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# GMC Appraisal and Revalidation: A UK Doctor's Complete Guide (2026)
- URL: https://www.logbook.co.uk/gmc-appraisal-revalidation-uk-doctors-complete-guide/
- Published: 2026-04-22T13:37:51.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T13:39:07.000Z
- Description: A UK doctor's complete guide to GMC appraisal and revalidation: the five-year cycle, the six types of supporting information under Good medical practice 2024, what a responsible officer can recommend, and the annual return route for doctors without a designated body.
- Author: Jamie Dawson
- Tags: Healthcare Logbooks

**Quick answer:** Every doctor who holds a licence to practise in the UK revalidates with the GMC, usually every five years. You get there through an annual whole-practice appraisal, at which you reflect on six types of supporting information: CPD, quality improvement activity, significant events, feedback from patients, feedback from colleagues, and compliments and complaints. Your responsible officer (RO) makes one of three recommendations to the GMC: revalidate, defer, or non-engagement. Doctors with no designated body or suitable person instead submit an annual return to the GMC and sit a revalidation assessment. Non-engagement starts the process of withdrawing your licence.

Revalidation is the most documentation-heavy obligation in a UK doctor's career, and the doctors who run into trouble have rarely failed the standards. They have failed to evidence them, or lost their connection to a designated body and not noticed. This guide sets out the whole system as the GMC's own guidance describes it, with the rules that changed when *Good medical practice 2024* took effect.

## Who revalidates

Any doctor on the GMC register who holds a licence to practise: consultants, GPs, doctors in training, specialty and associate specialist doctors, locums, private practitioners, and doctors in academia, industry or management who keep their licence. Since December 2024 the same framework covers **physician associates and anaesthesia associates**, who are now GMC-registered. Doctors with registration but no licence do not revalidate, and cannot practise until the licence is restored.

## The five-year cycle and your submission date

- You usually revalidate **once every five years**. The GMC sends notice of your **revalidation submission date at least three months before**, records it in your GMC Online account, and tells your RO through GMC Connect.
- Your RO or suitable person must make their recommendation **on or before** that date. Your duty is to engage fully with the processes that let them do so.
- **Doctors in training:** if your programme is shorter than five years, your first revalidation is at the point of eligibility for CCT (the date can be set up to 60 days after CCT). If it is longer, you revalidate five years after full registration with a licence, and again at CCT eligibility. Revalidation is not tied to a particular ARCP outcome, and you can revalidate with fewer than five ARCPs.
- If you change employer or designated body, your submission date stays the same; the new RO inherits it.

## Your connection: designated body, RO or suitable person

For most doctors the designated body is the organisation where you do most or all of your work, and the RO is a senior doctor there, usually the medical director or their nominee. Three rules from the GMC's guidance that catch people out:

- **You cannot choose your designated body**, and a designated body cannot choose whether to connect to you. The regulations decide; the GMC's online connection tool applies them.
- **You must keep your connection details in GMC Online up to date at all times**, including telling the GMC straight away if you no longer have a connection, even if you think it is temporary. Failing to provide employment information when asked can itself start licence withdrawal.
- If you have no designated body you may be able to connect to a **suitable person**, a licensed doctor the GMC has approved for the role, or to one of the membership organisations that are themselves designated bodies: the British College of Aesthetic Medicine, the Faculty of Homeopathy, the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management, the Faculty of Occupational Medicine, the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, the Faculty of Public Health, and the Independent Doctors Federation. Each sets its own criteria.

## Annual appraisal, the backbone

Revalidation is not possible without an **annual appraisal that covers your whole scope of practice**, based on the values and principles in *Good medical practice*. You bring your supporting information and your reflections; your appraiser explores your practice with you and you agree a personal development plan and a summary. The RO draws on the run of appraisal summaries, plus clinical governance information from every organisation you have worked in, when making the recommendation. Systems vary by nation and employer: Scotland uses SOAR, Wales uses MARS, NHS England GPs use the appraisal system run through their regional team, and many trusts and independent doctors use commercial portfolio platforms. Switching platform mid-cycle without exporting your evidence is a recurring cause of deferral.

