Whether you can resit the MSRA or reuse an earlier score depends on the specialty. Only General Practice and Core Psychiatry publish explicit rules covering both points. For every other MSRA specialty, there is no published blanket rule to borrow from GP or Psychiatry.
"Within 12 months" does not mean one score follows you into any application you choose. The permitted transfer depends on the specialty, recruitment round and intake. Your answer on the application form can also fix the choice.
GP score transfer and resits follow separate rules
For GP ST1, resitting and transferring are separate routes. The published GP MSRA guidance says you may be offered another sitting in the round if you have already sat the MSRA. That option is "dependent on the number of applications received in the round", so a second attempt is not guaranteed.
Score transfer works differently. NHS England's GP transfer page describes a rolling 12-month recruitment cycle tied to intake dates. A score from an application for an August intake may be transferred to the next February intake or to the following August intake. It goes no further. In the other direction, a score from a February-start application may be transferred to that August intake or the following February intake.
This is a limited transfer between GP recruitment rounds. "Last year's score" does not remain live throughout the next calendar year. The application has to fall inside the permitted intake sequence. Transfer is also conditional. The recruitment and selection process must remain unchanged in the later round.
If the threshold for success rises, an older score below the new threshold cannot be transferred. Continuing to fall inside 12 months does not rescue it.
You choose the transfer route on the GP application form. That opt-in is fixed once the application has been submitted, so a late request to transfer is not accepted and the decision cannot be changed afterwards. Your answer determines whether Oriel carries the earlier score into the new GP application or considers you for a fresh sitting, if resit capacity is available.
A transferred score keeps its value, but it does not keep its old rank or offer. You are ranked again against the applicants in the new round. A stronger new cohort can push your rank down; a weaker one can move it up. The previous offer does not travel with the score. If the distinction between a component score, total and rank is getting muddled, our guide to how the MSRA is scored separates them.
At the time of writing, the GP transfer page's last-reviewed stamp still read November 2022, although the text had been edited more recently and included additions made in 2024. It remains the official published explanation, but its review stamp does not guarantee that the rules apply unchanged to the current cycle. The live page and the wording in your Oriel application are the current sources to consult before relying on a transfer.
A Psychiatry resit replaces the earlier result
Core Psychiatry CT1 also allows you to transfer an MSRA score within a 12-month recruitment cycle if you were successful. There is one exception: a previous score cannot be transferred into Round 1 for the August intake. You must sit the MSRA again in that Round 1 window.
The Core Psychiatry MSRA page says the new attempt supersedes the earlier one. If the resit score is lower, you cannot revert to the first score. Your appointment outcome is based solely on the resit. A resit therefore replaces the option to keep the better result. The decision depends on the earlier result, the likely benefit of another attempt and the risk of replacing that score.
Core Psychiatry also has an appointability threshold. You need a raw score of at least 186 in each MSRA paper. A higher combined total cannot compensate for falling below 186 in one paper. If two applicants have the same overall score, the Professional Dilemmas score takes precedence over Clinical Problem Solving for the tiebreak.
Other specialties require a specialty-specific answer
No universal resit or score-carryover rule has been published for the other specialties that use the MSRA. Their pages being silent does not create permission to transfer a score, and the GP or Psychiatry rules cannot safely be copied across.
The NHS England specialty recruitment hub links to each specialty's recruitment page. The current applicant guidance and the questions shown in Oriel govern your round. If neither answers the point, the specialty's lead recruitment office can confirm the rule before you commit to an application or assume you will receive another sitting.
Rescheduling closes 24 hours before the appointment
NHS England's rescheduling and missed-appointment guidance requires you to cancel or reschedule at least 24 hours before the appointment. Ordinary changes are made through your Pearson VUE account while the booking period is open. The wider application and selection deadlines are set out in our 2027 MSRA timeline.
If you have a pre-approved adjustment other than extra time, use Pearson VUE's email route at nrocustomerservice@pearson.com to reschedule. An adjusted booking may need arrangements that self-service cannot preserve.
If you miss the appointment, contact the MSRA support desk immediately. Another slot cannot be booked online until the MSRA team re-authorises you, and the limited availability left in the window may mean travelling beyond your preferred area. An appointment missed on the final day of the MSRA window cannot be rebooked within that window.
Adjustments begin with the application
Reasonable adjustments must be requested on the application form and supported with evidence. NHS England's MSRA preparation guidance says requests submitted after the application deadline will not be considered. Local offices and deaneries apply their Equality Act 2010 duties through that advance process, so the day of the MSRA is too late to disclose an existing need and ask for an arrangement.
If your circumstances affect where or when you can sit, an approved adjustment may narrow the available appointments. The form must include the request and the evidence specified there. The recruitment team will provide the next instructions when they contact you.
MSRA scores cannot be appealed
NHS England's outcomes and appeals page says the MSRA outcome is "final and cannot be reviewed, re-marked or disputed". There is no score appeal. The complaints procedure is available where there is evidence that the recruitment process was managed incorrectly, but it does not provide a route to challenge the mark itself.
Check whether your specialty requires a fresh MSRA sitting, then practise if it does: try ProMSRA free / see pricing.
Questions to settle before you apply
Can you sit the MSRA twice in one year?
Possibly, but there is no all-specialty entitlement to do so. GP says a same-year resit may be offered depending on application numbers, so it is not guaranteed. Core Psychiatry publishes its own resit rule. For another specialty, permission has to come from that specialty's current guidance; it cannot be inferred from either of these rules.
Does a January score work next year?
The month alone does not answer it. For GP, the published window is tied to recruitment intakes: a score for an August intake may move to the next February or following August intake, subject to the transfer conditions. Core Psychiatry does not allow an old score into the next Round 1 August intake. Other specialties need their own answer.
If you resit and score lower, which result counts?
For Core Psychiatry, the lower resit result counts because it supersedes the earlier attempt. GP does not publish that same blanket wording. Instead, its application fixes your choice between transferring a valid earlier score and being considered for a fresh sitting, which remains capacity-dependent. Other specialties need to state their own rule.
Can you appeal your MSRA score?
No. The outcome is "final and cannot be reviewed, re-marked or disputed". A complaint can address evidence of a failure in the recruitment process. Disagreement with the score is outside its scope.