Exam fundamentals10 min read·31 May 2026

UKMLA Pass Rate 2026: First-Attempt Stats (UK Grads vs IMGs)

Pass rate is not pass mark: what the first-attempt statistics really show, why the UK-graduate vs IMG gap exists, and the free 50-question diagnostic that tells you which side of the line you'd be on today.

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"What's the UKMLA pass rate?" is almost always asked by someone who's worried. It's a fair question — but the number on its own can mislead. Pass rates differ sharply between UK graduates and international medical graduates, vary from one exam diet to the next, and tell you very little about your odds, which depend on your preparation, not the cohort average. Here's what the figures actually mean, and what they don't.

1. Pass rate vs pass mark — don't confuse them

These two get muddled constantly:

The pass mark is the score threshold you have to reach — set by the modified Angoff method, so it shifts slightly with each paper's difficulty rather than being a fixed percentage.
The pass rate is the proportion of candidates who clear that threshold.

Crucially, the AKT is criterion-referenced, not norm-referenced. You're measured against a standard, not ranked against other candidates for a limited number of passes. If every candidate meets the standard, every candidate passes. You are not competing with the person next to you.

2. What the data actually shows

The GMC and the Medical Schools Council publish official AKT results, and the figures move between diets and cohorts — so always check the latest GMC data rather than trusting a fixed number on any blog (including this one).

The well-established pattern, though, is consistent:

UK final-year medical students pass the AKT first time at high rates — the great majority clear it on the first attempt, broadly in line with the high pass rates long seen in UK finals.
International medical graduates, sitting the same standard through the UKMLA/PLAB route, have historically had substantially lower first-attempt pass rates — a gap that is large and consistent across diets.

That gap is the single most important fact in the statistics, and §4 explains why it exists.

3. Is there a pass rate by medical school?

No — and it isn't being withheld from you, it doesn't exist in published form.

We went looking, because it's one of the most common follow-up questions to this one. There is no GMC dataset, no Medical Schools Council table and no official publication that breaks AKT results down by UK medical school. The GMC's education data pages cover postgraduate training surveys and progression, not MLA performance by school. The Medical Schools Council's AKT student handbook is the authority on how results are handled for UK students, and its pages block automated access — so check it directly rather than trusting a figure any site quotes you, including this one.

Three reasons a league table isn't the thing you actually want:

The exam is pass/fail against a standard. The AKT is criterion-referenced. It's designed to answer "is this candidate safe to progress", not "which school is best". A school-level ranking would be a by-product it was never built to produce.
It would measure intake as much as teaching. Schools differ in entry requirements, cohort size, graduate-entry mix and international student proportion. A pass-rate table would fold all of that together and present it as a quality signal.
The denominators are small. With cohorts in the low hundreds, a handful of candidates moves a school several percentage points between years. Most of the ranking would be noise.

What you get instead is better. Your own result carries the average score for all candidates who sat your paper, and — on the PLAB 1 route — your percentage correct in each of ten areas of clinical practice next to the cohort's percentage in each. That's a comparison against everyone who sat it, at the level that actually helps you: which topics, not which university. Here's how to read it.

Some schools do use AKT scores internally, for prizes or honours. That's a local decision, so ask yours — it has no bearing on whether you're licensed.

4. Why IMGs have lower first-attempt rates

The gap is not a reflection of clinical ability. It's driven by:

Unfamiliarity with UK guidelines. The AKT expects NICE, BNF and UK pathway answers; a clinically excellent doctor trained elsewhere can pick the medically reasonable option that isn't the UK first-line one. This is the biggest single trap — see NICE guidelines and the IMG gap.
Exam-format unfamiliarity. Single-best-answer reasoning is a learnable skill, separate from knowledge.
Less preparation time, usually studied around a full-time job.

If you're an IMG, treat the statistic as a map, not a verdict: it tells you exactly where to spend your time. Our IMG UKMLA study plan and complete IMG guide are built around closing precisely these gaps.

5. What the pass rate means for you — and what it doesn't

A cohort average is not your personal probability. Whether you pass is set by how completely you've covered the blueprint, your accuracy on fresh questions, and your mock performance — not by what happened to last year's cohort.

So don't let a frightening headline number demoralise you, and equally don't let a comfortable one make you complacent. And if the worst happens, a fail is not the end of the road — the resit rules and recovery plan are in our UKMLA fail and retake guide.

6. How to put yourself in the passing group

Benchmark early with a diagnostic, so you know your starting point.
Cover the whole blueprint — the exam tests your weakest specialty whether you revised it or not.
Close the UK-guideline gap if you're an IMG.
Do full mocks and track the trend (see how to use mocks).
Hit the readiness signals — consistent first-attempt accuracy and mock scores above the pass mark (see how many questions you need).

7. Where MLA Prep fits

The fastest way to stop worrying about the cohort statistic is to measure your own standing. MLA Prep's free 50-question diagnostic mock shows you where you sit against the standard on day one — get the free diagnostic — and the per-specialty analytics tell you which gaps to close. The IMG pathway surfaces UK-specific, NICE/BNF-referenced content more aggressively, which is exactly where the IMG first-attempt gap lives. Start free on five topics.

Frequently asked questions

What is the UKMLA pass rate? It varies by diet and cohort. UK graduates pass first-time at high rates; IMG first-attempt rates are substantially lower. Check the latest official GMC figures for current numbers.

Is the UKMLA norm-referenced? No. The AKT is criterion-referenced — you're judged against a fixed standard set by the modified Angoff method, not ranked against other candidates.

Why is the IMG pass rate lower? Mainly unfamiliarity with UK guidelines and the SBA format, plus less prep time — not a difference in clinical competence.

Is there a UKMLA pass rate by medical school? Not in published form. No GMC or Medical Schools Council dataset breaks AKT results down by UK medical school, and the exam is pass/fail against a fixed standard rather than a ranking exercise. Your own result does give you the cohort average to compare against.

What happens if I don't pass? You can resit within the GMC's attempt limits. See the fail and retake guide for the realistic picture.