If you are a GP trainee, SAS doctor or IMG preparing for the Diploma in Child Health (DCH), PassPaeds is built around the RCPCH Foundation of Practice (FOP) paper, which is the DCH theory paper. The knowledge overlap with your written component is therefore genuine, not marketing. This audit tests that coverage domain by domain. The principal limitation is simple and worth stating up front: PassPaeds prepares you for the FOP theory paper only, not the DCH Clinical OSCE.
Who this audit is for, and what it does not cover
This is a coverage audit, not a ranking. It is written for candidates who have already decided to sit the DCH and want to know, in measurable terms, how far a single specialist paediatric bank takes them. It does not compare price tables across every paediatric product on the market, and it does not crown a "best" bank. It answers one question: if you complete PassPaeds, what part of the DCH have you actually prepared for, and what remains untested?
The honest headline is that PassPaeds is a strong option for the DCH theory component precisely because the FOP paper it targets is the same paper the RCPCH sets for the DCH written route. That overlap is a real advantage. It is also the boundary of what the bank can do: the DCH Clinical examination is a separate, examiner-observed component, and no multiple-choice bank reproduces it.
Current-state box: PassPaeds for DCH
The figures below are vendor-reported from passpaeds.com and last checked on 20 July 2026. Question counts on the site differ between pages, so verify the current FOP count on the product page before you rely on any single number.
| Attribute | PassPaeds (vendor-reported, 20 July 2026) |
|---|---|
| Exams supported | MRCPCH Foundation of Practice (FOP) and Theory and Science (TAS); Applied Knowledge in Practice (AKP) described as in development |
| DCH coverage | Via the FOP bank — FOP is the DCH theory paper; there is no separately badged "DCH" product and no DCH Clinical content |
| Question count | FOP bank stated as "over 1,500" on the FOP page and "over 1,200" on the homepage; wider MRCPCH library advertised as "over 3,900"; treat as indicative and verify |
| Access period | 4 months or 6 months |
| Price | £20 (4 months), £30 (6 months) |
| Learning features | A spaced-repetition "knowledge tutor", explanatory notes with each question, unlimited timed practice tests, and a readiness histogram comparing your score against other candidates |
| Adaptive difficulty | Not claimed as a difficulty-adapting algorithm; described as performance analysis plus spaced repetition |
The discrepancy between the "1,500" and "1,200" FOP figures is exactly why a headline count should never anchor your revision. What matters is coverage across the blueprint, not the size of the library.
Exam anchor: what the RCPCH actually requires for the DCH
The DCH has two components. The first is a theory examination that is the RCPCH Foundation of Practice paper: 100 single best answer questions in two hours, computer-based, with no negative marking. The second is the DCH Clinical examination, an OSCE-style assessment. RCPCH guidance confirms the Clinical runs as a circuit of stations (vendor and college materials describe eight stations, each preceded by about four minutes of reading time, within a window of roughly one hour fifty minutes); candidates may sit the FOP and DCH Clinical in either order, and a passed component must be revalidated if seven years elapse before the other is passed.
Distinguish official requirements from third-party framing carefully. The RCPCH sets the paper and its blueprint; PassPaeds is an independent commercial bank that maps its questions to that blueprint. When a third-party site describes its coverage as "complete" or "everything you need", treat that as a vendor claim to be tested, not an official statement. Always calibrate against the RCPCH theory syllabus and the official sample papers, which are the primary reference for what the FOP actually samples.
Coverage by blueprint domain, not by headline total
PassPaeds does not publish a per-domain breakdown of its FOP bank, so the only honest way to audit coverage is to tag a stratified sample yourself against the RCPCH theory blueprint. Draw fifty to eighty questions at random, code each to a domain, and compare the distribution against the blueprint below. This is more informative than any headline count because it exposes thin domains that a large total can conceal.
| Indicative FOP/DCH blueprint domain | What it tests | Audit action |
|---|---|---|
| Child development and developmental assessment | Milestones, red flags, developmental delay | Tag sampled items; check for application, not recall |
| Child health promotion and prevention | Immunisation, screening, growth, nutrition, health surveillance | Confirm current UK schedule framing |
| Acute and emergency paediatrics | The unwell child, sepsis, fluids, resuscitation principles | Check management-sequencing items exist |
| System-based conditions | Respiratory, cardiology, gastroenterology, renal, neurology, endocrine, infection | Confirm breadth across systems |
| Neonatology and the newborn | Newborn examination, common neonatal problems | Check coverage depth |
| Safeguarding and child protection | Recognition, escalation, statutory duties | Confirm items exist and are current |
| Behaviour, mental health and neurodevelopment | ADHD, autism, common behavioural presentations | Check for scenario-based items |
| Ethics, law, consent and communication | Consent, confidentiality, Gillick, capacity | Confirm coverage |
| Therapeutics in children | Safe prescribing, dosing principles, monitoring | Verify against the SmPC/eMC and NICE/CKS, never a paediatric formulary shortcut |
| Genetics, dysmorphology and metabolic | Common syndromes, inheritance, newborn screening | Check for image-supported items |
If your sample is heavily weighted to system-based conditions and thin on safeguarding, development or ethics, that is a coverage gap you will not feel until the exam, because self-selected practice tends to over-sample the topics you already enjoy.
