ESEGH — Gastroenterology
The European Specialty Examination in Gastroenterology and Hepatology (ESEGH) is the specialty knowledge examination for UK Gastroenterology training. It replaced the Specialty Certificate Examination in Gastroenterology in 2018, and is run by the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians with the European Section and Board of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and the British Society of Gastroenterology.
Like the College membership examinations, it is a postgraduate qualification, not a licensing examination. For UK trainees it is a mandatory part of the CCT in Gastroenterology.
Exam Specification
| Component | Details |
|---|---|
| Format | 200 best-of-five questions in two papers of 100, taken on the same day |
| Duration | 3 hours per paper |
| Delivery | Computer-based, at a test centre |
| Pass mark | Equated pass score of 432, which was 58.4% (115 of 197 scored items) at the 2025 sitting. The pass standard is equated to the 2019 UK trainee cohort |
| Attempts | Maximum 6 |
| Eligibility | No entry requirements. UK and international candidates may sit; MRCP(UK) is not required |
| Sittings | Once a year |
| Fee | £700 UK · €800 ESBGH member, associate and observer countries · £875 all other countries |
Content Blueprint
Official blueprint — published by the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians.
| Domain | Questions |
|---|---|
| Liver disorders | 40 |
| IBD and colonic disorders | 40 |
| Small intestinal disorders | 20 |
| Stomach and duodenal disorders | 20 |
| Biliary tree | 16 |
| Oesophageal disorders | 16 |
| Pancreatic disorders | 16 |
| Other — mouth and salivary gland, endoscopy, GI physiology, investigations, symptoms and signs, anal disorders | 12 |
| GI haemorrhage | 10 |
| Nutrition | 10 |
| Total | 200 |
Hepatology and Liver Transplantation
The UK specialty is Gastroenterology, with hepatology inside it. Under the 2022 curriculum, hepatology has been absorbed into Gastroenterology and is being decommissioned as a standalone subspecialty. Senior trainees choose a complex luminal or a complex hepatology theme, and the hepatology pathway includes a placement in a liver transplant centre. There is no separate UK transplant hepatology credential.
Specialist Registration
Gastroenterologists trained outside the UK without a UK CCT reach the Specialist Register through the Portfolio Pathway.
What we offer
An ESEGH question bank built to the official 200-question blueprint, where liver disorders and IBD each carry 40 questions.