MRCEM Intermediate SBA pass percentage

TL;DR. The MRCEM SBA does not have a fixed pass percentage. It is Angoff-standard-set per diet, then +1 SEM is added. In recent diets the pass mark has sat at roughly 58–67% of the 180 marks available — 117/180 (65%) for September 2024 and January 2025, and 120/180 (67%) for January 2026. Cohort pass rate has collapsed: 47.0% in 2023 to 30.9% in 2024 (RCEM, 2024 data). Aim for ≥75% on timed Year 1–3 SLO question banks before booking. Facts last verified 30 May 2026.

If you are calibrating where to sit your MRCEM Intermediate SBA (synonyms: MRCEM SBA, MRCEM Part B), this is the single page that tells you the actual numbers, what they have been, and how to read your own mock data against them. No padding.

What is the MRCEM SBA pass percentage?

There is no published target percentage. RCEM does not set a fixed 60% or 70% cut-off. The pass mark is determined for every diet by the modified Angoff method, then one Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) is added to produce the official pass mark. That means the raw number of marks you need shifts with the difficulty of that diet’s question pool.

The exam has 180 SBA questions across two 2-hour papers (90 questions each) with a 1-hour break. One mark per correct answer, no negative marking. The pass percentage you achieve is your raw score divided by 180.

Key fact: in recent diets, the actual pass mark has equated to roughly 58–67% of the available 180 marks. That is the realistic target band to plan against.

What pass marks have recent diets used?

Below are the verified pass marks for documented MRCEM SBA diets, with the equivalent percentage of 180.

Sources: Bromley Emergency Courses, RCEM exam regulations, candidate result postings on Reddit (r/doctorsUK) and Facebook MRCEM groups. RCEM does not publish a master historical pass-mark table; the numbers above are from candidate result letters and recognised provider write-ups.

The pattern. Pass marks have crept upward since 2022. Two consecutive diets at 117 and one at 120 suggests the standard-set difficulty estimate has stabilised at the high end of the 58–67% band rather than the low end. Plan as if you need ~67% (120/180), not 60%.

If you are wondering why the February 2022 pass mark looks anomalously low: the SBA was still a relatively new format then, having replaced the FRCEM Intermediate SAQ in August 2021. Question difficulty calibration in the first few diets was higher (i.e. judges rated questions as harder than they really were for the cohort), which produces a lower Angoff cut score. The drift to 120 reflects calibration tightening over four years.

What is the actual cohort pass rate?

The pass rate — what proportion of sitters pass — is a different number from the pass mark. RCEM publishes annual data.

That is a statistically significant drop with a moderate effect size (RCEM’s own analysis, Exam Pass Rate Report 2024). MRCEM SBA was the worst-performing exam in the RCEM portfolio in 2024 — FRCEM OSCE sat at 80.6%, MRCEM OSCE at 80.0%, Primary SBA at 57.4%, FRCEM SBA at 51.1%.

Why the collapse? RCEM hasn’t published a specific reason. The exam content has not changed format. Three plausible drivers, all of which align with the data:

• Standard-set drift. The pass mark has risen 14 marks (106 to 120) across the post-FRCEM-SAQ era. If the Angoff panel is rating questions as easier than candidates actually find them, the cut score drifts up and the cohort drops down.
• Candidate composition shift. 2024 saw a substantial fall in total SBA candidates (4,035 to 3,101). RCEM’s 2024 report shows international and non-trainee candidates make up the majority of sitters and pass at noticeably lower rates than UK trainees (46.0% IMG, 57.2% UK non-trainee, 79.6% UK trainee). Any shift in the proportional mix moves the headline rate.
• Curriculum content updates. RCEM updated the 2021 EM curriculum in 2025, but flux in guidelines (cardiology, paediatrics, mental health) means questions can outpace the major textbook updates candidates have already read.

How does the Angoff +1 SEM standard set actually work?

Plain version. A panel of EM consultants reviews every question in the paper before the exam and estimates the proportion of a borderline-competent candidate (minimum-MRCEM standard) who would get it right. Average those estimates and you get the Angoff cut score — the unrounded raw mark a minimally competent candidate would achieve.

RCEM then adds one Standard Error of Measurement. The SEM accounts for the imprecision of any single test. Adding 1 SEM moves the pass mark slightly above the bare cut score, so candidates who pass are genuinely above the standard rather than statistical noise around it.

Practical consequence: you cannot calculate the pass mark in advance, and you will not be told what it is until results are released. You only see your score, the pass mark, and the cohort average in your feedback letter.

The +1 SEM step is also why “I was one mark off” is harder than it sounds. The SEM for a 180-question SBA is typically around 4–5 marks. The pass mark already incorporates that buffer above the bare Angoff cut, so a candidate sitting on the pass mark exactly is genuinely above the minimum standard with reasonable confidence — you have not been “unlucky”, you have just landed at the threshold.

Am I ready? How to use mock percentages

The pass mark on the real paper is 58–67%. Your mock platform percentages do not map 1:1, because question banks are usually easier than the live paper (over-represented core topics, shorter stems, less ambiguous distractors).

Working rule from candidate reporting on Reddit (r/doctorsUK) and study group feedback:

• Consistently ≥75% on timed, unseen MRCEM SBA Year 1–3 SLO questions — you are in the safe band to book. Most first-time passers report this kind of mock performance.
• 65–74% — borderline. You will likely be within 5–10 marks of the pass mark either way. Identify weak SLOs and run another 4–6 weeks.
• <65% — do not book. The pass rate at <65% mock performance is poor across cohorts.

