PLAB 1 pass mark and pass rate: every GMC number, 2016 to 2025

Written by Nicholas. Checked on September 21, 2026.

The GMC sets the PLAB 1 pass mark separately for every test date, using the Angoff method with one standard error of measurement added, so the number moves from one date to the next. The last per test figures the GMC published are from 2019: an Angoff total of 115.6 out of 180 in March 2019, which becomes 121.2 points once the 5.59 standard error is added, or 67.3 percent. Pass rates come by year instead. Across 2021 to 2025, the five years on the GMC table, 57,130 of 81,566 candidates passed, and the 2025 rate was 62.2 percent.

PLAB 1 pass mark: what the GMC sets for each test

The PLAB 1 pass mark ran from 119.4 to 121.2 points out of 180, or 66.4 to 67.3 percent, across the four tests of 2019, the last year the GMC published it. The GMC sets that number separately for every test date, with the Angoff method and one standard error of measurement added, as described on its PLAB 1 results page, checked on September 21, 2026. It holds the standard steady rather than the number, so the number moves with the paper.

Table 3 of the GMC PLAB annual report for 2019 gives the Angoff total and the standard error for each of the four tests that year. The pass mark is the two added together, a sum the report does not print, so the fourth and fifth columns below are this article's arithmetic.

Source: GMC, PLAB annual report 2019, Table 3 and its footnote, plus the footnote to the RQ1 text on page 9, checked on September 21, 2026.

Footnote 1 adds that the June and November Angoff totals each include three suppressed items, questions pulled from scoring after the test, so the percent column is close rather than exact. The four tests covered 11,114 sittings from 9,950 people.

The GMC has published no pass mark for any 2024, 2025 or 2026 test. It publishes the method, the pass rate by year and each candidate's own result sheet, nothing per exam date since 2019. A 2025 or 2026 pass mark quoted elsewhere is a candidate report.

PLAB 1 pass rate by year, 2021 to 2025

The PLAB 1 pass rate was 62.2 percent in 2025, 70.5 percent in 2024, 72.0 percent in 2023, 70.9 percent in 2022 and 74.1 percent in 2021. That is the GMC table as it stands today, with the candidate count behind every percentage.

Source: GMC, Recent pass rates for PLAB 1 and PLAB 2, the five year table as published on the live page, checked on September 21, 2026.

The five years come to 81,566 candidates and 57,130 passes, which is 70.0 percent. That total is this article's arithmetic on the GMC rows: 10,431 plus 14,470 plus 21,916 plus 21,058 plus 13,691, and 7,728 plus 10,259 plus 15,781 plus 14,849 plus 8,513.

Across those five years the spread is 11.9 points, from 62.2 to 74.1 percent. The 2025 fall is the largest single year move on the table: 8.3 points down on 2024, in a year when candidate numbers dropped 35 percent, from 21,058 to 13,691. The GMC says there is no expected pass rate and no expected average score, so the rate reflects who turned up. Within a single year the swing is wider: in 2019, a year outside the five year table, the four cohorts passed at 74, 62, 53 and 55 percent, by this article's subtraction from the GMC fail shares.

How many questions you need to pass PLAB 1

You needed about 115 of the 180 PLAB 1 questions correct on the last per diet figures the GMC published, in its PLAB part 1 annual report for 2016 to 2017. That report prints the pass mark as a percent for four diets from September 2016 to June 2017: 63.45, 63.27, 63.64 and 62.80 percent. Applied to 180 questions those come to 114.21, 113.89, 114.55 and 113.04 points, and since a part question cannot be answered the first passing score rounds up: 114 to 115 correct answers.

Source: GMC, PLAB part 1 annual report 2016 to 2017, Tables 1 and 2; the third column is this article's arithmetic, checked on September 21, 2026.

All four diets together: 3,837 candidates, 70.2 percent passing. Two cautions on the third column. The GMC footnote says those percentages are adjusted for suppressed items, so the conversion to a score out of 180 is close rather than exact. And 2016 to 2017 is the last year the GMC published a pass mark per diet.

Each correct answer is worth one point and the total of your correct answers is your score, so 180 is the ceiling. The GMC describes no penalty for a wrong answer, which means a blank costs the same as a guess. Answer all 180.

The 2019 figures are higher: the four Angoff totals plus one standard error come to 119.4 to 121.2 of 180, so 115 is the floor of the published range, not a target.

