If you are preparing the DFSRH electronic Knowledge Assessment (eKA), e-SRH is the closest thing you have to an official reading of what the examiners think matters. It is the FSRH-endorsed e-learning, and its modules and embedded knowledge checks tell you the cognitive level, the terminology and the domain emphasis the eKA rewards. This is for the candidate who wants to calibrate against official material. The principal limitation is important and often missed: e-SRH is didactic e-learning with formative knowledge checks — it teaches and confirms understanding, but it does not simulate a timed, unseen, 100-item single-best-answer paper.
What e-SRH gives you right now
Current state, last checked 21 July 2026. Access and structure are FSRH/CoSRH and e-LfH-reported; confirm on the day.
- What it is: the official e-Learning for Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (e-SRH) programme, produced by the College of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare with e-Learning for Healthcare (e-LfH, NHS England).
- Content: a structured set of sessions across the diploma curriculum — contraception, STIs, planning pregnancy, early-pregnancy assessment including referral for abortion, psychosexual medicine, SRH care for recognised groups, confidentiality, and sexual activity and young people. Session numbering runs into the high teens; verify the current count on e-LfH.
- Assessment style: formative knowledge checks embedded in sessions, aligned to the curriculum — not a timed summative mock of the eKA.
- Access and cost: free to NHS and health-and-care staff via e-LfH; non-NHS learners pay a fee (also available via eIntegrity). Verify current access terms.
- AI / adaptive features: none. e-SRH is structured didactic content, not an adaptive question engine.
- Role in the pathway: the FSRH-recommended knowledge foundation and the study resource named alongside the eKA.
The key point in that list is the type of resource: e-SRH is authoritative content, not a high-volume practice bank. Its calibration value is in what it teaches and emphasises, and in the way its knowledge checks are phrased — not in giving you hundreds of exam-condition reps.
The DFSRH pathway and the eKA
The eKA is the knowledge gate: 100 single-best-answer questions, five options each, up to two hours, computer-based, no negative marking, immediate pass/fail with no score breakdown. It is one component. The full DFSRH also requires e-SRH, a Course of Study, and supervised Clinical Experience with a registered trainer. (The Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare is transitioning to the College of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, with the diploma renamed DCSRH; the same qualification and the same eKA apply during the transition — verify the current name on the official site.)
Because the content is contraception and hormonal prescribing, e-SRH's correct answers are anchored in FSRH clinical guidance, UKMEC, NICE CKS and the SmPC on the eMC. That is a feature to exploit: e-SRH shows you which sources the exam is written from, so you learn the reasoning, not a mnemonic.
What is genuinely official in e-SRH
Not everything a candidate consumes is official, so it is worth being precise about what carries examiner authority here. The genuinely official layer in e-SRH is:
- The session content itself, endorsed and structured to the diploma curriculum — this is examiner-sanctioned emphasis.
- The embedded knowledge checks, which reveal the phrasing and cognitive level the exam body considers fair.
- The curriculum alignment, telling you which topics are weighted and which are peripheral.
What e-SRH is not is a specimen paper. Its knowledge checks are formative — designed to confirm you understood the module — and are not a calibrated, timed, unseen simulation of the eKA. Treat the content as gold-standard emphasis and the questions as a style guide, not as a mock exam or a readiness score.
The signals e-SRH reveals
Read e-SRH the way an examiner would want you to, extracting signals rather than just absorbing content:
- Cognitive level. The knowledge checks target application — which method, which UKMEC category, which next step — mirroring the eKA's decision focus rather than rote recall.
- Domain emphasis. The weight of contraception and UKMEC content signals where the eKA concentrates; the STI, unplanned-pregnancy and safeguarding modules show the consistent secondary load.
- Terminology. e-SRH uses the exact FSRH/UKMEC language the eKA will use — a valuable transfer, because recognising the official phrasing under time pressure saves seconds.
- Reasoning sources. Each module points you back to the FSRH guideline, UKMEC category or SmPC the answer derives from, so you can rehearse the source, not just the fact.
- What is not modelled. Timing (a two-hour, 100-item run), unseen breadth, and the discipline of committing to a single best answer with no negative marking — none of these are trained by didactic modules.
