The short answer
The UKMLA (the GMC calls it the Medical Licensing Assessment, or MLA) is the GMC's common standard for doctors joining the UK register. It has two components: an applied knowledge test (AKT) and a clinical and professional skills assessment (CPSA). UK medical students take both as part of their degree. International medical graduates keep taking PLAB: per the GMC, PLAB 1 meets the requirements for the AKT and PLAB 2 meets the requirements for the CPSA, and both are built from the same MLA content map. For you as a candidate, almost nothing practical changed. The GMC says the eligibility criteria for PLAB "have not changed", that the changes are to "the quality assurance and construction of the test", and that the name PLAB stays "for a while longer". What did change is the document to study from: the MLA content map, whose current version applies from September 2026. Every statement on this page is from a GMC page. The GMC's MLA overview page could not be fetched by our automated fetchers (it returns 403 Forbidden, as the whole gmc-uk.org site does), so we opened it in a browser on 21 October 2026 and quote only what it said that day.
- MLA = AKT + CPSA, built on one content map.
- UK students: the medical school AKT and the school's own CPSA, in the penultimate or final year for the CPSA.
- International graduates: PLAB 1 (meets the AKT requirements), then PLAB 2 (meets the CPSA requirements).
- PLAB eligibility unchanged; the PLAB name stays for now.
- Content map version in force for assessments from September 2026; a live document.
What the MLA is, in the GMC's words
The GMC MLA overview page opens with one sentence: the MLA "tests the core knowledge, skills and behaviours of doctors who want to practise in the UK". It says the aim is to give patients and employers greater confidence in doctors starting work in the UK, wherever they were educated or trained. It then names two candidate groups:
| Candidate group | What the GMC says they take |
|---|---|
| Medical students graduating from UK universities | They "need to pass the MLA as part of their degree before joining the medical register". |
| International doctors joining the UK register | They "will continue to take PLAB which is compliant with our MLA requirements". |
The same page says both groups "take assessments based on the same set of topics, as set out in the MLA content map, and which meet the same delivery requirements". That is the real change in one line: the UK graduate and the international graduate are now measured against one published list of what a new doctor must know and do, even though they sit different exams.
AKT and CPSA: the two parts, and where PLAB fits
The GMC describes the two MLA components in its guide for UK medical schools. The table puts those descriptions next to the PLAB route, using only the GMC's own pages.
| Applied knowledge test (AKT) | Clinical and professional skills assessment (CPSA) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is (GMC) | "A written assessment of applied clinical knowledge" | "A performance-based assessment of clinical and professional skills, knowledge and behaviours" |
| UK medical students | The medical school AKT, constructed centrally by medical schools working through the Medical Schools Council and delivered locally, with a common format and test standard | Set and delivered by each UK medical school for students in their penultimate or final year |
| International graduates | PLAB 1 "meets the Requirements for the MLA Applied Knowledge Test" | PLAB 2 "meets the Requirements for the MLA Clinical and Professional Skills Assessment" |
| Content | The MLA content map | The MLA content map |
| Quality assured by | The GMC, against published AKT requirements | The GMC, against CPSA requirements first published in September 2019 and re-issued as an annex to the MLA framework in March 2021 |
Notice the wording the GMC uses for PLAB 2 itself. The first line of the PLAB 2 guide chapter "What is the PLAB 2 exam?" is "PLAB 2 is a clinical and professional skills assessment (CPSA)". So when a coaching site says "CPSA vs PLAB 2", the honest answer is that PLAB 2 is the CPSA route for international graduates. A UK student's CPSA and your PLAB 2 are different exams written by different bodies, built to the same requirements and the same content map.
What changed for PLAB candidates
Three things changed, and only one of them touches your preparation directly.
- How the test is built and checked. The PLAB 2 guide chapter on the MLA says "PLAB is now compliant with the MLA requirements" and that the changes "are to the quality assurance and construction of the test, and they affect exam administrators rather than individual candidates". The GMC PLAB and the MLA page says the same: the requirements relate to how the GMC constructs and delivers the test, not to individual candidates.
- Where the questions come from. Per both GMC pages, "the questions and stations used in PLAB are based on the MLA content map". This is the change that matters to you. The content map is now the official answer to "what can come up in PLAB 2?".
- The future name. The GMC says PLAB "will keep its current name for now. However, we plan to modernise the name at a later date." No date was given on 21 October 2026. Until the GMC announces one, the exam you book in GMC Online is called PLAB.
What did not change
The GMC says candidates who sat PLAB before it became compliant "will notice very little difference if they take the test again now". This is what the GMC pages said on 21 October 2026; the full detail and the chapter links are on our PLAB 2 format, fee, dates and results page.
