Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to commission a review into streamlining the Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration process.

On 14 December 2022 a statutory instrument was laid which amends the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Order of Council 2010 and The General Medical Council (Applications for General Practice and Specialist Registration) Regulations 2010 to provide the General Medical Council (GMC) with the freedom to develop additional registration pathways for GP and specialist registration.

These changes do not amend the GMC’s Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR) process but provide it with broader registration criteria and flexibility to expand the range of evidence that it can accept from applicants. The Order has a commencement date of 30 November 2023. There are no further plans for the Department to review the CESR process.