The number most people know before anything else about this test is the fee. €2,800 is a lot of money, and it is not the whole cost. This page puts the fee, the calendar and the two-attempt rule in one place, from the RCSI and NMBI pages as they read on 9 September 2026. Check them again before you pay: RCSI says the fee has not changed since 2015, but dates and procedure do.
What the fee buys
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Fee | €2,800. €2,500 if an eligible prospective employer pays RCSI directly, decided at application, never refunded retrospectively. |
| Covers | Part 1 theory and Part 2 OSCE, two attempts at each. A failed theory is repeated in full; a failed OSCE means resitting only the stations you failed. |
| Payment | TransferMate only, after RCSI sends you the payment instruction. A fee paid any other way carries a €200 administration charge and a slower application. Paying in euro adds a €10 TransferMate charge. |
| Deadline | 14 days from the instruction to pay and upload the TransferMate payment notification. Miss it and the application is withdrawn. |
| Refund | Automatic only when the theory is failed at the second attempt: the OSCE portion comes back. Otherwise refunds on withdrawal, minus an administration charge that grows the later you withdraw. |
Who pays matters. Many candidates arrive through an agency or a hospital that pays the fee as part of the recruitment package. RCSI asks at application who is paying (applicant, agent, employer, other), and any change of agent or employer later means withdrawing and applying again from scratch. If your employer pays, get that in writing before you accept a test date.
The other costs
RCSI’s own list, and it is worth reading twice: the NMBI fees for the decision letter and registration, immigration fees, flights and accommodation in Dublin, and enough money to live on before the first salary. It adds one line that people skip: factor in a repeat date. If you fail the theory on a Saturday, the repeat is a few weeks later. That is another trip or a longer stay.
The calendar
The test is held at the Smurfit Building, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9. Theory is normally a Saturday or Sunday, with the OSCE the following weekend and the OSCE repeat three to four weeks after that. RCSI planned 35 tests in 2026 and publishes dates at least twelve months ahead. No first attempts run in July or December, and none on a bank holiday weekend.
Theory dates on the RCSI schedule when we checked: 19 September 2026, 3 October 2026, 4 October 2026, 10 October 2026, 31 October 2026, 1 November 2026, 7 November 2026, 8 November 2026, 14 November 2026, 15 November 2026, 21 November 2026, 9 January 2027. The OSCE for each is normally the weekend after. Extra dates get added when demand is high, and a date can be cancelled if too few people apply.
Three rules shape when you can actually sit. A date opens for applications 3.5 to 4.5 months in advance, and you can only apply for the date that is open when your application completes. Your NMBI decision letter must still be in date on the day of the theory paper. And once you sit the theory, both attempts at both parts must be finished within 12 weeks, or RCSI tells the NMBI you are not continuing.
Thirteen days before the test you must have all immigration documents in hand, not applied for, and return the booking confirmation by 8am Irish time on the Monday twelve or thirteen days before. Late means you lose the date and go to a later one. RCSI notes that about 20% of places each month went unfilled in 2026 because of late postponements, so a waitlist place can come up quickly if your papers are ready.
Results
Theory results arrive by email by 6pm on the day of the test. A pass brings an invitation to the OSCE. OSCE results come by 2pm on the Thursday after the test, and a pass goes straight to the NMBI, provided you had already selected RCSI as your compensation measure on your MyNMBI account before the theory paper. People forget that step. Do it the week you confirm your place.
Two attempts, then what
Fail the theory once and RCSI offers a repeat date. RCSI recommends at least two weeks between attempts, and the repeat is the full 150 questions again. Fail it a second time and RCSI informs the NMBI. The NMBI then issues a decision letter provisionally refusing recognition of your qualification.
From there you have two routes and one closed door. You can appeal to the NMBI Registration Committee within 56 days through MyNMBI, where mitigating circumstances are considered. You can start a new application for qualification recognition. What you cannot do is switch to the adaptation period as a second compensation measure: the NMBI rules that out once a measure has been failed. A decision letter is valid for twelve months and for one compensation measure only.
That is why the theory paper deserves more respect than a 50% pass mark suggests. Half marks on a Saturday, or the whole route, the fee and the job offer are in question. Our mock exam runs the same 150 questions on the same 180-minute clock so the first time you feel that pressure is not the day it counts.
Sources: RCSI fees, application process and test dates and overview pages; NMBI compensation measures and appeals pages. Checked 9 September 2026.