Specialty Certificate Examination in Medical Oncology
| Diets | Exam date | Application period | Reasonable Adjustment Deadline | Results release | Certificates Posted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/01 | 11 September 2024 | 22 May-19 June 2024 | 26 June 2024 | 4 weeks after exam | 8 weeks after results release |
| 2025/01 | 10 September 2025 | 21 May - 18 June 2025 | 26 June 2025 | 4 weeks after exam | 8 weeks after results release |
Please ensure you apply for your examination within the application period and have submitted your reasonable adjustment request by the reasonable adjustment deadline.
The Specialty Certificate Examination (SCE) in Medical Oncology is delivered once a year.
Eligibility requirements
There are no entry requirements for the SCE in Medical Oncology, however, trainees in UK training posts would normally take the SCE in their penultimate year of higher specialty training.
Qualification: Certificate in Medical Oncology
Trainees who hold MRCP(UK), have gained the Certificate in Medical Oncology and who are recommended for a CCT will be entitled to apply for the postnominal MRCP(UK) (Medical Oncology).
For further details please see the FAQs.
Curriculum and blueprint
The Specialty Training Curriculum for Medical Oncology is published by the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB).
The examination is made up of questions covering the whole curriculum, selected by a predetermined blueprint:
Resources for trainees
Preparation for the SCE requires a wide breadth of knowledge around the curriculum and should involve reading of textbooks, journals and guidelines. Experience of the MRCP(UK) examination provides an excellent background to the format of the examination.
Suggested sources and reading are listed below:
Guidelines
- British Journal of Cancer 2009 March 100 (5) 684–692 Jones et al – guidelines for Herceptin modification
- British Thoracic Society (BTS) - pleural disease guidelines
- International Prognostic Index score for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
- National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) - guidelines for follicular lymphoma
- NHS Cancer Screening – guidelines for bowel and other cancers
Bone health:
- National Osteoporosis Society (NOS) – interpretation of bone mineral density
- Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) – Osteoporosis guidelines
Textbooks
Information on genetics and some basic science can be found in the Oxford Desk Reference of Oncology 2011.
Sample questions
The questions are in ‘best of five’ multiple choice format. This format, in addition to testing core knowledge and comprehension, also assesses the ability to interpret information and to solve clinical problems. There will be five options – one correct answer and four alternatives to the correct answer. The four distractors will be closely related to the preferred option but less correct, therefore acting as plausible alternatives.
These questions give an indication of the type of question you can expect in the exam:
Results report
The selected metrics report provides details about the previous year's examination. All the statistics are intended to help candidates to be more informed and better prepared for the examination. The reports are also available to other stakeholders (e.g. deaneries’ representatives, board members, trainees’ supervisors) who would like to find out more about candidates’ performance in order to be able to make informed decisions about training programmes or examination standards.