**Good medical practice 2024**, in force since 30 January 2024, reorganised the standard into four domains: *knowledge, skills and development*; *patients, partnership and communication*; *colleagues, culture and safety*; and *trust and professionalism*. Appraisals are now structured around those four domains, and your portfolio should show evidence against all four across the cycle. Our [GMC appraisal portfolio tracker](https://www.logbook.co.uk/gmc-appraisal-portfolio-tracker-template/) is laid out year by year against the six information types and the four domains so the gaps are visible in year two rather than year five.

## The six types of supporting information

The GMC's *Guidance on supporting information for revalidation* (published 31 January 2024, alongside the new *Good medical practice*) sets out six types. The list did not change in 2024; the reflection expected against it did.

1. **Continuing professional development.** Must cover your whole scope of practice and be reflected on. The GMC sets no credit or hours figure; your Royal College probably does (commonly 50 credits a year, 250 a cycle), and your appraiser will usually expect you to meet it.
2. **Quality improvement activity.** Clinical audit, case review, service evaluation, teaching evaluation, or a change you made and measured. What matters is the reflection on results and what you changed.
3. **Significant events.** Any unintended or unexpected event that could or did lead to harm. You must reflect on each one you were involved in, and candour reads far better at appraisal than defence.
4. **Feedback from patients, or from those you provide medical services to.** At least once per cycle, using a standard validated questionnaire that is independently administered wherever possible, and reflected on at appraisal.
5. **Feedback from colleagues.** At least once per cycle, chosen impartially from across your whole scope of practice and from a range of roles including people who are not doctors. Standard validated questionnaires, independently administered; any alternative must be agreed with your RO.
6. **Compliments and complaints.** Every complaint about you, formal or informal, must be declared and reflected on. A complaint the RO discovers that you did not disclose is a revalidation issue in its own right.

Alongside the six you make a **health statement** and a **probity statement** at each appraisal, and confirm you hold adequate indemnity or insurance.

### How many feedback responses do you need?

The GMC's guidance says the questionnaire provider will tell you the number needed for a reliable picture, and that a smaller sample may be acceptable if it suits your practice, provided you discuss why with your appraiser. For the GMC's own questionnaires, the GMC's research recommends a minimum of **34 completed patient questionnaires and 15 completed colleague questionnaires**, and suggests handing them to **45 consecutive patients and 20 colleagues** to reach those numbers. Leaving feedback to year five is the single most common cause of deferral, because the responses take months to collect.

## The three recommendations your RO can make

There are exactly three, and the GMC's guidance is clear on what each one means for you.

- **Recommendation to revalidate.** A formal declaration that you are up to date and fit to practise. The GMC confirms the decision to you and your RO with your next submission date.
- **Recommendation to defer.** Used where you are engaging but the RO needs more time: you could not collect all the supporting information by the date and there are reasonable circumstances; you are a trainee who could not complete ARCP; or a local HR or disciplinary process needs to conclude first. A deferral **is not a penalty, implies no judgement about your fitness to practise, does not affect your licence, and is not published on the medical register**. The RO specifies the period and agrees what you must do; the GMC gives at least three months' notice of the new date. A second deferral is only expected in exceptional circumstances.
- **Recommendation of non-engagement.** Made when you have not sufficiently engaged with the processes that support revalidation or have not complied with the requirements. The RO can make it at any time, without waiting for your notice period. If the GMC accepts it, it **begins the process of withdrawing your licence**: it writes to you, gives you the chance to make representations, seeks further information from your RO, and then decides. If you start engaging, the GMC may defer instead. You can appeal a withdrawal, and you can keep GMC registration without a licence.