Use the percentile rank on your question bank, not the raw percentage, if available. Being in the 75th percentile of active users typically maps closer to a real pass than an isolated high score on a single mock. Pay attention to performance on unseen questions specifically — a high overall percentage driven by repeated exposure to the same questions does not predict the real exam.

The single most predictive metric in candidate write-ups: percentage correct on full-length, single-sitting, timed mocks of 90–180 questions. Pacing fatigue in the second paper is the most common failure mode reported — candidates who can hit 75% on a 30-question burst often drop to 60–65% on the second half of a full mock. The real exam reproduces that pattern.

Which SLOs carry the most marks?

The MRCEM SBA blueprint (RCEM, December 2023) allocates the 180 questions as follows:

• SLO 1 — Complex stable patient: 60 questions (33%). The biggest target. Covers cardiology, respiratory, endocrinology, neurology, gastro, infectious diseases, mental health, MSK, ophthalmology, dermatology, ENT, urology, vascular, frailty, sexual health, environmental and oncological emergencies.
• SLO 3 — Resuscitate, organ failure (excluding major trauma): 40 questions (22%).
• SLO 4 — Injured patient: 30 questions (17%).
• SLO 5 — Paediatric EM: 25 questions (14%).
• SLO 7 — Complex/challenging situations: 15 questions (8%). Legal, safeguarding, governance, evidence.
• SLO 6 — Procedural skills, basic anaesthesia: 10 questions (6%).

If you need to recover marks fast, every percentage point gained in SLO 1 is worth roughly twice what you get from the same effort in SLO 7. Strategically, the 60 SLO 1 marks plus 40 SLO 3 marks (100 questions, 55% of the paper) is where the pass-mark threshold is usually crossed or missed. SLOs 5, 6 and 7 (50 questions combined) are recoverable losses if you have a strong SLO 1/3 base.

Who passes and who doesn’t (2024 data)

RCEM’s 2024 report breaks the overall 53.3% pass rate across exam diets down by candidate profile. Headline differential attainment numbers:

• UK trainees: 79.6% pass rate (across all RCEM exam diets).
• UK non-trainees: 57.2%.
• International candidates: 46.0%.
• First attempt: 66.6%. Second attempt: 31.4%. Third: 31.3%. Fourth or more: 31.2%.
• Native English speakers: 64.4% vs 47.5% if English is not first language.
• Within UK: 68.0% vs outside UK: 46.1%.

The attempt-number cliff is the most clinically actionable signal. After a fail, structured remediation matters more than time alone — the data does not show passive improvement on subsequent sittings. Candidates who failed and then re-sat without changing approach pass at roughly the same rate as the third- and fourth-attempt baseline (~31%). Candidates who fail, audit their feedback letter properly and rebuild around weak SLOs do much better.

What does a candidate’s real feedback letter look like?

You receive your feedback within one week of results. It contains:

• Your total score out of 180.
• The diet pass mark.
• The cohort average (the mean score of everyone who sat).
• Your performance broken down per SLO, expressed as both the raw mark and the percentage correct for that SLO, against the cohort average.

If you failed, this letter is the most useful document you will get. Two patterns worth checking: a single SLO >10 percentage points below cohort average (focused weakness — targeted remediation), or every SLO 3–5 points below cohort average (broad knowledge gap — full re-read needed). A third pattern is performance at or above cohort average across all SLOs but still below the pass mark — that means you are competing in a strong diet and need to lift baseline competence rather than fix specific holes.

What does the day itself look like?

The exam runs across two papers of 90 questions each, two hours per paper, one hour’s break in the middle. Delivered through Pearson VUE test centres worldwide (it moved from Surpass to Pearson VUE for recent diets — check your booking confirmation).

Pacing: 90 questions in 120 minutes = 80 seconds per question average. Most candidates who run out of time report it happens in the second paper, on stems with multiple investigation results that need interpretation. Flag and move on after 90 seconds; come back if time allows. Because there is no negative marking, every blank you leave at the end is a guaranteed zero that a sensible guess would convert to a 25% chance of a mark.

What is the cost of resitting?

2026 MRCEM SBA fees:

• Member UK: £429
• Member International: £485
• Non-member UK: £525
• Non-member International: £609

You have a maximum of six attempts (FRCEM Intermediate SAQ attempts after August 2016 count). The exam runs twice a year — January and September (see the MRCEM SBA virtual queue results system) — so a fail costs roughly six months plus the fee. RCEM does not refund applications once submitted, but in exceptional circumstances with appropriate evidence, applications may be transferred to the next available exam at no extra cost.

When should I book?

The 2026 diet dates:

• 16 September 2026 — application window 10–17 June 2026. Results 28 October 2026.

The January 2026 diet has already run; the next diet at time of writing is September 2026. Book only when your mock performance is consistently in the safe band (≥75% on timed, unseen Year 1–3 SLO questions), not when the application window opens. The fee for a wasted attempt is between £429 and £609; the cost of waiting a diet to be properly prepared is six months.

If you are ready to put structured preparation behind you, EM Final Exams covers the MRCEM SBA syllabus with timed SLO-mapped practice and feedback-letter style cohort comparisons.

Facts last verified 30 May 2026. Pass rate data: RCEM Exam Pass Rate Report 2024 (published October 2025). Pass mark data: RCEM exam regulations, Bromley Emergency Courses, candidate result letters posted publicly to r/doctorsUK and recognised MRCEM Facebook groups. Fee and date data: Bromley Emergency Courses and rcem.ac.uk/exam-calendar-fees as of May 2026.

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