EBOT / FEBOT Exam: Format, Eligibility, Fees and Preparation

The European Board of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EBOT) examination is a two-part specialist exam in trauma and orthopaedics: a 100-question written paper followed by five oral examinations. Passing both parts gives the title Fellow of the European Board of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (FEBOT). EBOT sets its rules with the UEMS Section of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, and the exam is run with EFORT, which hosts the official exam page (opens in a new tab) and the exam office (ebotexam@efort.org). Applications, fees and dates are on the EBOT exam website (opens in a new tab).

The short answer: the written paper tests breadth across five areas, the oral tests whether you are a safe independent surgeon, and your eligibility for the oral depends on your citizenship and where you work. For how EBOT compares with FRCS, FRACS and ABOS, see the orthopaedic board exam atlas.

EBOT at a glance

The 2026 oral was given as 18 and 19 September on the EFORT page and 19 and 20 September on the ebotexam.org Part 2 page. The cycle is consistent: applications in March and April, the written paper in late May or early June (27 May in 2025), and the oral in September.

Who can sit the EBOT exam?

Eligibility and fees depend on two things: your citizenship and the country you work in. EBOT counts the EU plus the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Armenia, Georgia, Israel, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine (the UEMS-affiliated countries) as "European".

European candidates can apply as certified specialists or as trainees in the final year of a recognised European training programme. Certified specialists need a passport or ID card, a certificate of full qualification from their national authority, and a reference letter in English from a supervisor or head of department. Final-year trainees need two structured references: one from the head of training or department and one from the surgeon responsible for their training.

Trainees can sit the written paper but not the oral. Part 2 is closed until you pass your national exam and hold a certificate of full qualification from your national authority. You then send that certificate to the EBOT Administrator and wait for the Board to confirm eligibility. Part 2 must be taken within two years of passing Part 1.

Non-European citizens working in Europe must be certified specialists in their country of origin, with an English translation of the certificate, and need a structured reference from their head of department in Europe. The Part 1 page describes this group as working at least three years at registrar level. Separately, surgeons trained abroad and applying from the UK or Ireland must have worked at registrar level there for at least three years.

Non-European citizens not working in Europe may sit the written paper "upon strict requisites and acceptance from the EBOT Reviewing Committee". They must document their completed training, national exit exam (with official validation and an English translation), specialist certificate and membership of an orthopaedic association. They are not invited to the oral, so this route ends with the Certificate of Basic Knowledge, not FEBOT.

Part 1: the written paper

The Part 1 page (opens in a new tab) and exam format page (opens in a new tab) set out the paper: 100 questions in single-correct-answer format, in 3 hours, covering upper limb, lower limb, spine, paediatrics and basic science. The pass mark is standard-set by experienced specialists for each paper. Plan on about 1 minute 48 seconds a question.

You choose at application between a Pearson VUE test centre (subject to availability) and an online-proctored exam at home or any other location that meets the technical requirements. Resit candidates must apply through the portal again, but can reuse earlier documents with an updated proof of employment. Results arrive by email in the weeks after the exam, with the Certificate of Basic Knowledge for those who pass. Eligible candidates also receive an invitation to apply for Part 2.

The official sample questions are worth reading for their style. One asks which statement about Perthes' disease is not correct, so read every stem for negatives before choosing. The scope of examination (opens in a new tab) is broad. It covers elective orthopaedics in children and adults, trauma from resuscitation to rehabilitation (including enough visceral, neurosurgical and skin trauma to start treatment), and a basic science list that runs from surgical anatomy and tissue biology to tumour pathology, theatre bacteriology, imaging physics, biomechanics and statistics.

Basic science catches out experienced clinicians because it cannot be bluffed from clinical work. Expect polyethylene wear and cross-linking, galvanic and crevice corrosion in modular implants, the Young's modulus of titanium versus stainless steel versus cortical bone, primary versus secondary bone healing, and Perren's strain theory. For the statistics, Statistics for Orthopaedic Surgeons covers the core.

Part 2: the five orals

The Part 2 page (opens in a new tab) describes five sessions of 30 minutes, and candidates rotate through all five:

1. Adult orthopaedic and trauma surgery: upper limb
2. Adult orthopaedic and trauma surgery: lower limb
3. Adult orthopaedic and trauma surgery: spine
4. Children's orthopaedic and trauma surgery
5. Basic sciences, including biomechanics, statistics, audit methodology and outcome-based medicine

There is no stand-alone trauma station. Trauma is examined inside each regional station, so the AO principles must be fluent everywhere: absolute versus relative stability, respect for the soft-tissue envelope, and fracture classification by the AO/OTA system. Read open fracture management and damage control orthopaedics before you sit, along with the ATLS primary survey.

Upper limb. Classify out loud. "This is an AP and lateral radiograph of a skeletally mature wrist showing a complete articular fracture of the distal radius, AO 2R3 type C" earns more than "a bad distal radius fracture". Expect hand topics too: Dupuytren's disease (needle fasciotomy versus open fasciectomy) and flexor tendon zones and rehabilitation.

