Certificate of Accreditation

This year's HRUK Certificate of Accreditation examination will take place on Friday 20th February 2009. The HRUK Certificate of Accreditation comprises two components: the exam and logbook. There will be a choice of 4 venues where you can sit the exam:

The examination has continued to be revised since last year. The number of questions has been increased to 100, although remains in a similar format with 60 core questions and 40 speciality questions over 3 hours. The popularity of the certificate is increasing and the standard is also improving.

There is also a logbook to be completed. There will be 6 logbooks in total (2 aimed at SpRs, 2 for physiologists and 2 for nurses). You complete ONE only. These logbooks will be made available for downloading from the beginning of December 2008; the Exam Committee are making some necessary final amendments to some of them! Please watch this page for any updates.

For those candidates who sat the exam in December 2007, and need to download their respective logbooks again, or for anyone planning to sit the exam on 20 February 2009 and would like to have an idea of what the logbooks will entail in the meantime, you can still view/download them:
click here for devices, electrophysiology, clinical/devices and clinical/electrophysiology.

For candidates who will be sitting the exam on 20 February 2009, your logbook can be started from the date that you registered for the examination and must be completed by 31 December 2009. Requests for logbook extensions must be submitted in writing (and not by telephone) to hruk@bcs.com giving full reasons why an extension is being sought, and requests will then be considered on a case by case basis by the Exam Committee.

To give you a general idea of the type of exam questions you might be asked, you can view the 1999 and 2000 exam papers, though as mentioned earlier, the standard of the examination is also improving.

Registration for the certificate will be on or before 1st December 2008 and will close at 23.59, Friday 23rd January 2009.
You are encouraged to register as soon as possible, and not leave things to the very last minute to avoid disappointment. Registration applications received after this deadline will be refused.

Candidates who are re-sitting part of the examination from December 2007 do not have to pay again, but must register again as a resitting candidate for administrative purposes. Candidates who failed the entire examination in December 2007 will have to pay the full fee of £120.00, and must register as a new candidate.

Please note that if you decide to cancel your registration booking, an administrative fee of £25.00 will be applied.

If you wish to register over the phone or send in a cheque, please contact Liz Breen (Tel: 01789 451 831, aa@stars.org.uk ) or Wendy Hayward (Tel: 01789 451 826, stars@stars.org.uk) from The Arrhythmia Alliance.

We hope you will disseminate this information and encourage your physiologists, arrhythmia nurses and registrars to consider this qualification. For anyone considering sitting the exam in 2010, HRUK will as usual run pre-exam courses during Heart Rhythm Congress 2009, so do sign up when the opportunity arises!

For any general questions about the exam or logbooks, please contact Azeem Ahmad, HRUK by email hruk@bcs.com or telephone 020 7692 5415 or 020 7383 3887.

For any general enquiries on registration payment/receipts, please contact Liz Breen (Tel: 01789 451 831, aa@stars.org.uk) or Wendy Hayward (Tel: 01789 451 826, stars@stars.org.uk) from The Arrhythmia Alliance.

Completed logbooks should be sent to:
Azeem Ahmad
Affiliates Coordinator
HRUK
9 Fitzroy Square
London
W1T 5HW

When sending logbooks, you are recommended to use recorded/registered post/special delivery for extra security purposes.