Failed the SCA? A calm plan for the resit

Results day: the first 48 hours

The RCGP publishes SCA results at 17:00 on the results day. The next results days are 8 December 2026 (November diet), 16 February 2027 (January diet), 16 March 2027 (February diet) and 13 April 2027 (March diet); see SCA dates and fees and confirm on the RCGP site. If you did not pass, here is what helps most in the first two days. Passed? Skip to what comes next.

1. Read the feedback letter by domain, not line by line. Note which domains (Data Gathering, Clinical Management, Relating to Others) you did not pass, and in how many of the twelve cases. A pattern across cases tells you far more than any single statement. How to read your feedback.
2. Do not rebook in a panic. A booking made on results night is usually a booking made before you know what to change. Choose the diet once you have a plan.
3. Look at the next diet’s final booking deadline in the dates and fees table. Booking closes about nine to ten weeks before each diet, so the diet straight after your results may already be closed. Changes to a booking are free until its final booking deadline.
4. Tell someone. Your educational supervisor or trainer, and someone outside medicine. Then rest before you plan.

First, the result is not a verdict on you

Failing the SCA is common. Roughly three in ten sittings in the RCGP's first year of SCA data did not pass (RCGP interim report), and plenty of very good doctors are among them. The SCA samples consulting habits across twelve cases, and habits can be trained. A clear plan works better than doing the same thing harder.

Give yourself a few days before you plan anything. Then tell your educational supervisor or trainer. You do not have to work this out alone, and they will want to help.

How to read your RCGP feedback

Your results show your score against the pass mark and feedback on your consultations under the marking domains. The RCGP is clear about what its feedback statements are and are not:

• They are not performance indicators and play no part in marking. The examiner marks the case first and only then chooses statements. They are not a justification of the mark.
• Passing candidates may get them too. A statement on a case you passed is a suggestion, not evidence that you failed it.
• A failed domain always gets feedback. So look at the domains you failed across all twelve cases.
• They describe those cases on that day, not your consulting in general. Look for statements that repeat across several cases: that pattern is your diagnosis.

Go through the statements with your trainer, alongside the RCGP's educational notes for each statement and the marking and results page. Then compare them with what your trainer sees in real surgeries. Where they agree, you have found the problem.

A 4–8 week resit plan

The Resit Clinic builds a personal 8-week plan from your results and an honest questionnaire. It names the likely failure patterns and the order to fix them in, and nothing you enter leaves your browser. The outline below works for most people and can be compressed to four weeks if your next diet is close.

Choosing your next diet

There are nine SCA diets a year, so the next one is rarely far away, but booking closes well before the exam. From the published dates, the final booking deadline is about nine to ten weeks before each diet. See SCA dates and fees for the current table, and always confirm on the RCGP site.

• Do not rebook out of panic. If your feedback shows the same pattern in many cases, give yourself at least six weeks of changed practice.
• Check your training time. Attempt limits, extensions to training and what happens to your CCT date are set by the MRCGP regulations and your deanery. Talk to your training programme director early.
• Reasonable adjustments: if health, disability or personal circumstances affected you, ask about adjustments for the next sitting before that diet's deadline.

Looking after yourself

Failing a high-stakes exam can knock your confidence and your sleep, and it can feel isolating, especially if you are also working full time, far from family or worried about visas or money. Please use the support available:

• Your deanery's professional support and wellbeing service (names vary by region), via your training programme director.
• NHS Practitioner Health, a free and confidential service for doctors with mental health concerns.
• The BMA wellbeing support services, including confidential counselling and peer support.
• If you are struggling to cope or having thoughts of harming yourself, contact your GP, call NHS 111 (option 2 for mental health), or call Samaritans on 116 123. In an emergency, call 999.

Passed? Congratulations

Well done. The SCA asks a lot of you, on top of a full working week, and you have earned a proper evening off. If friends from your cohort did not pass, a quiet message and this page may help them more than you think.

What happens next with your training (your ARCP, your CCT date and the paperwork around them) is for your deanery and training programme, not this site. Follow their guidance and check anything you are unsure of with your educational supervisor or training programme director.

The consulting habits that got you through are the ones you will use every day in practice. The Clinic side of Reasoning GP is built for that: the case library, the clinical pathways and the clinic toolkit. Come and use it.

Frequently asked questions

More SCA guides