19th EUROPEAN BOARD OF NEUROLOGY EXAMINATION 2027 |
DATE
The 19th European Board Examination in Neurology will be organised ONLINE.
Oral examination:
21 & 22 May 2027 (Friday/Saturday)
Written examination:
28 May 2027 (Friday)
GENERAL
- The European Board Examination in Neurology is a joint initiative of the UEMS Section of Neurology (EBN, European Board of Neurology) and the European Academy of Neurology (EAN).
- The examination is based on the European Training Requirements for Neurology (ETRN): https://www.uems-neuroboard.org/web/index.php/european-training-requirements
- Candidates who have completed, or are close to completing, their training in Neurology should be eligible to take the examination.
- The examination consists of a written component assessing knowledge and its application, and an oral component assessing other CANMEDS competencies, including Medical Expert, Communicator, Health Advocate, Scholar, and Professional.
- English is the official language of the examination. Participants are permitted to use a dictionary in their own language and will not be explicitly assessed on their English-language skills.
- The written examination contains a closed-book section with questions related to review papers in neurology corresponding to Chapter 8A, Specific Learning Objectives in Neurology, of the ETRN. These papers are defined and provided on this website.
- The other part of the written examination consists of open-book questions, for which participants are allowed to use their own reference sources.
- The examination is based on European principles, but non-European candidates are welcome and have the opportunity to discuss their experiences in their home countries during the oral examination.
- Candidates must submit original work. Submissions will be checked for plagiarism.
The examination was held for the first time in 2009. Successful candidates from around the world are awarded the title "Fellow of the European Board of Neurology (FEBN)". This title is not identical to the title "Fellow of the EAN".
WHY TAKE A EUROPEAN NEUROLOGY EXAMINATION?
Passing this examination demonstrates a high level of achievement and provides candidates with a distinguishing qualification, which may be an advantage when applying for positions within Europe. At present, the diploma has no legal consequences.
The European Board Examination in Neurology is an important step towards further harmonization and the raising of standards in European neurology. Cooperation with European scientific societies helps ensure that the examination reflects the current state of scientific knowledge.
A few words of praise from successful candidates:
„I thoroughly liked the entire exam irrespective of whether I get through or not. Examiners were very learned, courteous, and made me feel comfortable. I have no complaint whatsoever.“
„The oral examination part was a wonderful experience for me as I was able to interact with international faculty for the first time. They appreciated my work and that gave me a lot of confidence to move ahead in my profession . Will never forget their faces, thank you for the experience.“
"Many thanks. Being a FEBN I noticed that the world turns in different ways, as the title and the knowledge have opened many new doors and opportunities in the field of Neurology for me. Furthermore, the preparation and revision for the exam, which I completed successfully after 3,5 years of training in field of neurology, expanded further my knowledge in the area.". Thanking you sincerely"
"I would like to thank you a lot for all the help you gave me, your wonderful kindness and your generous availability; for making this experience one of the best of my life and a dream comes true."
“Ι would like to thank you for the excellent organisation of the examination, which I will certainly recommend to all my colleagues. It was a unique experience to test our knowledge and skills!”
APPLICATION
Participation in the Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) is not required to participate in the EBN examination. However, candidates taking the examination will receive a reduction on their congress registration fee.
Deadlines:
- Registration open: 16 November 2026
- Early-bird application deadline: 24 January 2027
- Final application deadline: 7 March, 2027
- Deadline for submitting workpieces (CAT, Essay) for the oral examination: 14 March, 2027
Conditions
- By applying for the European Board Examination, candidates agree to take the examination in the form and structure described and acknowledge that cancellation is only possible in accordance with the cancellation policy.
- Please read the rules for taking the online Board Examination in Neurology below before applying and ensure that you can meet all the requirements in order to avoid disappointment later.
- Applications must be submitted by 8 March 2026 at the latest by completing the application form (see the link to the secure server at the bottom of the page).
- It is essential that the application form is completed correctly, particularly the first and last names, as these details will be used on the certificates. Changes at a later date are possible only upon payment of an additional fee.
- The application must be confirmed by payment. The application date is the date on which the payment is transferred to the UEMS/EBN bank account. Upon registration, applicants will receive a confirmation email. Further information regarding correspondence and organisation will be provided once payment has been received.
- In the event of examination failure, there is no restriction on participation in subsequent examinations, provided that the applicable reduced examination fee is paid. By registering for the examination, candidates accept that the examination result is final. No legal dispute concerning the final decision is possible.
