This audit is for the anaesthetics trainee approaching the Final FRCA who owns, or is weighing up, BMJ OnExamination and wants to read its analytics rather than be reassured by them. It addresses the single-best-answer half of the written examination. Its principal limitation is structural: the Final FRCA written is half constructed-response, and BMJ OnExamination's Final product is single-best-answer only — so it rehearses one written paper and neither the CRQ nor the structured oral.
What BMJ OnExamination offers for the Final FRCA right now
The figures below are vendor-reported, from the BMJ OnExamination Final FRCA product and platform pages as observed on 19 July 2026. Confirm the current numbers on the product page before you buy.
| Item | Vendor-reported detail (19 July 2026) |
|---|---|
| Bank size | 800 single best answer questions, mapped to the Final FRCA curriculum |
| Question format | SBA only — no constructed-response (CRQ) practice |
| Difficulty control | User-selected difficulty and topic filtering |
| Analytics | Performance graphs benchmarked against peers, high-impact ranking and a daily question; no published percentile or predicted pass score |
| Mock tests | Timed mock tests curated by the BMJ editorial team |
| Explanations | Detailed answer explanations and key learning points |
| Access and price | Subscriptions from 1 month (£41.99) to 12 months (£151.99), in monthly tiers — verify current pricing |
| Mobile and trial | Mobile app with offline access; 10 free questions per day |
| Exam components | Written SBA paper only — no CRQ or SOE simulation |
As with the Primary product, note the framing. BMJ OnExamination is described as "adaptive," but on the pages we checked it does not claim a proprietary adaptive-difficulty algorithm, a national percentile or a predicted pass score. It offers user-selected difficulty filtering, peer-benchmarked performance graphs, an editorially curated high-impact set and a daily question. This audit reads the product as what it demonstrably is.
The exam this dashboard is trying to predict
The Final FRCA written examination has two components sat on different days, plus a separate oral. The Constructed Response Question (CRQ) paper is 12 questions in three hours, each marked out of 20, all attempted, with modified Angoff standard-setting — a free-text paper that rewards structured written reasoning. The MCQ paper is 90 single best answer questions in three hours, weighted roughly 45 general anaesthesia, 10 perioperative medicine, 10 regional anaesthesia and 25 other (one mark each, no negative marking). The Structured Oral Examination (SOE) sits separately and tests spoken clinical judgement.
The implication is unavoidable: BMJ OnExamination's 800-item SBA bank maps onto one of the two written papers. It does not train the CRQ's constructed-response format and it does not train the SOE. The RCoA's own guidance and any official specimen CRQ material are the calibration standard here. Note the flag as well: from July 2027 the RCoA replaces the written with a Final FRCA Applied Knowledge Test (100 SBA in three hours, no CRQ) and a Final Clinical Performance Exam. Everything below describes the current format, which runs until then — verify your sitting against the RCoA 2027 changes hub.
Every metric on the dashboard, defined
First-attempt accuracy — the proportion correct the first time you meet an item — is your closest proxy for unseen ability, but only inside the topics you have attempted and only if you answer before reading the explanation. Repeat accuracy rises fast because it measures recognition of a specific stem; a near-ceiling repeat score tells you little. The gap between the two is your memorising-versus-mastery signal.
Percentile and peer benchmark on BMJ OnExamination is a graph comparing you with other subscribers, not a national percentile and not a probability of passing; the cohort is self-selected and moves with who else is revising. There is no published predicted pass score, so resist turning a bank percentage into an exam mark. Coverage is the share of the blueprint you have attempted at all — and here it must be read across two dimensions, because the SBA bank covers only one of the two written papers. Difficulty is a filter you control, so it shapes your percentage rather than measuring your standard. Time per item matters for the SBA paper at roughly 120 seconds each, but note that the CRQ runs at a completely different cadence — around 15 minutes per question of structured writing — which no SBA drill rehearses.
Why the headline percentage is not your exam score
Your Final FRCA percentage on BMJ OnExamination is scored on the questions you filtered to, in the modes you chose, within a single question format. If you drill hard general-anaesthesia items your percentage reflects a deliberately harder, narrower slice than a proportionally mixed paper; if you avoid perioperative medicine or regional anaesthesia, the number quietly rises while a real gap widens. And because the whole bank is SBA, even a flawless percentage says nothing about your constructed-response writing. This is the reasoning behind "Your Q-Bank Percentage Is Not Your Exam Score": the denominator, the format and the filters are all doing the talking. Treat the headline as a study metric and generate your readiness signal separately.
