This workflow is for Primary FRCA candidates using TeachMeAnaesthetics as a main bank. It is a genuine fit: Primary FRCA is the product's core, with a large single-best-answer bank across exactly the three domains the MCQ paper tests. The principal limitation to keep in view is that it prepares the MCQ paper only — not the OSCE or Structured Oral Examination (SOE) — and it has no adaptive engine, so the intelligence has to come from how you run it.
What TeachMeAnaesthetics offers for Primary FRCA right now
TeachMeAnaesthetics is UK-authored by anaesthetic registrars and built around the Primary FRCA. Figures below are vendor-reported and were checked on 20 July 2026 — verify the live count and price on teachmeanaesthetics.com.
| Attribute | Vendor-reported (20 July 2026) — verify on teachmeanaesthetics.com |
|---|---|
| Questions | 1,100+ Primary FRCA SBAs (vendor breakdown: pharmacology 385, physics & equipment 353, physiology 320, anatomy 60, maths & statistics 51) |
| Question type | Single Best Answer |
| Tools | Custom quiz builder (5–40 items), difficulty filter (easy/average/hard), answer-status filter, per-subject performance tracking |
| Adaptive / AI | None described |
| Mock exam mode | Not described — verify |
| Learning content | Subject guides (equipment, physics, pharmacology, physiology), podcast, referenced notes |
| Price | One-off: £30 (1 month), £50 (3 months), £75 (6 months) |
| Components supported | Primary FRCA MCQ knowledge and practice; not OSCE/SOE |
Note the domain shape: the bank is weighted toward pharmacology, physics and physiology, closely tracking the paper's structure, with lighter anatomy and statistics counts you may need to supplement.
The exam you are actually sitting
The Primary FRCA MCQ is 90 SBAs online in three hours, remote-invigilated, split 30 pharmacology / 30 physiology (including biochemistry and anatomy) / 30 physics, clinical measurement, statistics and data interpretation. Multiple true/false items were discontinued in September 2023, so it is a pure single-best-answer paper with one mark per correct answer and no negative marking. It is the gateway to the Primary OSCE and SOE. TeachMeAnaesthetics maps to the MCQ cleanly; the other two components sit outside any SBA bank.
Flag 2027: from July 2027 (pending GMC approval) the Primary MCQ becomes an AKT of two 80-SBA papers (2h20m each) and the OSCE and SOE become a single 13-station CASE. Check your diet on the RCoA's 2027 hub, and treat only the RCoA's pages as the definitive blueprint.
Build a blueprint inventory and protect an unseen pool
Before you start grinding, inventory the bank against the paper's thirds. Use the subject filter to see how many questions sit in pharmacology, physiology and physics/measurement/statistics, and note where the counts are thin (anatomy and statistics, on the vendor breakdown). Then make a decision most candidates skip: reserve a protected pool of questions you will not study from, so you have unseen material for timed mixed assessment later. If you work through the entire bank as study, you will have nothing left that is genuinely unseen when you most need a clean readiness signal — which is where a second, unseen bank earns its place.
First pass: mixed by default, topic-filtered only where weak
Resist the temptation to grind topic by topic. Topic-filtered blocks tell you the domain before you read the stem, which inflates your score and trains a cue the exam will never give you. Start mixed by default, and drop into topic-filtered blocks only where a domain is genuinely weak and needs foundational rebuilding. As soon as the floor is repaired, return to mixed. The difficulty filter is useful here: build up from average to hard rather than staying in a comfortable band.
Review each miss with an error code
Do not transcribe the whole explanation into your notes; that is copying, not learning. For each miss, assign a short error code — knowledge gap, misread stem, wrong discrimination, calculation slip, pace — and write one corrective action. The code turns a pile of wrong answers into a pattern: if half your errors are "misread stem", your problem is technique, not knowledge, and no amount of extra content will fix it. Review quality, not explanation length, is what converts errors into gains.
Use transfer practice, not repetition
The trap with a single bank is that re-answering the same item measures memory of the item. Instead, practise transfer: after a miss, answer a new question that tests the same principle before you ever revisit the original. If TeachMeAnaesthetics does not have a second item on that exact principle, that is precisely where iatroX fits — a source of fresh, unseen SBAs on the same concept, so the retest measures whether you have learned the principle rather than memorised the stem. No proprietary algorithm is claimed; the mechanism is simply unseen items, mixed and timed.
Switch to mixed timed blocks when floors are met
You do not need to finish the bank before you start simulating. Once each domain's floor is met — your weakest third is no longer failing — switch to full-length, timed mixed blocks even if your first pass is incomplete. Completion is not the goal; performance under exam conditions is. A candidate who has done 700 questions with disciplined review and timed mixed practice is usually readier than one who has skimmed all 1,100 without ever sitting a timed block.
