FRCEM practice

How to prepare for the FRCEM

The FRCEM Final OSCE is a 16-station circuit of eight-minute stations, each after one minute of reading time, mapped to the RCEM 2021 curriculum Specialty Learning Outcomes. Prepare at consultant emergency physician level by rehearsing ED board-round leadership, clinical governance, supervision and teaching, critical appraisal and complex clinical consultations.

What happens in the FRCEM exam: parts, timings and marking An example FRCEM station, with example feedback FRCEM dates and countdown

Step by step

  1. 1

    Map your revision to the RCEM 2021 Specialty Learning Outcomes

    The FRCEM Final OSCE assesses readiness for consultant practice across the RCEM 2021 curriculum SLOs: complex stable patients, answering team questions, resuscitation, injured patients, paediatric emergencies, procedural skills, complex challenging situations, running the department, supervision and teaching, research and critical appraisal, management and quality improvement.

  2. 2

    Understand RCEM domain-based marking

    Each station tests between one and four weighted RCEM OSCE domains: clinical reasoning and decision making, communication skills including conflict, history taking and information gathering, clinical examination skills, practical and pinnacle skills, teaching skills, and organisation and prioritisation. Each station is scored out of 10, for a total of 160 across the 16 stations.

  3. 3

    Practise Running the Department and ED board rounds aloud

    In Running the Department stations you act as the consultant in charge managing crowding, ambulance offload delays, resuscitation capacity, staffing pressures and safety escalation. Practise scanning a multi-patient board during the one-minute reading window and presenting a structured, prioritised plan.

  4. 4

    Rehearse consultant management, governance and critical appraisal

    Prepare for consultant-level stations on patient safety incident response, statutory Duty of Candour, complaints, rota governance and colleague performance, alongside critical appraisal of emergency medicine trial abstracts and quality improvement methodology.

  5. 5

    Pace yourself to an eight-minute station without a countdown timer

    RCEM does not display a digital countdown timer during OSCE stations; an analogue clock is visible in each room and there are no double stations. Practise managing your own eight-minute timing so you leave time for shared decision-making, disposition and safety-netting.

Official resources

Common mistakes examiners report

  • Answering Running the Department or Management stations as a junior doctor treating one patient rather than as the consultant in charge leading the whole department. source
  • Losing track of time in an eight-minute station because you expected a countdown timer rather than pacing yourself against an analogue clock. source

Practise with MedMock

MedMock practises the spoken and screen-based stations of the FRCEM Final OSCE in timed eight-minute stations after one minute of reading time: Running the Department, Supervision and Teaching, Management, and Research and Critical Appraisal in full, plus Complex Stable Patient, Injured Patient and Paediatric Emergency for history, clinical reasoning and explanation (with examination and imaging findings supplied by the examiner on request). Hands-on resuscitation and procedural skills are not simulated.

Practise FRCEM stations Start with a one-off £5 taster: 30 credits, no subscription.

Questions candidates ask

How many stations are in the FRCEM Final OSCE?

The FRCEM Final OSCE consists of 16 eight-minute stations with one minute of reading time between stations, plus two eight-minute rest stations.

How is the FRCEM Final OSCE marked and standard set?

Examiners use domain-based marking across one to four weighted domains per station to produce a score out of 10 per station (maximum 160). The daily cut score is set by borderline regression plus one standard error of measurement.

Which FRCEM OSCE stations can I practise on MedMock?

You can practise Running the Department, Supervision and Teaching, Management, and Research and Critical Appraisal in full, and rehearse history, reasoning and management in Complex Stable Patient, Injured Patient and Paediatric Emergency stations.

Sources

Checked on 24 October 2026.

Exams and their regulations change. MedMock is not affiliated with any examining body; always check the current guidance on the official site before you book.