MRCPsych Paper A Your Complete Guide
If you plan to take the MRCPsych Paper A exam, you're in the right place. This post covers everything you need to know, eligibility, format, fees, and more. You'll also find details about our MRCPsych Paper A Made Easy course. As for preparation, we highly recommend our course especially since all the candidates who took it have passed their exams in their first attempt and almost all the paper either directly or indirectly repeats from our course.
Eligibility Criteria
- Primary Medical Qualification (PMQ): You must hold a recognized PMQ from the General Medical Council (GMC) or an equivalent authority.
- Medical Registration: You must be registered as a medical practitioner in your country.
- No Prior Psychiatry Training Required: There's no requirement for previous training in psychiatry to sit for Paper A.
Exam Format
- Duration: 3 hours
- Total Marks: 150 (each question is worth one mark)
- Question Types:
- Around two-thirds multiple-choice questions (MCQs)
- About one third extended matching item (EMI) questions
These proportions come directly from the Royal College guidelines and are designed to test a broad range of psychiatric knowledge.
Paper A Syllabus
Paper A focuses on several key areas of the syllabus, each making up a certain percentage of the 150-mark exam:
- Behavioural Science & Socio-Cultural Psychiatry (16.67% / ~25 marks)
- Human Development (16.67% / ~25 marks)
- Basic Neurosciences (25.00% / ~37–38 marks)
- Clinical Psychopharmacology (25.00% / ~37–38 marks)
- Classification & Assessment in Psychiatry (16.67% / ~25 marks)
Neurosciences and Psychopharmacology together account for 50% of the exam, so it's a good idea to devote extra time to these topics.
Exam Date and Preparation Timeline
- Exam Date: The next MRCPsych Paper A exam is taking place on 09 July 2026 (check the Royal College website for exact updates).
- Recommended Study Time: 3–5 months of focused study should be enough to cover the entire syllabus.
- Validity After Passing: You have 1,643 days (a bit over 4.5 years) to complete Paper B and CASC, so plan your next steps accordingly.
Paper A Dates
Applications must be submitted no later than 3:30pm UK time on the last date of the application period.
| Diet | Date of examination | Application period | Publication of results |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 09 April 2026 | 5 January - 15 January 2026 | 15 May 2026 |
| 2 | 09 July 2026 | 5 May - 15 May 2026 | 7 August 2026 |
| 3 | 12 November 2026 | 17 August - 27 August 2026 | 11 December 2026 |
Booking and Fees
- Registration: Online through the Royal College of Psychiatrists (Rcpsych) website.
- Fee: £565 (subject to change).
- Money-Saving Tip: If you know someone in the UK or Ireland, ask them to pay on your behalf to avoid extra fees. This could save you around Rs. 40,000. (Tax exemptions)
Importance of Past Papers
Working through past papers is one of the best ways to familiarize yourself with the format, pinpoint weak spots, and refine your study strategy. It includes actual past paper questions . more than 3,000 in total which is why more than 80% of the November paper was repeated from here. Almost all the paper either directly or indirectly repeats from our course.
Exam Day Strategies
Zero Negative Marking
Many candidates waste precious time agonizing over a single question. There is absolutely no negative marking in Paper A. If you are stuck, make an educated guess, flag the question, and move on. Leaving a question blank is the only guaranteed way to lose a mark.
EMI Time Trap
Extended Matching Items (EMIs) make up about a third of the paper, but they often consume more than half of a candidate's time due to the dense reading required. A highly effective strategy is to tackle the multiple-choice questions (MCQs) quickly to bank easy points, leaving a generous buffer of time to comfortably read and analyze the EMI scenarios without panic.
Watch Out for Selective Inattention
A common pitfall in Paper A is "selective inattention", jumping at a familiar keyword in a clinical vignette and choosing an answer before reading the actual question at the very end. Examiners love to write classic textbook scenarios but ask a completely unexpected question about them. Always read the final sentence of the prompt first, so you know exactly what to look for in the vignette.
High-Yield Mini Topics
While Neurosciences and Psychopharmacology are the heavyweights, candidates often overlook the highly predictable, purely factual topics tucked inside the other sections. Memorizing Cytochrome P450 enzyme inducers and inhibitors, specific 5-HT receptor profiles, and basic statistical formulas can guarantee quick, easy marks that many candidates needlessly drop.
Our MRCPsych Paper A Made Easy Course
Our MRCPsych Paper a Made Easy course (2nd edition) offers fully upgraded notes with explanations and relevant clinical examples, with embedded past paper questions after each mini-topic and examiner’s focus notes so you know exactly what the examiner expects and how to approach each area.
It covers every single topic tested in the exam with exact depth as required, while avoiding irrelevant textbook material. The notes are written in easy-to-understand language and you don’t need to study anything else outside this course.
You also get over 8000 mock and topic-wise questions with detailed explanations and more than 3000 past paper questions. Based on feedback, around 80% of the actual exam repeats from these questions, and since passing marks are about 62-67%
And all the students from the November attempt who took our course, passed their exam. There wasn't a single failed student in this attempt. Now all the april 2026 candidates have passed too. All the candidates who took it have passed their exams in their first attempt and more than 80% of the paper in November 2025 and April 2026 attempt was repeated from our questions bank (mainly from past paper questions section).
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