A seven-day worked example around clinical work
"Aisha" is six weeks out, working clinically, weakest in physics and statistics, strong in pharmacology. She uses TeachMeAnaesthetics for one job — repairing physics and statistics — and iatroX for unseen transfer and timed mixed measurement, with no proprietary-algorithm claim.
| Day | TeachMeAnaesthetics (one job) | iatroX (unseen measurement) |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | 20 physics SBAs, difficulty average; error-code each | 15 unseen mixed SBAs, timed |
| Tue | 20 statistics/measurement SBAs; corrective actions | Re-test Monday's missed principles, fresh items |
| Wed | Read the physics subject guide (30 min) | 15-item micro-block on the commute |
| Thu | 20 physics SBAs, difficulty hard | 25 mixed unseen SBAs; check pace |
| Fri | — (clinical day) | 20 mixed SBAs; review error pattern |
| Sat | Consolidate error codes into rules | 40-item timed mixed block across all three thirds |
| Sun | Light re-read of weak spots | Re-test only missed principles with new items |
TeachMeAnaesthetics rebuilds the weak domains; iatroX keeps an unseen, timed measure so improvement is real transfer, not familiarity.
Exit criteria
Exit on evidence, not completion: adequate blueprint coverage across all three thirds; stable unseen, timed performance at your target; pacing that finishes 90 SBAs comfortably inside three hours; retention that holds on delayed retests; and calibration against the RCoA's own released materials. None of these is "100 per cent of the bank done". When these signals are green, your remaining hours belong to mixed practice and to the OSCE and SOE — components this bank does not touch.
Decision checklist: continue, supplement, switch or stop
Continue while unseen scores are rising and the bank still covers your weak thirds. Supplement with an unseen bank for a clean readiness signal and for the thin domains (anatomy, statistics) — and for OSCE/SOE preparation, which sits entirely outside. Switch or add a source if you are recognising items rather than reasoning. Stop when your unseen, timed performance is reliably at target and further reps are recognition, not learning. Judge on measurable gaps, not on finishing the bank.
Bottom line
TeachMeAnaesthetics is a well-matched, fairly priced main bank for the Primary FRCA MCQ, especially strong in pharmacology, physics and physiology. Because it has no adaptive engine and covers only the MCQ, the workflow does the heavy lifting: mixed by default, error codes over transcription, transfer over repetition, and exit on unseen performance rather than completion. Run it that way and pair it with an unseen measurement layer, and it is a strong core to a Primary FRCA stack.
Frequently asked questions
Is TeachMeAnaesthetics enough for Primary FRCA on its own? For the MCQ paper it can carry most of the load, because its 1,100-plus SBAs map well onto the pharmacology, physiology and physics thirds. But it is MCQ-only, so it does nothing for the OSCE or SOE, and with no adaptive engine and thin anatomy and statistics counts, most candidates supplement it with an unseen bank for a clean readiness signal and with separate OSCE/SOE preparation. As a single main MCQ bank it is a strong choice; as your entire Primary FRCA plan it is not.
Which Primary FRCA component does TeachMeAnaesthetics not reproduce well? The OSCE and the SOE — both sit outside any single-best-answer bank. TeachMeAnaesthetics builds the underlying science those stations draw on, but it does not rehearse the practical stations or the defended oral. Within the MCQ itself, the lighter anatomy and statistics counts mean those areas may need topping up.
How many TeachMeAnaesthetics questions should I complete per day for Primary FRCA? A sustainable target is 40–60 SBAs a day in the final month, weighted toward your weak thirds and built up through the difficulty filter, with every miss error-coded rather than transcribed. Consistency and review quality matter more than volume; 40 well-reviewed questions with corrective actions beat 90 skimmed ones. Match the daily count to your one-, three- or six-month access window.
When should I stop using TeachMeAnaesthetics and move to mixed mocks? Switch to timed mixed mocks as soon as your domain floors are met, even if your first pass is incomplete — usually the final two to three weeks. From there, prioritise full-length timed blocks and calibration against official materials, and turn to OSCE and SOE preparation, using the bank only to repair specific weaknesses that mixed practice exposes.
How should I combine TeachMeAnaesthetics with iatroX without duplicating practice? Use TeachMeAnaesthetics as your study-and-drill bank and iatroX as your unseen measurement set. After a miss, test the same principle with a fresh iatroX item instead of re-answering the TeachMeAnaesthetics stem, and run your timed mixed blocks on unseen iatroX questions so the score reflects transfer. Keeping one bank unseen is the two-Q-bank rule, and it is what stops bank completion from turning into recognition.
Editorial notes and references
Written by Dr Kolawole Tytler, NHS GP and founder of iatroX. Last checked 20 July 2026; all TeachMeAnaesthetics figures are vendor-reported and were correct at the date of checking — verify the live count, mock-mode availability, access period and price on teachmeanaesthetics.com. Disclosure: iatroX operates a competing UK-focused SBA bank; this workflow confines iatroX's role to the unseen-measurement and transfer job TeachMeAnaesthetics does not claim, and states plainly that iatroX does not simulate the Primary OSCE or SOE, or the 2027 CASE. Corrections are welcome via the feedback route on iatrox.com.
References: RCoA Primary FRCA examination and Primary FRCA MCQ pages (rcoa.ac.uk); RCoA 2027 Launch of the New FRCA Exams hub (rcoa.ac.uk/examinations/2027-launch-new-frca-exams); TeachMeAnaesthetics question bank and pricing pages (teachmeanaesthetics.com); iatroX Primary FRCA bank (iatrox.com/frca-primary); "Your Q-Bank Percentage Is Not Your Exam Score" (iatrox.com/blog/qbank-percentage-not-your-exam-score); completion is not coverage — building a blueprint matrix (iatrox.com/blog/question-bank-completion-is-not-coverage-how-to-build-a-blueprint-coverage-matrix-for-any-medical-exam).