What is a good PLAB 1 score

A good PLAB 1 score is 8 to 10 percent above the pass mark, which is where passing candidates averaged in the GMC 2016 to 2017 report, checked on September 21, 2026. Failing candidates averaged 8 to 9 percent below it. On a pass mark near 63 percent that puts a typical pass at 71 to 73 percent, or 128 to 131 of 180, since 71 percent of 180 is 127.8 and 73 percent is 131.4.

The cohort is wide: that report records scores from 27 to 88 percent, with an average standard deviation of 10 percent. The mean score for all candidates ran a few points above each pass mark, which is why the mid sixties is a coin flip.

One opinion here, not a GMC figure: treat 75 percent in timed practice as the line to cross before you book a date. That is 135 of 180, about 12 percentage points above the 2016 to 2017 pass mark, room for a harder paper.

PLAB 1 passing score figures that circulate online

Pages ranking for "PLAB 1 passing score" quote a range of 115 to 120 out of 180. They do not agree with each other: the same search returns 120 to 126 and 108 to 117. Each comes from a prep company page, a Quora space or a candidate group rather than the GMC, and no GMC document states any of them. Treat them as reports with no date and no method.

The GMC's own figures straddle the two best known ranges. Add one standard error to the four 2019 Angoff totals and they run from 119.4 to 121.2 of 180, past the top of 115 to 120 at one end and below the bottom of 120 to 126 at the other, so neither range holds the span. The 2019 figures come from a dated GMC report that names its method. The circulating ranges name nothing. A target set a few points above the highest published figure survives a hard test, while a target of 115 because a forum said 115 leaves no margin on a day when the pass mark comes back at 121.

How many questions in PLAB 1, and how many you need right

PLAB 1 is 180 multiple choice questions answered within three hours, each a short scenario with five options. Three hours is 10,800 seconds, so 10,800 divided by 180 is 60 seconds a question.

Source: GMC pages on the exam, dates and places, booking, results and fees, read on the live GMC site, checked on September 21, 2026.

Content sits at Foundation Year 2 level: common, important or acute conditions, plus long term conditions in primary care, without the advanced duties of a general practitioner. Questions follow current UK best practice and published evidence rather than local arrangements, the trap for a candidate studying another country's protocols. The PLAB 1 exam page holds those facts with their GMC sources, and the UKMLA applied knowledge test page covers the exam UK students take.

How many attempts for PLAB 1, and the pass rate at each

PLAB 1 allows four failed attempts, then a fifth on application, so five is how many times you can take PLAB 1 in all. After the fourth fail an additional attempt has to be requested, and a failed fifth ends eligibility. The request needs at least 12 months of additional learning and development after that fourth fail, evidenced by 12 months of clinical practice or a relevant postgraduate qualification.

The GMC last published a pass rate by attempt number in its PLAB annual report for 2015 to 2016, over 3,054 candidates.

Source: GMC, PLAB annual report 2015/16, section 1a; the most recent attempt by attempt breakdown the GMC has published, checked on September 21, 2026.

Those figures are a decade old and the exam has changed since, so read them as a shape not today's odds: the first attempt is the best one you get, and the rate settles near four in ten from the fifth.

Which is harder, PLAB 1 or PLAB 2

PLAB 2 passed a smaller share of candidates than PLAB 1 in all five years the GMC lists, by 2.4 to 9.1 percentage points. The widest gap was 2023, when PLAB 1 ran at 72.0 percent and PLAB 2 at 62.9 percent, and the narrowest was 2025, at 62.2 against 59.8 percent.

Source: GMC, Recent pass rates for PLAB 1 and PLAB 2, the PLAB 2 five year table on the live page; the gap column is this article's subtraction, checked on September 21, 2026.

PLAB 1 is a written paper of 180 questions that rewards a question bank. PLAB 2 is a skills assessment run as stations, and it rewards rehearsal with another person.

Sequencing matters more than the ranking. Since March 31, 2025 a PLAB 1 pass has been valid for two years, counted from the test date rather than the result date, so a long pause spends part of that window.

PLAB 1 result after how many days

A PLAB 1 result arrives six weeks after the test, which is exactly 42 days on all three dates the GMC publishes now: August 6, 2026 to September 17, 2026; November 5, 2026 to December 17, 2026; and February 11, 2027 to March 25, 2027. Results arrive by 4 pm, and the GMC says it contacts candidates directly if publication slips.

