Why recalls hurt you

• USMLE (NBME and FSMB)

  Exams: USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2 CK, USMLE Step 3

  USMLE exam materials are confidential and copyrighted. You may not reproduce them by any means, including "reconstruction through memorization and/or dissemination via the Internet", and you may not discuss test items, cases or answers with other examinees, future examinees or any formal or informal prep group, online or offline, at any time before, during or after the exam. Using a prep service that distributes USMLE questions or answers, or gives people a forum to share them, is also a violation.

  What can happen

  • Cancellation of exam scores
  • A bar from taking future USMLE exams (in 2025 the USMLE imposed bars of up to 5 years)
  • Permanent annotation of the USMLE transcript with a finding of irregular behavior, which stays in the permanent USMLE record
  • A letter describing the violation, evidence and outcome sent to every transcript recipient and other legitimately interested parties
  • A report to the FSMB Physician Data Center, which state medical boards routinely check during licensing
  • Possible legal action; the USMLE program says it will use every legal means to protect its copyrighted material
  • While an investigation runs: no new exam registrations, unreleased scores may be withheld, and pending exam appointments are cancelled
  • Using a prep service that shares USMLE content can lead to cancelled registration or testing and withheld or cancelled scores
  USMLE Bulletin of Information: Irregular BehaviorUSMLE Bulletin of Information: Examination Day (confidentiality of exam materials)USMLE Bulletin of Information: About the USMLE (exam materials are confidential, copyrighted property)USMLE: Examples of Security ViolationsUSMLE: Exam Security & Fairness (consequences of security violations)USMLE announcement, 13 Jan 2026: actions taken in 2025 against examinees found to have shared exam content online (transcript annotation, bars up to 5 years, FSMB report, score cancellation)ECFMG news, 11 Sep 2009: On-line Posting or Discussion of USMLE Content Constitutes Irregular Behavior (Internet Archive copy, 9 Oct 2015; ecfmg.org blocks automated access)ECFMG news, 7 May 2010: Sharing or Discussion of USMLE Content Constitutes Irregular Behavior; an examinee who wrote down Step 1 questions from memory for friends was barred for 2 years with a permanent transcript annotation (Internet Archive copy, 6 Jun 2023)U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey, 7 Jul 2011: owners of Optima University (a USMLE prep business) indicted for obtaining live USMLE questions and using them in their coursesU.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey, 17 Dec 2012: Optima University co-owner pleads guilty to mail and wire fraud chargesCourt docket: National Board of Medical Examiners and FSMB v. Optima University LLC, No. 1:09-cv-01043 (W.D. Tenn.), copyright infringement; summary judgment for NBME and FSMB, Sept 2011 (CourtListener copy of the PACER docket)Checked 17 October 2026

• Medical Council of Canada

  Exams: MCCQE, NAC Examination

  MCC exam content is copyrighted and confidential: you may not discuss, copy, reproduce or share it "in any way, including from memory", and the duty continues after the exam ends. The MCC names comparing exam content and question themes with colleagues, sharing content with future candidates and posting content online as breaches; for the NAC this also covers patient portrayals, findings, oral questions and cases.

  What can happen

  • Being denied a standing (final result) on the exam
  • A ban from taking future MCC exams
  • Suspension of your physiciansapply.ca account
  • A permanent annotation on your physiciansapply.ca account
  • A report to medical regulatory authorities and other organizations
  • Legal action; the MCC says it actively monitors breaches and will seek disciplinary and legal measures against candidates who disclose exam content
  Medical Council of Canada: Exam security (legal agreement, consequences, examples of breaches)Medical Council of Canada: MCCQE exam day (conduct and behaviour, confidentiality)Medical Council of Canada: NAC Examination exam day (Confidentiality: do not reveal examination material or content)MCC news, 9 Nov 2017: MCC investigation into potential content breach (a national prep course found using copyrighted clinical exam content; legal process started)Checked 17 October 2026

• General Medical Council

  Exams: PLAB 1, PLAB 2

  The GMC lists "sharing exam content in any way" as misconduct, whether in private conversations or on social media and other online forums, and misconduct can happen before, during or after exam day. Gaining information about the questions before your exam and releasing exam content to a third party or commercial organisation are also misconduct.

  What can happen

  • Written advice
  • Exam result annulled
  • A bar from booking or sitting future exams for a set period
  • The matter reported to the GMC Registrar, who can take it into account when deciding a future application for registration
  • Any combination of these
  GMC PLAB 1 guide: Misconduct procedures (Internet Archive copy, 9 Aug 2025; gmc-uk.org blocked automated access)GMC PLAB 2 guide: Misconduct procedure (Internet Archive copy, 7 Oct 2025; gmc-uk.org blocked automated access)GMC case study: a candidate who shared a PLAB 1 question in an online forum (Nov 2018 sitting) said they did not know it was against the rules; results annulled, the sitting still counted as an attempt, and the case was made available to the Registrar (Internet Archive copy, 18 Jul 2025)Vardhineni v General Medical Council [2024] EWHC 3328 (Admin), 20 Dec 2024: High Court upheld the erasure from the medical register of a doctor found to have procured confidential PLAB 2 station content and distributed it to a prep company's students (The National Archives, Find Case Law)Checked 17 October 2026

• Australian Medical Council

  Exams: AMC MCQ Examination, AMC Clinical Examination

  Copyright in all AMC exam material belongs to the AMC, and "No part of any examination may be reproduced, stored or transmitted by any means." Disclosing or trying to disclose exam content, including supplying or selling material presented as AMC exam content, is irregular behaviour. The AMC also warns that "reconstructed" MCQ papers circulating online contain many incorrect question stems and answers.

