MRCP(UK) Part 1 is the first written step towards membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom. It tests whether a doctor has the broad knowledge of clinical science and internal medicine expected early in physician training, and it is the gateway to MRCP Part 2 Written and to PACES. This guide explains how the exam is built and how to turn that structure into a revision plan.
The format
Part 1 is sat in a single day as two papers. Each paper lasts three hours and contains 100 multiple choice questions, so the exam has 200 questions in total. Every question is in best of five format: a clinical scenario or data set followed by five options, one of which is the single best answer while the other four are plausible but less correct. The exam is computer based and is delivered at test centres. Each correct answer earns one mark and there is no negative marking, so no question should ever be left blank.
The blueprint
The questions follow a published blueprint linked to the UK Internal Medicine curriculum. The largest single area is clinical sciences, with around 25 questions covering statistics and evidence based medicine, clinical anatomy, biochemistry and metabolism, physiology, cell and molecular biology, genetics and immunology. Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics carries around 15 questions. Each of the main medical specialties, including cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology and hepatology, infectious diseases, neurology, renal medicine, respiratory medicine and rheumatology, carries around 14 questions. Smaller sections cover haematology, psychiatry, dermatology, geriatric medicine, oncology, ophthalmology and palliative medicine. The exact numbers can vary slightly from one sitting to the next.
What the blueprint tells you
Two lessons follow from these numbers. First, clinical sciences and pharmacology together make up about a fifth of the paper, and they are the areas many candidates leave until last. Statistics questions in particular are predictable in style and reward practice. Second, no single specialty dominates, so a revision plan that spends weeks on one favourite subject while neglecting dermatology or ophthalmology costs marks that are easy to gain.
Planning your revision
Most candidates prepare over three to four months alongside clinical work. A practical approach is to divide the blueprint into weekly blocks, read a short summary of each topic first, then answer a set of questions on it the same week. Keep a log of every question you get wrong and the reason, whether a knowledge gap, a misread stem or a guess between two options. In the final month, switch to mixed timed papers of 100 questions to build the stamina needed for two three hour sessions in one day.
How to read a best of five question
Read the last line of the stem first so you know what is being asked, whether a diagnosis, the next investigation or the mechanism behind a finding. Then read the scenario and note the details that point towards one answer: age, timing, a key examination sign or an abnormal result. Several options are often partly true. The task is to choose the one that fits best, not just one that could be right.
Practising with License Medical
The License Medical MRCP Part 1 question bank is written by a UK consultant physician and arranged by the same specialty areas as the blueprint. Each question has a full explanation that covers why the correct answer is right and why each of the other options is wrong, ending with a Clinical Tip you can revise from in the final weeks. Timed practice and topic statistics help you see which blueprint areas still need work.
Exam details change from time to time. Always check the current format, dates and regulations on the official MRCP(UK) website before you book.