Checklist: GMC application documents

The GMC is more prescriptive about translations than almost any other UK body a Turkish applicant deals with. It says what it wants a translation to be, how it must be presented, and — importantly — that it must be made directly from the original language rather than through a second language.

Who this list is for

Doctors who qualified in Türkiye and are applying for registration with a licence to practise, whether through the PLAB route, a postgraduate qualification or a relevant European qualification. Dentists, nurses and pharmacists have their own regulators with different rules — see NMC, GDC and GPhC.

The documents

• Primary medical qualification (tıp fakültesi diploması) — a copy in the original language and a complete English translation. Complete means everything: the seals, the rector's and dean's titles, the diploma number and any text on the reverse.
• Internship or rotation certificate (intörnlük belgesi) — where the qualification includes a pre-registration year documented separately. Translation required.
• Academic transcript (transkript) — where the GMC or the primary source verification service asks for it. Full record, translated, marks reproduced not converted.
• Certificate of good standing (iyi hal belgesi) — issued by the health authority or the medical chamber. Regulators treat these as time-limited, so order it close to the point when it will be assessed rather than at the start of a long application, and translate it once it is in hand.
• Evidence of a name change (isim değişikliği kararı or marriage certificate) — where the diploma name differs from the passport name. Translation required; without it, primary source verification stalls on a mismatch.
• Postgraduate certificates (uzmanlık belgesi) — specialty certificates for applications based on specialist qualifications, translated in full.
• How the translation must look — the GMC asks for translations made by a translator whose contact details appear on the document, stamped and signed. Our certification page carries the company name, Ankara trade registry number, address, e-mail and telephone, the date, and a signature.
• Primary source verification — the diploma itself is verified with the awarding university through the GMC's verification provider. That is a separate process from the translation, and it uses the original-language document.

What people most often get wrong

Doctors who trained partly abroad sometimes supply a translation made from an intermediate language version of their diploma. The GMC asks for translation directly from the original, so a Turkish diploma translated from a Russian or Arabic rendering is not acceptable. The second problem is timing on the certificate of good standing: it is ordered early, sits in a drawer while PLAB is arranged, and is out of date by the time anyone reads it. The third is partial translation of a diploma — the seal text and the reverse are part of the document, not decoration.

What we would translate and what it would cost

A typical PLAB-route file: tıp diploması (1 page), internship certificate (1 page), certificate of good standing (1 page) and a six-year transcript (5 pages). Eight pages at £10.00 is £80.00, certification included, no UK VAT, delivered as a signed PDF in one to two working days. Fast delivery, useful when a certificate of good standing has a short life, is £128.00. If you are applying to a Trust and to the GMC at once, the same PDF serves both — tell us and we will send you extra copies at no charge.

Before you rely on this list

Written to help you prepare translations, not to advise on registration, and the GMC's own guidance on translating documents is decisive — its wording is quoted alongside this page and published at gmc-uk.org. Check it before ordering, because the presentation rules matter as much as the content.