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The eight Gulf licensing exams, compared
PassCurve covers SMLE, DHA, DOH, QCHP, MOHAP, SNLE, KMLE and NHRA: eight exams, run by seven regulators, across five countries. seven of the eight license doctors; the SNLE alone licenses nurses. This page puts every one of them side by side so you can see what each authority has actually published, and what is only ever candidate reported.
Last checked 19 August 2026. Every figure below is copied from PassCurve's own guide for that exam, which names its source. Where a guide says a figure is unpublished, this page says the same rather than filling in an estimate. Follow the "Guide" link for the full source and context behind any row.
The eight exams at a glance
Format and pass mark are shown only where the regulator itself has published them. A dash of "Not published" is not a gap in PassCurve's research; it is what the guide for that exam found, stated plainly.
| Exam | Authority | Country / region | Licenses | Format | Pass mark | Guide & practice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMLE | SCFHS | Saudi Arabia | Doctors | 200 MCQs, two sections (120 min each) | 560 (scale 200 to 800) | Guide · Practice |
| DHA | DHA | Dubai | Doctors, General Practice | 150 MCQs, 3 hours | 60% | Guide · Practice |
| DOH | DOH | Abu Dhabi | Doctors, General Practice | Not published | Not published | Guide · Practice |
| QCHP | DHP | Qatar | Doctors, General Practice | 150 MCQs, 3 hours | 50 to 65% (GPs and dentists: 60 to 65%) | Guide · Practice |
| MOHAP | MOHAP | UAE Northern Emirates | Doctors, General Practice | Not published | Not published | Guide · Practice |
| SNLE | SCFHS | Saudi Arabia · Nursing | Nurses | 200 MCQs, two 100 question blocks (120 min each) | 500 (scale 200 to 800, a scaled score) | Guide · Practice |
| KMLE | Kuwait MOH | Kuwait | Doctors, General Practice | Not published | Not published | Guide · Practice |
| NHRA | NHRA | Bahrain | Doctors, General Practice | Not published | Not published | Guide · Practice |
How the exams relate
Saudi Arabia runs two exams under one regulator: the SCFHS sets the SMLE for doctors and the SNLE for nurses, each with its own blueprint and its own pass score.
The UAE is the one country here that does not license nationally. Dubai licenses through the DHA, Abu Dhabi through the DOH, and the northern emirates, plus federal and private facilities outside Dubai's and Abu Dhabi's direct remit, through MOHAP. The UAE's health authorities are building a national unified licensing platform, but today each authority still runs its own exam. If you are weighing up which of the three applies to you, PassCurve's DHA vs DOH vs MOHAP comparison goes through the split in detail.
Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain each license through a single national body: the DHP (still universally called QCHP) in Qatar, the Ministry of Health in Kuwait, and the NHRA in Bahrain. The KMLE stands out among all eight for one reason: it is sittable at any authorised Prometric centre worldwide, not just inside Kuwait, so many candidates clear it before they ever relocate.
Which exam do you need?
The exam you sit is set by where you will practise, not where you trained. As a rough guide, by destination:
- Doctor, moving to Saudi Arabia: the SMLE, set by the SCFHS.
- Nurse, moving to Saudi Arabia: the SNLE, the same regulator's exam for nurses.
- Doctor, moving to Dubai: the DHA exam.
- Doctor, moving to Abu Dhabi: the DOH exam (still widely called HAAD).
- Doctor, moving to the UAE's northern emirates, or a federal or private facility outside Dubai's or Abu Dhabi's direct remit: the MOHAP exam.
- Doctor, moving to Qatar: the QCHP (DHP) exam.
- Doctor, moving to Kuwait: the KMLE, sittable before you relocate.
- Doctor, moving to Bahrain: the NHRA exam.
What's officially published, and what isn't
This is the part most comparison pages smooth over. Split the eight exams by what their own regulator has actually put in writing, and the picture is uneven.
An official format document exists for SMLE, DHA, QCHP, SNLE. For the other four, DOH, MOHAP, KMLE, NHRA, no format document was found on the regulator's own site; the widely reported shape of around 150 multiple choice questions in about three hours is corroborated across preparation-industry sources rather than an official one, and each guide says so rather than presenting it as confirmed.
A pass mark is published for exactly the same four exams: 560 on a 200 to 800 scale for the SMLE, 60% for the DHA exam, a published range of 50 to 65% for QCHP (60 to 65% for General Practitioners and dentists), and 500 on a 200 to 800 scaled score for the SNLE. The SNLE's 500 is worth flagging on its own: it is a scaled score from a standard setting exercise, not a percentage, so there is no equivalent "60%" to compare it against. DOH, MOHAP, KMLE, NHRA publish no pass mark at all; candidate reports for those four commonly cluster around 60 to 65%, which each guide states as an estimate, not a fact.
Narrower still: a percentage blueprint, breaking the paper down by subject, is published for only SMLE and SNLE. The SMLE's is Medicine 30%, Obstetrics and Gynecology 25%, Pediatrics 25% and Surgery 20%. The SNLE's is Nursing Fundamentals 20%, Adult Nursing 40%, Maternal & Child Nursing 30% and Nursing Management & Leadership 10%. The other six exams describe the same four clinical domains, internal medicine, surgery, paediatrics, and obstetrics and gynaecology, without a published split between them.
Despite that split, every one of the eight is built the same way underneath: multiple choice questions with a single best answer, testing clinical or nursing judgement rather than isolated recall. What differs between the exams is not the format of the question, but how much of the rulebook behind it each regulator has chosen to make public.
How PassCurve prepares you for any of them
Pick your exam once, and PassCurve builds every session to what that regulator has actually published: the blueprint where one exists, and even coverage of the four clinical domains where it does not. Sessions tilt toward whichever subject is currently costing you marks, anything you miss returns on a spacing curve until it sticks, and every answer names the guideline it rests on and the date that source was last read. Read how PassCurve questions are written and checked for the full method.
One PassCurve account covers all eight exams, so if your plans change, switching which one you are revising for costs nothing extra.
If you are weighing PassCurve against PrometricGulf, GulfMedExams or Study Prometric, this comparison sets out what each has actually published.
Five questions a day are free, with no card required, and the review deck is free for good.
PassCurve is an independent revision tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, the Dubai Health Authority, the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, Qatar's Department of Healthcare Professions (DHP/QCHP), the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP), the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA), Kuwait's Ministry of Health, Prometric, Pearson VUE, or any other exam authority. Each guide states its own sources; always confirm current exam rules, fees and dates directly with the relevant regulator before applying.