Core Revision
Hand-picked resources for GP trainees
Tailored for the MSRA and AKT — plus quick links to every Core Revision diploma. The ones marked with our Core Pick badge are the handful we think nearly every trainee benefits from.
Look for the Core Pick badge — our top recommendationsThe MSRA (Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment) is the computer-based test used to rank applicants for GP and other specialty training. It has two papers: Clinical Problem Solving and Professional Dilemmas. Question-bank practice is the single most effective preparation.
Question Banks
PassMedicine (MSRA)
The most widely used MSRA bank, with thousands of Clinical Problem Solving questions, Professional Dilemma practice and full mock exams that mirror the real interface.
Visit PassMedicine MSRAPastest (MSRA)
A strong alternative bank covering both papers, with detailed explanations. Useful as a second source of questions if you finish PassMedicine.
Visit Pastest MSRAEmedica MSRA
MSRA-specific question bank and courses mapped to the exam blueprint, with topic mini-tests for both papers. Long-established in the GP recruitment space.
Visit EmedicaQuesmed (MSRA)
Full coverage of both papers with explanations and a built-in notes section linked to the relevant NICE guidance.
Visit QuesmedClinical Knowledge
CKS (Clinical Knowledge Summaries)
Concise, evidence-based summaries of common conditions — ideal for shoring up the clinical knowledge tested in the Clinical Problem Solving paper.
Visit CKSBNF / BNFc
The British National Formulary — useful for the prescribing and pharmacology questions that appear throughout the clinical paper.
Visit BNFWellbeing & Professional Support
NHS Practitioner Health
A free, confidential NHS service for doctors and dentists experiencing mental health or addiction issues. The right door to knock on first if you’re struggling.
Visit NHS Practitioner HealthNHS Practitioner Health Wellbeing Podcast
Drs Zaid Al-Najjar, Ruth Deighton and Simon Lyne — Practitioner Health clinicians — on doctors’ mental health, workplace pressures and processing the emotional load of clinical work. A natural listening companion to the service itself.
Visit the Practitioner Health PodcastThe AKT (Applied Knowledge Test) is the machine-marked knowledge paper of the MRCGP, covering clinical medicine, evidence/statistics and organisational/administrative topics. Success rests on broad clinical knowledge, current UK guidance and plenty of question practice.
Free from Core Revision
Our own free resources — built by the same GPs who write the question bank. If your exam is around 12 weeks away, the Core Calendar is the best place to start.
The Core Revision App
Your question bank, Core Compass, mock exams and 20 branching Virtual Clinic consultations — in your pocket. Works in any browser, installs to your home screen, syncs with your account. No streaks, no guilt.
The AKT Stats Guide
Our 17-part series decoding every statistics concept the AKT tests — NNT, odds ratios, screening maths, forest plots — finishing with a one-page cheatsheet.
Start the Stats GuideCore Calendar
Find the plan that fits your time, add your exam date, and get a personalised week-by-week plan — with downloadable PDF calendars.
Plan with the Core CalendarCore Tools
Interactive decoders that teach by doing — you work each clinical decision yourself, then check the reasoning.
Explore Core ToolsClinical Knowledge & Guidelines
CKS (Clinical Knowledge Summaries)
The single most useful clinical reference for UK general practice. Concise, evidence-based summaries structured for primary care decisions.
Visit CKSNICE Guidelines
The full national guidance that CKS sits on top of. Essential when you need the underlying evidence or detail a CKS summary doesn’t cover.
Visit NICEBNF / BNFc
Your prescribing reference — heavily tested in the AKT, particularly interactions and paediatric dosing.
Visit BNFGP Notebook
A quick-reference clinical encyclopedia for when you want a concise answer faster than a full CKS page.
Visit GP NotebookPatient.info Professional
Well-structured clinical articles for clinicians, alongside the patient leaflets you can use in the same consultation.
Visit Patient.infoBMJ Best Practice
Evidence-based clinical decision support for the topics where you want more depth than a primary-care summary gives.
Visit BMJ Best PracticeRCGP Curriculum & Exam Resources
Straight from the source. The RCGP super condensed guides are free one-page topic summaries that show exactly how each topic can be examined in the AKT and portfolio — the fastest way to see what “good” looks like.
