Three exams, three letters each, and no two people explain them the same way. One colleague tells you FOP comes first. Another says they sat AKP first and it was fine. Someone in a WhatsApp group insists you need two years of paediatric experience before you can even apply. By the time you have read four forum threads you know less than when you started, and the application window for the next diet has quietly closed.
MRCPCH is not a complicated qualification. It is a badly explained one. The structure is genuinely simple once someone lays it out in order, and most of the confusion comes from the fact that the exams were renamed and nobody updated the advice. This guide covers what the three theory exams are, what order to sit them in, who can apply, what it costs, and the booking process that catches out more candidates than the exams themselves. If you would rather have that structure handed to you, our MRCPCH course is built around it.
What MRCPCH actually is
MRCPCH is the membership qualification of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. It has four components: three theory exams and one clinical exam.
The three theory exams are Foundation of Practice (FOP), Theory and Science (TAS), and Applied Knowledge in Practice (AKP). You must pass all three before you can apply for the MRCPCH Clinical.
If you have read older guidance referring to Part 1A, Part 1B, and Part 2, those are the same exams under their previous names. FOP was Part 1A, TAS was Part 1B, and AKP was Part 2. A great deal of the advice circulating online still uses the old terminology, which is one reason the sequence feels more confusing than it is.
There is also the Diploma of Child Health (DCH), a separate and shorter qualification requiring only FOP plus the DCH Clinical, which can be taken in either order.
The three theory exams at a glance
All three are computer-based and use single best answer questions: one question, five options, choose the best one. There is no negative marking — every question is worth one mark and nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, so never leave one blank.
| FOP | TAS | AKP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Foundation of Practice | Theory and Science | Applied Knowledge in Practice |
| Former name | Part 1A | Part 1B | Part 2 |
| What it tests | Knowledge, understanding and clinical decision-making across commonly encountered conditions | Scientific, physiological and pharmacological principles, and evidence-based practice | Clinical decision-making and management, benefiting from clinical experience |
| Questions | 100 SBAs | 100 SBAs | 120 SBAs (60 per paper) |
| Papers | 1 | 1 | 2, same day |
| Duration | 2 hours | 2 hours | 2 × 2.5 hours (5 hours total) |
| UK exam times | 09:30–11:30 | 14:00–16:00 | 09:30–12:00 and 14:00–16:30 |
| Part of DCH? | Yes | No | No |
FOP and TAS run on the same day when you choose to sit them together, with FOP in the morning and TAS in the afternoon. AKP is its own day, and five hours of single best answers is a genuine stamina test — candidates who have never sat a full-length timed paper tend to find the second AKP paper considerably harder than the first for reasons that have nothing to do with the content.
All three are standard set using the Modified Angoff method, so there is no fixed pass mark published in advance.
Which order should you sit them in?
The exams are non-sequential. You can take them in any order, and you can take more than one in a diet.
Since the College imposes no sequence, the decision is yours, and it turns on one thing: how much paediatric clinical experience you currently have. The RCPCH notes specifically that AKP candidates benefit from clinical experience in paediatrics, because it tests management decisions rather than recall.
That points to a sensible default:
- Early in your career, or without much paediatric exposure: start with TAS. It is the most science-heavy and the least dependent on clinical experience, which means your recent undergraduate knowledge is an asset rather than a liability.
- Working in paediatrics already: FOP and TAS together in one diet is efficient and popular, then AKP once you have more clinical time behind you.
- Several years into paediatric practice: the order matters much less. Take whichever diet fits your rota.
What almost never works is leaving all three until a single six-month push. The syllabus spans twenty-five subject areas from neonatology and cardiology through to ethics and law, safeguarding, and patient safety. It does not compress well.
Who can apply, and the account you need first
The eligibility criterion is straightforward: you must hold a valid primary medical qualification from a registered institution — meaning a qualification that would make you eligible for GMC registration, or, for overseas qualifications, one recognised by the GMC. You can check your institution on the World Directory of Medical Schools.
You do not need to be in a paediatric training post. You do not need GMC registration. You do not need a minimum number of years in practice.
One administrative step trips people up. Before you can book any theory exam, you need an RCPCH exam account, and the College asks that you set this up at least ten days before an application window opens. Candidates who wait until the window opens to register frequently miss the sitting entirely — not because they were ineligible, but because the account was not ready when the seats went live.
