2022.2 KFP and AKT information for candidates

The 2022.2 KFP will be delivered face-to-face in exam venues in a paper format. Further information will be provided to enrolled candidates via email closer to the exam date.

Following the success of the AssessGP trials series, the 2022.2 AKT will be delivered face-to-face in exam venues in an online (computer-based) format via the AssessGP platform. Further information will be provided to enrolled candidates via email closer to the exam date.

The 2022.2 KFP will be held on Friday 15 July and will begin at 10.00 am in each Australian time zone. Registration closes at 9.30 am and you must be registered before this time as late arrivals will not be permitted to enter.

The 2022.2 AKT will be held on Saturday 16 July and will begin at 1.00 pm in each Australian time zone. Registration closes at 12:30 pm and you must be registered before this time as late arrivals will not be permitted to enter.
 

No, the KFP will run in the morning of Friday 15 July 2022 and the AKT will run in the afternoon of Saturday 16 July 2022.  

For the KFP, in consideration of the paper exam format, 30 minutes of additional time has been added to the existing 30-minute universal allowance already in place for all candidates.   

• Paper format – 4 hours  

The 2022.2 AKT has a duration of 4 hours and 45 minutes. This includes an additional 45 minutes to allow you to fill in the paper answer sheet. You may leave early if you complete your exam before the exam time has ended (excluding the last 15 minutes of the exam).

The 2022.2 KFP and AKT will be held in COVID-safe venues in capital cities and a limited number of regional locations. Exam locations for the 2022.2 KFP and AKT are now listed on the RACGP website.

You will be allocated to the closest available exam venue based on your preferred address and date of enrolment. Some venues can only accommodate a set number of candidates and numbers will be capped accordingly. If your closest exam venue reaches capacity, you will be allocated to the next closest available venue. No specific venue allocation is guaranteed or should be presumed before we confirm with you.

All enrolled candidates will receive an exam venue confirmation email approximately four weeks before the exam. You are advised to wait until your venue has been confirmed before making travel arrangements.

No. Unfortunately, we are unable to change your exam venue once you have received your confirmed venue allocation. You should nominate whether you want to be allocated to a venue nearer your home or practice when you are completing your enrolment. You will be able to choose to be allocated based on either your home or practice address.

Further information, including a practice exam, will be provided to enrolled candidates closer to the exam date. You will only receive the practice exam for the exam you are enrolled in. The practice exam will be provided in the format of each exam segment – paper for the KFP and online for the AKT.

Refer to the Assessments and Examinations Special Arrangements Policy and the RACGP Examinations Special Arrangements Guidance Document.

The deadline for special arrangements applications is 20 business days prior to the scheduled exam date. Any special arrangements requests for the KFP exam must be received by Friday 17 June 2022. Any special arrangements requests for the AKT exam must be received by Monday 20 June 2022.

RACGP state faculties will be providing a limited number of online workshops that will assist candidates with their preparation for the KFP exam. You can find more information and register to attend the KFP pre-exam workshops on the RACGP website.

Candidates are permitted to bring the following items into the exam room without an approved special arrangement: 

Medicine and medical devices

• Medication – if in original pack
  • EpiPens
  • inhaler
  • simple analgesia
  • prescription medications where doses are required during the exam time
  • insulin
• Diabetes / blood glucose monitoring devices or insulin pumps – please note if you require your phone to read your device, this will need to be on airplane mode and kept on the invigilator’s desk.
• Eye drops
• Ear drops
• Hearing aids

Food and water

• A small amount of food such as a muesli bar or lollies. Please note the food must be of a type that creates minimal disruption to other candidates and minimal noise when consumed (no plastic wrappers). Hot food or food with nuts or strong odour is not permitted. Snacks should be in a clear zip lock bag.

• Water in up to two (2) clear, colourless plastic bottles – the bottles can’t have any writing on them, labels must be removed, and you should place these bottles on your desk (not the floor) during the exam

Comfort aids

• Prescription / reading glasses (can be in case with cleaning cloth)
• Lip balm
• Feminine hygiene products – in plain, unlabelled packaging and placed in a clear zip lock bag
• Tissues – a small pack in their original packaging

All items must be reviewed at registration and may not be allowed in the exam if they don’t meet the requirements. Ear plugs and tissues will be provided at all venues. 

No. Enrolments for the 2022.2 KFP and AKT exams close at midnight (AEST) on Sunday 8 May 2022. We cannot accept enrolment requests after this date.

Refer to Part 2: RACGP Fellowship Examinations, Section 3 Withdrawing from an examination of the Assessments and Examinations Candidate Handbook.

If you request to withdraw from the KFP by Friday 17 June 2022, or the AKT by Monday 20 June 2022, you will receive a refund of the enrolment fee, minus a $100 withdrawal fee per exam segment.

If you request to withdraw after these dates (less than 20 business days before the scheduled exam date), you will not receive a fee refund.

Check your eligibility criteria on the policy framework.

The RACGP audits all exam enrolments to ensure candidates are eligible to sit the Fellowship examinations and provides enrolment information to all RTOs for the purposes of validating eligibility. If you are found to not meet the eligibility requirements, you will be automatically withdrawn from the exam segment and will be subject to a $100 withdrawal fee per exam segment.

