FAQ 06 · How should I revise for Papers A and B before the CASC?

You can't sit the CASC until you've passed both written papers, so how you revise for them shapes when you get there. I'd plan the dates first and the reading second. Here's how I'd approach both papers with the CASC in view.

Plan the order and the dates first

Before you open a book, sort out your dates. Either paper can come first: the Royal College of Psychiatrists' regulations allow the written papers in any order.

Check you're eligible. Paper A needs full registration after foundation year 1 or an internship. Paper B needs full registration and at least six months' whole-time equivalent experience in psychiatry; the College recommends twelve.

The CASC needs both passes, along with 23 months' whole-time equivalent experience in psychiatry, sponsorship and the other requirements in the regulations.

So work backwards from the CASC you want. Find its application window on the College's dates page, then pick your paper sittings so that your second result is published before that window opens.

Leave yourself a margin. In the current calendar, Paper B on 7 October 2026 publishes its results on 6 November 2026, the last day of the January 2027 CASC window (26 October to 6 November 2026). Paper B in February 2027 publishes on 18 March 2027, well before the window for the September 2027 CASC (14 to 28 June 2027). Dates change, so check the page itself.

Watch the deadlines. Applications close at 3.30pm UK time on the last day, and late ones aren't accepted.

And mind the clock. From the day your first pass is published you have six years to complete the remaining parts, the CASC included.

Know what you're sitting

Each paper has 150 questions. About two thirds are single best answer from five options; the rest are extended matching items. Paper B has two parts: critical review is about a third, clinical topics the rest.

You'll take both online in three parts. You can move back and forth within a part, but not into one you've finished.

No marks are taken off for a wrong answer, so answer every question. Never leave one blank.

The pass mark is set for each paper by a panel judging how a borderline candidate would do on each question, then raised by an allowance for measurement error. There's no fixed percentage, so no practice score is a guarantee either way.

I'd try the practice exam. The College's FAQ links a sample exam on the test provider's site, so you can learn the screen before the day.

Start with questions, not chapters

My advice is to answer questions from the start. They show you what's asked and how, and every wrong answer points you at something to learn.

Work through a large bank once, briskly, rather than polishing a few topics.

Write one line per lesson. After a wrong or guessed answer, write down the single fact you'd need to get it right next time. Keeping it to one line forces you to find the point.

File the lines by syllabus topic, not in the order you met them. A set of notes shaped like the syllabus shows you its own gaps.

Keep the notes somewhere you can read them in a spare ten minutes, on your phone or in a small notebook.

When something won't make sense, look it up in a trusted textbook or guideline and add a line of explanation.

Short blocks, spaced reviews

Study in short timed blocks, say 20 to 25 minutes, then take a few minutes away from the desk before the next.

Come back at widening intervals. Reread a topic's notes the next day, then a few days later, then a week later, stretching the gap each time you recall it well.

Test yourself rather than rereading. Cover the note and recall it, or answer the questions you got wrong again.

Spend most of your time on the weak topics your wrong answers keep pointing to.

The question bank on this site works this way: a question you get wrong comes back as a due review a week later, and again three weeks after that if you answer it correctly.

Full papers under exam conditions

Sit full timed mocks of 150 questions in one sitting, on the clock.

I'd review every mock the same day and turn the wrong and guessed answers into new lines.

In the final week, sit your mocks again. Repeating them shows you whether the notes have stuck, and it keeps your pace steady.

Then ease off before the exam. If I were you, I'd use the last day or two for your notes, not new material.

Keep the CASC in view

What you learn for the written papers feeds the CASC. The College describes the CASC as a test of applied knowledge as well as skill, so you'll use it again in the stations.

I'd book the CASC as soon as you're eligible, so you don't lose the momentum from the papers.

And use your clinical work alongside revision. The College calls day-to-day practice excellent preparation for the CASC, and I'd agree with it.

Official sources

• [Applying for your exam: dates of exams and results](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/training/exams/applying-for-your-exam)

• [MRCPsych eligibility criteria and regulations](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/training/examinations/exams-eligibility-criteria-and-regulations---may-2025.pdf?sfvrsn=83f28e63_62)

• [FAQs about preparing for exams](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/training/exams/faqs-about-preparing-for-exams)

• [FAQs about the day of the exam](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/training/exams/faqs-about-the-day-of-the-exam)

• [Papers A and B marking scheme](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/training/exams/preparing-for-exams/papers-a-and-b-marking-scheme)

• [Preparing for the CASC](https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/training/exams/preparing-for-exams/preparing-for-the-casc)