How South African-qualified doctors register with the UK GMC (2026)

Last checked: 14 November 2026 (SAST). General information, not immigration, legal or career advice.

Who this guide is for

Doctors with a South African primary medical qualification (MBChB or equivalent) who are registered with the HPCSA and want full registration with a licence to practise from the UK's General Medical Council (GMC). This is an admin and paperwork guide. It is not careers or immigration advice, and it doesn't cover UK visas.

Before you rely on this page: it is independent and not affiliated with the GMC, the HPCSA, ECFMG/Intealth or any recruiter. The GMC decides every application on its own facts, and its rules and fees change. Always check the GMC's own pages and your GMC Online account before paying for anything. The GMC itself warns doctors not to rely on third parties to confirm whether a qualification is acceptable. (GMC: Is my qualification acceptable?) Full disclaimer.

Step 0: Which route are you on?

Route	Who it's for	Key requirement
A. PLAB route (most SA doctors)	Graduated outside the UK, EEA or Switzerland, with no listed postgraduate qualification	Pass PLAB 1 and PLAB 2 and complete an internship. Your registration must be approved within 2 years of passing PLAB 2
B. Acceptable postgraduate qualification (PGQ) route (no PLAB)	Hold a postgraduate qualification on the GMC's list	For South Africa the GMC lists: FCA(SA); FC Rad Diag(SA) awarded after 1 October 2013; FCFP(SA) awarded since 1 January 2007. It should be awarded within 3 years of the date the GMC approves you, otherwise you need extra evidence of recent experience
C. Specialist / GP Register	Experienced specialists and GPs	Via a recognised specialist qualification or the GMC's portfolio pathway. Not covered in this guide yet
D. Sponsorship (e.g. approved training schemes)	Doctors with an approved UK sponsor	Not covered in this guide yet; use the GMC's application finder

Sources: GMC: Full registration for IMGs (PLAB route); GMC: A guide to the PLAB test; GMC: Acceptable postgraduate qualifications; GMC: Full registration for IMGs with a postgraduate qualification.

Other SA fellowships. Only the three South African qualifications above are on the GMC's overseas PGQ list (checked 14 November 2026). Others, such as FCP(SA) or FCS(SA), are not. The GMC says it may accept a letter from a UK medical Royal College confirming that an unlisted overseas qualification is equivalent to its own, but it also notes that the JRCPTB, the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine no longer offer that recognition. The GMC also stresses that listed overseas qualifications don't guarantee entry to UK specialty training.

Route A (PLAB): step by step

Create a GMC Online account. You need it to book PLAB and to apply. (PLAB guide)
Get your primary medical qualification accepted. Before you can sit PLAB, the GMC checks that your overseas PMQ is acceptable. It assesses qualifications case by case. (GMC: Acceptable overseas qualifications) Your PMQ is verified through ECFMG (part of Intealth), and the GMC's evidence guidance says it closes an application if verification hasn't arrived within 90 days of applying. (GMC guidance on submitting evidence, PDF) ECFMG/EPIC verification fees aren't published by the GMC; check them on the ECFMG/Intealth site.
Show your knowledge of English. The GMC says the evidence needed to sit PLAB may differ from the evidence needed for registration. The usual options:
- IELTS Academic (including UKVI; in person, online or a one-skill retake): at least 7.0 in each area and 7.5 overall, in the same test and your most recent sitting.
- OET (Medicine): at least grade B in each area, in the same test and your most recent sitting.
- IELTS and OET certificates are valid for 2 years. For PLAB, the certificate must be valid on the day you sit PLAB 1. For registration, it must be valid when the GMC approves your application.
- Your PMQ: if it's under 2 years old and was taught and examined solely in English, with at least 75% of clinical interaction in English, confirmed by a letter from your university.
- Nationality and PMQ exemption: the GMC says you don't need the PMQ evidence above if you are a national of, and got your PMQ in, a country on its list of countries where English is the first and native language. South Africa is on the GMC's published list of acceptable English-speaking countries. Confirm in GMC Online how this applies to your PLAB booking and your registration before you skip a test.
Sources: GMC: Evidence of your knowledge of English; Using your IELTS certificate; Using your OET certificate; Using your PMQ; GMC list of acceptable English-speaking countries (on its PA/AA English page). 4. Sit PLAB 1. 180 single-best-answer questions in 3 hours. It can be taken in a number of countries as well as the UK; GMC Online shows the current venues and dates. We couldn't confirm whether there's a South African venue, so check GMC Online. 5. Sit PLAB 2. An OSCE with 16 scenarios of eight minutes each, held at the GMC's clinical assessment centre in the UK. 6. Gather your registration evidence (see the checklist below), including evidence of your internship. The GMC guide has a chapter on internship evidence; read it in GMC's IMG guide for how your SA internship and community service should be documented. 7. Order your HPCSA Certificate of Status (good standing) late, so it's still valid on the day the GMC approves you (see the HPCSA section below). 8. Apply in GMC Online for full registration with a licence to practise, pay the fee, and complete the identity check the GMC asks for. 9. Approval must happen within 2 years of passing PLAB 2.

