The short answer
Yes, for doctors in England, and this is new. Under the June 2026 resident doctor contract agreement, resident doctors in England are entitled to reimbursement of their first two SCA attempts for exams sat from 1 April 2026. You pay the fee upfront and claim it back through your employing trust. This is separate from your study budget, which covers preparation courses, not the exam itself. Implementation at trust level is still settling, so processes vary.
Why this matters
Until 2026, the SCA exam fee was a cost every English GP trainee simply absorbed: study budgets across every deanery explicitly exclude exam fees, and still do. The June 2026 contract agreement changes that for the exam fee specifically, not the study budget. It means two things are now potentially covered from two different sources: the exam fee (via the contract agreement, through your trust) and one preparation course (via your study budget, through your deanery).
What it covers
The entitlement, as it stands in July 2026, covers the first two SCA attempts for exams sat on or after 1 April 2026, for resident doctors in England. It does not cover preparation courses (those remain a study-budget matter) and it does not automatically extend to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, whose funding sits under NES, HEIW and NIMDTA respectively and follows separate rules.
Because this is a recent contractual change being implemented across many trusts, the exact claim mechanism, the evidence required, and the timing of reimbursement differ between employers. Some trusts had smooth processes in place quickly; others were still settling months later.
How to claim
- Sit the exam and pay the fee upfront as usual.
- Retain proof of payment and your exam confirmation.
- Claim through your employing trust's process for the contractual reimbursement. If your trust's process is unclear, ask your medical staffing or lead employer team, and your BMA representative if you are a member.
- Keep your study-budget course claim entirely separate: that goes through your deanery's study leave process, not your trust.
The bigger picture
For a GP trainee in England in 2026, the combined position is better than it has been: the exam fee (first two attempts) reimbursed through your trust, and one preparation course claimable from your deanery study budget. Getting both means using two different systems correctly. Our deanery guides cover the study-budget side region by region; this page covers the exam fee.