EDAIC Part 2 in 2026: Dates, Centres and Deadlines

If you have just passed the written paper, your next milestone is the structured oral examination — and planning your edaic part 2 2026 attempt is largely a logistics problem. Sittings are spread across the year, split between online and face-to-face formats, and the windows open and close on a rolling basis. This guide explains how that machinery actually works so you can slot your viva into your training year without nasty surprises. Because several 2026 windows have already opened or closed by the time you read this, treat every figure here as a structural map, not a live timetable — always confirm the current schedule on the official ESAIC/EDAIC (myESAIC) website.

What Part 2 actually is, and why logistics matter

The European Diploma in Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (EDAIC) is awarded by the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC). It comes in two stages. Part 1 is a written examination of two papers — Paper A (Basic Sciences) and Paper B (Clinical Anaesthesia and Intensive Care). Part 2 is a structured oral examination (SOE), often called the viva, built around guided clinical questions delivered by pairs of examiners.

You can only sit Part 2 after you have passed Part 1. That single rule is the hinge on which all the scheduling turns: your Part 2 eligibility, and therefore your planning, flows directly from when you cleared the written exam. If you are still working towards the written stage, our complete EDAIC Part 1 preparation guide is the better starting point, and you can return here once that hurdle is behind you.

Why does logistics deserve a whole article? Because Part 2 is not a single annual event. Unlike the written exam — which has one main fixed date — the oral is delivered in multiple sittings throughout the year, in more than one format and more than one language stream. Getting a place is partly about readiness and partly about registering into the right window before it fills or closes.

How edaic part 2 2026 sittings are organised

The oral examination in any given cycle is delivered through two broad channels: online (remote) sittings and face-to-face sittings held at host centres. Understanding the difference is the key to choosing your slot.

Online sittings

Online SOE sittings are conducted remotely over a secure video platform, with the same examiner-pair structure as the in-person exam. The headline advantage is access: you do not have to travel, which matters enormously for international medical graduates and for trainees in regions far from a host centre. The headline constraint is that places in each online window are finite, and the windows are time-boxed — once a sitting's capacity or deadline is reached, you wait for the next one.

A practical point about edaic oral exam 2026 online sittings: they are typically grouped so that candidates are examined in cohorts across specific date ranges rather than on a single day. That means there is often more than one online opportunity across the year, but each has its own opening and closing date for registration.

Face-to-face centres

Face-to-face sittings are held at host institutions that ESAIC partners with for a given cycle. These are the traditional in-person vivas: you travel to the centre, are examined live by the panels, and complete the day on site. The roster of host cities can change from cycle to cycle, which is exactly why this page does not name them — the list that was correct last year may not be correct for your sitting.

When you are weighing edaic part 2 centres, think about three things:

• Travel and visas. An in-person centre may require international travel and, for some passports, a visa — which has its own lead time that can exceed the registration window.
• Capacity. Each centre and each sitting has a finite number of candidate places.
• Language of examination. Part 2 is generally conducted in English regardless of where it is held, which simplifies one variable even when the venue changes.

A note on language streams

The written Part 1 exam is offered in several European languages. Part 2, by contrast, is generally conducted in English. So while you may have sat Paper A and Paper B in your own language, you should prepare to be examined orally in English — a planning fact that shapes how you rehearse far more than where you sit.

Comparing your Part 2 format options

The table below summarises the structural trade-offs. The format details (number of question topics, timing of each station) are deliberately described qualitatively — confirm the exact structure for your sitting on the ESAIC site and in our Part 2 SOE structure breakdown.

Neither format is "easier." The clinical content, the examiner pairing and the standard expected are designed to be equivalent. Choose on practicality, not on a hunch that one route is a softer touch.

How Part 2 follows the Part 1 pass

The clean way to think about the calendar is as a chain. The confirmed anchor for the current cycle is the Part 1 written exam on 19 September 2026. Results follow after marking, and a Part 1 pass is what unlocks your Part 2 eligibility. From there, you register into whichever Part 2 sitting — online or face-to-face — fits your timeline and still has an open window.

Two consequences fall out of this:

1. Your Part 2 planning is downstream of your Part 1 result. You cannot lock a Part 2 date until you know you have passed the written exam, so build flexibility into your diary.
2. The next available Part 2 window may not be the soonest one you imagined. If a window has closed or filled, you move to the following sitting. This is normal and not a reflection on you.

If you are still consolidating the written stage, the surrounding logistics — the September date, results timing and the registration mechanics for the year as a whole — are covered in our EDAIC 2026 dates, fees and registration guide. For everything that happens between sitting a paper and getting a verdict, see what happens after the exam.

Deadlines: how the windows really behave

Here is the honest, useful version of the deadline question. The phrase candidates most often search for is edaic part 2 exam dates 2026 — but for this cycle there is no single date to memorise. For the 2026 cycle, the registration window for the Part 1 written sitting has already closed — the deadline fell earlier in 2026 — so do not treat any registration cut-off you read about as still upcoming. The same rolling logic governs Part 2: each sitting has its own opening and closing date, and some 2026 windows are already shut.

That is precisely why this page refuses to print specific deadline dates. A deadline reproduced from a previous cycle is worse than no deadline at all, because it reads as authoritative while being wrong. The only reliable source for a live cut-off is the official ESAIC/EDAIC (myESAIC) portal. Bookmark it, log in, and check it directly.