RCGP Super Condensed Guides
Free one-page summaries of each curriculum topic guide, with worked examples of how topics appear in the AKT and WPBA. An efficient revision checklist.
Visit the condensed guidesRCGP GP Curriculum
The full curriculum and topic guides (updated August 2025). The definitive map of everything the MRCGP can test.
Visit the curriculumRCGP Learning
The college’s own e-learning platform: curriculum-mapped modules and AKT practice papers direct from the source.
Visit RCGP LearningQuestion Banks
PassMedicine
The high-volume AKT bank most trainees start with — good for breadth and pattern recognition. Pair with Core Revision for depth on the trickier topics.
Visit PassMedicinePastest
An alternative AKT bank with a strong reputation for explanations. Useful as a second-pass bank.
Visit PastestPortfolio Completion
The portfolio is one of the biggest drains on a trainee’s mental energy. Getting on top of it efficiently — with clear templates and worked examples — frees up the headspace and time you need for AKT revision.
GP Portfolio Hub
Our own guide to the portfolio: all 13 capabilities decoded, a learning-log method with worked examples, and an evidence tracker — written to stop the portfolio eating your revision time.
Visit the Portfolio HubBradford VTS — Portfolio & WPBA
A huge free library of WPBA explanations, templates and worked examples (CbD, CAT, log entries and more). The fastest way to demystify the portfolio and stop it eating your revision time.
Visit Bradford VTSRCGP WPBA Guidance
The official Workplace Based Assessment framework — the 13 capabilities, the assessment tools, and how the evidence feeds your six-monthly reviews.
Visit RCGP WPBAFourteenFish Portfolio
The trainee ePortfolio platform itself, with tools to log evidence and track capabilities as you go — keeping the portfolio ticking over rather than piling up.
Visit FourteenFishWellbeing & Professional Support
NHS Practitioner Health
A free, confidential NHS service for doctors experiencing mental health or addiction issues.
Visit NHS Practitioner HealthYou Are Not A Frog
Dr Rachel Morris on burnout and resilience — valuable when the revision-plus-clinic workload starts to bite.
Visit You Are Not A FrogNHS Practitioner Health Wellbeing Podcast
Drs Zaid Al-Najjar, Ruth Deighton and Simon Lyne — Practitioner Health clinicians — on doctors’ mental health, workplace pressures and processing the emotional load of clinical work. A natural listening companion to the service itself.
Visit the Practitioner Health PodcastPodcasts
Primary Care Knowledge Boost
Drs Sara MacDermott and Lisa Adams interview specialists on the conditions GPs see week in, week out. Counts towards CPD, and the back-catalogue is a revision plan in itself.
Visit Primary Care Knowledge BoostNB Hot Topics Podcast
Dr Neal Tucker walks through current research, guideline changes and AKT-relevant hot topics from NB Medical.
Visit NB Hot TopicsDeep Breath In (BMJ)
The BMJ’s primary-care podcast — real-world GP cases discussed by experienced clinicians.
Visit Deep Breath IneGPlearning Podblast
Drs Hussain Gandhi and Andrew Foster on GP tech, education and practical clinical updates.
Visit eGPlearningNews & Current Issues
Pulse Today
GP-focused news, policy and clinical updates. Useful for AKT “hot topic” questions, where currency matters.
Visit Pulse TodayGPonline
News, clinical updates and career content for UK GPs. Worth a weekly scroll alongside Pulse.
Visit GPonlineThe BMJ
Research, education and current debates. The Practice and Education sections surface AKT-relevant material regularly.
Visit The BMJNew · The IMG Hub
Trained outside the UK?
The IMG Hub is our free collection of guides, tools and videos for international medical graduates — how the NHS works, your first 90 days, the jargon decoder, the payslip, the exams through IMG eyes. No sign-up, ever.
Ready to put these resources to work?
Core Revision’s AKT Power Pack pairs this curated guidance with focused question practice and depth on the topics trainees find hardest.
Explore the AKT Power PackKnow a resource we’ve missed? Email the team — we update this list regularly.
The external resources above are independent organisations. Core Revision Ltd is not affiliated with any of them and is not responsible for the content, accuracy, availability or pricing of external sites and services. Links — including our Core Pick badges — are shared in good faith as signposts trainees tell us they find useful; they are not paid placements or formal endorsements.