Executive summary
For UK clinicians, trainees, and medical students, building an effective digital toolkit for revision and point-of-care support is essential. While the market is full of expensive subscriptions, a powerful, effective, and safe toolkit can be built entirely from high-quality free, NHS-funded, and member-included resources. This guide provides a definitive map of the best free tools available in 2025.
Your toolkit should be built on a foundation of evidence-based point-of-care references (NICE CKS, the BNF app, and BMJ Best Practice via OpenAthens), specialist advice (SPS), and high-yield revision banks (like the RCGP's GP SelfTest and the BMA's access to BMJ OnExamination). This stack is rounded out by invaluable OSCE guides (Geeky Medics) and a new generation of free AI assistants like iatroX, which provides UK-centric, citation-first answers and a free adaptive quiz engine to make your learning stick.
Point-of-care clinical reference (open & NHS-funded)
- NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS): This is your first stop for primary care and generalist queries. It provides over 370 concise, practical, and evidence-based summaries on common conditions, and it is free to access in the UK.
- BNF (web & app): The British National Formulary is the non-negotiable source of truth for all UK prescribing. The free mobile app, with its essential offline access, is a day-one install for any clinician.
- BMJ Best Practice (via NHS OpenAthens): An outstanding point-of-care tool with step-by-step guidance on diagnosis and management. It is nationally licensed for all NHS staff and learners in England. You can get free access via your NHS OpenAthens login, which also unlocks the full mobile app and its offline content packs.
- Primary Care Notebook: A rapid-access quick reference site. After a free registration, it's an excellent tool for very fast look-ups when a full guideline PDF is too slow.
- TRIP Database (free tier): A powerful clinical search engine that is "guideline-first," meaning it surfaces the highest-quality evidence like guidelines and systematic reviews at the top of your search results.
Free (or free-to-clinicians) AI tools that respect UK evidence
- iatroX (free, UK-centric): A clinical AI assistant designed for UK practice. It provides a citation-first Q&A feature and a Knowledge Centre to help you explore clinical topics. Crucially, its Quiz feature is a free, AI-powered adaptive and spaced-repetition engine mapped to UK curricula, designed to make your revision more efficient and effective.
- OpenEvidence (note: primarily free for verified US HCPs): An example of a citation-first, evidence-grounded AI reference tool. While its free access is gated to US professionals, it's a useful platform to be aware of for a global perspective on medical literature.
Medicines & interactions (free)
- BNF interactions: The online BNF and app have an authoritative, built-in interactions checker.
- Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS): The expert-level NHS resource for complex medicines questions, including deprescribing, PGDs, and legal frameworks.
- Widely used free interaction checkers: Tools like the Medscape drug interaction checker can be a useful complement to the BNF, but always double-check any warnings against the official UK sources.
NHS Library & discovery (unlock the “hidden free”)
- NHS Knowledge & Library Hub: Your single search portal to all NHS-funded resources, including e-books, journals, and a direct link to BMJ Best Practice.
- NHS OpenAthens: This is your "golden key." Registering for a free OpenAthens account with your NHS email unlocks a vast range of premium, nationally-licensed content and apps.
- LibKey Nomad: A free browser add-on, recommended by many NHS libraries, that provides one-click links to the full-text PDF of an article if the NHS has a subscription for it.
Free/Included question banks & revision (students & trainees)
- GP SelfTest (RCGP): An AKT-style question bank and learning needs assessment tool. It is provided free for all RCGP members and GP registrars (AiTs) and is an essential resource for AKT prep.
- BMJ OnExamination MLA bank: The BMA provides free access to this high-quality bank of over 2,000 MLA-aligned questions for its student members.
- Geeky Medics: The gold standard for OSCE prep. It offers a huge library of free step-by-step guides and videos, plus a bank of 50 free OSCE stations.
- Zero to Finals: An invaluable resource for conceptual learning, providing free, concise notes, videos, and flashcards that are perfect for building your foundational knowledge.
OSCE/CPSA skills (free first steps)
- Geeky Medics OSCE guides & checklists: The definitive free library for learning and practising clinical examinations, procedures, and communication skills.
- Oxford Medical Education: Provides an excellent collection of free videos and guides, particularly for clinical examinations and PACES-oriented content.
CPD & e-learning (no cost with NHS or membership)
- NHSE e-Learning for Healthcare (e-LfH): Provides 24/7 free access for all NHS staff and learners to a vast catalogue of courses, from statutory and mandatory training to in-depth clinical programmes.
- BMJ Learning: BMA members often have free access to a wide range of CPD modules on this platform, which are perfect for evidencing your learning.
How to combine them (workflow templates)
- Clinic day: A patient presents with a common condition. You use CKS or the BNF for the first-line plan. You have a nuanced question, so you use iatroX to get a cited synthesis. You log the learning in your CPD portfolio.
- Revision loop: You complete a block of questions in a "member-included" bank like GP SelfTest or BMJ OnExamination. You verify the answers you got wrong using CKS and the BNF. You add the difficult concepts to your free iatroX Quiz or Anki deck for spaced repetition review.
- Literature search: Start your search in the NHS Knowledge &Library Hub. Use LibKey Nomad to get the one-click PDF.
What’s free vs. “free with caveats”
- Member-included: GP SelfTest (RCGP) and BMJ OnExamination (BMA).
- OpenAthens-licensed: BMJ Best Practice (free for all NHS staff/learners in England).
- Territory-limited: OpenEvidence (free tier is primarily for verified US HCPs).
FAQs
- Do I get BMJ Best Practice for free?
- Yes, as an NHS staff member or learner in England, you get free access via the NHS Knowledge & Library Hub using your OpenAthens login. This also unlocks the full mobile app.
- Is GP SelfTest free?
- It is free for all RCGP members and GP registrars (AiTs). Non-members can purchase access.
- Can I revise for OSCEs for free?
- Yes. Start with the extensive free library of guides, videos, and 50+ free stations on Geeky Medics.
- Which AI tool is UK-centric and free?
- iatroX is a free, UK-centric platform that provides citation-first Q&A and a powerful adaptive quiz engine mapped to UK curricula.