  What can happen

  • Result withheld, refused or withdrawn
  • Immediate exclusion from the exam if the concern arises during the exam
  • Not permitted to continue with any AMC assessment
  • Refused the opportunity to sit future AMC exams
  • AMC certificate refused or withdrawn
  • A report to the Medical Board of Australia/Ahpra or to law enforcement authorities
  • Separately, a result can be withheld if analysis suggests it was affected by "pre-knowledge of questions"; the candidate is then invited to sit the exam again
  AMC Multiple Choice Question Examination Specifications, V8 (Sept 2025): Reconstructed AMC Papers; 7.2 Unsatisfactory Results; 7.3 Irregular BehaviourAMC Clinical Examination Specifications, V8.3 (June 2026): 6.2 Unsatisfactory Results; 6.3 Irregular BehaviourAMC: Examination specificationsChecked 17 October 2026

• Medical Council of New Zealand

  Exams: NZREX Clinical

  Misconduct includes passing, or trying to pass, exam material to anyone after the exam, which covers "sharing any examination scenarios or examination information in any public or private forum". Asking candidates from an earlier time slot about the exam is also misconduct.

  What can happen

  • Failing the exam
  • Possible impact on future registration, even if the candidate later re-sits and passes NZREX Clinical
  Medical Council of New Zealand: NZREX Clinical - Examination Rules (Examination misconduct)Medical Council of New Zealand: NZREX Clinical policiesChecked 17 October 2026

• Medical Council of Ireland

  Exams: PRES Level 3

  PRES Level 3 candidates sign a non-disclosure agreement: they may not discuss or disclose Level 3 content even after the exam, including sharing it with future candidates or posting content and questions online. Writing down question details to take out of the venue, getting information about Level 3 stations from other candidates, and any attempt to reproduce exam materials are listed as cheating or misconduct.

  What can happen

  • Results withheld while the suspected misconduct is investigated
  • A zero mark or fail for the station, the question or the whole Level 3
  • Expulsion from the examination process for a period the Committee decides
  • Referral to the Medical Council, which decides whether further disciplinary or registration action follows
  • Any attempt to reproduce exam materials is reported to the Council's Registration and Continuing Practice Committee
  Medical Council of Ireland: Pre-Registration Examination System Handbook (May 2023), sections 4.4.c (non-disclosure agreement), 4.4.i (cheating and misconduct), 4.4.j (sanctions)Medical Council of Ireland: Pre-Registration Examination System (PRES)Checked 17 October 2026

• Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS), delivered at Prometric test centres

  Exams: SMLE

  Candidates must keep the exam items confidential and may not reproduce them "through recording, memorization, or by any other means". Reconstructing copyrighted questions from memory or spreading them (including on the internet), and discussing specific items, cases or answers with other examinees, future examinees or prep groups at any time, are listed as prohibited.

  What can happen

  • SCFHS: failing to follow exam policies or test-centre instructions may result in a finding of irregular behavior (the SCFHS guide lists no specific sanction for sharing content)
  • Prometric: violations are reported to Prometric and the test sponsor, which may impose sanctions up to invalidation of the test score and civil or criminal charges
  • Prometric: any reproduction or disclosure of exam content "will result in the immediate filing of civil and/or criminal charges" against the candidate and anyone directing or conspiring with them
  SCFHS: Saudi Medical Licensure Examination (SMLE) Examination Content Guideline 2026 (Prohibitions; What to Expect on Test Day)SCFHS: SMLE Applicant Guide (posted Sept 2025), ProhibitionsPrometric Test Center Regulations, version 1.0, 1 Nov 2024 (Confidentiality of exam content)Checked 17 October 2026

• Dubai Health Authority (DHA)

  Exams: DHA professional licensing assessment (CBT and oral)

  Applicants may not share information about their DHA assessment session, which DHA says includes the assessment questions, results, screenshots and recordings of the session. The computer-based test is delivered by Prometric, whose regulations prohibit communicating, publishing or reproducing any part of an exam in any form.

  What can happen

  • DHA: sharing assessment information "will be subject to legal implication"
  • DHA: a detected cheating attempt is treated as unethical professional conduct; the result is recorded as Fail and the applicant may be blacklisted
  • Prometric (CBT): violations can lead to invalidation of the test score and civil or criminal charges, and any reproduction or disclosure of exam content results in civil and/or criminal charges
  DHA Manual for Professional Assessment (Oral/CBT), version 1.1, issued 8 May 2025, clauses 4.17, 4.18 and 7.1Prometric Test Center Regulations, version 1.0, 1 Nov 2024 (Confidentiality of exam content)Checked 17 October 2026

If someone offers you recalls

• Don't buy them, download them or pass them on, even "just to look".
• On MedReady, report the post with the "exam content" reason. Stewards remove it.
• Most exam bodies have a confidential way to report security concerns; it is listed on their pages above.

This page summarises official rules for guidance only. It is not legal advice; the exam body's own wording always applies.