Lower limb. This is where arthroplasty registries matter. Justify implant choice with registry evidence: the Swedish Hip Arthroplasty Register, the UK National Joint Registry and the Australian AOANJRR. Quote what they report rather than inventing figures. Know DAIR versus one-stage versus two-stage revision for infection. With the Vancouver classification, be ready to separate a B1 (stable stem) from a B2 (loose stem) and say how you would test stem stability before choosing fixation or revision.

Spine. You are examined as a safe frontline surgeon, not a deformity specialist. Expect the AO Spine thoracolumbar classification combined with a neurological grade, the red flags and urgent pathway for cauda equina syndrome, and a stepwise plan for disc herniation with radiculopathy.

Paediatrics. The Graf classification is European, and an alpha angle above 60 degrees is a normal type I hip (developmental dysplasia of the hip). For clubfoot, the Ponseti sequence corrects cavus, adductus, varus and equinus in that order (CAVE), with Achilles tenotomy for residual equinus. For SCFE, know stability, AVN risk and pinning in situ.

Basic sciences. The official list adds audit methodology and outcome-based medicine to biomechanics and statistics, so prepare to explain an audit cycle and a patient-reported outcome measure. Tumour pathology sits in the basic science scope. For an aggressive destructive lesion, the safe answer is to stage it and refer to a sarcoma unit without biopsying it yourself. If pushed on how a biopsy should be done, give the biopsy principles: a longitudinal incision in line with the future resection, meticulous haemostasis, and samples to both microbiology and histology.

Resits and withdrawals. A failed oral can be resat without repeating the written paper; tell the EBOT Administrator by 30 June of the year you want to resit. EBOT's guidance says that if you do not resit within the permitted window, or fail a second time, you must apply again and sit both parts. If you withdraw before the application or payment deadline, the full oral fee is refunded or transferred. Withdraw at least 31 working days before the exam and you get half. Within 30 working days there is no refund except in exceptional circumstances.

The EBOT Interim Exam

EBOT has run an annual assessment for European trainees since a trial in 2011. It is a mock of the Part 1 paper in the same five areas, and supervisors at registered hospitals see their trainees' results by area against national and European data. The 2026 Interim Exam ran on 18 and 19 February 2026, 10:00 to 13:00 CET, with each country allocated one of the two days, and registration open from 12 January to 13 February. EFORT describes it as usually held at the end of March, so check the Interim Exam page (opens in a new tab) each winter.

You can sit it only if your training hospital is registered and your head of training approves. Sit it every year you are eligible. It gets you used to the delivery format and the phrasing of the questions, and it shows your weakest area years before the final.

The European house style

Candidates who prepare as if for their national exam lose marks they did not need to lose. EBOT tests the European Curriculum, not local practice.

• UK and Irish candidates: leave commissioning and waiting-list arrangements out of your answers. Give the pathology, the principle and a widely accepted algorithm.
• Candidates from hierarchical departments: "my chief always does it this way" is not an answer. Justify decisions with literature and registry evidence.
• Candidates from outside Europe: learn the AO trauma principles thoroughly. They dominate European trauma teaching.
• Distractors: if an option is technically possible but highly specialised, choose the workhorse treatment a competent general orthopaedic surgeon would perform, unless the stem describes a tertiary-referral scenario.

All application documents must be in English or translated into English, and the official sample questions are in English. Many candidates and examiners speak English as a second language. Speak slowly, use standard terminology, and answer the question asked: the diagnosis, then the treatment.

A six-month plan

1. Months 1–2: foundations. Basic science, biomechanics and anatomy first. They are the hardest to learn late and the most often failed.
2. Months 3–4: the four clinical areas. Upper limb, lower limb, spine and paediatrics, with trauma inside each. Start daily timed MCQs.
3. Month 5: speaking. Stop collecting new knowledge and start saying it aloud in a study group. Use the same framework for every image: diagnosis, principles, options, plan.
4. Month 6: refinement. Classifications (AO/OTA, Vancouver, Graf), statistics formulae, and surgical approaches with their internervous planes.

Review every question you got wrong, and every one you guessed right, since a lucky guess is still a gap. Keep a running list in your own words and reread it weekly.

What to read

EBOT says there is no single source dedicated to the exam: it is built on the syllabus of the European curriculum (opens in a new tab), and EBOT points candidates to EFORT Open Reviews (opens in a new tab) and the EFORT textbook. Beyond those:

• AO Principles of Fracture Management, including the opening chapters on healing biology and biomechanics
• Miller's Review of Orthopaedics for fast basic science and tumour staging, though it is American in outlook
• Hoppenfeld's Surgical Exposures in Orthopaedics, because you will be asked for internervous planes
• McRae's Clinical Orthopaedic Examination for examination technique
• Imaging: plain films, CT and MRI underpin both parts, so practise describing them aloud

Practising the oral

The examiners are looking for a safe surgeon who communicates clearly, not for rare syndromes. Practise in a group of three or four, with one person in the hot seat for 30 minutes while the others score. Answer in a fixed order: immediate management, definitive plan, then the complications you are watching for. If an examiner interrupts or asks "are you sure?", they are usually steering you back. Pause, look at the image again, and change course. Passing the orthopaedic viva covers answer structure. How to practise viva answers alone helps between group sessions.

FEBOT is a European board diploma, not a licence to practise. The right to work in a given country is decided by that country's regulator.