Sample question style: recall versus application
On a stratified read of the bank's public samples and structure, PassPaeds items sit mostly in the applied single-best-answer register the FOP uses: a clinical stem, a lead-in that asks for the single most appropriate next step, diagnosis or investigation, and five plausible options. Stem length is moderate rather than the very long vignettes of some US board banks. Option plausibility is generally good, which is what forces genuine discrimination rather than pattern-matching.
Two style points matter for DCH candidates specifically. First, look for management-sequencing items (what to do first, not merely what is the diagnosis), because the FOP tests safe prioritisation. Second, check whether image and data-interpretation items are present and rendered clearly: growth charts, rashes, radiographs and developmental descriptions are all fair game, and a bank that under-represents them will leave you slower on the day. Where PassPaeds includes explanatory notes, use them to check reasoning, not to memorise the answer letter.
Jurisdiction and recency
The DCH is a UK diploma, so guidance-sensitive content must reflect current UK practice. When you audit a stratified sample, check the guidance-dependent items against current NICE, CKS, SIGN and the SmPC/eMC, and record the date you reviewed them. Immunisation schedules, growth-monitoring thresholds, safeguarding pathways and acute-illness guidance all change, and a static bank can lag. This is not a criticism unique to PassPaeds; it applies to every commercial bank. The discipline is to treat any guidance-linked explanation as a claim to verify against the primary source, and to note the review date so a future reader knows how fresh your check was. For this audit, the sample was reviewed on 20 July 2026.
Format gap: what a Q-bank cannot prepare you for
State this plainly. A standard multiple-choice bank cannot prepare you for the DCH Clinical. Development assessment, safeguarding communication, growth interpretation performed live, and clinical communication with a parent or child are observed behaviours assessed across an OSCE circuit. Selecting the correct option about a developmental red flag proves you recognise it; it does not prove you can elicit and interpret it at the bedside under time pressure while explaining your reasoning to a parent. PassPaeds is honest terrain for the theory paper and silent terrain for the Clinical. Plan your DCH Clinical preparation — supervised clinical practice, communication rehearsal and station simulation — separately, and do not let a high FOP percentage create false confidence about the Clinical.
Duplication and contamination
Any bank you complete more than once carries a contamination risk: repeated exposure converts problem-solving into recognition, and your percentage climbs while your true readiness plateaus. Watch for near-duplicate stems that test the same discrimination in slightly different words, and for clusters of items on the same high-yield concept. The practical safeguard is to reserve a protected pool of questions you never review during learning, so that a subset always remains genuinely unseen for timed assessment. Once you have completed the bank once, a rising second-pass score is largely a memory of the bank, not a measure of the blueprint. That is the moment to bring in unseen items from a different source.
Best-fit matrix
| Use case | Is PassPaeds a strong fit? |
|---|---|
| Foundation building (early revision) | Yes — the FOP focus matches the DCH theory paper and the notes support learning |
| First full pass of the theory blueprint | Yes — strong for breadth across paediatric systems |
| Second bank for unseen volume | Partial — useful only if it is your second exposure; otherwise contamination limits its measurement value |
| Retake preparation | Conditional — valuable if you have not previously exhausted it; pair with a fresh bank if you have |
| Final unseen simulation | No — once completed, it can no longer give you a clean unseen mock; use a protected pool or a second bank |
| DCH Clinical preparation | No — it does not address the OSCE at all |
Worked example: a seven-day plan
Consider a salaried GP with limited weekday time, six weeks from the FOP paper, who has completed about 40% of PassPaeds. Here is one week that uses PassPaeds for one defined job (structured learning and consolidation) and iatroX for a different job (fresh, unseen transfer measurement). No proprietary-algorithm claims are made about either tool; the logic is simply learn on one source, measure on another.
- Day 1 (Mon): 40-item topic block in PassPaeds on development and safeguarding, the two domains that were thin in the audit sample. Read every explanation; log each miss with a one-line error code.
- Day 2 (Tue): 20-item iatroX unseen block on the same two domains, timed. Compare accuracy against yesterday's PassPaeds block. If iatroX accuracy is much lower, the earlier score was recognition, not knowledge.