Rules for taking an online board exam Neurology
Eligibility criteria
The European Board of Neurology does not require certificates; however, it is assumed that candidates have completed their basic training in general practice and a national training programme that includes at least three years of training in clinical neurology in order to pass the examination.
Only identification documents are required on the day of the examination.
Please use the same identification documents for the application and for identification at the examination.
PAYMENT
Please transfer the applicable fee free of charge to the beneficiary.
| Admission Fees (in EUR) | Earlybird fee until 24 January 2027 |
Regular fee before 7 March 2027 |
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| Examination Fee (€) | 600 | 700 |
In the year in which they take the examination, candidates are eligible for the following discounts on EAN congress registration fees:
- 20% for EAN members of the Resident and Research Fellow sections and/or Full/Corresponding EAN members, whether or not they are taking the examination: https://www.ean.org/Members.2669.0.html
- 10% for other examination participants who are not full EAN members.
Upon payment of the examination registration fee, you will receive a discount on the congress registration fee.
In the event of irregularities requiring further administrative action, an additional handling fee of €100 may be charged upon notification.
For cancellations made before 15 April, subsequent applications for 2028 will be possible at a considerably reduced charge. Examination fees will not be refunded in the event of cancellation due to administrative and bank-transfer costs.
Payment details
Payment of the applicable amount should be made free of charge to the beneficiary:
Account name: UEMS/S. Neurology
IBAN: BE97 0016 3680 2349
BIC/SWIFT: GEBABEBB
Bank: BNP Paribas
Bank address: Montagne du Parc 3, BE-1000 Brussels, Belgium
CONTENTS
The examination is not intended simply to test the retrieval of knowledge from memory. It is a competency-based examination founded on the roles adopted by UEMS: Medical Expert, Communicator, Scholar, Health Advocate, and Professional.
The examination consists of the following parts:
- Approximately 100 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) covering general neurological topics (to be determined). A part of the written examination (60%) can be taken with the help of reference sources (“open-book examination”).
- A short essay on a neurology-related topic in public health or ethics, which will be discussed orally with the examiners. Please have a PowerPoint presentation of your essay available.
- A critical appraisal of a neurological topic, which will be discussed orally with the examiners. Please have a presentation of your CAT available.
- A clinical case presentation for oral discussion.
The results of these four components are combined into an overall grade.
Written part of the examination
The aim of the written examination is to assess knowledge (closed-book examination) and the ability to apply and manage knowledge (open-book examination).
You will enter your answers to the questions on your laptop.
Approximately 40 questions must be answered within the first 60 minutes (90 seconds per question) without using references. A dictionary in your own language is permitted.
The remaining questions can be answered during the following 180 minutes (three minutes per question), using paper references of your choice. We recommend bringing your own textbook and, if desired, a few relevant printouts to the examination. Having too much literature available may be confusing.
Written examination
- 1 hour: Closed-book examination – 40 MCQs
- 1.5 hours: Open-book examination 1 – 30 MCQs
- 1.5 hours: Open-book examination 2 – 30 MCQs
The written part of the examination accounts for 70% of the final mark.
The multiple-choice questions are selected from the main topics and diseases listed in the European Training Requirements Neurology (Vers. 2021) .
For your preparation, we recommend:
- Your own neurology textbook and any other books you find useful. These books may be brought to the examination and used as reference sources during the open-book sections.
- Standard papers as listed below.
These sources will also be used by the question authors.
Guidelines, papers, and documents related to the closed-book questions (Please be aware that the list is subject to change)
All documents are available as PDF files.
- 2017 ESO guideline cerebral venous thrombosis
- Guidelines on Mechanical Thrombectomy in Acute Ischaemic Stroke
- Advances in dementia with Lewy bodies
- Emerging Trends in Neuromodulation for Treatment of Drug-Resistant Epilepsy
- EAN guideline cluster headache 2023
- 2020 EAN guideline on pall care in MS
- Advances Neurosyphilis
- The neuropsychiatry of Parkinson disease
- 2020 EAN guideline coma
- Managment TBI in the first posttraumatic hours
- Neurol complications vasculitis
- Guideline CIDP 2021
- Treatment and diagnosis of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy
- Psychiatric features of traumatic encephalopathy syndrome
- Advances in Stroke Neurorehabilitation
- 2020 EAN statement on sleep and stroke
- European guideline and expert statements on the management of narcolepsy
- EAN guideline neurogenic supinate hypertension
- ABN autoimmune myasthenia gravis management guidelines
- EAN guideline on the treatment of Parkinson's disease: I. Invasive therapies
- EAN guideline on diagnosis and treatment of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy
- EAN Guideline on diagnosis and treatment of Guillain–Barré syndrome
- EAN guideline on the management of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Some tips How to answer multiple-choice questions (MCQs)
Oral part of the examination
The aim of this part of the examination is to assess presentation skills, communication, and the ability to discuss ethical, public health, and current scientific issues. Language difficulties experienced by candidates from non-English-speaking countries will be taken into account.