A side-by-side calibration matrix
You never copy item text; you compare dimensions. Work an e-SRH module and its knowledge checks, note the signals, then sample your commercial or iatroX bank and grade it on the same axes.
| Calibration dimension | e-SRH official signal | Your commercial bank | Action if they diverge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive level | Application, guideline-anchored | Recall-heavy? | Add case-based reasoning practice |
| Terminology | Exact FSRH/UKMEC language | Non-standard phrasing? | Value it as transfer, but learn the official terms first |
| Domain emphasis | Contraception/UKMEC-led | Skewed elsewhere? | Re-quota toward the official weighting |
| Reasoning source | Explicit guideline/SmPC | Answers asserted, unsourced? | Reconcile answers against CKS/eMC yourself |
| Conditions | Untimed, formative | — | Add timed, unseen practice separately |
Reading the discrepancies diagnostically
Each divergence implies a specific fix. If your commercial bank is more factual than e-SRH's applied style, its percentage will overstate your eKA readiness — the dangerous direction — and you need application practice. If your bank is harder, it is fine for training but will understate readiness. If it is narrower than e-SRH's spread, you have a coverage gap to fill, not a knowledge deficit. If it is differently worded but tests the same guideline-anchored reasoning, that is useful transfer practice — provided you learned the concept from e-SRH first. The general principle, set out in the iatroX pillar on completion versus coverage, is that finishing a bank tells you nothing about blueprint coverage unless you have audited it against the official emphasis — and e-SRH is that official emphasis.
A concrete illustration makes the cognitive-level test tangible. A recall-level item asks, in effect, which enzyme-inducing drugs reduce the efficacy of a progestogen-only implant — a fact you either hold or do not. An application-level item, the kind e-SRH's knowledge checks and the eKA favour, hands you a specific patient — say a woman established on an enzyme-inducing antiepileptic who wants reliable ongoing contraception — and asks for the most appropriate method, forcing you to combine the interaction, her relevant UKMEC categories and her stated preferences into a single defensible choice. If your commercial bank keeps posing the first kind while e-SRH keeps modelling the second, you have found your gap precisely: you know the facts but have not rehearsed the judgement, and no amount of re-reading closes it — only unseen, applied practice, checked against the SmPC and FSRH guidance, does.
Preserve the calibration value — the e-learning nuance
For a scarce specimen you would sit it once, unseen. e-SRH is different: it is designed to be worked through, and there is nothing wrong with revisiting a module to relearn a concept. The calibration discipline shifts accordingly. The rule for e-learning is: do not let re-reading substitute for retrieval. It is easy to feel productive re-watching a module and mistaking familiarity for mastery. The fix is to close the module and immediately test the concept on unseen items — if you can only produce the answer with the module open, you have recognition, not recall. Use e-SRH to learn and to calibrate; use a separate, unseen bank to prove the learning transferred.
A worked seven-day plan
A clinician three weeks out has strong e-SRH progress but has been re-reading modules and has never tested under time. e-SRH does one defined job — teaching and calibration — and iatroX does another: unseen, timed transfer practice. No proprietary algorithm is implied; this is manual scheduling from measured gaps.
| Day | e-SRH job | iatroX job (unseen measurement) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Work the UKMEC/combined-methods module + knowledge checks | 20-item timed baseline; tag misses to domains |
| 2 | LARC module (IUD/IUS/implant), note the exact FSRH terms | 15 fresh LARC items, timed, module closed |
| 3 | Emergency contraception + drug-interactions module | Retest Day 1 errors as fresh retrieval |
| 4 | STI/HIV assessment module | 15 fresh sexual-health items, timed |
| 5 | Unplanned-pregnancy & safeguarding module | 20-item mixed block at strict ~72s/item |
| 6 | Light review of the error log only | 15 fresh items in your two weakest domains |
| 7 | — | Full 100-item mixed mock, unseen, timed, once; set next quotas from analytics |
Each module is followed immediately by unseen retrieval with the module closed, e-SRH supplies the authoritative content the small official practice set cannot, and iatroX supplies the timed volume — so learning and measurement never collapse into the same task.
Three mistakes this calibration is designed to stop
Mistake one: mistaking module completion for exam readiness. Working every e-SRH session is coverage of the content, not evidence you can retrieve it cold under time — those are different achievements. Mistake two: re-reading instead of retrieving, letting the comfort of familiar modules stand in for the discomfort of unseen questions. Mistake three: ignoring exam conditions until the end, then discovering in the final week that a two-hour, 100-item run at ~72 seconds an item is a stamina problem your untimed study never touched. Calibrating early against e-SRH, then testing unseen and timed, prevents all three.
Decision checklist: continue, supplement, switch or stop
- Continue using e-SRH as your knowledge foundation and calibration reference throughout — it is official and it is the right anchor.
