MRCP exam preparation

Registration

Details, schedule, and fees are on the official website. Register and pay through MRCPUK.

• Register on the MRCPUK official website

Exam format

• Two papers, each with 100 MCQs — total 200 questions
• The number of questions per speciality/subcategory differs from exam to exam
• MRCPUK publishes a table of estimated average number of questions per speciality

What to bring with you

• Yourself
• The agreement document they send you — printed and signed
• Your passport or any ID that includes your signature
• A non-hoodie jacket or sweater (per their email: hoodies are not permitted; some centers may be more lenient)
• Water and snacks — there is a short 1-hour break between both papers
• No watches, calculators, or writing utensils. Pencils and erasers are provided. A calculator will not be provided.

Study tips from my own experience

General tips

• Don’t be discouraged. The question banks can be tricky on a first pass — treat it as a learning experience more than a test of your knowledge.
• Generally, Passmedicine was more important for Part 1, while Pastest was essential for Part 2.
• Tackle the questions section by section rather than studying randomly.
• Always read the explanation after the question and note them down when useful. I liked to copy/paste points I thought were important into a Google document.
• Your studying for Part 1 will help you pass Part 2. I would recommend doing Part 2 as soon as possible after passing Part 1.

On textbooks

I didn’t use textbooks. I relied on the online textbooks on Passmedicine and (to a lesser degree) Pastest, and I wrote my own notes compiled into various documents.

If you prefer a book, the most well-known options are:

• The Only MRCP Notes You Will Ever Need by Hani Abuelgasim — largely a reorganization of the Passmedicine online textbook. It may add a few points here and there, but it also misses others and is less updated.
• Step Up to MRCP by Khaled El Magraby — I have no personal experience with this book, but I know a few who found it helpful.
• Notes and Notes and MRCP by Yousif Hamad — same as above; some found it helpful.

How I studied for Part 1

• I tried to solve Passmedicine in full, tackling each speciality at a time. During this pass I wrote notes.
• Then I studied my notes and reset the question bank. This time I solved questions randomly. I only managed to solve half the question bank the second time around.
• The week before the exam, I solved the sample questions on the MRCPUK official website — close to 200 questions in total. I also used the free trial of Pastest and solved the past exams.

How I studied for Part 2

• Similar to the first time, I first tackled Passmedicine. However, there are a lot fewer questions for Part 2 on Passmedicine — so I set my sights on completing both the Passmedicine and Pastest question banks.
• Just like for Part 1, I took notes while solving questions and added them to my Part 1 notes. I studied those notes.
• In total, I solved the Passmedicine question bank, almost all of the Pastest question bank, and all past papers on Pastest up until 2019.

A note from Maryam