FRCR Part 2B (Oncology) - CO2B - exam FAQs

The exam remains a ‘remote’ exam with candidates required to attend a designated exam venue and the exam sessions conducted via video conferencing. All sessions are also recorded. Candidates may need to quarantine, and information will be provided to candidates in their schedule.

There will be 12 ‘stations’ (previously the exam used a total of 13 questions/cases split across the clinical and oral components). The stations will be grouped across six different sessions that candidates will be scheduled for over three days of the exam. Ten of the 12 stations are delivered in the same way/format as the previous exam. These are identified as ten tumour site stations. The two ‘new’ stations are a communication station and a contouring station.

These stations will all be of a similar format, and largely the same questions as the previous exam format. Each station has a duration of five and a half minutes. In some instances, two or three of the stations will be grouped together and assessed sequentially by the same examiner. For each station, the examiner will share case details with the candidate and follow a standardised question format. Candidates should be aware that any tumour type may be featured in the exam stations as per the requirements of the curriculum.

Candidates should review the CO2B exam blueprint.

Role players will be used within this station to simulate an interaction with a patient. Candidates will be provided with a short brief before the start of the station and given one minute to read this. The brief will detail the case background. Candidates will then have a ten-minute interaction with a role player (via video conferencing). No examiner will be present for this station, but as with all other stations, the interaction will be recorded and scored independently by two examiners using the recording.

A range of potential scenarios could be used within the station. The purpose of this station is to assess a candidate’s communication skills, but candidates are also expected to communicate information correctly.

Candidates should review the CO2B exam blueprint.

The communication station consists of not just breaking bad news but other challenging situations such as explaining a clinical trial. It may be useful to practice this with your colleagues and get constructive feedback on your performance. Watching some of the online videos by Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield on communicating with cancer patients may also be beneficial.

This is a longer station with a duration of 16 minutes. Candidates will be presented with the case by the examiner and will then be asked to contour on two or three slices. This part of the station will last for 12 minutes. As the candidate contours, they will be asked to describe what they are doing to the examiner. For the final four minutes of the station, the examiner will ask a set of standard questions to the candidate related to the case. If the candidate has already addressed one of the questions in the first part of the station, the examiner will state that. Candidates should review the CO2B exam blueprint to review the information on the domains that will be assessed at this station.

Ordinarily, the exam is delivered on a Saturday (day 1), Monday (day 2), and Tuesday (day 3). Some of the stations will be grouped together into exam sessions. This will be as below:

Day 1:

• Tumour site stations 1,2,3

• Tumour site stations 4,5,6

Day 2:

• Communication station

• Contouring station

Day 3:

• Tumour site stations 7,8

• Tumour site stations 9,10

Individual schedule times will be confirmed in the candidate’s schedules.

A domain-based marking system will be used. Six clinical skill domains are assessed multiple times across the 12 stations. At each station, three domains (or sub domains) will be assessed. Candidates should review the CO2B exam blueprint for details of the clinical skill domains and how these are assessed across the CO2B exam sitting. Each station will be marked by two examiners independently. For the majority of stations, one examiner will mark live during the interaction, and the second examiner will mark using the recording of the interaction. At each station three of the clinical skill domains (or sub domains) are assessed. Candidates will be rated for each domain. Full details of the marking scheme are available in the CO2B scoring system which candidates are advised to review. Following the exam, all ratings for the clinical skill domains at each station are converted to a numerical score. A candidate’s scores across the exam are combined to provide their total exam score. In addition to rating a candidate for the clinical skill domains, at each station the examiner provides a global judgement for each candidate.

The scoring system will still assess candidates against the same required level. Candidates are advised to familiarise themselves with the clinical skill domains assessed in the exam. The scoring system allows for performance feedback to be given to candidates based on the clinical skill domains. All candidates will receive performance feedback within their results letter.

Candidates must achieve the pass mark (or higher) to pass the exam. There is no additional criteria for passing and there is no concept of passing or failing individual stations. Scores across all the stations are calculated to determine a candidate’s overall score.

Yes. All stations are marked independently by two examiners.

There is no fixed pass mark for the exam. Borderline regression, an established and recognised standard-setting methodology, is used to determine the pass mark for each exam. The pass mark may vary from exam to exam.

All candidates will receive feedback on their scores across all the clinical skill domains which are also broken down to station level. It is hoped that this will help inform ongoing learning, irrespective of whether the candidate has passed or failed the exam. No additional feedback will be provided to failing candidates.

Candidates should be aware that the type of content used in the exam is unchanged and the same minimum standards for passing the exam apply. Previous exam attempts will still count.

All candidates are advised to familiarise themselves with the new elements of the exam so they know what to expect during the exam.