MRCGP SCA revision guide — a 4-month plan

A realistic 4-month timeline

1. Group revision — the core of your prep

Trainees who pass on the first attempt almost universally describe a steady study group as the spine of their plan. Solo work alone can’t replicate the unpredictable, real-time pressure of role-play with another person.

(Note: the RCGP’s own Consultation Toolkit is a slightly different tool — it’s a self-assessment and supervisor-review framework for analysing your real consultations from your surgery. Use it alongside group practice, not instead of it.)

• Three or more members. Rotate doctor / role-player / observer-marker for each case.
• Mix the group. Different genders, ethnicities and consultation styles surface blind spots a homogeneous group never will.
• Prepare before each meeting. Each member brings a case with a marking scheme and a short knowledge summary. Cycle topics across the 12 blueprint groups.
• Start early. 3–4 months out, weekly. Step up to 3–4 sessions a week in the final month.
• Mark each case formally. Use the RCGP feedback statements as your scoring rubric so you grade against the same language examiners use.

2. What to do between group sessions

Group time is precious. Don’t waste it on things you can do alone. Reserve groups for full cases under timing; everything else is solo work.

1. Read cases. Work through cases from the 12 blueprint groups one a day. Read the role-play script, the marking scheme, and the management summary. Treat it as comprehension, not memorisation.
2. Watch consultation videos. Marked video consultations let you see how points are gained and lost in real time — what an examiner notices, what they don’t. Watching others perform under exam conditions, then comparing to expert commentary, is one of the more reliable ways to develop calibration on what “passing” looks like.
3. Practise explanations out loud. List the 30 most common primary-care conditions. Write a 60-second explanation for each. Say each one out loud until it sounds like you, not like a textbook. Saying them silently in your head is not the same exercise.
4. Read the consultation guides. Our 12 guides cover the situations the textbook doesn’t — angry patients, breaking bad news, demonstrating empathy, ICE, safety-netting, fit notes, Gillick & Fraser, end-of-life. These are the parts of the SCA marking scheme that most trip up candidates.
5. Drill management plans. For each condition: red flags, first-line, second-line, safety-net, follow-up, and a one-line “what would change my plan” caveat.
6. Record yourself in real consultations. Most trainees hate watching themselves back. Do it anyway — it surfaces tics, fillers and missed cues you cannot see live. Review them with your trainer.

3. Five mistakes to avoid

4. Use your trainer and HDR sessions

Your trainer is the most underused asset in your prep. They’ve seen dozens of trainees through this exam and know your tells better than you do. Practical ways to use them:

• Sit-and-swap surgeries (sometimes called joint surgeries) — they watch you, you watch them, the next patient is the case study.
• Video reviews of your real consultations — the same recordings you do for COTs are exam practice.
• Case-Based Discussions on cases that didn’t go well. Gold for spotting Clinical Management weaknesses.
• Role-play with your trainer on cases you find awkward — angry parent, professional dilemma, breaking bad news. Tutorial sessions are a natural place for this and most trainers welcome the request.
• Record the trainer role-play and submit it for AI marking. You get your trainer’s feedback and a structured RCGP-style grade on the same consultation — two perspectives, one piece of work.
• Ask them to demonstrate the explanations you find clunky — how would they explain HRT, statins, or a Mirena fitting in 60 seconds?
• Volunteer for HDR mock SCAs. Better to flounder in mock than in the real thing.