The traditional model for medical exam preparation is simple: you identify the exam you need to pass, you buy a question bank for that specific exam, and you let it lapse after the exam is over. When the next exam comes along, you buy another question bank from potentially a different provider. Over a full training pathway, this piecemeal approach accumulates significant cost, forces you to learn multiple platform interfaces, and loses your historical performance data each time you switch.
There is a better model.
The real cost of piecemeal preparation
Consider a trainee on the medical specialties pathway. They need MRCP Part 1 during core training, then potentially MRCP Part 2, then an SCE during higher specialty training. Some may also need or want the MSRA, PLAB, or specialty diplomas along the way.
Under the traditional model, each exam requires a separate subscription. MRCP Part 1 from one provider for three to four months at £60 to £180. Then a gap. Then MRCP Part 2 from the same or a different provider. Then a gap of several years. Then an SCE from StudyPRN or Pastest at £79 to £199 for three months.
The total spend over a training pathway easily reaches £400 to £800 on question banks alone, paid in disconnected chunks to different providers. Each time you start a new subscription, you begin from zero — no performance history, no weak-area data carried forward, no continuity.
Under iatroX's model, a single subscription at £99 per year covers every exam on the platform. MRCP Part 1 during core training. MRCP Part 2 when you need it. SCE during higher specialty training. MSRA, PLAB, GPhC, MRCPCH, MRCPsych, FRCA, ORE, MFDS, NDEB, RACP — all included. Your performance data accumulates over time, your adaptive model improves as it learns your strengths and weaknesses, and you never need to evaluate or switch platforms.
For £99 per year — less than the cost of a single three-month StudyPRN subscription for one SCE specialty — you get indefinite access to every exam bank on the platform.
The cross-training advantage
Medical training is not a sequence of isolated exams. The knowledge tested in MRCP Part 1 overlaps with the foundation of every SCE. The pharmacology tested in MRCPsych Paper A overlaps with FRCA Primary pharmacology. The paediatric knowledge in MRCPCH overlaps with general medical knowledge in MRCP.
A single platform that spans these exams allows you to leverage this overlap. Revising for your SCE Cardiology? You can dip into the MRCP Part 1 bank for foundational cardiology content. Preparing for MRCPsych Paper A? The pharmacology questions share mechanisms with FRCA Primary content. This cross-pollination is impossible when your exams live on separate platforms behind separate subscriptions.
The continuity advantage
Adaptive learning algorithms improve with data. The more questions you answer, the more accurately the system models your knowledge state and the more efficiently it directs your revision. On a traditional platform, you might answer 800 questions over three months and then lose all that data when your subscription lapses.
On iatroX, your performance data accumulates across your entire training pathway. When you start your SCE revision three years after passing MRCP Part 1, the system already has a baseline understanding of your medical knowledge. It does not start from zero.
The mobile advantage
Learning a new platform interface is a hidden cost. Each time you switch question bank providers, you spend time familiarising yourself with the navigation, question format, settings, and analytics. On a single platform, this investment pays dividends over years rather than months.
The iatroX mobile app (iOS and Android) is the same across all exam banks. The interface, keyboard shortcuts, performance dashboard, and revision workflow are consistent whether you are practising MRCP Part 1 questions or SCE Neurology questions. You learn the tool once and use it throughout your career.
Who benefits most
The bundled model is most valuable for trainees who will sit multiple exams over their career — which describes virtually every doctor in postgraduate training. It is also valuable for international medical graduates who may need PLAB, MRCP, and an SCE over a compressed timeline.
The bundled model is less relevant for someone who needs exactly one exam and will never use a question bank again — but in practice, very few clinicians sit only one postgraduate exam.
The numbers
iatroX at £99 per year covering every exam versus the piecemeal alternative: StudyPRN at £79 to £199 per specialty per three months, Pastest at £60 to £180 per exam per three months, SPMM at several hundred pounds per course. Over a five-year training pathway with three to four exams, iatroX costs £495 total. The piecemeal approach costs £600 to £1,500 depending on which providers and durations you choose.
The value case is straightforward. One subscription, every exam, adaptive learning, mobile app, performance data that accumulates over your career. At £29 per month or £99 per year.