Quiz-based CPD has quietly become the working GP's favourite format, and for good reason: it is active where modules are passive, it fits ten-minute windows, and it produces evidence with numbers attached. But "quiz platform" now covers everything from module-end checkpoints to fully adaptive question banks, and the differences matter at appraisal. Here are the seven platforms UK GPs actually use, compared honestly.
RCGP Learning
The College's own platform: e-learning courses, the Essential Knowledge Update series with its accompanying challenge quizzes, and screencasts, largely included with RCGP membership. Breadth is genuinely GP-shaped, the guideline orientation is authoritative by definition, and completion evidence carries the College's name, which appraisers recognise instantly. The quizzes are checkpoint-style rather than adaptive, sequenced to the module rather than to you. Best for: membership-included, College-badged evidence on core updates.
MIMS Learning
Modules and quizzes across the primary-care waterfront, with CPD certificates and a well-organised learning record, on free registration. Convenient, current, and prolific; the consideration to hold in mind is that some content across the sponsored-education sector is industry-supported, so read provenance lines and weight independence accordingly, as you would anywhere. Quizzes are module-attached rather than adaptive. Best for: quick topical modules with tidy certificates.
Pulse 365
Pulse's CPD arm: modules, webinars and clinical updates aimed squarely at working GPs, free to access in the ad-supported publisher model. The clinical content is practical and the format light; the same provenance-awareness applies as with any sponsored ecosystem, and the quiz layer exists to confirm module completion rather than to assess you adaptively. Best for: no-cost topical CPD in magazine-adjacent form.
GPnotebook
The reference habit turned CPD engine: with GPnotebook Pro, reading and video activity is tracked automatically, topical Round-up MCQs add a light quiz layer, and a yearly statement exports for appraisal, at £7.99 monthly or £71.88 annually (last checked August 2026). The MCQs are current-affairs-flavoured rather than a structured bank, and the core evidence is tracked reading. Best for: converting existing look-up habits into logged CPD with a quiz garnish.
NB Medical
The Hot Topics ecosystem: intensive update courses, concise summaries and companion MCQs that let you test yourself against the course material. Guideline orientation is the entire premise, the quizzes are course-anchored, and the evidence output is course certification plus your reflection. Priced per course or subscription; check current rates. Best for: periodic deep updates with self-testing attached.
FourteenFish GP Library
The CPD content arm beside the appraisal toolkit: bite-sized learning through its app with quiz elements, feeding entries directly into the portfolio with the platform's trademark low friction. Convenience is the differentiator, since learning and appraisal live in one ecosystem; the quiz layer serves the content rather than adapting to your performance. Best for: FourteenFish users who want zero-friction logging of light, regular learning.
iatroX
The structural outlier in this list: not module-attached quizzes but a curated, adaptive question bank across a GP's scope, with spaced repetition scheduling returns, the Socratic Tutor interrogating every miss against cited NICE, CKS, SIGN and SmPC guidance, timed assessment options, native mobile apps, and My CPD exporting each session as an appraisal-ready record of topic, time, performance and reflection. Free tier includes askiatroX and selected full banks; the complete platform is £29 monthly or £99 annually (last checked August 2026). Best for: assessed, adaptive knowledge maintenance and the strongest evidence tier a quiz format can produce.
The dimension that actually separates them
Line the seven up and one axis explains most of the variance: whose sequence does the quiz follow? Module-attached quizzes, RCGP Learning, MIMS, Pulse, NB Medical, FourteenFish Library, follow the content's sequence, testing what was just taught; they verify modules. Tracked-reading MCQs follow the news cycle. An adaptive bank follows your performance, testing what you personally are about to forget; it verifies you. Both have appraisal value, but they are different claims, and a GP's strongest CPD file typically contains one authoritative module source, one currency source, and one adaptive assessment spine.
Frequently asked questions
Do quiz scores need to be high before I file them?
No; a mediocre score with documented correction is stronger evidence than a perfect one, because it shows the system finding and fixing real gaps. File the journey, not the flattering snapshot.
Are sponsored modules acceptable CPD?
Yes, with the ordinary professional habit of noting provenance and cross-checking recommendations against independent guidance where it matters; your reflection can and should say you did.
How do quiz platforms handle appraisal export?
Unevenly, and it is worth checking before you commit your year to one. The College and module platforms issue certificates you file manually; GPnotebook Pro exports an annual statement; FourteenFish's library writes into its own toolkit natively; iatroX's My CPD produces per-session records built for filing anywhere, including via FourteenFish's email-to-diary. The friction differences look trivial in August and decide what actually gets logged by March.
Can I mix platforms across the year?
You should: the classes are complementary, not competing. A workable GP year runs the EKU cycle for College-badged updates, a convenience platform for topical breadth, and an adaptive bank as the assessed spine, with one reflection habit spanning all three. The mistake is not mixing; it is running three certificate sources and no assessment, which produces a thick file that answers the wrong question.