FAQ 01 · Am I eligible to sit the CASC?

Before you spend a penny or a weekend on CASC practice, it's worth knowing you can actually sit it. I've gone through the College's regulations so you don't have to read them cold. Here's what they ask of you, and where I'd be careful.

The four conditions

The Royal College of Psychiatrists sets four conditions for entry to the CASC, and you'll need all four:

• Experience. 23 months of psychiatry, whole-time equivalent, after foundation training or internship, completed by the time of the exam.

• Theory papers. A pass in Paper A and Paper B, with your theory validity period still running at the CASC you apply for.

• Evidence of competence. A satisfactory ARCP if you are in an approved training programme. Otherwise, a completed assessment portfolio.

• Sponsorship. A senior colleague from the College's list who confirms on your application that you meet the criteria.

What follows is my reading of the rules, not the rules themselves. The binding document is the College's Eligibility Criteria and Regulations, and if anything I say here ever differs from it, follow the document.

Counting your 23 months

Your foundation years don't count, and neither do internship years or their equivalent. The clock only starts after them.

It's whole-time equivalent, so if you work less than full time, it'll take you longer to reach 23 months. The regulations recognise this: less-than-full-time doctors can ask for an extension to their theory validity period for that reason.

Your posts should normally last at least four months, and you're expected to work at least half time, which means five sessions a week.

Your sponsor has to verify all of this, so make their job easy. List every psychiatry post on the application form, most recent first, so the dates add up. I'd check those dates twice: a gap or an overlap is easy to miss when you've moved between posts.

Which posts count

You don't have to be in a training programme for your posts to count. The regulations cover this in the section on locum and locally employed doctor posts:

• Trust locum, LAT and LED posts count if they are above foundation level, meet the rules on post length, and come with the educational component: a logbook or portfolio of evidence.

• Agency locum posts may count in some cases, up to a maximum of six months, if the other conditions are met.

• Time in another specialty can count for up to six months as transferable competencies. The Chief Examiner decides case by case on evidence such as ARCP outcomes or a job description and weekly timetable.

• Research or academic sessions in a full-time post may count in part. Again, the Chief Examiner decides, after seeing your job description and timetable.

If you're not sure whether a post counts, don't guess. Write to the exams team at examinations@rcpsych.ac.uk before you apply, not after.

Papers A and B

You can sit Paper A once you have full registration after foundation year 1 or internship.

Paper B, under the regulations, needs full registration and at least six months of psychiatry, whole-time equivalent. The College recommends 12 months before you sit it. Its "Can I take an exam?" page words the Paper B rule differently, so I'd read both before you apply.

You can take the two papers in either order.

Then there's the validity clock, and this is the one I'd keep an eye on. It starts when the results of your first theory pass are published, and the current regulations give you six years to complete every part, the CASC included. The College's applying FAQ still quotes an older figure in days, so rely on the regulations, and if your dates are tight, ask the exams team.

The ARCP or the portfolio

If you're in an approved training programme, you need satisfactory progress at ARCP, including competency in developmental psychiatry and psychotherapy. Your sponsor confirms this on the application form.

If you're in any other post, you need a completed assessment portfolio showing competencies equivalent to those in the core training curriculum. It must cover psychotherapy, and child and adolescent psychiatry or learning disability.

The regulations give examples of what the portfolio should hold, and they're clear the list isn't exhaustive:

• interviews observed on ward rounds, and in outpatient or community settings, each for a stated purpose such as assessing risk or agreeing a plan;

• formal case presentations with your documented notes, and discussion of management with your clinical or educational supervisor;

• formal assessment of your competence in developmental psychiatry and in psychotherapy.

Your assessments should come from a range of settings and specialties, each with structured, documented feedback. I go through how I'd build one in chapter 2.

Sponsorship

Everyone needs a sponsor, trainees and non-trainees alike. Don't let the word put you off: a sponsor isn't funding you. They're endorsing your readiness. Chapter 3 covers who can sponsor you and how the application works.

Limits worth knowing

These are the rules that catch people late, so I'd know them now:

• Registration. You must be registered with the GMC or the equivalent body in your country, from application up to and including the exam date.

• Attempts. Each component allows six attempts, and no more than two CASC attempts in a calendar year.

• Places. CASC places are limited. When a sitting is oversubscribed, the regulations set priority groups, then first come, first served within each group.

That last point is why I'd always apply early in the window.

Official sources

• [Eligibility Criteria and Regulations, MRCPsych Exams](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/training/examinations/exams-eligibility-criteria-and-regulations---may-2025.pdf?sfvrsn=83f28e63_62): Section 1 (eligibility, the CASC, sponsorship, overseas and non-training candidates, locum and LED posts, transferable competencies) and Section 2, Application Procedure

• [Can I take an exam?](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/training/exams/can-i-take-an-exam)

• [FAQs about applying for exams](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/training/exams/faqs-about-applying-for-exams)