The final week before PLAB 1 should make your existing knowledge easier to use. It is a poor time to turn every unfamiliar detail into a new revision project or to judge progress solely by the number of questions completed.
For the 5 November 2026 sitting, the last week begins on 29 October. The GMC examination timetable confirms the sitting; candidates should follow their own booking and venue instructions for practical arrangements. The approach below also works for a later sitting by counting backwards from the confirmed appointment.
Begin with a question set that can change your plan
Use unfamiliar mixed questions under timed conditions. Select a set long enough to reveal pacing and concentration problems, whilst leaving sufficient time to review it properly. A short set can diagnose a particular issue; it cannot reproduce every demand of the full examination.
The GMC describes PLAB 1 as 180 multiple-choice questions over three hours. Each question begins with a scenario and requires selection of one answer from five options. Practising the task means reading the clinical situation, identifying the decision and choosing an answer at a sustainable pace.
Do not open explanations during a timed assessment set. The delayed review helps distinguish what you could answer independently from what became clear only after a clue. That distinction is more informative than a percentage inflated by repeated exposure.
Sort errors by the action they require
Four categories are particularly useful during a short preparation window.
| Error | What it looks like | Useful next action |
|---|---|---|
| Missing knowledge | You cannot explain the relevant concept | Focused reading followed by a fresh example |
| Wrong clinical task | You answer the diagnosis when asked about the next step | Restate the requested decision before comparing options |
| Guidance mismatch | Your answer fits another setting or an older pathway | Check the current UK source and record the relevant circumstance |
| Execution problem | You miss a negative, unit, time course or answer-sheet position | Practise the specific reading or recording step |
A fifth useful group is correct answers reached for an uncertain reason. They deserve selective review because the next version may not contain the clue that made the guess successful. An answer does not become secure knowledge merely because it was marked correct once.
A worked example: recognising the diagnosis is only half the task
Consider this original practice vignette. A 56-year-old man attends general practice after two episodes of painless visible haematuria. He is otherwise well, has no dysuria or fever, and a urine culture does not show infection. The question asks for the most appropriate next action.
Recognising possible urinary tract malignancy is helpful, but the decision being tested is the referral response. In this scenario, arranging a suspected cancer pathway referral is preferable to simply repeating the urine test after several weeks or treating an unsupported infection. NICE's haematuria referral quality statement covers adults aged 45 and over with relevant unexplained visible haematuria.
The useful correction is not a paragraph listing every cause of haematuria. It is a concise explanation: the patient's age, visible bleeding and lack of a urinary infection make timely assessment necessary. The absence of pain or constitutional symptoms does not turn the presentation into a routine observation problem.
Now change the question, rather than just the patient's name. If asked which symptom warrants referral, or why a normal general examination does not resolve the concern, can you still explain the principle? That is a more useful final-week check than immediately repeating the identical item.
Use the middle of the week for selective repair
Choose a limited number of problems from the diagnostic set. Give preference to repeated errors, common decisions and misconceptions that affect several topics. A misunderstanding about when to escalate an acutely unwell patient can matter across many presentations; an isolated obscure fact may have a much narrower reach.
For each priority, complete a short cycle: explain the current understanding, check the source, answer a new question and revisit the principle later. Keep the written record brief enough to reread. A useful entry might be: "I delayed referral because the symptom had stopped; intermittent symptoms can still meet an urgent pathway."
Retain some mixed practice between these focused sessions. Otherwise the week becomes a series of topic-labelled exercises that make the correct reasoning approach too easy to anticipate.
Rehearse decisions, not only facts
The GMC's preparation guidance directs candidates to the MLA content map, Foundation Programme curriculum and professional guidance. In the final week, use these as references for unresolved questions rather than attempting to reread every document from the beginning.
Useful prompts include: "What is the immediate priority?", "Which finding changes the investigation?" and "What would make this management option inappropriate?" These prompts expose whether you understand the circumstances around an answer.
For professional questions, identify the patient-safety concern, the information available and the action being proposed. A response that is reasonable eventually may still be inappropriate as the first step. Avoid reducing professional judgement to an inflexible order of escalation that ignores the scenario.
Keep the final two days manageable
In the last two days, shorten the review list. Retain important uncertainties that can still be resolved, plus a small number of previously corrected errors that benefit from one more retrieval attempt. Stop adding material simply because another candidate mentions it online.
Complete venue, travel and identification checks using the GMC's examination-day guidance and the instructions for your booking. Practical preparation is part of the plan because avoidable uncertainty on the morning can consume attention you need for the assessment itself.
A final practice session should have a defined purpose. It might check the handling of clinical time courses or the accuracy of answer recording. An unplanned marathon of questions provides little opportunity to act on whatever it reveals.
Where iatroX can make the final week more useful
The iatroX PLAB 1 bank offers an integrated route from question practice to explanation review and later retrieval. Adaptive sequencing can support targeted work, while spaced review keeps earlier corrections visible. The Socratic Tutor is particularly useful when you can state your reasoning but cannot identify where it diverges from the better answer.
For the haematuria example, a productive discussion would explore why symptom resolution does not remove the referral indication in the stated circumstances. It would not require an exhaustive lecture on urological oncology. Keep the discussion proportional to the mistake, then check whether the principle can be applied without assistance.
The final week's output should be a clearer set of decisions and fewer persistent errors. A reassuring activity total is secondary to being able to explain why the answer fits this patient, in this setting, at this point in the pathway.
Frequently asked questions
Should I start a new PLAB 1 question bank in the final week?
A small amount of unfamiliar practice can reveal dependence on remembered questions. Starting an entire new bank is a different commitment and may leave insufficient time for review. Choose a resource for a specific missing function, such as fresh mixed questions or clearer explanation of a persistent problem.
Should every final-week session be timed?
No. Timed sessions examine pace and independent decisions; untimed review helps correct the mistakes they reveal. Use both deliberately. Reading explanations while a timer runs makes it difficult to interpret either the score or the time spent.
Is a high question-bank percentage enough to show I am ready?
It depends on what produced the percentage. Repeated familiar questions, topic cues and immediate hints can all change the task. Consider unfamiliar mixed performance, pacing and your ability to explain important decisions alongside the headline score.
Focus your remaining preparation on the decisions that need attention with the iatroX PLAB 1 question bank.