PLAB 1 expects UK practice, and the cheapest marks are compact UK rules: NHS screening ages and intervals, the routine immunisation schedule, Mental Health Act sections, DVLA fitness-to-drive periods and the structure of Good medical practice 2024. This page lists the ones we verified on official pages on 21 October 2026. NICE thresholds and BNF doses are not included, because we could not verify them for this page.
Why UK specifics matter
The GMC states that PLAB 1 answers must reflect current UK best practice and the equipment routinely available in UK hospitals, following published evidence rather than local arrangements. Candidates who answer from home practice lose marks on questions where the UK differs: screening ages, vaccine timing, legal powers and driving rules. These facts are short and rule-based, so they repay a week of flashcards.
Schedules and intervals change. The cervical screening interval was updated in 2025 and MMRV was added to the routine childhood schedule in 2026. Treat the facts below as a snapshot, and check the NHS, GOV.UK and UKHSA pages before the exam.
Where the answers come from
| Topic | Authority | Covered on this page |
|---|---|---|
| Management of common conditions | NICE guidelines and CKS | No (not verified here) |
| Prescribing and doses | BNF and BNF for Children | No (not verified here) |
| Immunisation | UKHSA Green Book; NHS routine schedule | Yes |
| Screening | NHS population screening programmes | Yes |
| Professional standards | GMC Good medical practice 2024; 0-18 years guidance | Structure only |
| Mental health law | Mental Health Act 1983 | Yes, section summary |
| Capacity | Mental Capacity Act 2005 | Not verified here |
| Driving | DVLA Assessing fitness to drive | Yes, selected conditions |
| Resuscitation | Resuscitation Council UK | No (not verified here) |
NHS screening programmes
| Programme | Who and when |
|---|---|
| Cervical | Ages 25 to 64, every 5 years (interval change recorded by UKHSA in July 2025) |
| Breast | Ages 50 to 70; women over 70 can self-refer |
| Bowel | Ages 50 to 74, home test kit every 2 years; people 75 and over can request a kit |
| Abdominal aortic aneurysm | Men at age 65; older men can self-refer |
| Diabetic eye | Everyone with diabetes from age 12, at regular intervals |
| Lung cancer | Ages 55 to 74 who have ever smoked, available in some parts of England |
| Newborn | Physical examination, hearing test and blood spot test |
| Antenatal | Infections, Down's, Edwards' and Patau's syndromes, sickle cell and thalassaemia, and the 20-week scan |
Typical traps: giving a screening age from another country, forgetting that the programme is an invitation rather than a diagnostic test, and mixing up screening with the urgent referral route for a symptomatic patient.
Routine immunisation schedule
The NHS routine schedule on 21 October 2026 reads as follows. The UKHSA Green Book is the authority for detail and contraindications.
| Age | Vaccines |
|---|---|
| 8 weeks | 6-in-1 (dose 1), rotavirus (dose 1), MenB (dose 1) |
| 12 weeks | 6-in-1 (dose 2), MenB (dose 2), rotavirus (dose 2) |
| 16 weeks | 6-in-1 (dose 3), pneumococcal (dose 1) |
| 1 year | MMRV (dose 1, for children born on or after 1 January 2025), pneumococcal (dose 2), MenB (dose 3) |
| 18 months | 6-in-1 (dose 4) and MMRV (dose 1 or 2, for children born on or after 1 July 2024) |
| 3 years 4 months | 4-in-1 pre-school booster, plus MMRV where applicable |
| Age 2 to Year 11 | Annual children's flu vaccine |
| 12 to 13 years | HPV |
| 14 years | Td/IPV (3-in-1 teenage booster) and MenACWY |
MMRV was added to the routine offer from 1 January 2026, and Menitorix (Hib/MenC) is no longer in the schedule. For adults, the NHS lists pneumococcal vaccination at 65, annual flu, shingles (at 65 if you turned 65 on or after 1 September 2023, and for ages 70 to 79) and RSV and COVID-19 from 75. In pregnancy: flu in season, whooping cough around 20 weeks and RSV from 28 weeks.
Typical traps: giving the dose number wrong, forgetting that eligibility depends on birth date for MMRV, and offering a vaccine that has left the schedule.
Try PLAB 1 practice questions free
Create a free account and answer sample questions with full explanations before you buy a pass.
Mental Health Act 1983
The NHS summary of the main sections is short and examinable. Reforms agreed in 2025 will roll out over several years, so questions should rely on the established framework.
- Section 2: assessment, up to 28 days.
- Section 3: treatment, up to 6 months, renewable.
- Section 5(2): the doctor in charge of care can hold an inpatient for up to 72 hours.
- Section 5(4): certain nurses, up to 6 hours.
- Sections 135 and 136: police powers. Section 135 is a warrant to enter premises; section 136 applies in a public place. The person goes to a place of safety for up to 24 hours, extendable to 36.
- Rights: appeal to the Mental Health Tribunal or hospital managers, and the right to an independent mental health advocate (IMHA).
Typical traps: choosing section 2 when the question describes long-term treatment, forgetting the 72-hour inpatient holding power and mixing up the powers of doctors, nurses and police.
