The GMC GP Register
As of July 2026, a doctor must be entered on the GMC GP Register to work as a general practitioner in the UK. The GP Register is a distinct section of the GMC register: holding registration with a licence to practise permits a doctor to work in the UK, but GP work needs the additional GP Register entry. This page explains what the register is, why it exists, and how doctors join it.
Why there is a separate GP Register
General practice is a recognised medical specialty in the UK. Just as consultant-level work requires entry on the Specialist Register, working as a GP requires entry on the GP Register. The register exists so that patients, employers, and NHS commissioners can confirm that a doctor has completed — or been assessed as equivalent to — the training the UK requires of a general practitioner. The GMC maintains the register and decides eligibility.
Registration, in layers
For an internationally-qualified doctor who wants to work as a GP, three separate things must usually be in place, in order:
- GMC registration with a licence to practise — obtained via PLAB, a recognised postgraduate qualification, or specialist assessment.
- Entry on the GP Register — via a UK CCT or the portfolio (equivalence) route.
- Inclusion on the NHS England Medical Performers List — required to provide NHS primary medical services.
These are administered by different bodies and are not interchangeable. Confirm the current requirements for each directly with the GMC and NHS England.
The two routes onto the GP Register
CCT — completing UK GP specialty training
Doctors who train as a GP inside a UK-approved GP specialty training programme.
- UK GP specialty training is a structured programme (broadly around three years) that combines hospital placements and supervised general-practice placements, and includes the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP) assessments. Doctors follow the curriculum approved by the GMC and set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).
- When a trainee completes the programme satisfactorily, the GMC issues a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT). Holding a CCT in general practice supports an application to be entered on the GMC GP Register — the statutory prerequisite for working as a GP in the UK.
- Most doctors who qualified overseas do not hold a UK CCT, because CCT requires training inside a UK-approved programme. For them, the portfolio route below is usually the relevant pathway.
The portfolio route (historically CEGPR)
Doctors whose GP / family-medicine training or experience was gained outside a UK-approved programme.
Doctors who did not complete a UK GP training programme can apply to the GMC to demonstrate that their training and experience are equivalent to a UK CCT — historically the Certificate of Eligibility for GP Registration (CEGPR), which the GMC has reformed in recent years.
Read the full portfolio route guide →Source
The GP Register and joining it — General Medical Council (GMC).
The GMC sets the current routes, evidence, and fees — confirm them on gmc-uk.org before applying.
Source
NHS England — Medical Performers List — NHS England.
A GP must be on the NHS England Medical Performers List to provide NHS primary medical services, in addition to holding GMC GP registration.