| Item | What the GMC says now |
|---|---|
| Eligibility | "The eligibility criteria for PLAB have not changed as a result of MLA compliance." |
| Name | Still PLAB; a new name is planned "at a later date". |
| Who must sit it | International medical graduates on the PLAB route. The GMC says that "at this time" doctors with a relevant European qualification do not need to take it, under existing legislation. |
| Other routes | Sponsorship, acceptable postgraduate qualifications, specialist registration and GP registration remain, per the GMC PLAB and the MLA page. |
| PLAB 2 format | 16 scenarios of eight minutes, around three hours, at least two rest stations. |
| Marking | Three domains per scenario: data gathering, technical and assessment skills; clinical management skills; interpersonal skills. |
| Pass standard | Set for each exam by borderline regression, plus a minimum number of stations; no fixed mark. |
| Where and how you book | Two GMC Clinical Assessment Centres in Manchester; booked in GMC Online after PLAB 1 results. |
| Time limit and attempts | Pass within two years of passing PLAB 1; four attempts, then an application for a fifth and final one. |
The MLA content map: the document to study from
The GMC MLA content map page says the map "sets out the core knowledge, skills and behaviours needed for UK practice as a doctor" and "provides the framework for the content of the AKT and CPSA". It is annexed to the GMC document Assuring readiness for practice: a framework for the MLA. On versions, the page says: "This version of the content map applies to all MLA exams and assessments taken from September 2026 onwards. It was published in October 2025 following a review of the map's content". It also records one change made in September 2026, when the GMC replaced Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) with Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS). The GMC calls it "a live document" and promises timely revisions, so download it again before your exam.
The GMC MLA overview page names the three themes that underpin the map:
- Readiness for safe practice
- Managing uncertainty
- Delivering person-centred care
The PLAB 2 resources chapter tells you how to use it: the content map "is a guide to what the exam covers" and "all the topics and skills needed to pass are covered in the content map". The same chapter adds the Foundation Programme curriculum, because the topics match those faced by doctors starting the second year of UK Foundation training, and the GMC's Good medical practice, because you are expected to show its professional values in the exam. It also says you do not need a course to pass and that the GMC does not endorse any course.
Our reading (TalkDrill)
Two of the three themes, managing uncertainty and person-centred care, are mostly heard rather than seen. An examiner cannot tick "managing uncertainty" from your knowledge alone; they hear it in how you tell a patient what is not yet known. That is why the interpersonal third of every PLAB 2 station is not a soft extra. It is where the content map's themes show up.
Communication under the MLA: one worked example
Below is one short exchange, written by TalkDrill as a teaching example. It is not an official GMC station, not a recall of any real exam and not clinical guidance; the clinical detail is kept deliberately thin, and any real case must be checked against current UK guidance. The task: a patient's daughter asks whether her father's scan "shows cancer". The report is not back yet.
| What the doctor says | Content map theme it shows | PLAB 2 domain it feeds |
|---|---|---|
| "Before I answer, can I ask what you've been told so far, and what's worrying you most?" | Person-centred care: the daughter's ideas and concerns first | Interpersonal skills (open question, involving her) |
| "I'd like to be honest with you. The scan report isn't back yet, so I don't know the answer today, and I won't guess." | Managing uncertainty: says what is not known, without false reassurance | Clinical management (explaining) and interpersonal (professionalism) |
| "What I can tell you is what happens next. The report should come to the team, and we'll sit down with you and your father to go through it." | Managing uncertainty: a plan in place of a guess | Clinical management (management plan) |
| "If he becomes more unwell before then, here is who to call, today or at night." | Readiness for safe practice: safety netting | Clinical management (safety netting) |
| "Can you tell me in your own words what we've agreed, so I know I've explained it clearly?" | Person-centred care: checks understanding | Interpersonal skills (avoids the GMC "Language" feedback statement) |
Look at what the example avoids. It does not promise a good result, which a GMC examiner's blog post of 2 August 2022 warns against ("be realistic and don't over-promise"). It does not use a stock empathy line; the GMC "Rapport" feedback statement names "use of stock phrases" as a fault. And every sentence is short enough to say slowly. Our PLAB 2 station scripts and the phrase lists in plain English for patients build this into full eight-minute stations.
Six things people get wrong about UKMLA and PLAB
| What people say | What the GMC pages say |
|---|---|
| "PLAB has been scrapped; IMGs now sit the UKMLA." | International doctors "will continue to take PLAB which is compliant with our MLA requirements" (MLA overview). |
| "IMGs must sit the medical school AKT and CPSA." | PLAB 1 meets the AKT requirements and PLAB 2 meets the CPSA requirements (PLAB and the MLA). |
| "The eligibility rules changed with the MLA." | "The eligibility criteria for PLAB have not changed as a result of MLA compliance." |
| "The MLA made PLAB 2 harder and raised the pass mark." | The GMC describes the changes as quality assurance and construction. The pass mark is not fixed; it is set for each exam by borderline regression. We found no GMC statement that the exam became harder. |
| "Recalls are the fastest way to prepare." | Courses that claim to provide GMC exam content, or ask you to share it, are "likely" to breach the GMC misconduct policy. Prepare from the content map. |
| "The content map is fixed; an old copy is fine." | The GMC calls it a live document; the current version applies from September 2026 and was changed in September 2026. |
What to do now
- Download the current content map from the GMC and keep its date on the first page of your notes. Re-check it before your exam month.
- Plan your dates from the rules that did not change: PLAB 1 pass, then PLAB 2 within two years, booked in GMC Online. Our PLAB 2 format and dates page has every rule with its GMC chapter.
- Treat interpersonal skills as a third of every station. Practise one timed station a day from the practice bank, spoken aloud, with AI role-play practice playing the patient when you have no partner.
- Work on how your first language shapes your English with mistakes by first language, and follow the 8-week roadmap.
- Keep the official links in one place: our official resources list has every GMC page used here, with what each is for.
TalkDrill is an English communication practice tool, not a medical school, and nothing here is clinical advice. The source pages are the GMC MLA overview, GMC PLAB and the MLA, the GMC MLA content map and the PLAB 2 guide chapter on the MLA requirements. For the PACES side of the module, start at the PLAB 2 and PACES hub.