DVLA fitness to drive
Rules depend on the licence group (Group 1: car and motorcycle; Group 2: bus and lorry) and on the condition. These figures are from the DVLA guidance on GOV.UK.
| Condition | Group 1 | Group 2 |
|---|---|---|
| First unprovoked seizure | Stop 6 months (12 months if a causative factor raises risk) | Stop 5 years |
| Epilepsy or multiple unprovoked seizures | Stop 12 months from last seizure | Seizure-free 10 years without anti-epileptic medication |
| TIA | Do not drive for 1 month; DVLA need not be notified | Licence refused or revoked for 1 year |
| Stroke | May resume after 1 month with satisfactory recovery | 1 year |
| Acute coronary syndrome or MI | 1 week after successful PCI if conditions met; otherwise 4 weeks | At least 6 weeks; relicensing needs LVEF at least 40% and functional tests |
| Angina | No fixed period; stop while symptomatic | At least 6 weeks symptom-free |
| Pacemaker implant | 1 week | 6 weeks |
| ICD, secondary prevention | 6 months after implant | Permanent bar |
| ICD, prophylactic | 1 month if asymptomatic | Permanent bar |
For insulin-treated diabetes, the person must notify DVLA. Group 1 drivers test glucose at the start of the first drive and at least every 2 hours while driving; Group 2 drivers have a 1-year licence, annual specialist review and a meter that stores 4 weeks of readings, and must test at least twice daily and every 2 hours when driving. Severe hypoglycaemia is an episode requiring the assistance of another person. In Group 1, stop and notify after two or more awake severe episodes in 12 months. In Group 2, stop and notify after any severe episode in 12 months, including while sleeping.
GMC Good medical practice 2024
Good medical practice came into effect on 30 January 2024. It has four domains: knowledge, skills and development; patients, partnership and communication; colleagues, culture and safety; and trust and professionalism. The duty of candour, being open if things go wrong, sits in the patients, partnership and communication domain. The GMC 0-18 years guidance covers capacity and consent of children and young people, confidentiality, access to records, child protection, and the care of under-16s who seek contraception, abortion or sexually transmitted infection care without parental knowledge or consent.
Typical traps: choosing an answer that protects the doctor over the patient, breaching confidentiality without a lawful reason, or failing to be open after an error.
How to memorise these facts
Use three flashcard formats. First, trigger to rule: "TIA, Group 1" on the front and "no driving for 1 month, DVLA need not be told" on the back. Second, rule to trap: "section 5(2)" on the front and "inpatient, doctor in charge, up to 72 hours, not nurses" on the back. Third, sequences: a table of ages for the immunisation schedule, rebuilt from memory each week. Review in spaced intervals, and rewrite any card you miss twice.
Group facts by contrast. Memorise Group 1 and Group 2 together, not one after the other, because the exam tests the difference. Learn sections 2 and 3 side by side. Compare screening start and stop ages in one table. Contrast helps you notice the detail that an item has changed.
Using the facts in reasoning
A rule only helps if you apply it to the stem. Look for the key variables: the age, the licence group, the setting, the legal status and the date of birth. Many questions are built so that one variable decides the answer. A patient who turned 65 in 2024 gets a different shingles answer from one who turned 65 in 2022. A bus driver with a first unprovoked seizure gets a different answer from a car driver. Read for these variables before you read the options.
What we cannot give you here
We could not read the NICE, BNF, legislation or Resuscitation Council UK sites in the session that produced these facts. We therefore do not list numeric thresholds for hypertension, diabetes targets, resuscitation drug doses, anaphylaxis doses or the Mental Capacity Act principles on this page. These are examinable, so learn them from the primary source and note the date you read it. Prescribing questions use BNF doses and British Approved Names, such as adrenaline, paracetamol, furosemide and salbutamol, with micrograms and nanograms written in full.
- NICE guidance and CKS for conditions and pathways
- BNF and BNF for Children for doses and interactions
- Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its Code of Practice for capacity
- Resuscitation Council UK guidelines for life support and anaphylaxis
Use the professional and therapeutics domain page to place these in your plan, and the high-yield topics guide to decide how much time they deserve.
Sit a timed PLAB 1 mock exam
Blueprint-weighted questions under exam timing, then a breakdown of your result by domain.
Frequently asked questions
Which UK guidelines does PLAB 1 follow?
The GMC says answers must reflect current UK best practice and equipment routinely available in UK hospitals. In practice that means NICE guidance, the BNF, UKHSA and NHS screening and immunisation programmes, GMC guidance, the Mental Health Act 1983, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, DVLA fitness-to-drive rules and Resuscitation Council UK guidelines.
What are the NHS cervical screening ages?
NHS cervical screening is offered at ages 25 to 64, every 5 years. The interval change was recorded by UKHSA in July 2025. Check the NHS page for the current position.
How long can a person be held under section 2 and section 3 of the Mental Health Act?
Section 2 allows assessment for up to 28 days. Section 3 allows treatment for up to 6 months, renewable.
What are the DVLA rules after a first unprovoked seizure?
For Group 1 (car, motorcycle), the person must stop driving for 6 months, or 12 months if a causative factor raises risk. For Group 2 (bus, lorry), it is 5 years. Always check the current DVLA guide.
Do I need to memorise the whole immunisation schedule?
Learn the routine schedule by age, because questions ask what to give at a given age and who is eligible. Use the current NHS schedule, as it changed recently with the addition of MMRV.
Can I rely on this page for NICE thresholds?
No. We could not read NICE, BNF or legislation pages in the session that produced the facts, so numeric NICE thresholds and drug doses are not on this page. Check them on the source before you rely on them.