The blueprint audit BMJ OnExamination will not run for you
Lay your attempted SBA distribution beside the official Final FRCA SBA weighting, and note the CRQ as a separate row it cannot fill.
| Final FRCA component | Approx. official share | Example attempted | Flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| SBA — general anaesthesia | ~45 of 90 SBA (50%) | 58% | Over-sampled |
| SBA — perioperative medicine | ~10 of 90 (11%) | 8% | Under-sampled |
| SBA — regional anaesthesia | ~10 of 90 (11%) | 6% | Under-sampled |
| SBA — other (intensive care, pain, obstetric, paediatric, etc.) | ~25 of 90 (28%) | 28% | On target |
| CRQ paper (12 constructed-response questions) | Half of the written marks | Not covered by this bank | Use College specimen CRQ material |
Fill it from your own data using the blueprint-coverage matrix method from "Question-bank completion is not coverage". The two lessons are: rebalance your SBA attempts toward the under-sampled sub-domains, and do not let a strong SBA percentage disguise the fact that half the written marks come from a paper this bank does not touch.
The readiness test — five conditions for a credible signal
Require all five for the SBA paper: the block is unseen (never-attempted items, not flagged re-runs); timed at roughly 120 seconds per item; mixed across the SBA weighting rather than filtered; sat with no assistance; and drawn from a large enough sample (a full 90-item mock or several mixed blocks, not a 20-item quiz). Then add a sixth condition specific to the Final: a credible readiness signal must include timed CRQ practice on the College's specimen material, because constructed-response skill — planning, structure and pace — does not transfer automatically from SBA drilling.
Algorithm override rules
Force these onto a weekly quota rather than waiting for the filters to surface them: perioperative medicine and regional anaesthesia (routinely under-sampled); intensive care, pain, obstetric and paediatric anaesthesia within the "other" band; statistics and data interpretation; and — the one no SBA bank supplies — timed CRQ writing from College specimen questions, marked against the published marking framework. Any drug or dosing detail you check should come from the SmPC/electronic medicines compendium, not a memorised figure. A rising SBA percentage must not be allowed to hide either an under-attempted SBA sub-domain or the entire CRQ paper.
Worked dashboard example: from analytics to next week's quotas
Consider a candidate six weeks out: overall SBA first-attempt 72%; general anaesthesia 77%; perioperative medicine 58%; regional 55%; "other" 66%; time per item 96 seconds untimed; and no CRQ practice logged at all. Read it honestly — the two weak SBA bands are thinly attempted, and the biggest gap is the untouched constructed-response paper.
| Component | Dashboard reading | Next-week quota | Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perioperative medicine (SBA) | 58% first-attempt | 60 new items | Topic-filtered, then timed |
| Regional anaesthesia (SBA) | 55% first-attempt | 50 new items | Topic-filtered |
| General anaesthesia (SBA) | 77% first-attempt | 40 items | Timed mixed |
| CRQ paper | Not attempted | 3 timed CRQs from College specimens | Written, self-marked to the framework |
| Whole-blueprint check | Not measured cold | one 90-item timed mixed SBA mock | Unseen, no filters |
No pass prediction attaches to any of this; the plan simply moves effort to the measured gaps and forces the CRQ into the week.
Seven-day pattern: BMJ OnExamination for one job, iatroX for unseen transfer
For a registrar revising around lists and on-calls, use BMJ OnExamination for one job — building and repairing SBA recall — and iatroX for unseen SBA measurement, while the CRQ is trained separately on College material. No proprietary-algorithm claims are made for either tool.
- Day 1 (Mon) — BMJ OnExamination: 40 perioperative and regional SBA items, topic-filtered, every miss logged as a rule.
- Day 2 (Tue) — 40 "other"-band items (intensive care, pain, obstetric, paediatric); tag error types.
- Day 3 (Wed) — 30 general-anaesthesia items plus spaced re-test of Monday's misses; then a 30-item unseen, timed, mixed iatroX Final FRCA block, first-attempt recorded by sub-domain.
- Day 4 (Thu) — two timed CRQs from College specimen papers, self-marked to the framework; no SBA that day.
- Day 5 (Fri) — one timed BMJ OnExamination SBA mock under full conditions.
- Day 6 (Sat) — review the mock and the CRQs; short source reads on the two weakest topics.
- Day 7 (Sun) — a 60–90-item unseen, timed, mixed iatroX block; compare with Wednesday.
This is the two-bank pattern from "The two-Q-bank rule" — learn on one bank, measure on a different, unseen one — with the CRQ handled by the exam body's own material because no SBA bank can stand in for it.