Remember, you must tell us of any restrictions, conditions, suspensions and/or undertakings on your medical registration as soon as possible. This will help us support you appropriately on your journey to Fellowship.

Subject to the limitations of the Fellowship Exam Attempts Policy, you can suspend your candidacy in any semester in which you do not sit an exam. If you sit the 2022.2 KFP, the 2022.2 AKT, or the 2022.2 CCE, you cannot suspend the 2022.2 semester. 

AssessGP is the RACGP’s new online exam system. The college has recently undertaken a rigorous testing process to ensure the stability and success of the AssessGP platform. The AKT will now return to computer-based delivery.

The 2022.2 AKT will be delivered in an online, computer-based format through the AssessGP exam platform and held in venues across Australia. The 2022.2 KFP will remain in a paper-based format and will be held in the same venues.

An online AKT practice exam training guide module is available that demonstrates how to navigate the AssessGP platform for the AKT practice exam. We recommend that you complete this module and the Exam Support Online (ESO) modules on gplearning before attempting the practice exam.

We also encourage you to practice using the AssessGP platform by attempting the AKT online practice exam. Links to the practice exam will be sent to enrolled AKT candidates on 23 June. The online practice exam format is the same as the real exam and contains 75 questions selected from past exams.

Candidates enrolled in the 2022.2 AKT will be emailed a link, user ID and password to access the AKT online practice exam on Thursday 23June, along with the log in instructions and information to help you navigate the system. Access to the AKT practice exam will close on Sunday 10 July.

If you have trouble logging in to the AKT practice exam, contact us on 1800 472 247 between 8.30 am and 5.00 pm Monday – Friday in all Australian time zones.
 

Once you complete the online AKT practice exam, you’ll be able to immediately access the correct answers and their rationale, which you can use to assess your performance. Refer to the AKT practice exam training guide module for instructions on how to view your results.

You’ll be able to log back in at any time until Sunday 10 July. You’ll be able to see the questions, answers and rationale while you are logged in, but this information can’t be downloaded from the system. After Sunday 10 July, you won’t be able to log back in to view any questions or answers on the system.

We’re confident that the new exam platform will deliver the upcoming AKT seamlessly. However, to minimise risks, we have contingencies to ensure that in the unlikely event a technical issue occurs, your exam can proceed smoothly.

At the venue, a printed version of the exam will be available for each candidate. This will be used in the unlikely event of a major failure of the online platform.

Digital versions of the exam are also loaded onto every computer when the exam commences. Therefore, the platform allows for the exam to continue seamlessly in an offline mode, in case of intermittent internet disruptions.

We’ll also be providing a paper answer sheet for every candidate and giving you an additional 45 minutes to complete this task. You’ll have a total of 4 hours and 45 minutes to complete the AKT, including answering the exam questions online as well as filling in the paper answer sheet.

You must complete your paper answer sheet as you respond to the questions online. For example, answer Q1 on screen, then Q1 on the bubble sheet, and so on. This means if for any reason the online system fails, you can continue seamlessly from the same question using the printed version of the exam and be assured that your previous responses are recorded on your paper answer sheet.

To familiarise yourself with this process, when you receive the link to the online practice exam on 23 June you’ll also be provided a sample paper answer sheet to download and print. The online practice exam timing will be extended to allow you to complete the paper answer sheet as you respond to the questions online.

Not at all. Our new AKT exam system, AssessGP, is built by a reputable company that has successfully delivered exams for clients both within Australia and internationally. We’ve tested the system with more than 1000 simultaneous users in our recent trial with members. Less than 840 are enrolled to sit the real exam in July.

However, in the extremely unlikely event that the system does fail, we must be prepared, and we believe the impact of asking you to complete a back-up answer sheet is much lower than the impact of having to cancel or postpone the exam in the event of system issues.

We will use the online AKT exam system (AssessGP) data for your result processing. We won’t be comparing the two versions of your answers. We would only refer to your paper answer sheet if for any unforeseen reason we can’t access your answers in the online system.

We are providing the paper-based answer sheet in case the computer-based system fails, and you should answer each question on paper as soon as you answer it on the computer. By having a paper copy, you won’t lose any progress if something happens to the computer system. If you choose not to fill out the paper-based sheet and something goes wrong, no compensation will be available.

Our exam system has a range of failsafes, and it’s designed to save your answers if the computer crashes, gets disconnected from the internet, or even loses power. If that happens you would resume the exam from where you left off. The paper-based backup is the ultimate failsafe, though, in case the system breaks down in a way we couldn’t predict.

We’re giving you an extra 45 minutes, or 18 seconds per question, to shade your answer from the computer onto the paper-based sheet. Remember, you only need to shade the correct bubble for your choice – you don’t need to write out any words. A sample paper answer sheet is provided with the practice exam for you to get familiar with.

