Students face penalty fee

One in four students failed to renew their registration by the July 15 deadline and will now be surcharged for late application.

Hitting the deadline for retention were 3,515 students each paying a fee of £20. Those who missed the deadline will be charged £30 students submitting their form without the additional fee will have their application returned.

This is an improvement on last year when the number of students who missed the deadline at this point was 10 per cent higher at 956. Reminder letters will now be sent to all students who have failed to apply on time.

The next deadline for retention is August 31. Those failing to renew by then will be removed from the register on September 1. The GOC reminded students that registration is a legal requirement and those who are not registered may be barred from examinations and clinical trials. The GOC further warned that it may not recognise the qualifications of applicants for full registration who remained unregistered for part of their training.