Specialist Certificate Examination

About the Specialty Certificate Examination (SCE)

The SCE is delivered by the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and forms part of the training pathway for respiratory medicine trainees. Passing the Respiratory Medicine SCE is a requirement for obtaining a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT).

Many trainees choose to sit the exam during ST5 or ST6. To support candidates preparing for the examination, the British Thoracic Society runs an annual SCE preparation course.

Once you have successfully completed the SCE and gained your CCT, you will be eligible to use the post-nominal MRCP (UK) (Resp Med).

Exam format

The SCE is held annually and consists of:

Two three-hour examination papers
100 questions in each paper
A one-hour break between papers
'Best of five' multiple-choice questions throughout

Looking for more information? Find out how to register for the SCE and explore exam dates and sample questions to support your preparation.

Preparing for the SCE

Preparing for the SCE takes hard work and consistent study. Some useful ways to prepare include:

Reading the respiratory medicine curriculum
Attending multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings across the various specialty areas
Developing your skills in interpreting lung function tests, including spirometry, flow volume loops, full pulmonary function tests, exercise physiology and arterial blood gases
Gaining confidence in interpreting chest radiology, including chest radiography, CT scans and PET scans
Reading British Thoracic Society (BTS) guidelines, as well as guidance from organisations such as the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and American Thoracic Society (ATS)
Keeping up to date with key respiratory journals, including Thorax, the European Respiratory Journal, CHEST and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
Reviewing relevant guidance published by NICE and SIGN
Attending BTS Short Courses, particularly the annual Preparing for the SCE course

How are the questions created?

Several stages are involved in developing the SCE each year:

Questions are written by the Royal College of Physicians' Specialist Question Writing Group (SQG) and are based on the core Respiratory Medicine curriculum
The SQG reviews each question and agrees on the correct answer
Questions are checked to ensure they meet the required examination standards and format
If significant changes are requested during this process, questions are amended and returned to the next SQG meeting for further review
Approved questions are added to a question bank
The SCE Examination Board selects and reviews questions for the examination from this bank, including any images or results, to ensure they are accurate and appropriate
The Standard Setting Group approves the final paper and determines the pass mark

There is a potential range of pass marks based on the standard deviation calculated by the group, and this range is adjusted to allow the predicted number of candidates to pass. The aim is to have an 80% or greater pass rate.

Resources to help you prepare for the SCE

Using a combination of question banks, guidelines, textbooks and courses can help you build knowledge and gain confidence ahead of the exam.

Question banks

Practising exam-style questions is one of the best ways to familiarise yourself with the format of the SCE.

MRCP(UK) Respiratory Medicine practice questions – 100 sample questions to help you test your knowledge and identify areas for further revision
BMJ OnExamination Respiratory SCE revision resource – a bank of practice questions designed to support exam preparation

Guidelines

BTS Guidelines – cover a broad range of respiratory topics and the breadth of the examination curriculum
BTS Quality Standards and Clinical Statements – useful for understanding best practice
European Respiratory Society (ERS) Guidelines – provide additional evidence-based guidance

Recommended reading

The following books may be helpful when preparing for the examination:

MRCP SCE in Respiratory Medicine: 300 SBAs by Laura-Jane Smith and James Murray
Oxford Handbook of Respiratory Medicine by Stephen Chapman, Grace Robinson and colleagues
Revision Notes for the Respiratory Medicine SCE (Oxford Higher Specialty Training) by Caroline Patterson and Meg Coleman
Oxford Specialist Handbooks in Radiology: Thoracic Imaging by Sujal R. Desai, Susan J. Copley, Zelena A. Aziz and David M. Hansell

Courses

BTS SCE Examination Course – held annually and delivered by experienced faculty. The course covers the syllabus and how to tackle questions

Written by:

Dr Hina Ifitkha

& Dr David Lodge