How Many Times Can You Take PLAB 1? Attempt Limits and the Two-Year Rule
Published Oct 9, 2026 · Updated Oct 10, 2026
How many times can you take PLAB 1? The GMC lets you keep sitting it until you have failed four times, and then allows one final attempt if you apply for it. A PLAB 1 pass also has a time limit. Here is what the GMC's PLAB 1 guide says.
How many times can you take PLAB 1?
If you fail PLAB 1, you can book the exam again as long as you still meet all the requirements. You can keep attempting it until you have failed it four times.
After a fourth fail, you can apply to the GMC for one final attempt. The same rule applies to PLAB 2.
Applying for the final attempt
There must be at least 12 months between your fourth failed attempt and your request for an additional attempt. In that time you should improve your medical knowledge and clinical skills, and you must have completed either 12 months of clinical practice or a postgraduate qualification within the two years before you apply.
Clinical practice means at least 12 months full time (or the part-time equivalent) with direct patient care, supported by structured reports from the senior doctors responsible for your work. Each post must last at least two months. Honorary posts, clinical attachments, shadowing, observerships and clerkships don't count.
A postgraduate qualification must be in a clinical subject that needs a primary medical qualification or another degree for entry, must take at least one academic year (or the part-time equivalent), and must come with a certificate from the awarding institution.
If you're granted an extra PLAB 1 attempt, you may need to submit valid English language evidence before you can book. And if you have already had more than four failed attempts at either PLAB 1 or PLAB 2, the GMC says you are no longer eligible to take the test or to apply for an additional attempt.
The two-year rule
Once you pass PLAB 1, you must pass PLAB 2 within two years. The GMC counts your pass date as the date you took the test, not the date your results were issued.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the GMC extended a PLAB 1 pass from two years to three. That extension ended on 31 March 2025, so the two-year limit applies to everyone again.
You can apply for PLAB 2 in GMC Online as soon as your PLAB 1 results are issued, but not before. If you are later granted an additional PLAB 2 attempt and your PLAB 1 validity has run out, you may need to sit PLAB 1 again.
There's one more deadline after PLAB 2: once you have passed both parts, your application for registration with a licence to practise must be approved within two years of passing PLAB 2.
Planning your first attempt? Read how long to study for PLAB 1, try PLAB 1 sample questions with answers, or practise timed papers in the TopQbank PLAB 1 question bank.
Study takeaway: with four standard attempts and a 12-month wait before a final one, every sitting counts. Book PLAB 1 when your timed practice scores are steady, and plan your PLAB 2 date early, because the two-year limit starts on the day you sit PLAB 1.