How to Pass MRCP Part 2 After Part 1: A 12-Week Revision Plan

Passing MRCP Part 2 after Part 1 is less about learning new medicine and more about using what you already know on longer cases, with more data, images and management decisions. A good MRCP Part 2 revision plan covers the blueprint in proportion, builds up to the full three-hour paper and leaves time to revisit your mistakes. This 12-week timetable does all three. Adapt it to your rota and your starting point; it is a framework, not a guarantee.

If you are aiming for the 24 February 2027 sitting and starting at the end of October, you have about 17 weeks. Use the spare weeks as a gentle run-in, a buffer for Christmas and on-calls, or to start the plan early and repeat your weakest blocks. Check the application window in our MRCP Part 2 exam dates guide first: it is only one week long.

What changes from Part 1 to Part 2

Both exams use best-of-five questions in two three-hour papers. The difference is what the questions ask you to do. The Federation describes Part 2 as testing your ability to prioritise a diagnosis or problem list, plan investigation, choose immediate and long-term management and assess prognosis. You will meet more full clinical cases and more investigation results to interpret. You will also meet images, such as ECGs, clinical photographs and scans, which the Federation lists as absent from Part 1.

That has two practical consequences. First, your revision should be built around questions and the reasoning behind them, not around rereading notes. Second, reading speed and stamina matter. With 100 questions in three hours, you have an average of 1 minute 48 seconds per question, and many stems are long.

Before week 1: set up

• Book the exam. For February 2027, applications run from 08:00 on 8 December to 08:00 on 15 December 2026.
• Take a baseline. Do 50 mixed questions under timed conditions (90 minutes). Do not revise first. The aim is to see where you stand.
• Start an error log. Four columns are enough: topic, what you chose, why the best answer was better, and a date to revisit it.
• Decide your weekly pattern. For example, four weekday sessions of 45 to 60 minutes and one longer weekend session. Keep it to what you can sustain after a long day.

Your 12-week MRCP Part 2 timetable

The order follows the current blueprint, which applies to the February and July 2027 sittings. The large specialties come early, so you meet them twice. Keep a short mixed block in every week so that earlier topics stay fresh. Clinical pharmacology carries 18 questions, so give it a short session every week rather than a single block.

This is our suggested sequence, not an official schedule. Blueprint numbers are from the Federation’s Part 2 format page. If you are sitting in November 2027 or later, a revised blueprint applies; see our guide to the MRCP Part 2 format and blueprint.

What each study session should look like

Start by recalling, without notes, two or three learning points from your previous session. Then do a block of questions, timed if you can, and review them properly. For every question you got wrong or guessed, work out why the best answer beats the option you chose. That comparison is the skill Part 2 rewards.

Read around a topic only when a question shows you a gap, and give the reading a purpose. “Revise sarcoidosis” is vague. “Learn which findings in sarcoidosis point to cardiac involvement, and how it is investigated” is a task you can finish in 20 minutes.

How many questions? A realistic target is around 120 to 180 a week with full review, which gives roughly 1,500 to 2,000 over 12 weeks. More is fine if your review keeps up. Doing questions faster than you can learn from them does not help.

Build in images and data every week

Image questions and long data tables are where Part 2 feels most different from Part 1. Do not leave them to the end. In each specialty week, make sure your practice includes the relevant images: ECGs in cardiology, chest radiographs and CT in respiratory, skin photographs in dermatology, blood films in haematology. Our guide to MRCP Part 2 image questions gives a systematic approach for each type.

For long stems, practise reading the question line first, then building a short problem list from the case before you look at the options. Our article on best-of-five technique for MRCP Part 2 works through this step by step.

Practise the full exam day

Two three-hour papers are tiring. Work up to them: a half paper in week 4, a full paper in week 7 and a full two-paper day in week 10. After each one, look at where your accuracy and pace changed. Did you spend too long on a few hard questions, rush the last 20, or lose focus in the second paper? Make one change and test it next time.

There is no negative marking, so practise answering every question. If you are stuck, choose the best option you have, flag it and move on.

If you fall behind

Shorten sessions before you drop whole topics. Prioritise the large specialties, your recurring errors and the areas you have barely touched, and keep a little mixed practice going. If the plan keeps outrunning your available time, adjust it on purpose rather than carrying a growing backlog. Moving to the July 2027 sitting is a reasonable choice if you have not yet applied.

The final fortnight

Use the last two weeks to consolidate, not to start new resources. Work through your error log, retest the questions you got wrong, and do mixed timed blocks. In the last few days, check your venue confirmation and travel, and protect your sleep.

Our MRCP Part 2 course is built for this plan: 4,278 exam-style questions mapped to the current blueprint, 400+ image questions, timed mocks in the official two-paper format and 24 case-based podcast episodes for commutes and quieter days. See the access options here.

Frequently asked questions