RCP membership – FAQs

With a 500-year history and over 40,000 members and fellows in the UK and internationally, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is uniquely placed to support and represent you throughout your medical career.

The RCP plays a pivotal role in raising standards of healthcare and shaping public health, and as part of our membership community you’ll have opportunities to get involved and influence our work through our committees and networks.

You’ll also benefit from a wide range of resources to help you excel at every career stage, including:

• free access to our online video archive and over 3,000 ejournals and ebooks
• free access to our online CPD diary
• exclusive discounts on RCP conferences and events.

The MRCP(UK) exam is also known as the membership exam. It is an exam in general medicine that is coordinated and run by the Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians (Edinburgh, Glasgow and London). For more information about the MRCP(UK) exam please visit the MRCP(UK) website.

RCP collegiate membership is membership by subscription. It is not mandatory and it is not a qualification, but offers many membership benefits that can support your professional life including an additional post-nominal MRCP (London).

If you are a UK taxpayer, save 22–40% of the cost of your membership subscription.

If you are doing this year's tax return, you can download your receipts from your MyRCP account. Alternatively, you can email membershipqueries@rcp.ac.uk for previous years' receipts.

There are two ways that a trainee can pay training fees:

• a one-off lump sum paid directly to JRCPTB
• by spreading the cost of your training fees in annual instalments and receiving RCP membership benefits by combining your annual training fee with RCP membership.

It is essential that you enrol with JRCPTB first before selecting your payment option or applying for membership at one of the three RCP colleges.

You can pay online with a MyRCP account. We accept Visa, Mastercard and Switch. Unfortunately we do not accept American Express.

Please note you do not need to have a PayPal account to make payment. Simply click on the black button to pay by debt or credit card. Once paid you will receive a receipt to your primary registered email address.

You may need to log out and log back in again to see your balance updated after payment.

Please note that we can no longer accept card payments over the phone for security reasons.

Foundation doctor members are only able to pay for their membership by direct debit. No administration fee applies.

What happens if I have arrears to pay and I want to start a quarterly direct debit?

Any arrears from previous membership years will be collected in full in the first quarterly payment along with the first quarterly instalment. From then on, your subscription will be divided into quarters according to how many quarterly membership payments you need to pay.

How will my direct debit appear on my bank statement?

It will appear as ’Royal College of Physicians’.

Do I need a UK bank account to set up a direct debit?

Yes – we only accept direct debits from UK bank accounts.

I am moving abroad – what will happen to my direct debit?

As long as you still have an active UK bank account you can continue to pay by quarterly or annual direct debit irrespective of where you are located.

How do I switch back to annual direct debit payments?

You can email membershipqueries@rcp.ac.uk and we will make this change for you. You would be required to pay the balance outstanding for the remainder of your subscriptions year.

Members and fellows can log in to their MyRCP account to access exclusive content. If you are experiencing a problem, please consider these questions:

Have you forgotten your password?

You can reset it here, and an email will be sent to your primary email address as confirmation. If you do not receive one within 10 minutes, either in your inbox or junk/spam folder, please email membershipqueries@rcp.ac.uk and they will reset it for you.

Are you registered for the MyRCP members area?

You can register by entering your name, RCP code, email address and a new login password.

I can’t remember whether I’ve previously created a record?

If you are unsure whether you have previously created a MyRCP record you can contact our membership team who will be assist.

I am getting an error message whilst trying to create an account?

If you get an error message whilst creating a MyRCP account it is most likely that you already have an existing account or your account is locked. To get this resolved please reach out to our membership department.

My MRCP(UK) data isn’t showing when I am trying to complete an online application?

This may be caused by having a duplicate RCP record, or that your form of faith hasn’t been sent to the college you sat the exam with. Contact our membership team to resolve this matter.

Are your payments up to date?

Existing members and fellows that are six or more months in arrears must settle their membership's outstanding balance to continue to access the members only areas of the website (plus CPD access and delivery of Commentary magazine).

If you are an SAS doctor with a pay scale above £72,500 then, as an associate member, you should be placed on the associate SAS threshold 2 membership category. Otherwise you should be placed on the associate SAS threshold 1 membership category.

Log in to the MyRCP members area to update your contact details.

For amendments to your name, qualifications and date of birth, please send the change request along with supporting evidence (a copy of the marriage certificate, passport, diploma, etc) to the membership team: membershipqueries@rcp.ac.uk.

Changes to your mailing preferences can be updated when you receive an email from the RCP. Alternatively, you can contact the membership team.

If you are fully retired from all remunerative medical practice (no working sessions – NHS work, private practice, teaching or research) you can email membershipqueries@rcp.ac.uk.

