Passmedicine and Quesmed are the two question banks most UK medical students and junior doctors compare for the UKMLA, finals and MRCP. They take different approaches: Passmedicine is the high-volume, low-cost, long-established default with an integrated textbook, while Quesmed is a modern, app-first, all-in-one platform that bundles questions with notes, flashcards, OSCE mark schemes and mocks. Neither is simply "better" — it depends on how you revise and what you are sitting. This guide compares them fairly on volume, price, format and coverage, and notes where iatroX fits as an adaptive third option for many of the same exams.
The short version
Choose Passmedicine for the largest question volume, the lowest per-exam cost and an integrated high-yield textbook. Choose Quesmed for an all-in-one bundle — questions plus notes, flashcards, OSCE and CPSA mark schemes and a deep mock library — in a modern, offline-capable app. The deciding question is usually whether you prefer to assemble your own revision from a cheap, massive question bank, or to pay a little more for a single platform that has already pulled the questions, notes, flashcards and mocks together for you.
What each one is
Passmedicine is the long-established default UK Q-bank, with very large banks — more than 11,000 SBAs for the UKMLA and finals, over 5,100 for MRCP Part 1, and over 4,500 for the MRCGP AKT — plus a "Knowledge Tutor" for spaced repetition and an integrated textbook. It typically costs around £35 for four months of a single exam's bank. For the UKMLA and finals especially, that combination of a huge bank and a low price is why it became the default to begin with: most students can cover the whole curriculum several times over without spending much, and the percentile feedback against a very large cohort gives a realistic sense of standing before the real exam. Quesmed is a modern, app-first platform covering the UKMLA (AKT and CPSA), MRCP, the MSRA, PLAB and UCAT, bundling doctor-written notes, flashcards, OSCE and PACES mark schemes and a large mock library, with offline access, from around £14.99 a month.
Head-to-head
| Passmedicine | Quesmed | iatroX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Volume and value | All-in-one bundle | Adaptive practice |
| Questions | Very large banks | Large, with notes and mocks | Adaptive, blueprint-mapped |
| Price | ~£35 per exam per ~4 months | From ~£14.99/month | Core free; rest £29/mo–£99/yr |
| OSCE / CPSA | An OSCE resource | Strong — mark schemes and mocks | Not covered |
| Extras | Integrated textbook | Notes, flashcards, offline app | Socratic tutor, clinical AI |
(Competitor details as of mid-2026 — confirm current pricing and content on each provider's site.)
Where Passmedicine wins
Its banks for the UKMLA and MRCP Part 1 are among the largest available, which matters if you want to drill thousands of questions. A single exam's bank is inexpensive, and the integrated textbook adds a reference layer for the price. It also carries a very large user base and peer comparison, refined over many years.
Where Quesmed wins
Quesmed's bundle is its real strength: questions plus notes, flashcards, OSCE and CPSA mark schemes and a large mock library in one place, which suits students who want everything together. It is a polished, offline-capable app with spaced-repetition daily feeds, and it covers both sides of the UKMLA — the CPSA and OSCE as well as the written AKT — which Passmedicine does not do to the same depth. For the 2024-onward UKMLA cohorts, who must pass both a written applied-knowledge paper and a clinical skills assessment, having both covered in one place removes the need to bolt on a separate OSCE resource, which is part of why newer students gravitate to it.
How to choose between them
If you want maximum question volume and the lowest cost, and are happy to add your own notes, Passmedicine is the pick. If you want an all-in-one bundle including OSCE and CPSA and mocks, in a modern app, choose Quesmed. And if you are sitting the UKMLA and want both written and clinical preparation in one subscription, Quesmed leans that way, while for pure written-question volume, Passmedicine leads. If budget is the overriding concern and you are disciplined about making your own notes, Passmedicine is hard to beat; if you would rather not assemble a study system yourself, Quesmed's bundle earns its slightly higher price.
A third option: iatroX
If price is a major factor, iatroX is worth a look alongside both: it keeps its core banks free and the rest low-cost — including MRCP, the MSRA and PLAB — with the UKMLA and the MRCGP AKT at £29 a month or £99 a year. It is built around a Socratic tutor that works back through the reasoning behind a wrong answer, questions mapped meticulously to each blueprint, spaced repetition, a genuinely adaptive engine and native apps, with clinical AI and calculators alongside. It does not cover the OSCE or CPSA, where Quesmed leads, and its biggest banks are smaller than Passmedicine's — but for adaptive practice on the written exams, it pairs well with either. Many students run it alongside whichever paid bank they choose, using it for daily adaptive drilling between heavier study sessions, then leaning on the paid bank for raw volume nearer the exam.
A few common questions
Which has more questions, Passmedicine or Quesmed? Passmedicine, on its largest banks such as the UKMLA and MRCP Part 1.
Which is cheaper? Quesmed's monthly entry price is low; Passmedicine's per-exam cost is also low. It depends on how long you need access.
Which is better for the OSCE? Quesmed, which has CPSA, OSCE and PACES mark schemes.
Where does iatroX fit? iatroX is an adaptive option for many of the same written exams; the UKMLA and the AKT are paid.