Passmedicine is free for some products, not for every stage of medical school. As checked on 6 September 2026, its Years 1 to 3 product offers a free twelve-month account, while its UKMLA and finals question bank requires payment. The important distinction is the product and access period, not simply whether the Passmedicine brand is described as free.
Two products that answer different needs
Passmedicine's preclinical product page, checked on 6 September 2026, advertises more than 4,700 single-best-answer questions, supporting notes and a Knowledge Tutor for reviewing facts. The offer is a twelve-month account for earlier medical study. It should not be described as unlimited lifetime access.
The separate finals package, checked on the same date, lists more than 12,000 questions and includes OSCE and prescribing-assessment resources. Advertised access costs £15 for four months, £20 for six, £25 for nine or £30 for twelve. Those are package prices, not monthly charges.
A student can therefore truthfully say that they use Passmedicine free while a colleague truthfully says that they pay for it. They may be using different products. Neither statement, alone, tells a new student what to select.
Your next assessment matters more than your year number
Use your university's current learning outcomes to decide which material fits. Do not infer that everything labelled preclinical belongs exclusively to the first half of every medical course, or that every earlier-year learner should avoid clinical questions. Course structures differ, and your local assessment specification is the useful reference point.
A practical exercise is to take the next teaching block and identify its main learning tasks. Perhaps you must explain a physiological mechanism, recognise an anatomical relationship and apply that knowledge to a short clinical vignette. Find examples of those tasks in a resource before making its completion percentage your revision target.
Then reverse the exercise. Look at questions that seem difficult and ask whether the missing knowledge is actually required now. Difficulty can be useful; irrelevant difficulty can consume the time needed for tomorrow's assessed material. A more advanced bank is not automatically the more efficient choice.
A first-year and a final-year buying decision
Consider two fictional students. Sam has just begun a systems-based course and wants practice after lectures. Sam's sensible first step is to try the free preclinical questions against the current module, inspect the explanations and identify where university teaching needs clarification. There is no obvious reason to buy another bank before discovering a specific limitation.
Maya is preparing for a clinical finals assessment and already knows the basic mechanisms reasonably well. Her difficulties involve interpreting short clinical presentations and deciding what information changes the next step. For Maya, a resource chosen only because it is free could be a false economy if it misses those tasks. The paid finals package is inexpensive enough to merit inspection, but the decision still turns on relevance.
Neither student needs to buy resources for an imaginary future timetable. Sam should not purchase years of specialist revision in anticipation of exams that may never be relevant. Maya should not pay for a large set of basic-science questions merely because its headline count looks impressive.
Reading the explanation is only the first check
When sampling any bank, answer before revealing the explanation. Write one sentence explaining why you chose that option. After reading the answer, identify the point at which your reasoning diverged.
For example, a fictional student may identify the correct organ system but use the wrong physiological relationship. Another may know the mechanism yet miss a decisive qualifier in the stem. Those errors need different follow-up: explanatory teaching for one, closer discrimination between similar presentations for the other.
Keep a small error record with the topic, the mistaken assumption and one future question you should be able to answer. Avoid transcribing whole explanations. A useful revision note is a tool for testing yourself later, not a second version of the provider's textbook.
Where iatroX fits without adding unnecessary subscriptions
This comparison is published by iatroX and includes iatroX among the learning options considered. Under iatroX's September 2026 product information, free question access and Ask-iatroX have no trial expiry or professional verification gate. Free access should not be confused with every educational feature being free.
The paid learning subscription is £99 a year, paid upfront, equivalent to £8.25 a month billed annually, or £29 monthly. It combines question banks, Socratic Tutor, study planning, simulations and CPD tools. Simulations and CPD are included rather than separate add-ons.
The educational reason to consider that subscription is not to replace a low-cost bank simply because another platform exists. It is to address a different problem: needing guided follow-up on an attempted question, a performance-informed study plan or consultation rehearsal. A student who only wants an inexpensive finals question bank may reasonably prefer Passmedicine's narrower package.
A sensible choice for each stage
For an earlier-year student whose teaching aligns with the preclinical content, begin with the free offer and a clear review date. For a finals candidate who needs a question bank and the included supporting material, inspect the paid finals product before buying several separate resources. For a learner struggling to explain mistakes or practise consultation decisions, compare the relevant active-learning tools as a separate purchase decision.
The best budget is not the smallest number of subscriptions at any cost. It is the smallest set of resources that covers the tasks you actually need to practise, with enough time left to use them properly.
Frequently asked questions
Is Passmedicine free for all medical students?
Its preclinical offer was free for twelve months when checked on 6 September 2026, but the separate UKMLA and finals product was paid. Select by product and assessment need rather than assuming the whole website has one access model.
Does the free preclinical account include the paid finals bank?
The public pages describe separate products, so do not assume one includes the other. Check the exact package shown before registration or payment.
Should I pay for an AI tutor as well as a question bank?
Only when guided reasoning addresses a problem your existing resources are not resolving. A lower-cost bank can be sufficient when its explanations and your existing teaching already meet your needs.