No. This is the first time we’ve used this supplier for an exam, and we know how important is to get it right. We’ve run extensive internal testing, automated testing with thousands of simulated candidates, and tested with more than a thousand real GPs using the software at the same time. Once we have successfully delivered the exam online in real exam conditions, we may still have a printed exam at the venue as a contingency, but we don’t plan to keep the requirement for candidates to fill in a paper answer sheet at the same time as completing the exam online.

No. We’ll provide a pen for you. We will have ample spare pens at each venue in case your pen stops working. You can keep the pen at the end of the exam if you want or leave it behind – all pens will be disposed of at the end of each day as part of our COVID-safe plan. 

No. You must use the black ball-point pen provided for you to ensure your paper can be scanned by our exam vendor. Inks from fountain pens, markers, and other types of pens are prone to smudge, bleed, or run, which could make your answers harder to read, or may not be compatible with the scanning process. To ensure your responses are clearly recorded, you must use the black ball-point pen you are provided with on the KFP exam day. 

If you make a mistake in a multiple-choice question, place a cross through the circle you want to remove and shade a new choice. To re-select a crossed-out answer, circle your choice and make sure to cross out any unwanted choices. If there is any doubt, a human examiner will review your answer. 

If you need to change a response to a written question, cross it out and re-write it nearby. Ensure it is obvious which question your answer applies to. 

We will be printing spare exam papers. Every venue will have a small number of spare papers available if a candidate needs a new paper because their original paper is damaged during the exam. 

Please take your time when completing the exam paper and try your best to write as neatly as possible. We have added 30 minutes of additional time allowed to complete the KFP.

KFP answers do not require full sentences, and you do not need to provide the rationale behind your answer unless it is specifically asked for. The answer booklet contains more than sufficient room to write answers of the appropriate length. 

You will receive spare paper in your exam to make notes. We ask you not to make notes in the exam booklet to ensure clarity for our examiners. The more writing, notes, and annotations there are in the booklet, the less clear it will be for our examiners to know exactly what you intend your answer to be. Noting that over coding penalties still apply in the KFP (refer to the RACGP Examinations guide), we suggest candidates do not write anything on the page that they do not intend to be considered as part of their exam answer.  

If you wish to underline, circle or flag key information in a question you may do so, but we urge you to take care not to risk confusing your marker. 

Candidates enrolled in the 2022.2 KFP will be emailed a PDF copy of the paper-based practice exam on 9 June. The practice exam format is the same as the real exam format. The exam booklets on exam day are printed and bound, not loose-leaf. 

The KFP is designed to assess clinical decision and clinical reasoning in practice. It consists of 26 cases, which are independent of each other and designed to reflect a typical session in Australian general practice. The 2022.2 KFP tests all domains of the RACGP 2016 Curriculum  It may include questions relating to professionalism, ethics, consent and clinical governance, in addition to clinical matters. A new version of the RACGP curriculum was released in May 2022, however, the 2022.2 KFP exam is aligned with the 2016 Curriculum and will be assessed against the 2016 Curriculum.

If our exam vendor is unable to deliver exam papers for any reason (mechanical failure, COVID-19, staffing issues, or other), there are contingencies in place to ensure each delivery can reach its destination before exam day. 

Our exam vendor has quality assurance processes to ensure all papers are correctly printed. All papers are individually checked after receipt in each venue two days before the exam. We have contingencies in place to address any errors.

Exam papers are being transported by secure couriers and delivered personally to dedicated and accountable staff at every exam venue. The materials are securely stored before the exam. All papers are delivered in tamper-evident packaging and checked by staff before the exam. 

The RACGP has well-established procedures for handling incidents in exam venues. If there is an interruption, please follow the instructions provided by staff at the venue.

All papers are securely stored by staff who are trained in managing exam arrangements. We are using the highest service level of a global courier company to ensure papers are transported safely, securely and quickly back to our scanning and data management vendor.  

Every exam paper is printed with the candidate’s details on every page. These details are automatically read by the scanners to associate candidates’ answers with their names. 

If we need to use generic papers, for example because the candidate needs a replacement booklet, the candidate and the invigilator will work together to enter and verify the candidates’ details on the paper. Both the candidate and a staff member must check that the details are correct before leaving the exam room. 

We are using the highest service level of a global courier company to ensure papers are transported safely, securely and quickly back to our scanning and data management vendor. If a paper is delayed in transit, we will start marking the other exam papers while working to recover the delayed exams. In the extremely unlikely event that a paper is destroyed in transit, the candidate will need to take another exam. As soon as the RACGP receives the digitised papers, they will immediately be stored safely and securely, with all our usual data protection including secure storage and both on- and off-site backups. 

Your answer booklet will be scanned. Multiple choice answers are digitally recognised. Written responses are read by our markers, who are trained Fellows of the RACGP. 

Answer booklets are professionally scanned, so there should not be problems with the digital version of your answers being hard to read. If a scan is low-quality, the original exam paper can be retrieved and reviewed. 

Because our markers are trained Fellows of the RACGP, they understand the medical terminology and will work to interpret what you have written. Markers can refer difficult-to-read handwriting to other RACGP Medical Educators if they are unsure of your intent. 

So long as we can understand your intent, marks will be awarded appropriately. The only time you will be penalised for messy handwriting or poor spelling is if your answer cannot be understood at all.