This audit is for ST3 GP trainees weighing the FourteenFish AKT package and wanting a clear line between what it teaches and what still has to be practised elsewhere. FourteenFish is a well-established, GP-facing platform, and its AKT product is a structured teaching-and-updates course rather than a high-volume question bank. That is its strength and its principal limitation in one: it builds and refreshes knowledge efficiently, but the timed, unseen, high-volume retrieval that actually proves AKT readiness is a separate layer you will need to bolt on.
What FourteenFish offers for the AKT right now
The figures below are vendor-reported and last checked on 19 July 2026; confirm them on fourteenfish.com before purchase.
- Format: a course built around video, not a large MCQ bank. Vendor-reported inclusions are videos on how to prepare and on exam technique, "over 80 clinical update video modules on key topics", a mock AKT exam with randomised questions, and access to the FourteenFish Library of clinical updates.
- Analytics: a "detailed report highlighting your weak and strong areas".
- Support: community access with tutor replies noted on the product page, rather than formal one-to-one tutoring.
- AI/adaptive: none described.
- Access and price: vendor-reported at £95 including VAT for 12 months, with a £50 annual renewal. Question volume beyond the single mock is not specified — a signal in itself.
The honest headline: this is a strong teaching and currency product with one mock, not a bank you can drill for volume.
The exam anchor
The MRCGP AKT, from October 2025, is 160 single-best-answer questions in 2 hours 40 minutes, weighted roughly 80% clinical medicine, 10% evidence-based practice (statistics and critical appraisal) and 10% organisational general practice, in a UK context, at about a minute per item, four sittings a year. Two things follow for a course audit. First, currency matters: the AKT tests current UK practice, so a clinical-updates library is genuinely valuable. Second, readiness is demonstrated by timed unseen performance, which video teaching by design cannot supply on its own.
Mapping the modules to the blueprint
Against the three AKT areas, the FourteenFish package maps unevenly, as any teaching course does.
| Blueprint area (weight) | FourteenFish coverage | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical medicine (~80%) | 80+ clinical update modules, library, one mock | Well taught; retrieval volume thin |
| Evidence-based practice (~10%) | Exam-technique material; depth to confirm | Verify; likely needs a dedicated source |
| Organisational general practice (~10%) | Some coverage via updates and technique | Lightly covered; supplement likely |
The over-taught risk is the reverse of most banks: a candidate can spend many pleasant hours on clinical update videos and under-practise the two minority domains, which are often the cheapest marks to lift.
Passive assets versus active assets
The audit that matters is passive versus active. FourteenFish's assets are mostly passive: preparation videos, 80+ clinical update modules and a clinical library are things you watch and read. Its active assets are thinner: one randomised mock and a weak/strong report. Passive assets build and refresh knowledge; active assets — answering, retrieving, being tested on unseen material — are what convert knowledge into exam performance. The package is strong on the former and, by its own description, light on the latter.
Judging the questions on fidelity, not testimonials
Where a course does include questions, judge them on evidence rather than reviews. Assess the single mock on exam fidelity (UK single-best-answer framing at AKT weighting), explanation depth, use of images and data where the AKT uses them, recency against current guidance, and balance across the three domains. One mock is useful for a pacing rehearsal and a coverage snapshot; it cannot supply the repeated, spaced, unseen retrieval that a bank provides, and it should not be mistaken for that.
The component gap
The specific gap to check before you rely on this course: does it carry you on NICE and CKS currency, on current SmPC/eMC medicines information, on statistics and critical appraisal, and on the administrative and organisational side of UK general practice — or does each of those need a separate tool? On current evidence, FourteenFish is strong on clinical currency through its updates library, but the evidence-based-practice and organisational minorities, and above all the volume of timed unseen questions, are where most candidates will need to add a dedicated question bank.
Time-cost across three schedules
Estimate hours honestly, because a video course consumes time differently from a bank.
- 12+ weeks, comfortable: the updates library is a good use of early weeks; cap passive video at roughly half your total hours and protect the rest for retrieval and timed mocks.
- 4–12 weeks, typical: watch selectively — target update modules to your weak clinical areas rather than the full set — and spend the majority of hours on active questions elsewhere.
- Under 4 weeks: the full video course is a poor fit; use only the mock and the highest-yield updates, and put remaining time into timed mixed practice.
Who benefits, and who should look elsewhere first
The FourteenFish AKT package suits the candidate who wants structure, clinical currency and exam-technique framing: first-timers who like being taught, trainees who have drifted from up-to-date guidance, and anyone who values an organised path over a raw bank. It is a weaker primary choice for a candidate whose main need is high-volume timed retrieval — a strong-knowledge, poor-pacing candidate, or a retaker who already knows the content and needs unseen practice — who should lead with a bank and use FourteenFish, if at all, for currency.
Worked example: a busy trainee's seven-day week
A trainee revising around clinical work uses FourteenFish for one job — structured clinical currency — and iatroX for unseen transfer practice, with no claim to any internal algorithm.
- Monday: two or three targeted FourteenFish update modules in a weak clinical area; note the key changes.
- Tuesday: a timed iatroX block on those same topics to convert watching into retrieval; code misses.
- Wednesday: more targeted updates, plus the evidence-based-practice material; test statistics understanding on questions.
- Thursday: organisational focus, supplemented from current RCGP and NHS material; unseen items to check transfer.
