Neither route wins on merit alone. Access decides. If you live in India and hold no job offer at an AMC-accredited site, the AMC clinical exam is the only open path to the AMC Certificate. If you already work in a paid clinical post at an accredited site, the WBA (workplace-based assessment) runs inside your 12 months of supervised practice. It pays a salary. It adds no extra time. Most Indian doctors sit offshore. For them the exam is the default route. It is open today. The job-first route stays shut until they hold an Australian post. Side-by-side comparison The table compares both routes on the points that decide your choice. Attribute AMC clinical exam WBA Who can enter Any Standard Pathway candidate who passed the MCQ Only IMGs employed at an AMC-accredited site after the MCQ Can you do it from India Yes, but you travel to Melbourne. The online option is closed to overseas candidates No. You must be employed in Australia Cost (AUD) 3,000 in person Provider fee about 15,000 (WA Country Health Service, 2025) plus a separate AMC fee of roughly 1,000 to 1,100 Duration One sitting: 16 stations, four rest stations, 14 scored 12 months, running alongside supervised practice Pay during the program No Yes. One RMO WBA salary example is 99,395 to 119,165 in WA Pass rate About 21% in 2022-23 No official figure. Do not quote one Wait time September to December 2026 is closed. Next release expected November 2026 for 2027 dates Places are few. Over 80% of doctors on limited registration are not in a WBA Overlap with the 12 months Separate. You can sit it before or after registration Built into the 12 months. It does not add time Read the first two rows first. They tell you which route you can even enter. The clinical exam: what actually matters Format and pass mark The exam has 16 assessed stations and four rest stations. Each station runs 10 minutes. Only 14 stations are scored and you pass with 9 or more. Older blogs still cite 20 stations or a 10/14 pass mark. Those numbers are out of date. Cost The AMC clinical exam fee is AUD 3,000 in person. That rate applies from 1 July 2025. The online exam costs AUD 3,400, but candidates living overseas cannot take it. Indian doctors fly to Melbourne and sit in person. Many competitors still show AUD 3,991 and AUD 4,391. Those figures are stale. Pass rate The AMC clinical exam pass rate was about 21% in 2022-23. One secondary source suggests 24% for 2023-24, but its pass count does not add up. Treat 21% as the safe baseline. Check the AMC annual report for the newest number. The wait is the real problem The September to December 2026 round is closed and the waitlist is full. The next in-person release is expected in November 2026 for 2027 dates. A 2024 AMC survey said candidates usually sat within three to four months of booking. That is no longer true. Book early. Plan Your Exam The WBA: what actually matters Eligibility The WBA is open only to IMGs already employed in a clinical role at an AMC-accredited site, after passing the AMC MCQ. You cannot run the exam and the WBA at the same time. Withdraw from the WBA and you can sit the exam or reapply later. Fail the WBA and you can reapply to a provider or sit the exam. Cost and pay The program runs 12 months and assesses to PGY1 level. You work in paid employment and pay the provider a WBA provider fee. WA Country Health Service charged AUD 15,000 in 2025. The AMC charges its own separate fee, listed at roughly AUD 1,000 to 1,100 in a secondary source. Confirm it on the AMC fees page before you budget. One WBA salary example: AUD 99,395 to 119,165 for an RMO post in WA. Duration and overlap The WBA sits inside the 12 months of supervised practice. The two overlap. They do not stack. That overlap is the main gain of this route. Places and access Places are few. An AMC survey found over 80% of doctors on limited registration are not in a WBA. Townsville’s new program starts with seven candidates. Some programs also limit who can apply. WA Health’s IMG Pathway project targets IMGs with no prior Australian registration who hold permanent residency in WA. Assessment load One provider’s load: 12 Mini-CEX (pass 9), 6 case-based discussions (pass 5) and 2 multisource feedback rounds. Why this decision is different for Indian doctors India supplies more Standard Pathway candidates than any other country. Most of them sit offshore, with no Australian clinical job. That one fact reshapes the choice. A route that needs a job before it starts is closed to a doctor who has no job. No sourced finding shows the WBA is easy to enter from India. The workable order is: win a job offer at an accredited site, gain limited registration, then apply to a WBA program. Some India-targeted blogs claim the WBA needs three years of clinical experience. No AMC or Medical Board page supports that. Skip it. The exam side carries its own cost. The online option is closed to overseas candidates, so you pay for travel and sit in Melbourne. For most Indian doctors in Australia’s pipeline, the exam is the route they can take now. The WBA opens later and only through an employer. That timing gap matters more than any difference in prestige. Check WBA Eligibility Decision guide: which route should you choose? Match your situation to one line. You live in India with no accredited-site job offer: sit the AMC clinical exam and book early. You hold a job offer at an AMC-accredited site: apply for the WBA. It overlaps with supervised practice and pays you. You are unsure: lock in an exam date first. You can move to a WBA later if a job appears. Once a WBA starts, you cannot sit the exam. You fail the WBA: reapply to a provider or sit the exam. You withdraw from the WBA: sit the exam or reapply later. You hold limited registration but no WBA place: you are in the majority. Keep applying to providers and keep the exam option alive. Common mistakes that cost time and money Treating the WBA as a shortcut. It needs an employer and places are few. Quoting old fees of AUD 3,991 or 4,391. The in-person AMC clinical exam fee is AUD 3,000. Quoting 20 stations or a 10/14 pass mark. The format is 16 stations, 14 scored, pass 9 or more. Assuming you can run both routes at once. You cannot. Repeating the “three years experience” rule for the WBA. No official source backs it. Ignoring the wait. Round #2026 is closed. Using a WBA pass rate. No official figure exists. Avoid Costly Mistakes Next steps Book the exam early if you are in India without a job offer. The next release is expected in November 2026 for 2027 dates. Check the AMC fees page before you pay anything. Review the AMC accredited provider list if you want the WBA route. Sources: AMC and the Medical Board of Australia.