Documents checklist (both routes)

Based on the chapters of the GMC's IMG application guide and its application forms:

[ ] Primary medical qualification (verified via ECFMG/Intealth)
[ ] (Route B) Postgraduate qualification. The GMC says you must submit the same evidence to ECFMG for verification
[ ] Evidence of internship or experience
[ ] Evidence of knowledge of English
[ ] Passport
[ ] Certificate of good standing from every regulator you've been registered with in the last 5 years (for most SA doctors: the HPCSA), even where you didn't practise
[ ] Employer references for clinical attachments or observerships longer than two months, and for non-medical work, in the last five years
[ ] Your activities for the last five years
[ ] Fitness-to-practise declarations
[ ] Identity check
[ ] Official translations of anything not in English

Sources: GMC IMG application guide (contents); GMC: Evidence of fitness to practise; GMC IMG application form (PLAB), PDF.

Certificate of good standing from the HPCSA

What the GMC needs. The certificate must cover all your work in that country, confirm you're entitled to practise, confirm you haven't been disqualified, suspended or prohibited, and confirm that the regulator knows of nothing that questions your good standing. Certificates of good standing (and employer references) are only valid for 3 months from issue and must still be valid on the day the GMC approves your application. Where possible, have the regulator send it to the GMC directly; the GMC says this often speeds things up. (GMC: Evidence of fitness to practise)

How the HPCSA issues it (the HPCSA calls it a "Certificate of Status", COS):

You must be registered (active and up to date), have limited registration that has expired, or be voluntarily erased, with no complaint pending.
Submit an affidavit that no criminal or unprofessional-conduct proceedings are pending against you.
Pay the COS fee (plus a courier fee only if the destination needs an original). Use your HPCSA registration number as the payment reference.
Email the certified affidavit and proof of payment to [email protected]. The HPCSA says the COS team only reads that address.
The HPCSA says it issues within 10 working days if you meet the requirements. It lists the GMC as accepting electronic certificates, so you shouldn't need a courier for the GMC. If you pay no courier fee, the certificate is sent electronically.

COS fee (Medical and Dental Professions Board): R788.00 including VAT, from 1 April 2026. Source: HPCSA rules relating to fees payable to council, 2026/27 (Government Gazette, PDF). The older HPCSA COS how-to page (last updated August 2022) still shows R719, which was the old fee; HPCSA fees change every 1 April. Its banking details and courier fees are on that page and on the HPCSA Core Operations page.

Timing trap: the HPCSA says its COS is valid for 6 months, but the GMC only accepts it for 3 months from issue. Plan to the GMC's 3 months: order it once the rest of your application is ready.

GMC fees (from 1 April 2026)

Item	Fee
PLAB 1	£283
PLAB 2	£1,036
Application for full registration with a licence to practise (standard)	£481
Application for full registration (fixed-term discount: you passed your PMQ within the past five years, or are moving from provisional to full registration)	£184
Scrutiny fee if an application to join the register is refused, closed or withdrawn	£110
Annual fee with a licence to practise (standard / fixed-term discount)	£481 / £184
Income discount	50% off if your worldwide income is under £38,500 and you don't already get a discounted fee (only once you're fully registered)
PLAB 1 cancellation	10% (£28.30) more than 42 days before; 100% (£283) at 42 days or less
PLAB 2 cancellation	10% (£103.60) more than 42 days before; 50% (£518) at 42 to 29 days; 100% (£1,036) at 28 days or less

Source: GMC: Fees for doctors, checked 14 November 2026.

Not included: IELTS or OET test fees, ECFMG/EPIC verification fees, travel to the UK for PLAB 2, UK visas and the immigration health surcharge. Check those with the provider or the UK government directly.

What this guide doesn't confirm yet

How the GMC wants SA internship and community service evidence presented, and the identity check method: read those chapters of the GMC IMG guide.
GMC processing times: the GMC guide has a chapter on this.
Whether there's a PLAB 1 venue in South Africa: check GMC Online.
ECFMG/EPIC fees.
Routes C and D (Specialist/GP Register and sponsorship).