Fully retired members and fellows are required to pay a reduced subscription, currently £80 per year, to retain fellowship and benefits until aged 80. As such you will still have access to benefits including your online access to Clinical Medicine, Future Healthcare Journal and Commentary magazine (three print copies of Commentary will still be posted to you unless you have opted out of receiving print) as well as membership of the Senior Physicians' Society. 

Once a retired fellow reaches the age of 80 they can decide whether they wish to stop subscribing and retain their FRCP as an emeritus fellow. This includes eligibility to be included on the Inspiring Physicians list of biographies.

If you have fully retired within the first six months of the year you only have to pay 50% of the annual fee.

If you are a fellow and you are retiring from the NHS but continuing reduced working sessions, you may be eligible for a concession on your current subscription. There are various concessions available for fellows working seven or fewer programmed activities (PAs, formerly known as Notional Half Days) per week. For more information please contact the membership team.

Resignation from the GMC will not affect your membership subscription to the RCP. Your status will remain as a member/fellow in good standing – similar to our overseas members and fellows who are not linked to the GMC.

Yes – Retired members and fellows are automatically enrolled to the Senior Physicians Society who hold lively and interesting events based on different cultural topics three times a year. Those over the age of 80 can decide whether to continue to subscribe to their benefits or simply keep their FRCP post-nominal.

Yes, please contact the membership team on membershipqueries@rcp.ac.uk to receive your unique verification code to sign-up for TOTUM discount.

TOTUM pro card is available to all members and fellows.

Concessions according to programmed activities (PAs) per week

UK fellows are eligible for concessions for working fewer than 8 PAs (formerly NHDs – notional half days) per week. Also if you are working in a non-mainstream specialty. Further information can be found on the fellowship concessions document, see below.

If you are a fellow of another college or faculty you are eligible for a 33% concession on your fellowship subscription. This concession does not apply to the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the Royal College of Physicians (Ireland) or the Royal College of Surgeons (England).

Overseas members

Overseas members and fellows are entitled to different subscription fees depending on whether they are in a High Income Country of Low Income Country as defined by the World Bank. If you reside in a LIC and are earning less than the equivalent of £15,000 GBP you are eligible to apply for further discounts.

Overseas fellows working part-time may be eligible for a concession on their current subscription.

All matters are treated confidentially, please contact the membership department for further information on how to apply.

Is there a maternity leave concession?

We offer a 50% reduction on your fee to members and fellows on maternity leave.

Concessionary rates are available to fellows experiencing financial difficulties. Please contact the membership team. All matters are dealt with confidentially.

https://www.rcp.ac.uk/membership/fellowship

Fellows and members are expected to act in accordance with the bye-laws and regulations and, in a wider sense, have a duty not to compromise the name of the RCP and to conduct themselves in a way that does not compromise their professional standing or registration or other authority to practise medicine. Where an individual’s fellowship or membership requires payment of a subscription, this must be up to date and not in arrears.

Should you be aware of any circumstances which you feel may contradict this and which might cause difficulty for you or the RCP subsequently (such as being the subject of a GMC inquiry), you are invited to declare them to the registrar. This will be treated in confidence and any such details will be considered on their own merits.

The RCP has an almost complete collection of obituaries of its past fellows, known as Inspiring Physicians.

Please contact the membership team (membershipqueries@rcp.ac.uk) for a replacement fellowship diploma or a fellowship verification letter.

All MRCP(UK) verification and duplicate MRCP(UK) diploma requests should be sent to the examinations department: MRCPverification@mrcpuk.org

All other diploma, licentiate and fellowship verification requests, and duplicate fellowship diploma requests, should be directed to the membership team.

Before you make a decision, download the fellowship concessions form and consider these points:

Are you eligible for a lower subscription rate?

If you are also a fellow of a non-mainstream specialty college or faculty, or working seven or fewer PAs a week, you may be eligible for a concession on your subscription.

Are you experiencing personal financial difficulties?

Please email the membership team and we will ensure your correspondence is forwarded to the treasurer.

If you still wish to cancel your fellowship, your record will be updated only when we have received written confirmation of your decision. If you wish to reinstate your fellowship within three years, you will need to apply to the membership team and pay any outstanding fellowship arrears at the time of resigning. If you held MRCP(UK) you will revert to this post-nominal.

Please contact the membership team on membershipqueries@rcp.ac.uk to cancel your membership. If you have paid until the end of the subscription year your cancellation will take effect at the point of renewal.

Please note that cancelling your Direct Debit does not automatically cancel your membership. It simply alters your payment method.