## Doctors with no connection: the annual return route

If you have no designated body and no suitable person, no recommendation is made about you. Instead you give the GMC assurance directly, and the requirements are heavier. You must:

- **Find an appraiser who meets the GMC's criteria:** licensed; themselves connected to a designated body or suitable person; recently trained in revalidation appraisal; carrying out appraisals for that body; with at least five appraisals for it in the 12 months before yours; with no conflict of interest with you; and able to verify your supporting information. You check their status on the medical register.
- **Have an annual whole-practice appraisal** in the same room or by video, on a structured form, after which the appraiser completes the **Appraiser report form (REV12)** for your annual return. The GMC discourages handwritten forms and may contact the appraiser directly.
- **Submit an annual return through GMC Online.** The GMC gives at least three months' notice; you can submit any time before the due date. It must include your employment or practice history, registration and licensing history, a fitness to practise declaration and details of your appraisals, and you **pay a fee** to cover the GMC's review. Anything the GMC then asks for from you or your appraiser must be sent within **28 days**, or you must explain why not.
- **Sit a revalidation assessment**, usually in the year you are due to revalidate, booked within the timeframe given and passed to the required standard. Failing without reasonable circumstances can lead to licence withdrawal, a fitness to practise investigation, or a re-sit at your own expense.
- Provide a **certificate of good standing** from any overseas regulator you have been registered with, and a statement of good standing (Medical Services Statement) from current or previous employers, if asked.

Missing the annual return without a reasonable excuse starts licence withdrawal. In practice most doctors who find themselves here are better served by establishing a connection, whether through a locum agency's designated body, one of the membership bodies above, or an approved suitable person, than by running the annual return route for five years.

## Locum and portfolio doctors

Locum agencies that are designated bodies provide the RO and appraisal access, but your supporting information must still cover **your whole practice**, including private and non-agency work. Keep the evidence yourself rather than in the agency's system: agencies change, and the GMC expects you to retain the supporting information discussed at every appraisal since your last revalidation, because a new appraiser, RO or the GMC can ask for it.

## Common mistakes

- Leaving patient and colleague feedback to the final year. Questionnaires need months, and 34 patient responses do not appear in a fortnight.
- Losing your connection when you change job and not updating GMC Online. The date does not move, but the new RO has to be able to make the recommendation.
- Counting the same activity under several supporting information types without reflection on each.
- Not declaring an informal complaint that your RO can see in the clinical governance record.
- Changing portfolio platform mid-cycle and losing the evidence trail.
- Treating a deferral as a black mark and arguing with it. It is a timing decision, not a judgement, and the fastest way through it is to meet the agreed conditions.

## FAQs

### How often do doctors revalidate with the GMC?

Usually every five years. The GMC sends notice of your revalidation submission date at least three months in advance, records it in your GMC Online account and tells your responsible officer through GMC Connect. Doctors in training revalidate at the point of eligibility for CCT if their programme is under five years, or five years after full registration and again at CCT if it is longer.

### What are the three recommendations a responsible officer can make?

A recommendation to revalidate, a recommendation to defer, or a recommendation of non-engagement. There is no fourth 'concerns' recommendation; concerns about fitness to practise are dealt with through separate GMC processes. Deferral is not a penalty, is not published on the register and does not affect your licence.

### What is the GMC annual return, and who has to submit one?

Doctors with no connection to a designated body or an approved suitable person. The GMC gives at least three months' notice, you submit through GMC Online by the date given, pay a fee, and include your employment and registration history, a fitness to practise declaration and details of your annual appraisals, together with the appraiser report form (REV12) from an appraiser who meets the GMC's criteria. In the year you are due to revalidate you also sit a revalidation assessment.

### How many patient and colleague feedback responses do I need?

The GMC requires at least one colleague feedback exercise and one patient feedback exercise per five-year cycle, using standard validated questionnaires that are independently administered wherever possible. For the GMC's own questionnaires, its research recommends a minimum of 34 completed patient questionnaires and 15 colleague questionnaires for a reliable picture, distributed to around 45 consecutive patients and 20 colleagues to reach those numbers. Fewer responses do not invalidate a recommendation, but you should discuss why with your appraiser.

