CICM and RANZCR, on what little is published. CICM releases per-sitting examiner reports, not a headline rate 1; a 2023.1 Second Part sitting is reported at 31% and a recent OSCER at 38% 7. RACP sits far higher — 73.8% adult, 75.9% paediatric on the Feb 2026 written 2. RACS and ACEM publish no rate at all 46.
Where real numbers exist. RACP publishes per-sitting results: the February 2026 Divisional Written passed 73.8% in adult medicine and 75.9% in paediatrics, and the 2026 Divisional Clinical 83.0% and 84.9% 2. RANZCP publishes component rates too — MCQ around 90%, while the Psychotherapy Written Case ran 68, 64, 73 and 73 per cent across the four 2025 rounds, which makes it the college's real hurdle 3. Those are the transparent ends of the market.
Where the hard numbers are. CICM publishes per-sitting examiner reports with per-question Angoff rates rather than a headline figure 1; the sub cites a 2023.1 Second Part sitting at 31% 7, and peer-reviewed work on the hot cases found a 64% mean per case but only 37% of candidates passing both 5. RANZCR's exam set — five written papers plus the OSCER — is the other candidate, with a recent OSCER sitting reported at 38% 7.
Where nothing is published. RACS does not publish a GSSE pass mark or pass rate; it is criterion-referenced and every figure in circulation is a prep-vendor reconstruction 4. ACEM publishes no official primary pass rate either, and its fellowship written rate is only available through a third-party compilation — 69% over 2,351 candidates from 2021.1 to 2026.1, but swinging from 55.1% to 86.3% by sitting 6. Both gaps should be read as "not published", not as "easy".
The honest caveat. Pass rates are not difficulty. They reflect who sits, how often people resit, whether the college caps attempts, and how the standard is set. A 31% sitting with a small, already-selected cohort is not four times harder than a 90% MCQ taken by everyone.
What the sub says. ICU and radiology dominate the thread; med regs claim the crown and get told their pass rates are fine 7. The most useful reply is that comparing them is pointless — all of them are brutal when you are doing it around a roster and a family 7. The older comparison thread reaches the same place 8.
r/ausjdocs — community view, not policy; verbatim, cautionary beside positive where both exist, every quote linked to the comment.
Personally I think ICU has two complete bullshit exams. Most other colleges only have one shitshow.
RANZCR has no less than 5 written exams and one OSCER - widely reknown as probably the most rigorous radiology exams in the world that even very good IMGs can struggle to pass.
med reg's all say this but their pass rates are reasonable 70%+; ICU final exam is cooked
what even is the point of comparing this. all exams are shit and hard to do balancing work, kids, family, finances.
Asked 5 times on r/ausjdocs (title-regex count) · encoded by hand from the numbered sources, retrieved 12 Sept 2026; no AI wrote any of it. how the count was made
asked_count = posts in r_ausjdocs_posts.jsonl (19,145 posts, 2022-09-13 to 2026-09-12) whose title matches /(exam|fellowship|primary|written|viva).{0,50}(hardest|most difficult|toughest|brutal|worst|easiest|compare)|(hardest|most difficult|toughest|which).{0,40}(exam|college)/i. Quotes are the highest-scoring answers in the single canonical comparison thread, kept balanced so the 'comparing them is pointless' reply sits beside the ICU and radiology claims.