Questions doctors often ask

Registration means you're on the GMC's medical register. A licence to practise is what allows you to carry out certain activities as a doctor in the UK, and it's the licence, not registration, that requires revalidation. You can stay registered without a licence.

Often not. The GMC says that if you aren't working as a doctor in the UK, it's unlikely you need your licence. Keeping a licence on the basis of practice drawn wholly or significantly from overseas is only possible in exceptional circumstances. Some doctors keep regular UK work alongside their overseas role; others give up their licence and restore it when they return. We'll talk through the options on your discovery call. See the GMC's revalidation questions and answers (opens in a new tab).

A designated body is a UK organisation, such as an employer, that oversees a doctor's appraisal and revalidation. Its Responsible Officer makes revalidation recommendations to the GMC. Your link to that organisation is your prescribed connection. Only UK organisations can be designated bodies, and a connection normally depends on a qualifying relationship, such as UK employment. The GMC's designated body tool (opens in a new tab) can help you check yours.

No one can honestly sell a connection: it depends on your circumstances and is decided by the designated body and its Responsible Officer. Introduction to a suitable person or designated body is subject to eligibility and partner confirmation. We will confirm availability and the services included in writing before you commit to payment. Eligibility, connection and revalidation decisions rest with the designated body's Responsible Officer and the GMC. If a connection isn't available, we support you fully on the GMC's annual return route.

If you hold a licence but have no designated body or Suitable Person, the GMC asks you to have an annual whole-practice appraisal with an appraiser who meets its criteria, submit an annual return through GMC Online, and usually take a revalidation assessment every five years. See the GMC's guidance on revalidation for doctors with no connection (opens in a new tab).

REV12 is the form used for the annual return on the no-connection route. In Appraisal, Handled and Revalidation, Handled we complete it with you on a screen-share, using a checklist, where it applies to you.

For doctors without a connection, the GMC sets criteria for appraisers: for example, they must be licensed, connected to a designated body or Suitable Person, appropriately trained, have carried out a minimum number of appraisals in the previous year and have no conflict of interest. Our appraisals are carried out by our approved appraisers, each of whom meets these criteria and works to the clinical standards set by our Medical Director.

Your appraisal covers your whole practice, wherever it takes place, so overseas CPD can form part of your supporting information. Our Overseas CPD Mapping Pack helps you present it clearly under the UK headings.

Multi-source feedback can be collected online from colleagues and patients wherever you work. In Appraisal, Handled and Revalidation, Handled we set it up, provide invitation wording and send reminders for you. Appraisal Ready includes our MSF from Abroad Toolkit.

Quality improvement doesn't need to be an NHS audit. Our QIA Idea Bank offers ideas that work in overseas and private settings, with templates to help you write them up.

Whichever suits you. We can work in your existing platform, a MAG-form folder or our secure workspace.

A PDP is your personal development plan, agreed at each appraisal. MSF is multi-source feedback from colleagues and patients. QIA is quality improvement activity, such as an audit or service review. The MAG form is the Medical Appraisal Guide model appraisal form, a widely used template for organising your appraisal evidence.

Please never send patient-identifiable information. We'll ask you to anonymise anything clinical, and we remove any identifiers we spot before anything is stored.

The Portfolio Line runs on a business WhatsApp account, and chats are cleared on a schedule once items are filed. Full details of storage and retention will be set out in our privacy notice.

You do. Your reflections are always your own. Send one as a text and we'll enter it into your portfolio. If you'd rather talk, send a voice note and we'll turn it into a written reflection in your own words and enter it for you. We never write reflections for you or add our own content.

No. VAT is not charged on our services, so the prices shown are what you pay to us, with no hidden fees. GMC fees are separate and paid directly to the GMC.

No. GMC fees are paid by you directly to the GMC. From 1 April 2026 these include £481 a year for a licence to practise, £172 a year for registration without a licence, £307 for the annual return and £1,357 for the revalidation assessment. Please check the GMC's current fees (opens in a new tab).

Every call is booked in your own time zone. Appraisal slots include early, evening and weekend UK times. Concierge reply times are measured in UK business hours: 9am to 6pm UK time, Monday to Friday, excluding UK bank holidays. General enquiries by email are answered within one UK working day.

Appraisal Ready (£650) and Appraisal, Handled (£1,395) are paid in full. Revalidation, Handled is £2,950 per year, paid upfront. It is an annual membership, renewed each year. Payment arrangements and cancellation terms will be confirmed in writing before payment. Introduction to a suitable person or designated body is subject to eligibility and partner confirmation. We will confirm availability and the services included in writing before you commit to payment.

No. Returning clients keep their price. Renew each year and your package price stays the same as when you joined, for as long as you stay with us. The locked price is the standard package price at the time you joined; the founding-member 15% discount applies to your first year only.

As little as we can make it. Your part is a short discovery call, a preparation consultation, your appraisal itself, and sending evidence by WhatsApp whenever it suits you. We do the filing, organising, reminders and paperwork in between.

No. Revalidation, Handled is a yearly membership, renewed each year, at £2,950 per year, paid upfront. Revalidation itself happens every five years, but a designated body connection, your annual appraisal and our support run year by year, so the membership does too. Full details will be in our terms of service before payment.

General enquiries by email are answered within one UK working day. Once you're a client, your concierge replies within one UK working day on Appraisal Ready, within four UK business hours on Appraisal, Handled and within two UK business hours on Revalidation, Handled. UK business hours are 9am to 6pm UK time, Monday to Friday, excluding UK bank holidays.

Yes. As founding members, our first 20 clients receive 15% off their first year of any package. Mention it on your discovery call. One per doctor; it can't be combined with other offers.

No. Decisions about connection and revalidation rest with Responsible Officers and the GMC, and no honest service can guarantee them. Appraisal is not pass or fail either. What we do guarantee is our own service: see the next question.

Each package has a written guarantee covering our own service:

• Appraisal Ready: Ready, or we put it right. If your appraiser or Responsible Officer formally states, in writing, that the portfolio we helped you prepare was insufficient, we'll work with you to fix the gaps at no extra cost. If it is still judged insufficient, we'll refund 50% of your fee. This applies when you've followed our preparation checklist, supplied your evidence by the dates we agreed, and can share the written feedback.
• Appraisal, Handled: Completed, or your money back. If your appraisal isn't completed within the appraisal window we agree with you, for reasons on our side, we'll refund your fee in full. If the delay comes from your side, for example evidence arriving late, a cancelled session or no reply to us, we'll rebook your appraisal once at no charge, but no refund applies.
• Revalidation, Handled: Year-round support. Introduction to a suitable person or designated body is subject to eligibility and partner confirmation. We will confirm availability and the services included in writing before you commit to payment. We cannot guarantee connection, a revalidation recommendation or a GMC outcome.
• Every package: 14 days to change your mind. On every package, cancel within 14 days of booking, before any work has started, and we'll refund you in full.

Claim in writing within 30 days of the event the claim relates to (for example, receiving written feedback or the end of your agreed appraisal window). Any refund is capped at the fee for that package year. Our guarantees cover our own service. Appraisal is not pass or fail, and we never guarantee decisions made by an appraiser, a Responsible Officer, a designated body or the GMC. Full conditions are in our terms of service.