A twelve-week UKMLA revision plan should organise the work you need to do, not simply distribute an entire Anki deck across the remaining days. The aim is to cover relevant knowledge, recognise weak areas and practise applying what you know under appropriate examination conditions.
The plan below is a suggested framework, not a validated timetable or a guarantee of readiness. Adapt it to your baseline knowledge, placements, assessment dates and medical school's requirements. A student starting from a substantial knowledge gap will need a different balance from someone whose main difficulty is timing.
Before week one: establish the scope
Begin with the GMC MLA content map applicable to your assessment and the instructions from your medical school. The updated map applies from September 2026, so older checklists should be checked rather than followed automatically.
Choose a primary question resource and a manageable card collection. Identify the teaching or reference materials you will use when an explanation is needed. Avoid introducing several comprehensive resources before you know which gaps they are supposed to address.
Complete a mixed sample of questions without assistance. Record not only whether answers were correct but whether you understood the reasoning. A confident mistake and a correct guess both deserve attention, although they may need different repairs.
Weeks one and two: build a realistic starting routine
Use the first fortnight to establish a sustainable balance between retrieval and application. Begin with selected cards from current priorities rather than activating an entire finals deck. Keep daily review within a time limit that leaves room for questions and explanation.
Create a simple error record with three categories: missing knowledge, unclear concept and interpretation or decision error. Write the learning point in your own words. Do not copy complete proprietary questions into a personal deck or external AI service.
At the end of the fortnight, review the workload. If card reviews have already displaced questions, reduce new-card intake. The purpose of the starting phase is to create a routine you can maintain during an ordinary week, not demonstrate maximum effort for several days.
Weeks three and four: expand coverage without losing depth
Move through the curriculum in a planned way, keeping some mixed questions alongside topic-focused study. Topic sessions help build coherence; mixed sessions reveal whether you recognise the relevant area without being told which chapter you are studying.
Use Anki for selected facts and distinctions arising from teaching or mistakes. A card should address a specific retention need. Do not add every detail from every explanation, because that creates a future queue unrelated to its educational value.
The iatroX UKMLA resources can provide relevant practice, while the Tutor can help explore a persistent misconception. Use these as defined tasks rather than additional obligations attached to every topic.
Weeks five and six: check whether knowledge transfers
By the middle of the plan, include questions that present familiar concepts in unfamiliar ways. Explain why the information supports the preferred answer and what makes the closest alternative less appropriate.
Review your Anki collection for cards that repeatedly fail or take disproportionate time. Anki's guidance on leeches is useful here. A difficult card may need rewriting, a better explanation or removal from the current study set rather than simply more repetitions.
Check breadth as well as weak areas. Spending every session on one difficult specialty can leave other material untouched. Use the curriculum map and question performance together, recognising that a small sample does not provide a precise measurement of an entire subject.
Weeks seven and eight: increase examination-like practice
Introduce longer, appropriately timed sessions using the format and conditions advised for your course. Keep some sessions genuinely closed-book so that they reveal what you can retrieve and interpret independently.
Afterwards, separate timing problems from knowledge problems. Rushing because you lack confidence in a concept needs a different response from spending too long rechecking an answer you already understand. Do not convert every timing error into another flashcard.
Maintain a smaller, useful Anki workload. This is not necessarily the point to stop cards, but it is a sensible point to question low-value additions. Preserve time for reviewing the practice session thoroughly rather than simply scheduling the next one.
Weeks nine and ten: target the remaining gaps
Use the accumulated error record to identify recurring weaknesses. Look for patterns across questions rather than responding to one isolated result. A repeated misunderstanding of how evidence changes a decision is more important than a single forgotten obscure detail.
Choose the repair that matches the problem. Use a reference or teaching session for understanding, a concise card for retention and another unfamiliar question for application. A short Tutor discussion can help articulate reasoning when reading the same explanation again has not resolved the issue.
Keep practical preparation separate and visible. The MLA assessment framework includes clinical and professional skills as well as applied knowledge. Peer practice and supervised feedback should not be treated as optional extras after the card queue is cleared.
Weeks eleven and twelve: consolidate rather than rebuild
Avoid replacing your entire system in the final fortnight. Continue selected high-value reviews, complete appropriate practice and revisit errors that remain relevant. A new comprehensive deck is unlikely to be the most efficient response to normal pre-examination uncertainty.
Use iatroX simulations for supported scenario rehearsal where relevant, alongside real practical teaching. Do not assume that a digital scenario assesses physical examination technique or reproduces every element of your school's practical assessment.
Confirm administrative arrangements, required materials and the examination timetable. Protect sleep and recovery rather than creating an increasingly unrealistic final-week schedule. The plan should finish with clearer priorities, not a growing list of unfinished resources.
Review the plan weekly, not only at the end
Each week, ask what improved, what remains unclear and which activity consumed time without helping. Adjust card intake and question volume accordingly. A plan that changes in response to evidence is more useful than one followed rigidly despite obvious problems.
The central rule is simple: Anki supports the revision programme; it does not define completion of the programme. Your objective is usable knowledge and appropriate examination preparation, not an empty review queue at any cost.
The Anki guide for UKMLA and postgraduate examinations explains the principles behind this balance of retention and application.
Frequently asked questions
Is twelve weeks enough for UKMLA preparation?
That depends on your starting knowledge, available time and course requirements. This is an organisational framework, not a prediction of readiness or a substitute for advice from your medical school.
How many new Anki cards should I add each day?
Use a number that preserves time for questions, explanation and practical learning. Review the resulting workload before increasing it, because new cards create future reviews as well as immediate work.
Should I stop all cards in the final fortnight?
Not automatically. Maintain selected useful reviews while prioritising the remaining examination tasks. Reducing low-value additions is often more sensible than either abandoning every card or trying to complete everything.