SCA Exam Dates, Costs and Booking 2026

SCA Exam Dates 2026

The RCGP runs 9 SCA diets per year, spread roughly monthly. Each diet runs over 3 to 4 examination days. You are allocated to either a morning or afternoon session on one of those days. You cannot select your specific day or time.

Based on the published RCGP schedule and confirmed emedica course dates, the 2026 SCA diets and approximate results dates are:

All dates are subject to change. The RCGP publishes confirmed dates on their exam applications page. Check there for the most current information, particularly for the later 2026 diets.

Note: the RCGP allocates 4 examination days per diet, though the average is 3. In high-demand diets, dates may extend into the following week.

How Much Does the SCA Cost?

The SCA exam fee is £1,207 per attempt. This increased from £1,180 in August 2025. The fee covers all costs associated with running the exam, including role players, examiner marking, psychometric analysis, and platform hosting.

Key points about the fee:

The fee is the same for first attempts and re-sits. There is no discounted rate for repeat attempts. If you fail and re-sit, you pay £1,207 again.

The SCA fee is not claimable from your NHS study budget. However, you can reclaim the tax on the fee through your annual HMRC tax return. At the current rate, this saves approximately £241 for a basic rate taxpayer.

The RCGP states it takes a full cost recovery approach. The exam is not designed to generate profit. The fee covers direct costs (role players, examiners, platform) and indirect costs (case development, psychometric services, quality assurance). The RCGP publishes a breakdown of these costs on their website.

For context, each SCA attempt costs more than many monthly subscriptions to preparation resources combined. A MedTutor Foundation plan costs £195 for 100 simulation credits and GP trainer feedback, which may be eligible for study budget reimbursement. That gives you roughly 100 practice consultations for less than 17% of the cost of one exam attempt.

Staged Payments: What Changes in April 2026

From 1 April 2026, the RCGP is making staged payments compulsory for all SCA bookings. This replaces the previous system where the full fee was paid at the point of booking.

The new payment structure works as follows:

Payment 1: 25% of the fee (approximately £302) is due six months before the exam, or at the point of making a reservation if this is between six months and twelve weeks before the exam.

Payment 2: A further 25% (approximately £302) is due twelve weeks before the exam.

Payment 3: The remaining 50% (approximately £603) is due at the point of final booking, seven weeks before the exam.

Both early payments are refundable if you cancel before the final booking deadline. This means you can reserve a place and pay only £302 upfront, with the option to withdraw without losing money if your circumstances change.

If you have already booked an exam between April and October 2026, the RCGP will contact you about any payments due under the new system.

How to Book the SCA

The booking process changed in December 2025. You no longer need to access FourteenFish. All bookings are now made through MyRCGP, the RCGP's membership portal.

Step 1: Check eligibility. You must be in ST3 (or beyond) with active MRCGP membership. Your training records must be up to date on the system. Gaps in your portfolio will prevent booking.

Step 2: Reserve a place. Log into MyRCGP and select "My Exams." You can reserve a place up to 12 months in advance. An availability indicator shows whether each diet has good availability, limited places, last few, or is full.

Step 3: Wait for booking link. Seven weeks before your exam, the RCGP sends a unique booking link by email. You then confirm your booking and pay the remaining fee.

Step 4: Receive your allocation. Four weeks before the exam, you receive your day and session (morning or afternoon). You cannot change this.

Step 5: Complete the platform walkthrough. Two weeks before the exam, you receive login details for the Osler Online platform. You must complete a device check and watch the mandatory rules and procedures video.

If a diet fills up quickly, the RCGP may extend the number of examination days. You can also join the waiting list for a specific diet by completing the SCA waiting list form on the RCGP website.

When Do SCA Results Come Out?

SCA results are typically released approximately 5 weeks after the exam diet, at 17:00 on the published results date. Results are available through your MyRCGP portal.

Your results include:

• An overall pass or fail outcome
• Feedback statements for each of the three domains (Data Gathering, Clinical Management, Relating to Others) in each of your 12 cases
• The RCGP's published educational notes for each feedback statement, explaining what it means and how to improve

Results can occasionally be delayed. In 2024, the April diet results were pushed back by a week due to examiner availability around Easter. If a delay occurs, the RCGP publishes an update on their website.

If you pass, you receive confirmation that you have met the SCA component of the MRCGP. Combined with a pass in the AKT and satisfactory WPBA, this contributes to your Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT).

If you fail, see the section below on re-sits and next steps.

Eligibility: When Can I Sit the SCA?

You are eligible to sit the SCA from ST3 onwards. You must have active MRCGP membership and your training records must be current and accurate on the system.

There is no requirement to have passed the AKT before sitting the SCA, but most trainees and trainers recommend completing the AKT first. The AKT tests the knowledge base that underpins many SCA cases, and passing it gives you confidence in the clinical content.

Discuss timing with your educational supervisor. Key considerations include:

• Where you are in your ST3 year
• Whether you have passed the AKT
• How much structured practice you have done
• Your CCT date and the number of remaining attempts

You have a maximum of 4 attempts at the SCA (6 if you entered GP training after August 2023). Using an early attempt when you are not ready reduces your options later. The exceptional fifth attempt pathway requires documented evidence of additional educational attainment.

What Happens If I Fail?

If you fail the SCA, you can re-sit at the next available diet. The fee is the same: £1,207 per attempt. There is no waiting period between attempts beyond the exam schedule itself.

Your first step after receiving a fail result should be to review your feedback statements with your GP trainer. The domain-level feedback for each case tells you specifically where you fell below the standard. Common patterns include:

• Consistently low scores in Relating to Others (usually indicates doctor-centred consulting)
• Low Clinical Management marks (often caused by poor time management, leaving too little time for the management plan)
• Low Data Gathering marks (usually indicates unfocused history taking or missed red flags)

For targeted practice based on your weak domain, browse cases by skill type in our case bank. If Clinical Management is the issue, start with Statin Counselling and QRISK Assessment or Lost Pregabalin: Controlled Drug Dilemma. If Relating to Others is the gap, try Termination of Pregnancy or Bereavement in an Elderly Patient.

For more on how to use your feedback constructively, read our SCA Marking Scheme Explained guide.

How to Prepare

The best preparation for the SCA is structured practice under timed conditions with feedback. Reading about cases is useful for knowledge, but the SCA tests your ability to consult, not your ability to recall information.

3 to 6 months before your exam:

• Read the RCGP's Consultation Toolkit and the SCA Examination Day Guide
• Start practising consultations with study partners, recording them, and reviewing against the three domains
• Identify your weak areas using structured feedback

1 to 3 months before:

• Increase the frequency and intensity of practice
• Focus on the case types you find hardest (for most trainees, this is strong patient agenda cases)
• Practise back-to-back cases to build stamina for the 12-station format

Final 2 weeks:

• Complete the Osler platform walkthrough
• Set up your consulting room to meet the RCGP's technical requirements
• Run 2 to 3 full mock exams under timed conditions

MedTutor provides 100 SCA simulations across all 12 RCGP clinical experience groups, each scored against the three marking domains with GP trainer review. Your first simulation is free.