Three habits will keep you out of trouble:

• Register the moment you are eligible, not the moment you feel ready. Readiness can keep improving; an open window cannot.
• Diarise the closing date as soon as it appears, and set a reminder several days before it.
• Have your documents ready in advance — eligibility evidence, identification and anything ESAIC requests — so a slow upload never costs you a place. If you are an international graduate, our note on EDAIC eligibility for international doctors explains what to assemble.

Preparing for the oral while you wait on dates

Logistics secure your seat; preparation earns your pass. The waiting period between a Part 1 result and a Part 2 sitting is the most valuable rehearsal time you will get, so use it deliberately.

Practise the question format, out loud

The SOE rewards candidates who can think aloud in a structured way under time pressure. That is a learned skill, not a personality trait. Our Part 2 oral exam SOE guide walks through the station structure and how to frame an answer the examiners can follow.

Keep your written-exam knowledge warm

The oral draws on the same clinical and basic-science foundation as the papers — it simply demands you deliver it conversationally. Topics such as intensive care, regional anaesthesia and emergency medicine remain central. Reviewing the intensive care material from Paper B keeps the high-yield clinical scaffolding fresh in a form the viva will probe.

Use spaced retrieval, not re-reading

Rehearsing answers repeatedly across spaced sessions beats cramming the week before. The spaced repetition memory method applies just as well to viva topics as it does to MTF facts, because the goal is durable, retrievable recall under stress.

Rehearse a handful of clinical anchors

You do not need to predict the exact stems. You need a small set of robust, well-structured frameworks you can deploy to almost any prompt. A few worth having ready as revision pointers — and always defer to current local and published guidelines in real practice:

• Local anaesthetic systemic toxicity (LAST): stop injecting, call for help, manage the airway and give 100% oxygen, control seizures, and start intravenous lipid emulsion (a 20% formulation) alongside modified resuscitation, all dosed and sequenced according to your current resuscitation guideline.
• The unanticipated difficult airway: a stepwise plan moving through optimised face-mask ventilation, supraglottic rescue, and the "can't intubate, can't oxygenate" emergency front-of-neck access pathway, following your current difficult-airway guideline.
• Context-sensitive half-time: why the time to a 50% fall in plasma concentration lengthens with infusion duration for many agents, and why that drives your choice for a long case.
• Sensitivity and specificity: how to reason out loud about a test's true-positive and true-negative behaviour, and why that shapes the clinical decision in front of you.

These are illustrative anchors for revision, not a script — the examiners value clear reasoning over recited lists.

Part 2 in the wider EDAIC picture

It helps to remember where the oral sits. If you are choosing between qualifications, our comparison of the EDAIC versus the FRCA sets out how the pan-European diploma and the UK Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists differ in structure and awarding body. And if you came to the EDAIC through the formative On-Line Assessment route, note that the OLA can, under ESAIC's conditions, exempt you from the written Part 1 — but it does not replace Part 2. The oral still stands between you and the diploma.

For the bigger "why," our piece on what the EDAIC means for your career is worth a read on a quiet evening — it is a useful motivator when the logistics feel tedious.

A simple planning checklist

• Confirm your Part 1 result and your resulting Part 2 eligibility.
• Open the official ESAIC/EDAIC (myESAIC) portal and read the current Part 2 sitting list — online and face-to-face — for your cycle.
• Decide format: remote convenience versus in-person preference, factoring travel and visa lead times.
• Note the opening and closing dates for your chosen sitting and diarise them.
• Prepare and pre-stage all required documents.
• Register as soon as the window opens; do not wait on a feeling of readiness.
• Use the gap to rehearse the SOE out loud, ideally with a colleague.

Frequently asked questions

What are the EDAIC Part 2 exam dates in 2026?

There is no single fixed date. Part 2 is delivered through several sittings spread across the cycle — online windows and face-to-face dates — rather than on one day, and some 2026 windows have already opened or closed. The only reliable, current schedule for edaic part 2 exam dates 2026 lives on the official ESAIC/EDAIC (myESAIC) website, so confirm there before making plans. The one firm anchor for the cycle is the Part 1 written exam on 19 September 2026, and your Part 2 timing flows from when you pass it.

Where are the edaic part 2 centres?

Face-to-face sittings are hosted at institutions ESAIC partners with for a given cycle, and the roster of cities can change year to year. For that reason we do not name centres here. Check the official portal for the venues offered in your cycle, and weigh travel and visa lead times against the online option.

Is Part 2 in English even if I sat Part 1 in another language?

Generally, yes. The written Part 1 exam is offered in several European languages, but the Part 2 oral is generally conducted in English. Prepare to think aloud and structure your reasoning in English regardless of where, or in which language, you sat the written papers.

Can I sit Part 2 before passing Part 1?

No. A Part 1 pass is a prerequisite for Part 2. Your oral eligibility flows directly from your written result, which is why you cannot lock a Part 2 date until you know you have cleared the papers.

Does the OLA exempt me from Part 2?

No. Passing the formative On-Line Assessment can, under ESAIC's conditions, exempt you from the written Part 1, but the structured oral Part 2 still stands between you and the diploma. See our OLA explainer for how that exemption works.

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Securing a Part 2 seat is half logistics and half preparation — and the preparation half is where consistent practice pays off long before the registration window opens. Create a free AnesCORE account to start rehearsing now, and drill the underlying clinical knowledge with our EDAIC question bank so that when your sitting is confirmed, the only thing left to do is turn up and perform.