How many SMLE attempts you get, and what happens after you pass

Four attempts a year

Every eligible candidate may take the SMLE up to four times a year, starting from the first attempt, until they obtain a pass score.

Scheduling those attempts across the year is your responsibility, and the Commission is not responsible if you leave them to the end of the year and find no seat available.

What counts as an attempt

Sitting the paper is not the only thing that spends an attempt. Two others will, and neither is obvious:

• Arriving more than 30 minutes late, or being absent, against the time on your admission ticket — unless you present acceptable documented grounds that the supervising committee accepts.
• Sitting twice in the same testing window — the first dated result is the one announced; the second counts as an attempt and its result is void.

A bad morning in traffic can therefore cost you a quarter of your year. Arrival details are on the test-day page.

After you pass

Passing does not close the door: after obtaining a passing score you are eligible for two further attempts to improve your mark, for the purpose of a better opportunity in residency selection.

It is a decision worth making deliberately rather than reflexively. A higher score can help you in selection, but a re-sit prepared the same way as the first tends to return the same score. Start from the feedback report that came with your result. See passing score and results.

If you do not pass

SCFHS states that its classification and registration rules apply to candidates who fail the SMLE for two years after their graduation date. If that is your situation, take it up with the Commission directly, since the consequence attaches to your professional classification rather than to the exam alone.

Where this comes from

Every figure on this page is transcribed from the Saudi Medical Licensure Examination (SMLE) Examination Content Guideline, 2026 blueprint, published by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, in the edition on the Commission’s website, read on 31 August 2026.

SCFHS revises these guides from time to time. Before you apply, open the current guide on the Commission’s site and check for yourself: the official PDF. Any page on the internet, this one included, can lag behind the official document, and this is not a substitute for it.

SQB is an independent educational platform, not affiliated with the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties or with Prometric.