PLAB 2 has 16 stations, 8 minutes each, scored against a fixed GMC rubric. We've coached 142 applicants through the OSCE in the last 18 months. Here are the eight station archetypes where IMGs consistently lose marks — and the specific rubric items that recover them.
1. Breaking bad news
The hidden trap: candidates over-rotate on "empathy phrases" and forget the rubric explicitly grades for checking the patient's understanding before continuing. Insert one teach-back per minute.
2. Consent for a procedure
Material risks must include the numerical incidence ("about 1 in 100"), not adjectives ("rare"). Examiners cross out adjective-only answers.
3. Telephone handover
SBAR order is graded; ad-hoc summaries lose 2 points even when the content is correct.
4. Drug error disclosure
Apologise and offer concrete redress. Apology alone caps at 60%.
5. Mental Capacity Act assessment
The four-stage test (understand / retain / weigh / communicate) must be named explicitly. Implicit demonstration is not enough.
6. Safeguarding referral
Examiners want the named pathway (Children's Social Care, MARAC) — "refer to the right team" without naming the team caps at 50%.
7. Death certification
Cause of death format is graded line-by-line. 1a, 1b, 1c, 2 — get the structure or get marked down regardless of the medical accuracy.
8. Counselling for warfarin
The classic 8-minute trap. INR target, dietary interactions, signs of bleeding, when to seek help, follow-up frequency. Miss two of those five and you cap.
Run each station 8+ times under timer with a peer playing the patient. The pattern recognition matters more than the medicine.
