The Specialty Certificate Examination consists of 200 best-of-five single best answer questions. These are divided equally into two papers of 100 questions each. Each paper lasts three hours. Both papers are sat on the same day with a one-hour break between them.
This format is identical across all 13 SCE specialties — Acute Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Dermatology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Geriatric Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Medical Oncology, Nephrology, Neurology, Palliative Medicine, Respiratory Medicine, and Rheumatology.
At 1.8 minutes per question, the time pressure is moderate — most candidates report having enough time to complete the paper if they do not dwell excessively on individual questions.
The pass mark is not a fixed percentage. It is set using statistical test equating, which adjusts the pass mark between sittings to maintain a consistent standard regardless of question difficulty.
iatroX offers full mock exams for all 13 SCE specialties replicating the real format — two papers of 100 questions, each timed at three hours. All included at £29 per month or £99 per year.