PLAB 1 pass rates are among the most searched and most misread numbers in international medical graduate preparation. The figures move from sitting to sitting, coaching centres quote them selectively, and the single most important fact is often missed: the GMC sets the pass mark to a fixed standard, not to a target pass rate. This guide lays out the published range, explains what the MLA alignment changed, and covers how to prepare. Figures are as of mid-2026 — the GMC publishes current pass rates on its website and in its annual report; confirm there.
What is the PLAB 1 pass rate?
Historically, PLAB 1 pass rates have ranged roughly between 55% and 75% depending on the sitting, with real variation between individual dates. A commonly cited recent figure put PLAB 1 at around 70.5% for 2024, with PLAB 2 around 65.8%. Different sources quote slightly different figures depending on the period and cohort they cover, which is normal for a metric that varies by sitting. Since the exam aligned to the MLA content map in August 2024, early post-alignment sittings were reported at the lower end of the historical range — in the region of 55 to 65% — consistent with a transition to a new format and expanded content, before stabilising as candidates and resources adapted. It is worth being precise about what these figures are: they are sitting-by-sitting snapshots that move with the cohort and the difficulty of each paper, not a fixed probability of passing, so a candidate's own preparation matters far more than the headline rate for any given date.
Why there is "no expected pass rate"
This is the key point. The GMC states plainly that, because candidates are at all stages of their careers, there is no expected pass rate or average score for PLAB 1. The pass mark for each sitting is set using the internationally recognised Angoff method, with a standard error of measurement added, so the bar reflects what is expected of a doctor entering the second year of the Foundation Programme — and it is adjusted for the difficulty of each particular paper. In practice the pass mark tends to fall around 115 to 120 out of 180, roughly 60 to 65%, but it is the standard, not the percentage, that is fixed. That means a lower pass rate at a given sitting usually reflects that cohort's preparation, not a deliberately harder exam. This is reassuring in a practical sense: you are not competing against other candidates for a limited number of passes, and a difficult-looking diet does not raise the bar you personally have to clear. The standard is the level of a safe Foundation Year 2 doctor, and it stays there.
Why PLAB 1 is challenging
PLAB 1 is a three-hour paper of 180 single-best-answer questions across all the major specialties — medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, psychiatry and emergency medicine — pitched at foundation level rather than specialist depth. That foundation-level pitch is double-edged: the individual facts are rarely obscure, which can lull candidates into under-preparing, but the breadth and the UK-specific framing mean the exam still catches those who treat it as easy. The difficulty for most international graduates is not the medicine itself but its UK framing: clinical scenarios follow UK protocols and NICE guidance, and first-line treatments and referral pathways often differ meaningfully from those taught elsewhere. The exam rewards safe, UK-appropriate management and clinical reasoning over memorised facts, and the volume demands steady pacing across the paper. For graduates trained outside the UK, the gap is often narrow but decisive — the same condition, a different first-line drug or referral threshold — which is why generic international revision is not enough on its own and UK-specific practice has to be learned deliberately.
How to give yourself the best chance
The candidates who pass comfortably tend to do three things. They use material mapped to the current MLA content map rather than old recalls, which can quietly teach outdated answers. They focus deliberately on UK guidelines and the NHS context, especially if their training was not UK-aligned. And they practise applying knowledge to scenarios under timed conditions, treating each wrong answer as a prompt to check the correct UK management.
A bank designed for this bridges the gap between equivalent clinical knowledge and UK-specific practice. iatroX maps its questions to the MLA content map that PLAB 1 shares, adapts to your weak areas, and rebuilds the reasoning behind each answer through its Socratic tutor, with explanations grounded in NICE, CKS and SIGN. Because the same platform also covers the MSRA and membership exams that follow, it carries you into UK training rather than ending at PLAB 1. The PLAB 1 bank sits on one subscription at £29 a month or £99 a year, with free sample questions to try first. A workable approach for many international graduates is to use a low-cost, MLA-mapped adaptive bank as the daily engine, verifying any uncertain answer against UK guidance, and to add timed full-length mocks in the weeks before the sitting to build pacing and confidence.
A few common questions
What is the PLAB 1 pass rate? Historically about 55 to 75% depending on the sitting; a recent figure was around 70.5% for 2024, with post-MLA-alignment sittings initially at the lower end before stabilising.
Is PLAB 1 getting harder? The MLA alignment changed the content and style more than the standard; the underlying pass level remains that of a doctor entering Foundation Year 2.
What score do I need to pass? There is no fixed percentage; the pass mark is set by the Angoff method per sitting, typically around 115 to 120 out of 180.
Do old PLAB recalls still work? Use them with caution — the exam now follows the MLA content map, so current, guideline-updated material is safer. A live bank that updates when guidance changes avoids the quiet errors that old PDFs introduce.