Dates, fees, and the booking scramble
There are three diets each year. AKP runs first in each diet, with FOP/TAS following a few weeks later.
| Diet | AKP | FOP/TAS |
|---|---|---|
| Diet 1 | January | February |
| Diet 2 | May | June |
| Diet 3 | September | October |
Upcoming exam dates confirmed by the RCPCH:
| Exam | Date | Applications open |
|---|---|---|
| AKP 2027.1 | Wednesday 20 January 2027 | Monday 2 November 2026, 09:30 UK time |
| FOP/TAS 2027.1 | Wednesday 17 February 2027 | Monday 30 November 2026, 09:30 UK time |
| AKP 2027.2 | Wednesday 26 May 2027 | Monday 8 March 2027, 09:30 UK time |
| FOP/TAS 2027.2 | Wednesday 23 June 2027 | Monday 5 April 2027, 09:30 UK time |
Fees for 2026:
| Exam | UK | International |
|---|---|---|
| FOP or TAS, single | £365 | £455 |
| FOP and TAS combined | £659 | £804 |
| AKP | £659 | £929 |
Payment is by credit card, or debit card linked to a UK bank account, in pounds sterling. Hong Kong is the exception, with separate arrangements.
Now the part that matters more than any of the above. Seats are allocated first come, first served, and the application window is open for only five to seven days. Windows open roughly eleven to twelve weeks before the exam. Candidates who treat the opening date as “the week I should apply” rather than “the morning I should apply” regularly find their preferred centre full.
Sitting from Pakistan and overseas
Test centres run across the UK and internationally. In Pakistan, the RCPCH lists centres in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, and Multan. Other regional centres include Colombo, seven cities across India, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Doha, Muscat, Amman, Cairo, Manama, and Salmiya.
Application windows have recently opened on a staggered schedule by region. In the most recent diet, Middle East centres opened on the first morning, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka on the second, and the UK, Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore and Trinidad on the third. Check the RCPCH dates page for your specific diet, because this pattern is set per sitting rather than fixed — and note that 09:30 UK time falls in the early afternoon in Pakistan, so set an alarm for the converted time rather than the published one.
Remote invigilation is available but restricted. You must provide evidence at the time of booking that you meet one of three criteria: there is no test centre in your country of residence at the time of the exam, you live more than 200 miles from a test centre, or you have an approved reasonable adjustment. With four centres in Pakistan, most candidates there will not qualify. Remote sitting is not available in the UAE at all.
One further consideration if you are planning the whole pathway: the RCPCH has flagged higher-than-usual demand for MRCPCH Clinical places in India, Malaysia and the Middle East, and Clinical is not offered everywhere the theory exams are. It is worth knowing where you will sit Clinical before you book your first theory paper.
How to start
If you are at the beginning, three things in order.
Create your RCPCH exam account today. Not when you have decided on a diet. Today. It is free, it takes minutes, and the ten-day rule means it is the one deadline you can remove entirely.
Pick a diet and work backwards. Choose the exam date first, then count back eleven to twelve weeks to find your application morning, and put it in your calendar with an alarm. Then count back four to six months from the exam for your study start.
Start with questions, not textbooks. All three exams are single best answer, and the RCPCH writes them so that several options are partially correct with one clearly superior. That skill is trained by answering questions and reviewing why the near-misses were near-misses. Reading alone does not build it.
Our MRCPCH course is taught by paediatricians who have sat these exams, structured around timed SBA practice rather than passive lectures. You can also browse our other MRCPCH preparation guides or meet the mentors who teach the programme.
Sources and further reading
- RCPCH: Theory exams — what you need to know before you apply
- RCPCH: Theory exams — structure and syllabi
- RCPCH: Theory exams — upcoming dates and when to apply
- RCPCH: Theory exams — how you sit your exam
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to sit FOP, TAS and AKP in a particular order?
No. The three theory exams are non-sequential and can be taken in any order, and you can sit more than one in the same diet. You must pass all three before applying for the MRCPCH Clinical.
Is there negative marking in the MRCPCH theory exams?
No. Every question is worth one mark and no marks are deducted for incorrect answers. There is no reason to leave a question unanswered.
Do I need paediatric training or GMC registration to apply?
No. You need a valid primary medical qualification from an institution recognised by the GMC. You do not need a paediatric post, GMC registration, or a minimum number of years in practice. AKP does assume some clinical exposure to paediatrics, which is worth factoring into the order you choose.
Can I sit the exams from home?
Only if you meet the RCPCH’s remote invigilation criteria: no test centre in your country of residence at the time of the exam, residence more than 200 miles from a test centre, or an approved reasonable adjustment. Evidence is required when you book. Remote invigilation is not available in the UAE.
How far in advance do applications open?
Roughly eleven to twelve weeks before the exam date, and they stay open for only five to seven days. Seats are first come, first served, so apply on the morning the window opens rather than later in the week.
What happened to Part 1A, Part 1B and Part 2?
They were renamed. Part 1A is now FOP, Part 1B is now TAS, and Part 2 is now AKP. The content and structure are current under the new names; older guidance using the old names is out of date.
