgery 3 months, paediatrics 2 months, obstetrics 2 months, emergency medicine 2 months. | GMC internship evidence |
| Audit and quality improvement | Closed-loop audit of venous thromboembolism risk assessment on admission: 60 records, re-audit after a checklist change, presented at the department meeting, 05/2025. | Audit and quality improvement |
| Teaching | Four bedside sessions per rotation for final-year students; written feedback collected for each. | Teaching experience and teaching feedback |
| Research and presentations | Poster, national internal medicine congress, 2025: outcomes of a retrospective case series of 40 patients. | Research achievements |
| Courses | Advanced life support course, provider and date; teaching skills course, provider and date. | Training in teaching; personal development |
The hospitals, counts and dates in the table are made up to show the pattern. Give each rotation in months, write the Turkish post title once in brackets with an English description, and account for every month, because the specification asks for gaps to be explained. If your internship letter shows less than three months of medicine or of surgery, read the GMC two-year practice alternative before you count on PLAB.
Keep the evidence behind every line
Some specialties score parts of the Oriel form and then check uploaded evidence: Scotland's 2027 trauma and orthopaedic surgery recruitment publishes a separate application scoring and evidence verification guide. Keep the audit report, the teaching feedback forms and each certificate in one folder, named the way your CV names them.
Where the facts come from
Read on 13 October 2026. The GMC pages are cited in the latest versions we could read, dated between January 2025 and September 2026, so check each one live before you book.
| Fact | Source and version |
|---|---|
| PLAB purpose, format, two-year limit after PLAB 2 | GMC guide to the PLAB test, version of 29 August 2026 |
| £283 and £1,036; cancellation fees; £481, £184, £1,974 | GMC fees for doctors, version of 8 September 2026 |
| IELTS 7.0 and 7.5; two-year validity | GMC IELTS page, version of 10 March 2026 |
| OET grade B | GMC OET page, version of 17 September 2025 |
| Four PLAB 1 sittings; locations including Istanbul | GMC PLAB 1 locations page, version of 17 September 2025 |
| Attempts; PLAB 2 within two years of PLAB 1 | GMC PLAB 1 and PLAB 2 booking pages, versions of January and September 2025 |
| Internship rule | GMC internship evidence page, version of 12 January 2025 |
| Sponsorship route | GMC sponsorship guide, version of 6 August 2025 |
| Prioritisation Act, 2027 groups, review dates | NHS England medical recruitment prioritisation page |
| CT1 eligibility, CREST, desirable criteria | IMT CT1 person specification 2027 |
| Evidence verification guide | Scotland Medical Training applicant guidance, updated 5 October 2026 |
Not covered here
- Dentists, who register with the General Dental Council instead.
- The visa side: sponsorship, salary rules and the right-to-work line are on the page for international applicants.
- Graduates of UK, EEA or Swiss medical schools, who follow other GMC routes.
- Germany as an alternative: the Approbation route has its own page.
Next steps
- Confirm your medical school is acceptable and book IELTS Academic or OET Medicine.
- Ask your faculty for an internship letter that lists each rotation with dates and specialty.
- Open GMC Online, enter your English result and book PLAB 1 in the sitting you can prepare for.
- Write the CV block above while your records are at hand. CitedCV can write the CV in English with UK conventions from the facts you enter; check every date against your documents.
Questions people ask
Do I need PLAB to work as a doctor in the UK?
Usually yes, if your medical degree is from outside the UK, the EEA or Switzerland. The exceptions are sponsorship by an approved body, a relevant European qualification or specialist registration through the portfolio pathway.
How much does PLAB cost in 2026?
PLAB 1 costs £283 and PLAB 2 costs £1,036 from 1 April 2026, according to the GMC fees page. Full registration with a licence to practise then costs £481.
What IELTS score does the GMC require?
At least 7.0 in each of the four parts and 7.5 overall in IELTS Academic, achieved in the same sitting. With OET Medicine you need grade B in every part.
Can I take PLAB 1 in Turkey?
Istanbul appeared in the GMC list of PLAB 1 locations in the version we read. Check the current locations and dates in GMC Online before you plan travel.
How many times can you take PLAB?
Four attempts for each part. After a fourth fail you may apply for one additional attempt; failing that fifth attempt ends your eligibility.
What should a junior doctor CV include in the UK?
GMC status, clinical posts with rotations in months, audit and quality improvement, teaching with feedback, research, courses and exams. Explain every gap in your employment history.
Do UK specialty training applications use a CV?
No, specialty training is applied for through the Oriel application form. Keep a CV anyway for your CREST and portfolio stage, interviews and posts that ask for one.
What does the 2026 prioritisation law mean for international doctors?
From 2027 recruitment, UK and some other graduates and people with settled status are offered interviews and posts first. A doctor with a Turkish degree on a work visa is outside that priority group.
Sources
- GMC: A guide to the PLAB testwww.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-our-registers/plab/a-guide-to-the-plab-test
- GMC: Fees for doctors, including PLAB fees from 1 April 2026www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/managing-your-registration/fees-and-funding/fees-for-doctors
- GMC: Information on booking a PLAB 1 placewww.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-our-registers/plab/plab-1-guide/information-on-booking-a-plab-1-place
- GMC: When and where can I take PLAB 1?www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-our-registers/plab/plab-1-guide/when-and-where-can-i-take-plab-1
- GMC: Information on booking a PLAB 2 placewww.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-our-registers/plab/plab-2-guide/information-on-booking-a-plab-2-place
- GMC: Using your IELTS certificatewww.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-our-registers/before-you-apply-guide-for-doctors/evidence-of-your-knowledge-of-english/using-your-ielts-certificate
- GMC: Using your OET certificatewww.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-our-registers/before-you-apply-guide-for-doctors/evidence-of-your-knowledge-of-english/using-your-oet-certificate
- GMC: Full registration for international medical graduates, evidence of your internshipwww.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-our-registers/registration-applications/application-guides/full-registration-for-international-medical-graduates/your-internship
- GMC: Full registration for doctors with sponsorshipwww.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/join-our-registers/registration-applications/application-guides/full-registration-for-doctors-with-sponsorship
- NHS England Medical Education: Prioritisation for 2027 specialty training recruitmentmedical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/prioritisation-for-specialty-recruitment
- NHS England Medical Education: Internal Medicine Training CT1 person specification 2027medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/person-specifications/person-specifications-2027/internal-medicine-training-ct1-2027
- NHS Education for Scotland, Scotland Medical Training: specialty recruitment applicant guidance (updated 5 October 2026)www.scotmt.scot.nhs.uk/recruitment/specialty-recruitment/applicant-guidance/