As an ST5, you are likely paying for GMC, BMA, medical indemnity, your college and sometimes an exam.
A typical ST5 pays £1,367 to £2,406 a year on these. £522 to £1,297 of it can come back from HMRC, and from your trust in surgery, if you keep the receipts.
Estimates from published fees for a typical full-time ST5 passing first time. Yours might differ. Fees checked on against each body’s own fee page.
ST5 take-home pay after tax and NHS Pension ›ST5 tax rebate on fees, back four years ›
What you pay, receipt by receipt
Three fees come with every ST5, whatever the specialty. The GMC charges an annual fee to keep you registered. The BMA charges for membership. Medical indemnity is an estimate, because the MDU, MPS and MDDUS each quote individually.
That is £1,200 a year before any college or exam. All three count for tax back: HMRC returns the income tax you paid on that money, once you claim it.
GMCreceipt.pdf
GMC annual fee
With a licence to practise
Total£481.00
✓ HMRC tax back
BMAcard statement
BMA membership
Annual subscription
Tax back on 85% of the fee
£34.92 a month
Total£419.00
✓ HMRC tax back
Then your college and exam, by pathway
Your college fees depend on your specialty. Here are five common pathways. Each adds college fees, which count for tax back. Surgery also adds FRCS Section 1, which your trust pays back for the first two attempts.
The last slip in each row adds it all up, with the three fees above.
Medicine one more receipt
ST5 · Medicinea typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£1,367
HMRC, 40%£522
Surgery three more receipts
RCS Englandforwarded email
Membership
Standard member rate
Total£336.00
✓ HMRC tax back
FRCS Section 1booking email
Exam fee
First two attempts
From Jan 2027
Total£600.00
✓ Your trust pays backST5 · Surgerya typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£2,406
Your trust£600
HMRC, 40%£697
Anaesthetics one more receipt
ST5 · Anaestheticsa typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£1,551
HMRC, 40%£595
Obstetrics and gynaecology two more receipts
ST5 · Obstetrics and gynaecologya typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£1,469
HMRC, 40%£562
Paediatrics one more receipt
RCPCHreceipt.pdf
Membership
Ordinary member in training
Total£388.00
✓ HMRC tax backST5 · Paediatricsa typical year, with the three costs above
You pay in total£1,588
HMRC, 40%£610
Logos belong to their owners and show where each fee goes. Reimbsr is not affiliated with these bodies.
Who pays you back
HMRC gives tax back on your fees once you ask. In surgery, your trust also pays back the exam once you send a claim. Neither happens on its own.
Surgery's exam, first two attempts
This covers FRCS Section 1, for sittings from 1 April 2026. You pay for the exam as usual, then claim it back from your employer with the receipt showing the fee and the sitting date.
The other four pathways have no exam in a typical ST5 year, so there is nothing for your trust to pay back. From April 2027 your trust pays back royal college membership and portfolio fees too. Until then, they count for tax back instead.
GMC, BMA, medical indemnity and the rest
On fees you pay yourself, HMRC gives back tax at your income tax rate. The estimate uses 40% for an ST5. For the BMA, it counts 85% of the subscription.
You claim on the P87, HMRC's form for claiming tax back on work costs you pay yourself (like GMC and BMA fees). It covers this tax year and the last four. Over £2,500 in a year, you use Self Assessment instead.
Claiming is easy. Proving it, a year later, is not.
Your fees go to different bodies on different dates, and the receipts land in different places. In surgery, your trust wants the exam receipt with the fee and the sitting date, and if you wait until you rotate, its claim window can close first. Everywhere else it is tax back, and the P87 feels like a job for another day.
- If you sit FRCS Section 1, the receipt is in an old email, or on a booking site you no longer log in to.
- If it was a resit, you cannot say which attempt it was, and your trust pays for the first two.
- GMC, BMA, medical indemnity and college payments leave your account on different dates, with nothing tying them together.
- The P87 means finding a year of statements in one sitting.
Keep each receipt the day it arrives, and the claim is ready when you are.
Reimbsr keeps the proof from the day you pay
If you sit FRCS Section 1, the receipt and sitting date are already there, and Reimbsr nudges you before the claim window closes. At the end of the tax year, your GMC, BMA, medical indemnity and college fees are ready for your tax back.
- Snap it or forward itSnap the receipt, forward the email to your own Reimbsr address, or add a drive. It reads the amount, date and claim deadline for you.
- See who pays you backEach expense is sorted into what your trust pays back and what HMRC gives tax back on, with the rule behind it. Not sure? Ask Reimbsr. It answers from published NHS and HMRC guidance, with sources, and in a grey area writes the question for you to send to medical staffing.
- Check it, then send itReimbsr builds one PDF with every line and receipt, and drafts the email to whoever approves your expenses. You check it and send it from your own email.
- Get your tax backIt fills in your P87 at the end of the tax year, on Free and Pro, so you get tax back on the fees your trust does not pay.
Doctors like you (ST5) are typically eligible for up to £600 reimbursed and £522 to £697 back as tax relief a year.It will be free to try; you may never need to upgrade. Pro is £49.99 a year (£0.96 a week), only if it saves you more than it costs. See pricing ›
Free to start. Upgrade only if it pays.
In keeping with making financially savvy decisions, Reimbsr will be free to try. Only upgrade to the Pro version (£0.96 a week) if you think the app can help you save more money than it costs.