As a CT2, you are likely paying for GMC, BMA, medical indemnity, your college and this year's exam.
A typical CT2 pays £1,601 to £2,420 a year on these. £929 to £1,678 of it can come back from your trust and HMRC, if you keep the receipts.
Estimates from published fees for a typical full-time CT2 passing first time. Yours might differ. Fees checked on against each body’s own fee page.
CT2 take-home pay after tax and NHS Pension ›CT2 tax rebate on fees, back four years ›
What you pay, receipt by receipt
Every CT2 pays the same three things, whatever the specialty. The GMC fee is shown at the lower rate for doctors within five years of qualifying. The BMA charges £292 a year, and HMRC counts 85% of it. And you pay for medical indemnity.
Together that is £923 a year, before any college fee or exam. The indemnity figure is an estimate, because the MDU, MPS and MDDUS each quote you individually. You can get tax back on all three, if you claim it.
GMCreceipt.pdf
GMC annual fee
With a licence to practise
Total£481.00
✓ HMRC tax back
BMAcard statement
BMA membership
Annual subscription
Tax back on 85% of the fee
£24.33 a month
Total£292.00
✓ HMRC tax back
Then your college and exam, by pathway
Your college and exam depend on your specialty. Here are three common pathways, each with its own exam: MRCS Part B in surgery, MRCPsych Paper B in psychiatry and MRCEM Intermediate SBA in emergency medicine.
Each row adds a college or trainee fee, which you get tax back on, and the exam, which your trust pays back for your first two attempts. The slip at the end of each row adds it all up, including the three costs above.
Surgery three more receipts
RCS Englandforwarded email
Affiliate membership
Total£15.00
✓ HMRC tax back
MRCS Part B OSCEbooking email
Exam fee
First two attempts
Feb 2027 sitting
Total£1,212.00
✓ Your trust pays back
CT2 · Surgerya typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£2,420
Your trust£1,212
HMRC, 40%£466
Psychiatry two more receipts
MRCPsych Paper Bbooking email
Exam fee
First two attempts
Pre-membership trainee rate
Total£511.00
✓ Your trust pays backCT2 · Psychiatrya typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£1,601
Your trust£511
HMRC, 40%£418
Emergency medicine two more receipts
RCEMreceipt.pdf
Membership
Training and ePortfolio
Total£375.00
✓ HMRC tax backMRCEM Intermediate SBAbooking email
Exam fee
First two attempts
Member rate, 2027
Total£444.00
✓ Your trust pays backCT2 · Emergency medicinea typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£1,742
Your trust£444
HMRC, 40%£502
Logos belong to their owners and show where each fee goes. Reimbsr is not affiliated with these bodies.
Who pays you back
Two places pay you back, and neither does it unless you ask. Your trust pays back the exam when you send a claim. HMRC gives tax back on the rest when you claim it.
Your exam, first two attempts
If you are a resident doctor in training, your trust pays back exams sat in England from 1 April 2026. Pay the College as normal, then claim the fee from your employer. You need the College receipt showing the fee and the sitting date.
From April 2027 your trust will also pay back royal college membership and portfolio fees. Until then, you get tax back on the college and trainee fees above instead.
GMC, BMA, medical indemnity and your college
HMRC gives back tax on fees you pay yourself, at your income tax rate. The estimate uses 40% for a CT2 and counts 85% of the BMA fee. The exam is left out, because you cannot also get tax back on a fee your trust pays back.
Claim on the P87, HMRC's form for claiming tax back on work costs you pay yourself (like GMC and BMA fees). It covers this tax year and the last four. Over £2,500 in a year, use a Self Assessment tax return instead.
Claiming is easy. Proving it, a year later, is not.
At CT2 the exam depends on your specialty, and your trust wants the College receipt showing the fee and the sitting date. But the exam, the college, the GMC, the BMA and your indemnity are all paid on different dates, with receipts in different places. By the time you claim, the paper trail has scattered.
- The MRCS, MRCPsych or MRCEM booking email is buried, and your trust wants the fee and sitting date from it.
- If you resit, a second booking email joins the first, and your trust pays for two attempts only.
- The college or trainee fee is paid apart from the exam, and its receipt is somewhere else.
- The P87 can reach back four tax years, and each year needs its own statements.
Keep each receipt the day it arrives, and the claim is ready when you are.
Reimbsr keeps the proof from the day you pay
Nothing to remember: snap or forward each receipt when it arrives. Reimbsr reads the amount and date, works out who pays you back, and builds the claim for your trust when you are ready.
- Snap it or forward itSnap the receipt, forward the email to your own Reimbsr address, or add a drive. It reads the amount, date and claim deadline for you.
- See who pays you backEach expense is sorted into what your trust pays back and what HMRC gives tax back on, with the rule behind it. Not sure? Ask Reimbsr. It answers from published NHS and HMRC guidance, with sources, and in a grey area writes the question for you to send to medical staffing.
- Check it, then send itReimbsr builds one PDF with every line and receipt, and drafts the email to whoever approves your expenses. You check it and send it from your own email.
- Get your tax backIt fills in your P87 at the end of the tax year, on Free and Pro, so you get tax back on the fees your trust does not pay.
Doctors like you (CT2) are typically eligible for £444 to £1,212 reimbursed and £418 to £502 back as tax relief a year.It will be free to try; you may never need to upgrade. Pro is £49.99 a year (£0.96 a week), only if it saves you more than it costs. See pricing ›
Free to start. Upgrade only if it pays.
In keeping with making financially savvy decisions, Reimbsr will be free to try. Only upgrade to the Pro version (£0.96 a week) if you think the app can help you save more money than it costs.