The GPVTS Exam Itself
What is the GPVTS Exam?
In order to reach the interview stage of the current GPVTS selection process all applicants must undergo and succesfully pass an entrance examination. The examination is the same throughout England.
What is in the GPVTS Exam?
The examination itself consists of two stages :
The assessment test which lasts for approximately 2 hours and normally contains around 200 questions. It covers all aspects of general medicine/surgery and the specialties. For more information see our Help on Answering Qs and Tips for Revision sections below.
The Professional Dilemmas Section. This section contains scenarios that are designed to test your ability to respond to professional dilemmas using the Situational Judgement Test format. The Situation Judgement Test section (SJT) was introduced as a reasearch tool in September 2006 to assess its suitability as an assessment for selecting candidates in 2007. It is a test of judgement and can't as such be 'revised for'. We provide some further advice on answering these questions along with some examples in our Situation Judgement Test section here
Help on Answering Questions
You may find the following information useful when attempting to answer questions:
- Questions assess clinical knowledge expected of a Pre - Registration House Officer (PRHO) or Foundation Year 1 Doctor.
- Questions cover basic areas of general medicine, general surgery and the clinical specialties.
- You should endeavour to answer all questions as there are no negatively marked questions.
Conventional terms which frequently appear within the exam have been defined thus:
| “Pathognomic”, “Diagnostic”, “Characteristic” or “Vast majority” | True of at least 90% of cases | |
| “Typically”, “Frequently”, “Significantly”, “Commonly” or “Substantial Majority” | True of at least 60% of cases | |
| “Majority” | True of at least 50% of cases | |
| “Minority” | True of less than 50% of cases | |
| “Low Chance”, “Substantial Minority” | True of less than 30% of cases | |
Tips for Revision
What should I revise?
The exam itself normally takes about 2 hours and assesses all aspects of general medicine, general surgery and the clinical specialties. As a minimum, you should therefore brush up on paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, orthopaedics, psychiatry, ENT, dermatology and ophthalmology.
What are the best materials to revise from?
The best way to optimise your chances for the exam is to do as many practice questions as you can. Unfortunately there are no "past papers." This website is designed to help in that regard, offering questions in the same style and format as the exam.
You will find many of the questions assess knowledge expected of a FY1 doctor and at a similar detail to that found in the Oxford handbook of clinical specialties and the Oxford handbook of clinical medicine. The Oxford Handbook of General Practice is unlikely to be of much benefit.
You may also find fast-reading texts such as the lecture notes series helpful, but do not waste your time focusing on minutiae - think clinical! think relevant!
Where can I find out more?
You can try the national recruitment website for further details. http://www.gprecruitment.org.uk.