Everything you need to know about the FMGE

• 300

  Total Questions

• 300

  Total Marks

• 150

  Pass Mark (50%)

• 0

  Negative Marking

  Attempt every question

• 2×

  Per Year

  June and December

• ∞

  Attempts Allowed

  No attempt limit

FMGE is not required for an MBBS from an Indian medical college. It applies exclusively to foreign-trained graduates.

Eligibility criteria

To appear for FMGE, candidates must meet all of the following.

You do not need to have completed your internship to appear for FMGE. Internship completion is required only when you apply for medical registration after passing. You can sit the exam while your internship is in progress, or before starting it.

FMGE exam pattern

Understanding the structure is the first step to preparing for it properly.

Two-part structure

Since May 2024, each 150-question part is divided into three locked sections of 50 questions and 50 minutes each. Once a section’s timer expires it closes automatically and you cannot go back to it. Plan your time within each section — the 50-minute clock is not forgiving.

Subject-wise question distribution

The 300 questions are distributed across 20 subjects in two parts, following the NMC Graduate Medical Regulations.

General Medicine (33), General Surgery (32), OBG (30) and Community Medicine (30) together account for 125 of the 200 clinical questions — 62.5% of Part B. These four subjects are where most of your preparation time should go.

FMGE exam schedule

FMGE is conducted twice a year. June session results are usually declared the following month, and the December session exam is generally held in January of the following year.

Dates are announced by NBEMS on natboard.edu.in. Always verify against the official information bulletin before applying rather than relying on any third-party site, including this one. The application fee is non-refundable and is stated in each session’s bulletin.

How to apply for FMGE

1. 1

   Get your Eligibility Certificate

   Before anything else, apply for an Eligibility Certificate from the National Medical Commission at nmc.org.in. It confirms your foreign degree is recognised, and without it the FMGE application cannot be completed. Processing takes time, so apply as soon as your degree is finished.

2. 2

   Create an account on natboard.edu.in

   Register as a new applicant with your email address and mobile number. Your login credentials arrive by email and SMS — keep them somewhere you will find them again in six months.

3. 3

   Fill the application form

   Complete your personal details, educational qualifications, and communication details. Check every entry before submitting: the form is submitted once and changes afterwards are not permitted.

4. 4

   Upload your documents

   You will need scans of your passport (all pages), your foreign medical degree with Indian Embassy attestation, your NMC Eligibility Certificate, and a recent passport-size photograph and signature matching the stated specifications.

5. 5

   Pay the application fee

   Pay online through the NBEMS portal by net banking, card or UPI. The fee is non-refundable, so save the payment confirmation before you close the window.

6. 6

   Download your admit card

   If NBEMS flags a document deficiency, fix it during the announced edit window. Once the application is processed, download the admit card from the portal and report to your centre 30 minutes before the scheduled start with the admit card and a valid photo ID.

FMGE pass rates — the real picture

The pass rate tells you something important: clearing FMGE takes deliberate preparation. It is not a formality, and it has a meaningful fail rate.

The variation — from 10% to 32% within a few years — is driven almost entirely by exam difficulty and question distribution, not by any change in the cutoff, which stays fixed at 150/300. Sessions with more image-based and integrated clinical questions typically show lower pass rates. Preparation that builds genuine understanding rather than rote recall is more resilient to that variation.