EBEORL-HNS 2026: Quality, Growth and the Next European Board Examination
The European Board Examination in Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (EBEORL-HNS) continues to strengthen its role as a European benchmark for specialist assessment. Following its standard examination format, the Board continues to focus on quality assurance, harmonization and accessibility across Europe and beyond.
The world renown high quality exam is increasingly becoming to be equivalent to the national exams (e.g. Croatia, Finland, Greece, Sweden, Türkiye, etc.) or replacing them (e.g. Belgium, Iceland, Malta, Switzerland [Part 1]). While the exam is admitting candidates from all continents, it is noticeable that it continues to be significant increase on the percentage of candidates from UEMS affiliated countries sitting the examination. This possibly reflects the fact that Belgium, Iceland and Malta made the exam compulsory to get board certified. At the last Part II oral exam in November 2025 and at the last Part I written exam in April 2026, respectively 56% and 58% of the candidates registered were coming from UEMS affiliated countries.
Independent Evidence of Examination Quality
The board has published the second peer-reviewed paper this year. The paper is titled “The European Board Examination in Otorhinolaryngology as a high-quality test instrument: psychometric measures in a long-term comparison. HNO (2026) https://doi.org/10.1007/s00106-025-01698-x. The paper has clearly demonstrated that the exam is fit for the purpose that it was created. This is the only publication of its kind, and no other medical board has yet to publish a similar paper.
This publication provides independent, peer-reviewed evidence supporting the quality, reliability and consistency of the examination across more than a decade of data.
CESMA Accreditation:
The board agreed CESMA accreditation, and the accreditors Prof Alexandru NICA, France and Prof Albert MIFSUD, UK attended and assessed the Oral Exam in Vienna in November 2025. The immediate feedback from the assessors was extremely positive with a significant number of remarks for excellence and no negative observations. However, as CESMA could not attend the written exam and the review meeting they would like to do this in due course. We are hoping that this would complete the accreditation process.
New Website – Better Visibility and Function
The new website www.ebeorl-hns.org has now been created and it is now fully functional for the examination application and management. This has made in line with the CEORL-HNS website and provides an excellent platform to interact with the Board. The Vienna Medical Association (WMA) is further delivering the administrative duties of the exam improving and facilitating all the relevant processes of registration and organization as well as the functionality of the new website.
Expanding the European Board Family
The EBEORL-HNS is also continuing to support the development of European special competency examinations in subspecialty fields of ORL-HNS. Through the MoU with the UEMS, EBEORL-HNS being the only organization in Europe with the exclusive right to conduct exams in ORL-HNS, for the special competency areas of ORL-HNS dedicated examinations have been inaugurated under the EBEORL-HNS umbrella over the last three years.
The European Board for Examination and Certification in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (EBEC-FPRS) has been operating under its auspices and this year have conducted the third examination, while the European Board Examination in Phoniatrics (EBE Phoniatrics) has been established two years ago and have conducted its second special competency examination this year under our umbrella.
In 2026, the EBEORL-HNS is further in the process of helping to develop the European Board Examination in Laryngology, with its first examination planned for Antwerp in May 2027.
Together, these developments underline the continuing evolution of the EBEORL-HNS as a platform for high-quality, transparent and harmonized European competency assessment across ORL-HNS and its subspecialties.
Save the Date: Part II Oral Examination – 7 November 2026, Vienna
The next EBEORL-HNS Part II Oral Examination will take place in Vienna on 7 November 2026.
Candidates who have successfully completed Part I, as well as eligible candidates who passed Part I within the previous five years, can register for Part II. Registration is managed through the EBEORL-HNS online portal.
Registration & information:
EBEORL-HNS Registration Portal
Scan the QR code to access the registration portal:
