MRCP(UK) Part 1

Part 1 and Part 2 are both written examinations; PACES is the later clinical assessment. Part 1 is the knowledge-based entry paper, and it must be cleared before you progress. The Federation hosts the Format pages for each examination under its Examinations section, which is where the current structure for each should be confirmed.

Part 1 is aimed at doctors who have completed, or are completing, their foundation-level training and are entering core or internal medicine training. Full eligibility requirements, including any postgraduate experience or registration conditions, are set out in the Federation's Regulations and How to apply pages for Part 1; check those before booking.

The Federation lists UK and international centres for Part 1, plus a separate Myanmar/Sudan online exam arrangement. Centre availability varies by diet, so check the UK and international centres page for the sitting you intend to enter rather than assuming your local centre will be offered.

Fees are published on the Part 1 Exam dates and fees page and are updated periodically, so always take the figure from there rather than from older material. The Federation also has a Visas and concessionary fees page under Guidance and information, which is worth reading if cost or travel is a concern.

The Federation sets out the rules on numbers of attempts and any intervals between attempts in its Regulations, and these are the definitive source. Do not rely on what peers tell you, since rules are revised. Read the Regulations and the Part 1 FAQs before you re-apply so you know exactly where you stand.

Work specialty by specialty against the published blueprint, and finish each topic with question practice rather than re-reading notes. Keep a log of every question you get wrong and why - knowledge gap, misread stem, or second-guessing. Most candidates lose marks through recurring reasoning errors, not through absence of facts.

The Federation publishes Sample questions and a Preparation page for Part 1. Use those to understand the question style, the depth of knowledge expected, and how options are constructed. Practising against the official samples early stops you over-learning trivia and under-practising the applied reasoning the paper rewards.

The Part 1 Results page on the Federation site gives the timetable for each diet. Results release dates are not fixed across all diets, so check the page for your specific sitting rather than planning around a date you heard from someone else. The Pass marks explained page also clarifies how the standard is set.

Breadth of coverage is the usual problem. Candidates tend to over-invest in their intended specialty and neglect dermatology, clinical pharmacology, haematology or geriatric medicine, then meet several unfamiliar questions in the paper. A timed, evenly distributed revision plan covering every listed specialty protects against this.