Source: GMC, Your results, the table of exam and result dates on the live page; the days column is this article's arithmetic, checked on September 21, 2026.

Those 42 days decide the next booking. Registrations close between two and six weeks before the test date, depending on where you take it. The February 11, 2027 result lands on March 25, 2027, a few weeks before a May booking closes rather than a few months, so the fee and paperwork need to be ready first. The December 17, 2026 result runs into a February 2027 exam that the GMC page on the 2027 PLAB 1 changes says will run in UK and EU locations only.

A sibling article counts the study weeks backward from these dates, how long to study for PLAB 1, and the question count for every exam on this site puts the 180 beside the other papers.

Practice questions written from your own UK material

The generator writes questions from the file you upload: single best answer items with five options in the PLAB 1 format, each printing the sentence it came from and its page. Ask for 30 questions and set a 30 minute timer, the paper's one minute an item. It is not a PLAB question bank and has no GMC connection.

Sixty verified questions are free as a guest, and an account gets 300 a month free. The 90 day Exam Pass is USD 19.99 and a 500 question pack is USD 5.99, and neither renews. You can try ten sample questions with no upload and no account, the PLAB 1 generator page carries the upload recipe, and the pricing page holds the current figures. The same method applied to another exam is in the post on how long to study for MRCP Part 1.

Questions people ask

What is the PLAB 1 pass mark in 2025?

The GMC has published no pass mark for any 2025 test. It sets the pass mark separately for each test date using the Angoff method with one standard error of measurement added, and it publishes that method rather than a list of numbers. The last per test figures it released were the four 2019 Angoff totals, 114.1 to 115.8 out of 180, which come to 119.4 to 121.2 once the standard error is added. Checked on September 21, 2026.

What is the PLAB 1 pass percentage in 2025?

The PLAB 1 pass percentage in 2025 was 62.2 percent: 8,513 of 13,691 candidates passed, on the GMC pass rate table checked on September 21, 2026. The same figure is what people mean by the PLAB 1 success rate. It is the lowest of the five years the GMC lists, which run from 62.2 percent in 2025 to 74.1 percent in 2021, and it came in a year when candidate numbers fell from 21,058 to 13,691.

Is PLAB 1 pass or fail?

The result is a pass or a fail, and it arrives with numbers attached. The GMC gives each candidate three: the total score, the score required to pass that particular test, and the average score for all candidates. Your answers are also grouped into ten areas of clinical practice from the MLA content map, each reported as a percent correct beside the candidate average, so a fail comes with a map of where it happened.

How long is the PLAB 1 exam?

Three hours for 180 multiple choice questions, which works out at 10,800 seconds divided by 180, or 60 seconds a question. Each question opens with a short scenario and gives five options. The GMC 2019 report on the exam concluded that 180 items at one minute each is adequate and fair, including for candidates close to the pass mark. Figures from the GMC, checked on September 21, 2026.

How does the PLAB 1 scoring system work?

One point for each correct answer, no deduction for a wrong one, and your score is the count of correct answers out of 180. The GMC then sets that test's pass mark with the Angoff method and one standard error of measurement, and applies it to everyone who took that paper on that date. Your result sheet carries three numbers: your score, the score needed to pass that test, and the average score of all candidates.

What happens if you fail PLAB 1?

You can book another test. Four failed attempts are allowed outright, and a fifth one has to be requested from the GMC. That request stands only if you put in at least a year of further learning after the fourth fail, shown either by a year of clinical practice or by a relevant postgraduate qualification. A failed fifth attempt ends your eligibility for PLAB. There is no manual check of a score, only an appeal.

How much is PLAB 1?

GBP 283 from April 1, 2026, up from GBP 273 the year before, on the GMC fee table checked on September 21, 2026. PLAB 2 is GBP 1,036. Canceling more than 42 days before the test costs 10 percent of the fee, or GBP 28.30, and canceling inside 42 days costs the whole GBP 283. Refugee doctors living in the UK pay nothing for their first two attempts.

When should you take PLAB 1?

PLAB 1 runs four times a year, in February, May, August and November. Bookings close between two and six weeks before the test, depending on the location, and results follow six weeks later. A pass is valid for two years from the test date, so book close enough to your PLAB 2 plan to use it. From February 2027 the GMC drops Dhaka, Alexandria, Accra and Chennai, and the February 2027 test runs in UK and EU locations only.

Published September 21, 2026.