Decision checklist: continue, supplement, switch or stop
| Signal (measurable, not sunk cost) | Action |
|---|---|
| SBA first-attempt rising across all sub-domains; perioperative and regional attempted above ~80%; CRQ practice under way separately | Continue |
| Strong SBA percentage but unseen mixed first-attempt lags by more than 10 points, or CRQ still untouched | Supplement — add unseen SBA blocks and start timed CRQs |
| Coverage floor met and SBA first-attempt stable, but pacing over 120 seconds or CRQ structure weak under time | Switch emphasis to timed SBA mocks plus full CRQ mocks |
| Repeat accuracy at the ceiling, SBA first-attempt plateaued, unseen blocks and CRQ marking both at standard | Stop drilling; taper |
Bottom line
BMJ OnExamination is a solid, well-mapped Final FRCA SBA bank with useful peer graphs, editorial mocks and strong explanations, and it earns a place in the SBA half of a revision stack. But it addresses one of the two written papers: it is SBA-only, so it does not train the CRQ's constructed-response format or the SOE, and its dashboard reports your training pool rather than the exam. It does not, on its public pages, offer a proprietary adaptive engine or a predicted score. Use it to drill and rebalance your SBA sub-domains; use the College's specimen CRQ material for constructed-response skill, and an unseen, timed, mixed source to decide whether the SBA half is ready. The forecast comes from what you can do on questions — and papers — the bank did not choose for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is BMJ OnExamination enough for Final FRCA on its own? No. An 800-item SBA bank (vendor-reported, 19 July 2026) is a good spine for the MCQ paper, but the Final FRCA written is half constructed-response and there is also a structured oral, neither of which an SBA bank rehearses. Used well and combined with the College's specimen CRQ material, it is a strong contribution to one component; it is not a complete Final FRCA preparation. Verify the current count on the product page before relying on any figure here.
Which Final FRCA component does BMJ OnExamination not reproduce well? The CRQ paper and the SOE. The CRQ is 12 free-text questions in three hours that reward structured written reasoning and pacing at around 15 minutes a question, and the SOE tests spoken judgement under examiner pressure — an SBA bank trains neither. Use the College's specimen CRQ papers and viva practice for those, and treat BMJ OnExamination as SBA preparation only.
How many BMJ OnExamination questions should I complete per day for Final FRCA? Volume matters less than balance and review; a sustainable pattern for a working registrar is roughly 30–50 first-attempt SBA items on weekdays with every miss analysed, plus a weekend mock. Crucially, ring-fence separate weekly CRQ writing on College specimens — SBA volume, however high, will not build constructed-response skill. Protect at least one timed, unseen, mixed SBA block each week as your measurement.
When should I stop using BMJ OnExamination and move to mixed mocks? When your SBA blueprint coverage is broad (each sub-domain attempted well above the minimum), your first-attempt accuracy is stable, and recognition is creeping into repeats — not when the bank shows 100% complete. At that point shift toward full-length timed mixed SBA mocks and full CRQ mocks under time, keeping BMJ OnExamination open only to patch any residual weak SBA sub-domain the mocks expose.
How should I combine BMJ OnExamination with iatroX without duplicating practice? Give each a single job. Use BMJ OnExamination to learn and repair SBA content — filters, explanations, spaced review — and use iatroX only as the unseen, timed, mixed SBA measurement layer that shows whether the learning transferred. Because the item pools differ, an iatroX block is genuinely unseen and does not repeat BMJ OnExamination items, so your calibration stays honest. Keep the CRQ separate, on College material, in both banks' blind spot.
Editorial notes and references
Written by Dr Kolawole Tytler, NHS GP and founder of iatroX. Last checked 19 July 2026; BMJ OnExamination question counts, prices and features are vendor-reported as of that date and change without notice — verify the current figures on the product page before purchase. Disclosure: iatroX operates a competing Final FRCA question bank, so this audit confines iatroX's role to the unseen SBA-measurement job BMJ OnExamination does not claim to perform, and takes no position on price. Corrections are welcome via the feedback route on iatrox.com.
References: Royal College of Anaesthetists — Final FRCA examination guidance and the RCoA 2027 changes hub (rcoa.ac.uk; verify the current and future format there); BMJ OnExamination Final FRCA product page (onexamination.com; vendor-reported figures); iatroX Final FRCA bank (https://www.iatrox.com/frca-final); iatroX comparison hub (https://www.iatrox.com/compare); "Your Q-Bank Percentage Is Not Your Exam Score" (https://www.iatrox.com/blog/qbank-percentage-not-your-exam-score).