### Does the GMC require a set number of CPD credits?

No. The GMC requires CPD that covers your whole scope of practice and that you have reflected on; it does not set a credit or hours figure. Most Royal Colleges run credit schemes, commonly 50 credits a year and 250 over the cycle, and your appraiser will usually expect you to meet your college's scheme, but that is a college requirement, not a GMC one.

### What if I cannot find an appraiser?

If you are connected to a designated body, providing access to appraisal is your responsible officer's duty; document your requests. If you have no connection, finding an appraiser is your own responsibility and the appraiser must meet the GMC's criteria, including holding a licence, being connected to a designated body themselves, and having carried out at least five appraisals for that body in the previous 12 months.

### How do I revalidate after a career break?

Update your connection details in GMC Online as soon as anything changes, including if you no longer have a connection. Return to work via your employer's or deanery's supported return scheme, have an appraisal covering your current scope, and expect your responsible officer to recommend a deferral if the required supporting information cannot be collected by your submission date. If you will not practise in the UK for some time, the GMC's guide on giving up your licence explains the alternative.

## Related guides

- [GMC appraisal portfolio tracker template](https://www.logbook.co.uk/gmc-appraisal-portfolio-tracker-template/): the six information types against the five-year cycle, with CPD, event and feedback logs
- [NMC revalidation for UK nurses](https://www.logbook.co.uk/nmc-revalidation-uk-nurses-complete-guide/): the three-year equivalent
- [CPD logbooks for UK healthcare professionals](https://www.logbook.co.uk/cpd-logbook-healthcare-revalidation-uk/)
- [Surgical logbooks: Royal College requirements](https://www.logbook.co.uk/surgical-logbook-royal-college-requirements-uk/)
- [Mandatory training records and the CSTF](https://www.logbook.co.uk/mandatory-training-records-uk-healthcare-cstf-complete-guide/)

## Sources and further reading

Every figure in this guide was checked against the following GMC pages on 22 September 2026.

- [GMC: Guidance for doctors, requirements for revalidation](https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/managing-your-registration/revalidation/guidance-for-doctors-requirements-for-revalidation/revalidation-requirements-for-doctors?ref=logbook.co.uk), including the sections on [when and how the recommendation is made](https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/managing-your-registration/revalidation/guidance-for-doctors-requirements-for-revalidation/when-and-how-the-revalidation-recommendation-is-made?ref=logbook.co.uk) and [additional requirements for doctors without a connection](https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/managing-your-registration/revalidation/guidance-for-doctors-requirements-for-revalidation/additional-requirements-for-doctors-without-a-connection?ref=logbook.co.uk)
- [GMC: Guidance on supporting information for revalidation](https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/managing-your-registration/revalidation/guidance-on-supporting-information-for-revalidation?ref=logbook.co.uk) (31 January 2024), including [colleague feedback](https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/managing-your-registration/revalidation/guidance-on-supporting-information-for-revalidation/colleague-feedback?ref=logbook.co.uk)
- [GMC: Revalidation for doctors with no connection](https://www.gmc-uk.org/registration-and-licensing/managing-your-registration/revalidation/revalidation-for-doctors/revalidation-for-doctors-with-no-connection?ref=logbook.co.uk)
- [GMC: Using questionnaires for revalidation, FAQs for appraisers](https://www.gmc-uk.org/-/media/documents/Revalidation%5Fquestionnaires%5F%5F%5FFAQs%5Ffor%5Fappraisers%5F%5F%5FDC7363.pdf%5F60312853.pdf?ref=logbook.co.uk) (34 patient and 15 colleague responses)
- [GMC: Good medical practice 2024](https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/good-medical-practice-2024?ref=logbook.co.uk)
- [RCGP: Revalidation regulations and requirements](https://www.rcgp.org.uk/your-career/revalidation/revalidation-regulations-requirements?ref=logbook.co.uk)

*First published 22 April 2026\. Rewritten and re-checked against GMC guidance on 22 September 2026 by Jamie Dawson, Editor. Logbook.co.uk is independent of the GMC; this guide is general information, not professional or legal advice. Corrections: corrections@logbook.co.uk*