Applying for the Diplomate examination (DFPH)

We welcome applications from anyone who holds a university degree. It is not necessary to hold a medical qualification to sit this examination, nor is it necessary to be enrolled in a training course.

Yes.

No candidate will normally be permitted more than six attempts at the examination without providing evidence of additional educational experience. The attempt limit applies irrespective of whether a candidate has banked a paper or not. 

For more information please take note of the MFPH Regulations.

For guidance regarding the Additional Educational Experience process, please see the Guidance and Additional Attempt Form under the heading 'Useful information about applying' here.

Application forms and guidelines can be found here. Once the form has been completed and payment has been made, please email the form (referencing the method of payment) to laurabland@fph.org.uk.

All applications will be acknowledged and places confirmed, along with details on the arrangements for the exam sitting, as soon as possible after the closing date.

I have a disability which may affect my ability to demonstrate my knowledge and expertise without being disadvantaged. Can I apply for special adjustments?

Yes. Special arrangements for examinations can be made to enable candidates to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the subject notwithstanding their disability. For more information about the policy and how to submit a request please note of the FPH Examinations Policy for candidates requiring adjustments. 

Applicants who are enrolled on the UK public health specialty training scheme only need to submit an application form and appropriate payment. Specialty registrars must be enrolled with FPH before they will be allowed to sit the examination.

Applicants who are not enrolled on the UK training programme must provide documentary evidence demonstrating their eligibility. Registered members of a profession related to health will be required to produce documentary evidence of their professional registration (eg. with the General Medical Council (GMC), Nursing and Midwifery Council, etc.). Medical graduates not registered with the GMC must provide the original copy of their primary medical qualification with their application form. 

Applicants who are not professionally registered must also provide original evidence of their qualifications with their application form.

The current application fee, as well the application closing dates and examination dates, can be found here.

Once you have submitted your application you will receive an email with a payment link. Please make payment within 48 hours of submission of your form to guarantee your place.

If payment has not been received within 48 hours it will not be possible to hold your place. As such, we strongly advise you to make payment on the date you submit your form as spaces are limited and guaranteed on a first come, first served basis.

Yes, candidates who have previously banked a paper do need to pay the full application fee for any subsequent attempt. Fees for the Diplomate Examination (DFPH) are set by the FPH Board. The fees are designed to cover the costs incurred for the examination including costs of staff who are employed solely to run the examinations. Other fixed costs are those which are incurred by developing the examination, training examiners and running examiner meetings. All these are fixed costs which are incurred regardless of the number of papers any one particular candidate sits.  The only ‘saving’ which might be made by a candidate sitting only one paper is in the marking and examiners are not currently remunerated for their time.

In order to comply with the recent GMC position on approved curricula and the role of UK and overseas exams, FPH has had to alter the reciprocal arrangement where a pass in the MFPHMI Part I examination lead to an exemption from the Diplomate Examination (DFPH). FPH will now be transitioning to a position where an exemption from the Diplomate Examination (DFPH) will only be able to count towards membership of FPH as opposed to also counting towards CCT.

As part of the GMC’s transitional guidelines, FPH is able to provide Diplomate Examination (DFPH) exemptions that count towards CCT where the following two criteria are met:

• The MFPHMI Part I examination pass has been achieved before 1 June 2015

And

• The doctor enters the UK training programme before 31 December 2016.

FPH has published a statement on the status of the MFPHMI Part I examination which outlines the FPH position in further detail.

The Diplomate examination (DFPH) is held in March and October each year. The specific dates are available here. 

Yes.

Past papers are held here for easy downloading. However, questions in the Paper IIB paper are not published, as they form part of a reusable question bank. Following GMC approval of Standard Setting in October 2016, FPH is working toward a closed bank of questions for all sittings from June 2017.  A selection of past papers will continue to be available on FPH website.

• Candidates withdrawing from an examination after the closing date and up to one week before the examination will normally be charged 50% of the fee.
• No refund will be made to candidates withdrawing within seven days of the examination.
• No refund will be granted without written notice of intention to withdraw.
• A greater refund may be granted at the discretion of the Academic Registrar under exceptional circumstances. A letter from your  GP  and/or your TPD/employer will be requested to support this.

Please see the full Withdrawal Policy here.

The two days and all papers of the DFPH exam constitute one single assessment. Candidates are permitted to ‘bank’ a paper should they pass one paper at a sitting. This means that they can retain the pass for the next attempt providing the exam is taken again within a year. For example, if a candidate banked a paper in March 2024, they could miss a sitting and sit the remaining paper in March 2025.

The administrative and staff cost for processing a DFPH exam attempt is the same regardless of whether the candidate is sitting one paper or two, and this is the largest element of the fee for the DFPH exam, alongside educationalist input, question setting meetings etc. The transition to online delivery has had very little effect on the overall cost of the exam. Therefore, reducing the cost for sitting one paper would mean that the overall exam fee would need to increase. The FPH exam function is run on a cost-basis in order to keep the fees as low as possible; the fee for the DFPH exam has been frozen for registrars for five years.