- Day 3 (Wed): 40-item PassPaeds block on acute paediatrics and therapeutics (checked against the SmPC/eMC and NICE/CKS).
- Day 4 (Thu): rest or light review of Monday's error log only.
- Day 5 (Fri): 30-item iatroX mixed unseen block across all domains, timed to about one minute per item to rehearse pace.
- Day 6 (Sat): 40-item PassPaeds block on your weakest system from Friday's mixed block.
- Day 7 (Sun): review the week's error codes; carry the three most frequent into next week's first block.
The point of the split is calibration. PassPaeds teaches and consolidates; the unseen iatroX blocks tell you whether that learning transfers to items you have never seen. If your PassPaeds percentage and your unseen percentage converge over a fortnight, that convergence is a far better readiness signal than either number alone.
Decision checklist: continue, supplement, switch or stop
- Continue PassPaeds if you are still on your first pass and your unseen transfer score is climbing alongside your bank score.
- Supplement with a second, unseen source once you have completed the bank once, or if your audit shows a thin domain the bank does not cover well.
- Switch the emphasis to mixed timed mocks when every blueprint domain is above your personal floor and pacing, not knowledge, is your limiting factor.
- Stop using PassPaeds as a measurement tool the moment your second-pass score is memory-driven; keep it only as a reference for explanations.
Base each decision on a measured gap, not on novelty or on the sunk cost of a subscription you have paid for.
FAQ
Is PassPaeds enough for DCH on its own? For the FOP theory paper, PassPaeds can carry a large share of your written preparation because it targets exactly that paper, but "enough on its own" is the wrong test — you still need a genuinely unseen source to confirm that your bank score reflects transferable knowledge rather than familiarity, and current guidance verified against NICE, CKS and the SmPC/eMC. For the DCH as a whole it is not enough on its own, because it does not touch the DCH Clinical.
Which DCH component does PassPaeds not reproduce well? It does not reproduce the DCH Clinical at all. The Clinical is an OSCE-style circuit assessing development, communication, safeguarding and clinical examination as observed behaviours, and no multiple-choice bank can stand in for supervised clinical practice, communication rehearsal and station simulation.
How many PassPaeds questions should I complete per day for DCH? There is no official figure, and the honest answer depends on your timeline and how much you review each item; a sustainable pattern for a working clinician is one 40-item block on weekdays plus a longer mixed session at the weekend, with the emphasis on reviewing every miss properly rather than maximising raw volume. Completing more questions with shallow review is slower progress than fewer questions with disciplined error analysis.
When should I stop using PassPaeds and move to mixed mocks? Move to timed mixed mocks once every blueprint domain sits above your personal floor and your errors are increasingly about pace and careless slips rather than missing knowledge; if your second-pass score is rising mainly because you remember the items, that is a clear signal to stop using PassPaeds for measurement and switch to unseen mixed blocks.
How should I combine PassPaeds with iatroX without duplicating practice? Give each tool a single, distinct job: use PassPaeds to learn and consolidate a topic, then use iatroX only for fresh, unseen items that test the same principle in a different stem, so you are measuring transfer rather than replaying a question you have already seen. Keep a protected pool in each source that you never review during learning, so a clean unseen mock is always available.
Editorial notes and references
Written by Dr Kolawole Tytler, NHS GP and founder of iatroX. Last checked 20 July 2026. Vendor figures (PassPaeds question counts, access periods and prices) are vendor-reported from passpaeds.com as of that date and can change without notice; question counts differed between the vendor's own pages, so verify the current figure on the product page before relying on it. Disclosure: iatroX operates a competing UK question bank and clinical-knowledge platform; this audit confines iatroX's role to the unseen-measurement and knowledge job that PassPaeds does not claim, and makes no claim about the DCH Clinical, which neither product replaces. Corrections are welcome via the feedback route on iatrox.com.
References: RCPCH DCH and theory examination guidance (rcpch.ac.uk); RCPCH theory syllabus and sample papers (rcpch.ac.uk); PassPaeds product pages (passpaeds.com); iatroX, "Your Q-Bank Percentage Is Not Your Exam Score" (https://www.iatrox.com/blog/qbank-percentage-not-your-exam-score); iatroX, "Question-bank completion is not coverage" (https://www.iatrox.com/blog/question-bank-completion-is-not-coverage-how-to-build-a-blueprint-coverage-matrix-for-any-medical-exam); iatroX comparison hub (https://www.iatrox.com/compare); iatroX PassPaeds DCH workflow (https://www.iatrox.com/blog/passpaeds-dch-workflow-topic-blocks-mixed-blocks-error-review-and-exit-criteria).