Six weeks is enough to prepare for PLAB 1 if you can study close to full-time — roughly four to five hours a day — and you spend that time on questions and review rather than passive reading. This plan splits six weeks into a foundation phase (weeks 1–3), a volume phase (weeks 4–5) and a mock phase (week 6), all mapped to the 2026 MLA content map. It suits a recent graduate or anyone with a reasonably fresh clinical knowledge base.
Key takeaways
- Designed for ~4–5 hours/day of full-time study over six weeks.
- Weeks 1–3 build coverage system by system; weeks 4–5 drill mixed sets; week 6 is timed mocks.
- Review every wrong answer — understanding why beats re-reading notes.
- Target ~60–80 questions/day, rising in the volume phase.
- Not enough time to learn everything: prioritise high-yield topics and let an adaptive bank target your gaps.
Who is this plan for?
This plan assumes you can commit most of your day to revision and that you are not starting from scratch clinically. If you're working full-time, the six-week timeline is unrealistic — use the study-around-work plan instead. If you have longer, a gentler twelve-week version with a heavier foundation phase will be less intense.
The six-week plan, week by week
| Week | Focus | Topics | Questions/day | Mocks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foundation | Cardiology, respiratory, endocrine | 60 | — |
| 2 | Foundation | GI, renal, neurology, infectious disease | 60–70 | — |
| 3 | Foundation | O&G, paediatrics, psychiatry, ethics & law | 60–70 | 1 |
| 4 | Volume | Mixed sets across all systems; review weak topics | 80 | 1 |
| 5 | Volume | Mixed sets + targeted weak-area drilling | 80–100 | 2 |
| 6 | Mocks | Timed full-length mocks; light review only | — | 3–4 |
A daily routine
A workable full-time day looks like: a morning block of fresh topic questions (about two hours), a focused afternoon block reviewing the morning's mistakes and reading around them, and a shorter evening block of mixed-topic practice. Build in one lighter day a week to avoid burnout — sustained pace beats heroics followed by a crash.
The final ten days
In the last stretch, stop learning new material and switch to consolidation. Do a timed full-length mock every couple of days, review your weakest areas, and re-attempt the questions you've previously got wrong. Sort out the exam-day logistics — centre, timing, identification — so the final days are about confidence and pacing, not panic. Remember there's no negative marking: practise committing to an answer rather than agonising.
How a question bank fits a six-week plan
With only six weeks, you cannot study everything, so the engine of this plan is targeted question practice. Prioritise the high-yield domains, review every wrong answer, and use an adaptive system to resurface your weak topics automatically rather than re-covering what you already know.
iatroX suits this intensity: its adaptive engine concentrates your limited time on your weakest areas, the Socratic Tutor walks through clinical reasoning when you're stuck, and Ask iatroX lets you verify management against UK guidance (NICE, CKS, SIGN and the SmPC) in seconds. It covers PLAB 1 and UKMLA on one subscription (£29/month or £99/year), with free sample questions to try the approach.
Frequently asked questions
Can you really pass PLAB 1 in 6 weeks? Yes, if you study close to full-time (around 4–5 hours/day) and focus on questions and review. Six weeks is tight but achievable for candidates with a reasonably current clinical knowledge base; if you're working, allow longer.
How many questions a day for a 6-week PLAB 1 plan? Around 60–80 a day in the foundation phase, rising towards 80–100 in the volume phase, plus full-length mocks in the final week. Reviewing mistakes matters more than hitting a number.
Should I read textbooks or do questions for PLAB 1? Lead with questions and use focused reading to fill the gaps they reveal. Question practice with proper review is far more efficient than reading cover to cover in six weeks.
When should I start doing mock exams? Begin with one or two mocks in weeks 3–5 to gauge pacing, then do timed full-length mocks every couple of days in the final week to build speed and stamina for 180 questions in three hours.