- Supplement e-SRH with a higher-volume bank (commercial or iatroX) as soon as you need practice repetition, because e-SRH alone will not give you the reps.
- Switch your practice source, not e-SRH, if a bank you are using drifts from the UKMEC/FSRH guidance e-SRH teaches.
- Stop re-reading modules and move to timed, mixed, unseen mocks once you are covering the curriculum and your limitation is timing and calibration rather than knowledge.
The bottom line
e-SRH is the official voice of what the DFSRH eKA rewards — application-level, contraception-weighted, guideline-anchored reasoning in the examiners' own terminology — and that makes it the strongest calibration reference a candidate has. But it is didactic e-learning, not a timed mock, so on its own it cannot tell you whether your knowledge will survive contact with 100 unseen questions in two hours. Use e-SRH to learn and to set the standard; use a separate, unseen, timed layer to prove the transfer. Read modules for emphasis, then close them and test — that single habit turns official content into an exam pass.
Frequently asked questions
Is e-SRH enough for DFSRH on its own? As the official knowledge foundation, e-SRH is authoritative and closely aligned to what the eKA tests, but it is not enough on its own for two reasons: it is didactic e-learning rather than a high-volume, timed practice bank, so it cannot give you the exam-condition retrieval reps a 100-item paper demands; and the full DFSRH separately requires a Course of Study and supervised Clinical Experience that no e-learning supplies. It is the right place to build and calibrate knowledge, paired with a practice bank for volume and with the clinical pathway run alongside.
Which DFSRH component does e-SRH not reproduce well? e-SRH does not reproduce the supervised Clinical Experience or the practical competence assessment — the counselling, method-fitting and hands-on sign-off certified by a registered trainer — because those are in-person clinical components, not e-learning. It also does not reproduce eKA conditions: the timed, unseen, single-best-answer format under mild time pressure with no negative marking. Treat e-SRH as content and calibration, and use separate tools for timed practice and the clinical pathway.
How many e-SRH questions should I complete per day for DFSRH? Because e-SRH's questions are formative knowledge checks rather than a bank to grind, the useful target is modules, not a question count — most candidates work through one or two sessions a day and immediately test the concept on unseen items elsewhere. Chasing a daily number of e-SRH checks misreads the resource; its value is in teaching and calibrating, so pair each module with 15–30 unseen practice questions and let your weak domains, not a quota, set the volume.
When should I stop using e-SRH and move to mixed mocks? You should keep e-SRH available as a reference throughout, but stop re-reading modules as your main activity once you are covering the curriculum and your bottleneck is timing and calibration rather than understanding. That transition usually comes in the final two to three weeks, when full, mixed, timed 100-item mocks on unseen material will tell you far more than another pass through content you already recognise. Reference e-SRH to plug a specific gap a mock exposes, rather than as the default task.
How should I combine e-SRH with iatroX without duplicating practice? Give them separate, complementary jobs: e-SRH teaches the concept and sets the official standard, and iatroX provides the unseen, timed retrieval that proves the concept transferred — so you learn in one place and measure in another, with no item answered twice. In practice, close the e-SRH module, then sit a fresh iatroX block on the same domain with the material out of sight, and drive your iatroX quotas from the gaps e-SRH and your mocks reveal. Read the iatroX percentage as a transfer measure, not an exam score, and the two layers stay honest.
Editorial notes and references
Written by Dr Kolawole Tytler, NHS GP and founder of iatroX. Last checked 21 July 2026. e-SRH's session structure, access terms and cost are FSRH/CoSRH and e-LfH-reported and may change — verify the current session count, access and diploma name (DFSRH/DCSRH) on the official sites. Disclosure: iatroX operates a UK question bank used here only as the eKA knowledge and unseen-MCQ measurement layer; it does not provide the Course of Study, supervised Clinical Experience or practical competence assessment the diploma requires, and it does not replace the official e-SRH content. Corrections are welcome via the feedback route on iatrox.com.
References: e-Learning for Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (e-SRH) via the College of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare and e-Learning for Healthcare, e-lfh.org.uk; FSRH electronic Knowledge Assessment (eKA) candidate pages, fsrh.org; UKMEC and FSRH clinical guidance; NICE CKS Contraception; product SmPCs via the eMC. Internal: Your Q-Bank Percentage Is Not Your Exam Score; completion is not coverage; the iatroX comparison hub; the iatroX DFSRH question bank.