ORE Part 1 and Part 2 exam dates for 2026

The GDC publishes ORE sittings one or two at a time rather than a full-year calendar, so a page promising “all 2026 dates” is either guessing or out of date. Below is what is actually confirmed on the GDC’s booking page, and this page is updated whenever that changes.

Confirmed sittings

Four further Part 2 sittings are now listed, each with 200 places. Their booking windows are not published yet: the GDC’s Part 2 page carries the dates, while its booking-dates page still shows only the September sitting. So you can plan around these dates, but you cannot book against them yet — watch the booking page for the window, which has consistently opened about seven weeks ahead at 14:30 UK time. If you are planning further ahead than October, plan around the pattern rather than a date: Under the new contract, Part 1 has four sittings in the year from 31 May 2026 to 30 May 2027 (August and October 2026, February and April 2027), and the GDC says booking windows open eight weeks before each sitting.

What 14:30 actually means

Booking windows open at 14:30 UK time, and that is the time your GDC account displays — not your local time. Work out the local equivalent the day before, not on the day.

Those assume British Summer Time. Between late October and late March the UK is on GMT and every one of them shifts by an hour, so check again if your sitting falls the other side of a clock change.

How places are actually allocated

This is the part candidates most often misunderstand, and the GDC states it plainly.

• Priority candidates are allocated first. If you have only a few sittings left before your time limit expires, the GDC emails you separately with how to secure a place. That allocation happens before general booking.
• Everyone else is first come, first served once priority places are gone.
• The exam appears in your bookings tab as “unavailable” about eight hours before it opens, showing the time it is due to open. Seeing it greyed out is normal and is not a fault.
• Pay when you book. The GDC says a booking is not processed if you have not paid within one hour. If somebody else is paying for you, have the payment ready before the window opens.

The three things that cost people a place

None of these are about knowledge. They are about the ten minutes after the window opens.

1. Logging in on two devices. You can only be logged in on one device at a time. Open a second browser or a phone alongside your laptop and you are logged out of the first. Candidates do this thinking it doubles their chances; it halves them.
2. Being logged out for inactivity. Fifteen minutes of no activity ends your session. If you log in at 14:00 to be safe, you may be logged out by 14:30.
3. Reading an error as a system fault. When the window opens the system takes a few minutes to update under load. An error message usually means the sitting is now full, not that something broke.

Our guide to what happens on booking day goes through the sequence minute by minute.

If you do not get a place

Two things worth knowing before you panic.

First, the GDC has added capacity in recent cycles rather than reduced it, and further sittings are announced as they are scheduled. Missing one window is not the same as missing a year.

Second, the ORE is not the only route. The LDS, awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons of England, leads to the same GDC registration. Its Part 1 is sat at home under remote proctoring; Parts 2 and 3 are in person. If your ORE window has closed, it is worth reading the comparison before waiting six months for the next one.

Planning your preparation backwards from the date

Once you have a date, work backwards rather than forwards. For a 14–15 October sitting, and assuming twelve to fifteen hours a week alongside work:

Our eight-week plan covers the compressed version if you are already inside that window.

Frequently asked

When is the next ORE Part 1 exam? 14–15 October 2026, and that sitting is now fully booked. Booking opened on 18 August 2026 at 14:30 UK time.

When is the next ORE Part 2? 26–29 November 2026. The September 2026 sitting has passed. Three more follow: 21–24 January, 4–7 March and 15–18 April 2027, 200 places each. Booking windows for all four are still to be published.

What time do ORE bookings open? 14:30 UK time. Your GDC account shows UK time, so convert to your own before the day.

How many ORE sittings are there each year? The GDC does not publish a fixed annual calendar. For 2026/27 the GDC lists four Part 1 sittings (25-26 August and 14-15 October 2026, 2-3 February and 6-7 April 2027), with booking opening eight weeks ahead.

How long do I have to pay after booking? Pay at the time of booking. The GDC says a booking is not processed if you have not paid within one hour. If a third party is paying, have it ready before the window opens.

Why does the exam show as unavailable before booking opens? That is expected. It appears in your bookings tab around eight hours early, with the opening time next to it.