Become a CASC examiner or an exam panel member

We are recruiting members of the College to become CASC examiners and exam panel members.

On 1 February 2022, we launched a campaign to recruit new CASC examiners. We have received a fantastic response to the campaign with over 2,500 visits to the College website, 2,200 video views and importantly 300 new examiner applications.

Discussing the examiner recruitment drive, RCPsych Chief Executive Paul Rees said:

“It is essential that the MRCPsych exams reflect modern psychiatry practice and current scientific knowledge.

“We are delighted with the incredible response to our CASC examiner recruitment drive. We had a very successful round of recruitment last year, which we thought would be difficult to beat, so it’s fantastic that we have been able to significantly increase applications again this year.

“We are now looking to build on the success of this campaign and recruit members of the College, including higher trainees, to all our exam panels.”

Becoming a panel member is a great way to broaden your skills and contribute to setting standards in psychiatry. It is a self-contained role, where the work involves participating in a few meetings each year, writing and reviewing questions.

In addition to contributing to your professional development, being a panel member allows you to network with colleagues and support your trainees.

We are recruiting to the following panels:

  • Paper A Panel writes the questions for Paper A (Scientific and Theoretical Basis of Psychiatry) and sets the Paper A Exam.
  • Paper B Clinical Topics Panel writes the clinical topics questions for Paper B which comprise two thirds of the paper and sets this part of the exam.
  • Paper B Critical Review Panel writes the critical review questions for Paper B which comprise one third of the paper and sets this part of the exam.
  • Written Papers Quality Assurance Panel checks the quality of the written paper questions before they appear in an exam.
  • Written Papers Standard Setting Panel meets after an exam to agree the difficulty of each question, which in turn is used to set the pass mark for the written papers. They would also recommend poorly performing questions for removal.
  • CASC Panel writes the stations for the CASC exam, oversees the running of the exam, particularly in relation to standardisation, and recruits and trains examiners.
  • Examinations Subcommittee oversees the work of all the panels, agrees the final papers, and the results. It is also responsible for examination development and strategy.

For further information and to hear what your colleagues have to say about being an exam panel member:

Find out about becoming an exam panel member
Read more to receive further information regarding a career in psychiatry