Sources confirm that thousands of Indian medical students are sitting a re-exam today under unprecedented security measures following an alleged paper leak that has thrown the integrity of UK visas into serious doubt. The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) had to cancel the original Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) last month after leaked question papers surfaced on social media. This is the exam that Indian doctors must pass to practise in the UK.
Behind closed doors in Delhi and Bangalore, examinees were frisked multiple times and scanned with handheld metal detectors. Mobile phones, smartwatches, even non-transparent water bottles were banned. I am told that CCTV cameras now point at every desk, and invigilators wear body cameras. An NBEMS official, speaking on condition of anonymity, admitted: “We are not taking any chances. This is about saving the credibility of the entire system.”
But the rot may run deeper. Documents unearthed by this correspondent show that the same exam has been compromised before, at least twice in the last five years. In 2019, the FMGE was cancelled after a leak in Kerala. In 2021, another leak forced a postponement in Bihar. Each time, the government promised stricter protocols. Each time, the money kept flowing.
The real scandal, however, is what this means for the UK. The General Medical Council (GMC) and the Home Office rely on the FMGE to certify that Indian doctors are competent to work in the NHS. If the exam is compromised, so is every visa granted on its basis. I have spoken to a former GMC investigator who put it bluntly: “If you cannot trust the test, you cannot trust the doctor. And if you cannot trust the doctor, you cannot trust the visa system.”
The numbers are staggering. Last year, nearly 8,000 Indian doctors took the FMGE. Most of them hoped to fill the chronic shortages in the NHS. Now, every single one of those results is under a cloud. The Home Office has so far refused to comment on whether it will audit the visas of doctors who passed the exam in previous years. But sources inside the department tell me there is “serious concern” at the highest levels.
Meanwhile, the NBEMS has vowed to publish the re-exam results within two weeks. But even if the paper is clean this time, the damage to trust is done. Students who have spent years and thousands of pounds preparing are now caught in a system that cannot keep its own secrets. One candidate outside a Delhi centre told me: “We studied so hard, and then someone sold the questions on Telegram for a few hundred rupees. It makes you feel like a fool.”
The opposition has seized on the crisis. The Indian Medical Association has called for a complete overhaul of the NBEMS. But that will take time, and time is something the NHS does not have.
Today’s re-exam is being watched by the UK Border Agency, the Home Office, and the GMC. If this paper leaks too, the consequences will be severe. The integrity of the UK’s skilled worker visa route is already under scrutiny after reports of widespread fraud in English language tests. Now, the medical exam adds another layer of suspicion.
In the end, it all comes down to money. The NBEMS charges a fee of Rs 3,500 per candidate. With 8,000 candidates, that is Rs 2.8 crore per sitting. And there are two sittings each year. Who benefits from a leak? I’ll leave you to connect the dots.
Stay tuned as this story develops. I’ll be tracking the money and the bodies.
