The MSRA rewards two things: (1) fast, accurate applied knowledge in the CPS paper and (2) consistent professional judgement in the PD (SJT) paper. The mistake is treating it like generic revision. You need blocks that match the exam components, plus a tight debrief loop.
The official structure (anchor your plan to this)
The MSRA is 170 minutes with two components: a Professional Dilemmas (PD) paper (SJT) and a Clinical Problem Solving (CPS) paper. Build your weekly schedule around these two modes, not around random topic lists.
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Step 1 — Baseline (Week 0)
Do a short timed CPS block + a short PD block. You’re not chasing a score — you’re finding your error pattern and timing bottleneck.
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Step 2 — Build two weekly rhythms
Rhythm A (CPS): timed clinical questions + rapid wrong-answer protocol. Rhythm B (PD): SJT drills using consistent decision rules and ranking logic.
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Step 3 — Use the official practice paper as a calibration tool
Run it timed, then debrief hard. The value is in error classification + rule extraction, not in the raw score.
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Step 4 — Close your top 3 gaps (Weeks 1–3)
Pick the three most frequent miss-themes from your debrief and target them repeatedly across CPS blocks until they stop appearing.
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Step 5 — Re-test (Weeks 4–6)
Repeat a timed section each week, aiming for pacing stability and fewer unforced errors. Debrief every time.
Common failure mode
Grinding random question sets without a debrief loop. You feel busy, but you don’t close your repeating gaps — which is where the score is hiding.
SourceNHS England Medical Hub — MSRA structure (PD + CPS, total duration)
Open Link SourceNHS England Medical Hub — Official MSRA practice paper (with answers/rationales)
Open Link SourceNHS England Medical Hub — Professional Dilemmas (PD) paper
Open Link SourceNHS England Medical Hub — Clinical Problem Solving (CPS) paper
Open Link