- Friday: the FourteenFish mock or a full timed iatroX block; record completion and pacing.
- Saturday: spaced review of coded misses; re-test earlier errors.
- Sunday: rest, or a short unseen block as a clean progress check.
Reading your results: the passive-to-active ratio
The single most useful number a course audit produces is not your mock score; it is your passive-to-active ratio — the share of your revision hours spent watching and reading versus answering and retrieving. A video-led course quietly pushes that ratio toward passive consumption, because watching another update module always feels productive. Track it honestly for a week. A quick way to make the ratio visible is to log two totals at the end of each study day — minutes watched or read, and questions attempted and reviewed — and to check that the second is growing faster than the first as the exam approaches. For most candidates in the final two months, active retrieval should dominate, with passive teaching reserved for genuine knowledge gaps and currency updates, not used as the default activity because it is comfortable.
Three mistakes this audit is designed to stop
Three mistakes recur when a strong teaching product is used as a whole revision plan. The first is confusing coverage of the syllabus in a lecture with coverage on your own recall: hearing a topic explained well is not the same as being able to retrieve it cold under time pressure, and only unseen questions reveal the difference. The second is over-investing in clinical update videos while neglecting the two minority domains; the evidence-based-practice and organisational areas are only a tenth of the paper each, but they are often the cheapest marks to gain and the least well served by a clinical-updates library, so they reward a small, deliberate, dedicated effort. The third is treating one mock as a sufficient measurement layer: a single randomised paper is a valuable pacing rehearsal and a coverage snapshot, but it cannot supply the repeated, spaced, unseen retrieval that builds durable recall, and it cannot be re-sat as though it were still unseen.
Used within its limits, the FourteenFish package does a real job well — it keeps a busy trainee current and gives structure to a plan. The audit's conclusion is not that the course is weak but that it is partial: strong on teaching and currency, thin on the timed, high-volume, unseen retrieval that demonstrates readiness. Add that layer deliberately, watch your passive-to-active ratio, and the course earns its place as one part of the stack rather than being asked to be the whole of it.
Decision checklist: continue, supplement, switch or stop
- Continue FourteenFish if you value structured teaching and clinical currency and are actively using the updates library.
- Supplement — for almost everyone — with a high-volume, timed, unseen question bank, because that is the layer the course does not claim to be.
- Switch your primary resource to a bank if your bottleneck is retrieval volume and pacing rather than knowledge or currency.
- Stop adding passive video once your weak clinical areas are current; beyond that point, more watching displaces the retrieval that earns marks.
Frequently asked questions
Is FourteenFish enough for MRCGP AKT on its own? For most candidates it is not a complete solution on its own, because it is a teaching-and-updates course with a single mock rather than a high-volume question bank, and AKT readiness is demonstrated by timed, unseen retrieval that one mock cannot supply. It is a strong currency and structure layer that most people should pair with a dedicated bank.
Which MRCGP AKT component does FourteenFish not reproduce well? It does not reproduce high-volume, timed, unseen question practice, and it is lighter on the evidence-based-practice and organisational minority domains than on clinical updates; you will typically need a separate bank for retrieval volume and a dedicated source for statistics and practice administration.
How many FourteenFish questions should I complete per day for MRCGP AKT? The package is not built around daily question volume — its active testing is essentially one randomised mock — so the more useful daily target is hours of targeted video balanced against a larger share of hours on active questions elsewhere. Treat the mock as a periodic pacing and coverage check rather than a daily driver.
When should I stop using FourteenFish and move to mixed mocks? Stop leaning on the video course once your weak clinical areas are up to date and your knowledge gaps have closed, then shift the closing two to three weeks to timed mixed mocks — whether the FourteenFish mock or a bank's — to rehearse pacing and stamina. Continued watching past that point displaces the retrieval that actually moves your score.
How should I combine FourteenFish with iatroX without duplicating practice? Assign FourteenFish the teaching-and-currency job and iatroX the unseen-measurement job: watch to learn and refresh, then immediately test the same principle on fresh iatroX items, and never treat re-watching as revision. Because a course and a bank do different jobs, there is little overlap to duplicate — the risk is over-watching, which the seven-day plan above is designed to prevent.
Editorial notes and references
Written by Dr Kolawole Tytler, NHS GP and founder of iatroX. Last checked 19 July 2026; FourteenFish's inclusions, price and features are vendor-reported as at that date and should be re-verified on fourteenfish.com before purchase. Disclosure: iatroX operates a competing MRCGP AKT question bank; its role in this audit is confined to the high-volume, timed, unseen retrieval and measurement layer that the FourteenFish course does not claim to provide. No proprietary-algorithm claims are made. Corrections are welcome via the feedback route on iatrox.com.
References: RCGP — Applied Knowledge Test content guide and example questions, rcgp.org.uk; the FourteenFish AKT package page, fourteenfish.com; primary UK content sources — NICE, CKS and SmPC/eMC; iatroX MRCGP AKT bank, https://www.iatrox.com/mrcgp-akt; "Your Q-Bank Percentage Is Not Your Exam Score", https://www.iatrox.com/blog/qbank-percentage-not-your-exam-score; and the completion-is-not-coverage blueprint method, https://www.iatrox.com/blog/question-bank-completion-is-not-coverage-how-to-build-a-blueprint-coverage-matrix-for-any-medical-exam.