Advice, guidance and preparation | MRCPUK

Advice, guidance and preparation

We recommend that all candidates prepare for the examinations by gaining clinical experience in hospital posts involving the care of emergency medical patients, whether adults or children, and by studying up-to-date postgraduate clinical textbooks and current medical journals.
The examinations are mapped to the UK core medical training curriculum and knowledge of this and UK national guidelines should form part of your preparation for the examinations.

• National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE guidelines)
• Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)

Courses

There are a number of courses available that are designed to help you to prepare for the MRCP(UK) examinations. These preparation courses are run by the three Colleges that make up the Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom, and are delivered in a range of formats:

Online/blended:

MRCP(UK) Diploma Written Examinations
RCP London: Medical Masterclass
MRCP(UK) Diploma PACES
RCP Edinburgh: PACES preparation evenings and PACES Preparatory Course (January and September)
RCPS Glasgow: MRCP(UK) PACES Revision Modules
RCP London: Medical Masterclass

In country training courses:

MRCP(UK) Diploma Written Examinations
RCP London: MRCP(UK) Part 2 written exam revision course
MRCP(UK) Diploma PACES
RCP Edinburgh: International PACES Courses offered in Myanmar, Saudi Arabia and India
RCP London: Doctor Patient Communications Skills Courses

Training timeline

This diagram illustrates the timeline of a UK physician in training and the place of the MRCP(UK) and Specialty Certificate Examinations (SCEs). International candidates do not need to take MRCP(UK) before the SCEs.

Examination formats

For a more detailed explanation on the format of each of our examinations and the topics that will be included please see:

• Part 1
• Part 2 Written
• Part 2 Practical Assessment of Clinical Examinations Skills (PACES)
• Specialty Certificate Examinations

Examination curricula

To enable candidates to perform to the best of their ability we recommend that you familiarise yourself with the relevant examination curricula. This information can be accessed on the JRCPTB website.

Sample examination questions

A range of example questions are available on the website to assist candidates in their examination preparation. We recommend that you take the opportunity to review these questions as they provide a valuable insight into the type of material you are likely to find in our examinations. Please visit the relevant links below for further information:

• Part 1
• Part 2 Written
• Specialty Certificate Examinations