For the oral part of the examination, three submissions are required:
- A clinical case presentation
- A critical appraisal of a topic (CAT)
- An essay on a public health or ethical issue
These submissions must cover topics from different fields of neurology. Therefore, it is not permitted, for example, to submit both the critical appraisal and the essay on topics related to multiple sclerosis.
Two of these submissions—the critical appraisal and the essay—must be submitted before the examination as separate files. This enables the examiners to assess their form and content and to check for plagiarism.
The submissions must be accompanied by a declaration confirming that the work is the candidate’s own. The declaration can be downloaded here.
The candidate’s examination number must be stated at the top of each submission.
Please submit these documents on time (i.e. before 14 March) and contact us if you experience any difficulties. Failure to submit the required documents may be considered a cancellation of the examination. If an incomplete set of documents is received after a complete registration, we will send you a reminder before the examination.
There is no need to submit the clinical case presentation before the examination.
Essay
You are asked to write an essay on an ethical or a public health topic in the field of neurology.
How to prepare the essay to be presented
Candidates may choose another topic according to their own preferences. Please write a short essay of a maximum of 800 words, following the instructions provided.
It is the candidate’s responsibility to submit the document on time.
Examples of essays and PowerPoint presentations
Examples of neurology related Ethics topics Examples of neurology related Public Health topics
You are also asked to prepare an oral PowerPoint presentation based on your essay. The PowerPoint presentation should not be submitted before the examination.
During the examination, you will have 5 minutes to present your essay to the examiners. Please use your laptop to present selected slides from your PowerPoint presentation. The PowerPoint slides should not be submitted before the examination.
The examiners will then ask further questions for another 5 minutes, after which they will complete the evaluation form as shown in the example.
This part accounts for 10% of the final mark.
Critical appraisal of a topic (CAT)
You are asked to critically evaluate a topic in the field of clinical neurology. The critical appraisal must be an original piece of work and will also be checked for plagiarism using a plagiarism scanner.
You are also asked to prepare an oral PowerPoint presentation based on your CAT. The PowerPoint presentation should not be submitted before the examination.
During the examination, you will have 5 minutes to present your CAT to the examiners. Please use your laptop to present selected slides from your PowerPoint presentation. These PowerPoint slides should not be submitted before the examination.
The examiners will then ask further questions for another 5 minutes, after which they will complete the evaluation form as shown in the example.
This part accounts for 10% of the final mark.
CAT and essay should relate to different areas of neurology.
Clinical case
You will also be asked to present a clinical case that you have encountered in your own practice. This should not be a very rare or exotic problem, but rather an interesting case.
The examiners will ask you about how you arrived at the diagnosis and about any problems you encountered during the diagnostic process. They will also ask further questions about the details of the patient’s condition and the management approach you chose.
Please prepare an oral presentation with a PowerPoint presentation.
This part accounts for 10% of the final mark.
It is not necessary to submit the clinical case before the examination. Only the presentation needs to be available during the oral examination.
Structured evaluation of a case presentation
After paying the examination fee, you will receive a link to upload your CAT and essay.
EVALUATION OF RESULTS
Written tests
After receiving the candidates’ results, the data are analysed according to p-values (the number of candidates who provided the correct answer) and RIT values (the relationship between a candidate’s result on an individual question and their total examination result).
Questions with insufficient statistical reliability are eliminated.
We correct for chance; for example, in a best-of-five format, the first 20% of correct answers are disregarded. We do not apply negative marking for incorrect answers.
The Cohen method is then used to calculate a passing limit as a control measure. The final marks are calculated taking into account a real knowledge threshold of 60%.
Oral tests
Two examiners independently prepare a score for each of the three parts of the oral examination. The three scores, each ranging from 0 to 10, are then averaged to obtain a mean score.
HAVE READY BEFORE THE EXAMINATION
- The appropriate equipment and browser. Please see the instructions and rules
- Reference sources for the open-book part of the written examination.
- Your PowerPoint presentations for the oral examination.
- The identification documents specified in the instructions.
APPLICATION WILL OPEN 16 NOVEMBER 2026.
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