The Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) is a two-part assessment made up of an applied knowledge test (AKT) and a clinical and professional skills assessment (CPSA) which will be embedded within UK medical schools’ finals exams from the academic year 2024-25. The assessment will be led and delivered by UK medical schools and regulated by the General Medical Council.
The MLA will provide assurance that anyone who obtains a UK medical degree has shown that they can meet a common and consistent threshold for safe practice before they are licensed to work in the UK. Medical students due to graduate in the academic year 2024-25 or beyond will need to have a degree that includes passing the MLA before they can join the medical register.
What does the assessment involve?
The MLA is a two-part assessment which will be embedded within UK medical schools’ finals exams. Medical students will sit both parts of the assessment on dates chosen by their medical school.
- The applied knowledge test (AKT)
This is planned to be an on-screen exam, with multiple choice questions. It will test your ability to apply medical knowledge to different scenarios. - The clinical and professional skills assessment (CPSA)
This is a practical assessment of your clinical skills and professionalism. Each medical school calls the CPSA something different – for example, an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) or Objective Structured Long Examination Record (OSLER). The GMC will publish the requirements that all CPSAs must meet.
Piloting the MLA
A process of phased introduction will begin from 2021 with robust testing and piloting, before the assessment will be fully implemented for students graduating from UK medical schools from the academic year 2024/25.