FRCOphth Part 2 Written: The Complete Guide

Part 2 Written tests clinical ophthalmology at the level of an independent specialist who is not yet sub-specialising. It samples the entire Ophthalmic Specialist Training (OST) curriculum, from the clinical subspecialties to therapeutics, investigations and evidence-based practice, and it is blueprinted against Good Medical Practice. Trainees usually sit it in the second half of training, and it rewards broad, consolidated clinical knowledge rather than isolated facts.

Question format

A single 180-question single best answer (SBA) multiple-choice paper, one correct option from four. There is no constructed-response or extended-matching paper; the exam has been 180 SBAs since 2013.

Papers

One MCQ paper, sat in two halves of 90 questions (sometimes labelled Paper 1 and Paper 2).

Duration

Two hours per half, four hours in total, with both halves on the same day and a one-hour break between them.

Delivery

Sat online under live remote proctoring, from home or work, with no test centre. Online delivery has been standard since December 2020.

Marking

Each question is worth one mark. The standard is set in advance using the Ebel method, and the pass mark is the raw Ebel figure plus one standard error of measurement.

Pass mark

There is no fixed pass mark. It is set for each sitting by the Ebel method and has recently been around 62 to 66 percent (for example, 113 out of 177, or 63.8%, in December 2025).

These domains are grouped for revision and map onto the RCOphth Part 2 clinical curriculum, which the exam blueprints against the OST syllabus.

Who can sit it

Doctors who have passed FRCOphth Part 1 and hold a GMC or Irish Medical Council approved qualification. It is aimed at OST years 4 to 7, with a maximum of four attempts, and a Written pass is valid for seven years. The Refraction Certificate is not required for the Written, but both it and the Written must be passed before the Part 2 Oral.

Applying

Applications open around four months before each sitting and close roughly four to seven weeks before, through the RCOphth online application. For 2026 the first diet opened on 2 March and closed on 8 May, and the second opened on 10 August and closed on 16 October.

Sittings

In 2026 the Written runs twice, both online: 1 July and 2 December. Confirm 2027 dates on the RCOphth examinations calendar.

Fee

£725 for 2026. The College reviews fees annually, so check the current amount before applying.

The pass rate varies by diet. It was 81.0% in December 2025 and 72.2% in June 2025, and has recently clustered around 65 to 81 percent, with OST trainees passing at a higher rate than the overall cohort. Check the RCOphth examination reports for the latest figure.

Give yourself a realistic run-up and revise by subspecialty, not at random. Start with a diagnostic to find your weakest areas, work through the whole clinical curriculum systematically, then spend your final weeks on timed, mixed practice and the topics you score lowest on. Because Part 2 rewards decision-making, always review why the other options were wrong, not just why the key was right.

Follow the full FRCOphth Part 2 Written study plan.

Pair a core clinical reference with the current RCOphth Part 2 curriculum and the major subspecialty guidelines, and make active question practice the backbone of your revision. Practising clinical reasoning under exam conditions is what raises your score. AuroPrep is the practice component: curriculum-mapped SBAs with referenced explanations and a grounded AI tutor.

Make active recall the backbone with a FRCOphth Part 2 Written question bank.

• Revising like it is a basic-science exam. Part 2 rewards clinical decision-making, so practise choosing the next best step, not just recalling facts.
• Under-weighting retina. It is the largest clinical domain, so it deserves proportionate time.
• Skimming imaging. OCT, fields and angiography interpretation recur across the paper and are quick marks once drilled.
• Leaving neuro-ophthalmology until last because it feels hard. It is learnable and carries real marks.
• Reviewing only the correct answer. Always work out why each distractor was wrong so the reasoning sticks.

Reading gets you only so far. The fastest way to lift your Part 2 Written mark is to practise Part 2 Written SBAs with explanations under exam conditions, then review every mistake until the principle sticks.