Otolaryngology (FRCS ORL-HNS oral)
Sit your FRCS ORL-HNS viva after rehearsing every answer out loud
Rehearse FRCS ORL-HNS ENT viva scenarios out loud against a senior examiner who probes your reasoning. Get examiner-style feedback on any station you finish, in seconds.
What is the FRCS ORL-HNS viva, and how do you practise for it?
JCIE FRCS ORL-HNS Section 2 — one actor-led history-taking and communication station plus four examiner-led vivas covering otology / neuro-otology, head & neck surgery, paediatric otolaryngology and rhinology & facial plastics. Each viva probes basic sciences, clinical presentation and progression, investigations, management policy, and operative techniques (including reconstruction). The full exam also holds two 20-minute clinical short-case sessions with real volunteer patients; those require examining a patient, so they are not simulated here. MedMock lets you practise it out loud against an AI examiner, with examiner-style feedback on any question you finish.
Last updated 29 October 2026
FRCS ORL-HNS viva practice, on demand
MedMock gives you a senior examiner who probes your reasoning, available 24/7. Pick a question, have a spoken conversation, and ask for examiner-style feedback when you finish, scored against what genuinely matters in the FRCS ORL-HNS.
How it works
Choose a question
Pick from the FRCS ORL-HNS questions — all 5 that MedMock runs, or let MedMock surprise you the way exam day will.
Have the conversation
Speak naturally, out loud. The AI examiner listens, follows up and probes further, exactly like the viva.
Get instant feedback
The moment you finish, you get specific, examiner-style feedback and a score — what you did well, what cost you marks, and precisely what to fix before the next attempt.
Practise every station
MedMock covers the questions you will face in the FRCS ORL-HNS viva. Rehearse each one until it feels routine.
History Taking & Communication Skills
20-min actor-led OSCE-style history-taking and communication encounter on a focused ENT presentation (hoarse voice / unilateral neck lump / suspected head & neck cancer / hearing loss). NICE NG12 two-week-wait pathway, BAHNO MDT framing, ICE-driven counselling and explicit safety-netting.
Otology including Neuro‐Otology
30-min examiner-led oral on otology and neuro-otology — applied temporal-bone anatomy, audiological and vestibular assessment, NICE NG98 hearing-loss pathway, BCIG/BACIA cochlear-implant candidacy, vestibular schwannoma surveillance and management (British Skull Base Society / Koos grading), middle-ear and skull-base operative principles.
Head & Neck Surgery
30-min examiner-led oral on head & neck surgical oncology and salivary / thyroid pathology — NICE NG12 / NG36 / CSG6 head-and-neck cancer pathway, TNM-8 HPV-stratified staging, BAHNO MDT structure, Robbins neck-level anatomy, selective and modified-radical neck dissection principles, free-flap reconstruction.
Paediatric Otolaryngology
30-min examiner-led oral on paediatric ENT — applied airway and middle-ear anatomy, Cotton-Myer subglottic stenosis grading, airway emergencies, paediatric OSA / adenotonsillar pathway, hearing screening (NHSP), cleft and craniofacial principles, NICE / RCPCH safeguarding awareness.
Rhinology & Facial Plastics
30-min examiner-led oral on rhinology and facial plastics — applied nasal and sinus anatomy, EPOS 2020 / NICE NG79 rhinosinusitis, endoscopic sinus and skull-base surgery, ENT UK / INTEGRATE epistaxis and BCSH / BSH anticoagulant-management pathway, septorhinoplasty principles (internal nasal valve, preservation rhinoplasty, dorsal hump reduction), and facial-flap reconstruction.
Sample FRCS ORL-HNS questions
Two questions from the topics that come up most in MedMock's FRCS ORL-HNS bank.
“A 55-year-old with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Discuss management.”
“A 6-year-old with chronic adenotonsillar hypertrophy and sleep apnoea. Discuss surgery.”
Example scenarios
A sample of the FRCS ORL-HNS scenarios you can practise, each as a spoken conversation.
“Take a focused history from Mr Doyle, a 58-year-old 30-pack-year smoker with 6 weeks of hoarseness and right-sided referred otalgia. He is anxious about cancer and wants to know what happens next.”
“A 38-year-old woman with 14 months of progressive right-sided SNHL and intermittent imbalance has an MRI showing a 1.8 cm right CPA lesion. Walk me through the CPA anatomy, Koos grading, and your decision between surveillance, radiosurgery and microsurgery.”
“A 62-year-old man with a 4-week right level II neck node 2.5 cm, FNAC poorly-differentiated SCC. Walk me through your unknown-primary workup, the Robbins anatomy of level II, the principles of selective neck dissection and adjuvant decisions.”
“A 3-year-old boy with biphasic stridor since 18 months and two prior croup admissions. MLB shows Cotton-Myer III subglottic stenosis. Talk me through the developmental anatomy, grading, and your decision between endoscopic intervention, LTR and cricotracheal resection.”
“A 56-year-old man on warfarin (INR 3.2) with intractable left posterior epistaxis after 90 minutes of bedside packing. Walk me through nasal vascular anatomy, warfarin reversal, the operative steps of endoscopic sphenopalatine artery ligation and briefly the principles of dorsal hump reduction.”
FRCS ORL-HNS dates 2026–27
The next FRCS ORL-HNS sitting we hold is: from 25 November 2026 (Glasgow). Checked against JCIE (the four surgical Royal Colleges) on 23 September 2026.
Time until from 25 November 2026 (Glasgow)
— d — h — m — sJCIE publishes the first day of each Otolaryngology Section 2 diet; the oral exam runs over several days from that date. Application deadlines fall three to five months earlier.
Exam dates change. MedMock is not affiliated with JCIE (the four surgical Royal Colleges); confirm every date, application window and venue on the official site before you book. JCIE (the four surgical Royal Colleges)
FRCS ORL-HNS practice — your questions answered
How does the feedback work?
When you finish a question you can have it marked, and the scorecard comes back in seconds — what you did well, what cost you marks, and exactly what to work on next. Scorecards, mark schemes and model answers are included at no extra credit cost.
Can I practise specific FRCS ORL-HNS questions?
Yes. You can pick any of the 5 questions to drill a weak area, or run a mixed set to simulate the real exam.
How much does it cost?
You can start with a one-off £5 taster: 30 credits, which is 30 minutes of speaking practice, with no subscription. After that, or at any time, you can choose a monthly plan, which includes a monthly credit allowance. Current prices are on the pricing page.
Formats change from year to year: check the official candidate guidance or applicant handbook from the body that runs your exam or interview (the Royal Colleges, NHS England, the GMC and others) for your sitting.
Ready for your FRCS ORL-HNS viva?
Rehearse real FRCS ORL-HNS scenarios out loud and get instant, examiner-style feedback.
- Instant, personalised feedback
- Real voice-to-voice conversation
- Repeatable attempts, a different run every time
Be ready for your FRCS ORL-HNS viva before you walk in
Start with the £5 taster, a one-off payment for 30 credits: practise FRCS ORL-HNS viva scenarios out loud and get any of them marked when you are ready.
Practise the FRCS ORL-HNS viva