Cervical Cytology

Applicants must be a Member or Fellow of the IBMS, HCPC registered and hold the NHS CSP/City & Guilds Certificate in Cervical Cytology or the equivalent BSCC/IBMS Certificate of Competence in Cytology Screening. You must also have at least seven years post-registration experience or primary screening in cervical cytology and at least three years experience of “checking” and service management within the screening programme.

as well as:

• have a single named consultant pathologist trainer who has overall responsibility for mentoring and guiding you and monitoring your progress
• undertake your training in a laboratory with CPA (Clinical Pathology Accreditation (UK) Ltd) or UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) registration
• undertake your training in a laboratory with IBMS post-registration training approval

IBMS Advanced Specialist Diploma (ASD) in Cervical Cytology is a professional vocational qualification assessed by a portfolio of evidence and examination.

The portfolio of evidence provides a record of your training and should contain evidence of regular assessments of your competence in reporting cervical cytology results by your named consultant pathologist supervisor. 

Your portfolio should include:

• answers to 7 questions on cervical cytology listed in the candidate guidance
• a shadow reporting log must be submitted of  at least 500 cases
• evidence of the regular case review of at least 50 cases from the shadow reporting log
• a total of ten case studies
• three audits
• a record of training programmes or courses attended
• a record of the MDT meetings attended
• appropriate reflection

Once your named consultant pathologist supervisor is satisfied that your training is complete you can submit your portfolio and if that is judged to have met the standard required go on to the written and practical examinations.  

Guidance to candidates and trainers

Portfolio assessment indicators

 

The examination of an IBMS Advanced Specialist Diploma in Cervical Cytology involves three assessments:

• a portfolio assessment 
• a written examination
• a practical  examination 

Portfolio assessment

You must meet 28 standards in order to pass your portfolio assessment and progress to the written and practical examinations.

Your portfolio will be independently assessed by two members of the Conjoint Examination Board. 

Written examination 

You will be expected to answer four out of six short-answer questions in 90 minutes covering the following areas: 

• morphology
• screening
• service development
• clinical aspects of cervical screening
• new developments in cervical screening
• quality assurance and audit

Practical microscopy examination

Short Cases
You will be expected to screen 12 slides in 72 minutes with summary clinical information and prepare full reports comparable to HMR 101/5 including appropriate management with free text comments if necessary.

Long Cases
In this examination candidates will be expected to review 8 cases in 120 minutes consisting of slides with summary clinical information, preparing full reports and discussion on all eight cases. 

 

Updated 21/12/2020

Examination Dates for Candidates Who Had Intended to Sit in 2020

Following a detailed discussion by the Conjoint Board which considered the restrictions that are likely to remain in place for some time due to the COVID outbreak it was agreed that the exams will be rescheduled and will take place as follows:

Written Examination: Monday 22 March - This will exam be sat at your own local hospital under exam conditions. If you pass this element of the exam you will be invited to the microscopy exams.

Microscopy Examinations: These will take place on 30 June / 1st and 2nd July at the North of England Pathology and Screening Education Centre (NEPSEC), Wakefield. You will only be required to attend on one of these dates. The date for your exam will depend on the number of candidates who pass the written and the social distancing arrangements that need to be in place at the time.

Candidates Wishing to Submit in 2021

Portfolio Submission Deadline: 25 June

Written Examination: 20 September

Microscopy Examination: 3, 4 or 5 November

Portfolio submission 2021 Candidates  should submit an electronic version of the portfolio of experiential learning to the Head of Examinations at the Institute offices via email to: examinations@ibms.org It is recognised that this may not always be possible and therefore a hard copy version of the portfolio will also be acceptable. Candidates submitting a hard copy of their portfolio should send this to the Head of Examinations, IBMS, 12 Coldbath Square, London, EC1R 5HL.

 

To apply for the qualification in the year in which you plan to submit your portfolio for assessment you will need to submit to the IBMS Examinations Team: 

• payment of £428 (from January 2021), along with
• a completed application form 

to the IBMS Examinations Team.

You can also submit a copy of your application and payment by post to Examinations, IBMS, 12 Coldbath Square, London, EC1R 5HL.  Once your application has been accepted you will be sent confirmation of your candidacy and a reminder of the submission deadline for your portfolio. Please note that if you withdraw from the qualification at any point a £30 administrative fee will be applied to any refund

Guidance on Recognising and Avoiding Plagiarism

You can find discipline-specific reading lists to support you in completing an  IBMS Advanced Specialist Diploma in Cervical Cytology on our science reading page.

You can find articles and online resources to support you in completing an  IBMS Advanced Specialist Diploma in Cervical Cytology in our resources section. 

British Association for Cytopathology website

Exam Practice for the Advanced Practice Diploma

Case studies

You can find case studies for on our Qualifications Resources page.

If you wish to defer, withdraw or highlight any mitigating circumstances please contact examinations@ibms.org as soon as possible.