PLAB study plan builder
Enter your exam dates and how many hours you can study each week. We generate a dated week-by-week plan — focus areas, core tasks, question or station targets and rising score targets — paced to the time you actually have, and compressed automatically when the exam is close.
Your setup
Your suggested study plan
No exam date entered, so this uses the full-length plan. Add your booked date and we will pace the plan to it.
Why this result
- Plan starts 29 Jul 2026 and runs for 12 weeks.
- At 15 hours a week that is about 180 study hours in total.
- PLAB 1 target: 3,850 practice questions at 75% accuracy.
Evidence still to confirm
- Your booked PLAB 1 date — the plan is paced to it once entered.
Warnings
- Educational planning tool only. Verify clinical decisions against current GMC, NICE and BNF guidance, and never use or share recalled live exam content.
Recommended next actions
1. Read the GMC PLAB guide
Confirm eligibility, format and booking before you commit to a plan.
Open official page2. Sit the official PLAB 1 sample questions as a baseline
The GMC's published sample set is the closest match to real question style — use it in week 1 to set your starting accuracy.
Open official page3. Check the MLA content map version
The content map is the exam blueprint. Make sure you are revising the version that applies to your sitting.
Open official page
Official sources
Every fact above should be confirmed against the controlling source before you act on it. Items marked Editorial estimate are our approximations (e.g. travel budgets, aggregate totals) — no exact figure is published by the source.
Last checked 2026-07-27
Last checked 2026-07-27
Last checked 2026-07-27
Last checked 2026-07-27
Last checked 2026-07-27
- NICE guidance and Clinical Knowledge SummariesNational Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceOfficial
Last checked 2026-07-27
Last checked 2026-07-27
- Suggested PLAB 1 and PLAB 2 week-by-week pacing, question and station targetsIMG Navigator editorialEditorial estimate
Last checked 2026-07-27
Rule version 2026.07.27 · Generated 29/07/2026, 08:58:09
Your week-by-week plan
- PLAB 1 · Week 129 Jul 2026 – 4 Aug 2026
Blueprint, baseline and study system
Read GMC guidance, sit the official sample question set, set up an error log and review professionalism.
150 questions · target 55% accuracy · 15 h
- PLAB 1 · Week 25 Aug 2026 – 11 Aug 2026
Cardiorespiratory
Work the question bank by topic: ACS, heart failure, arrhythmias, asthma, COPD, pneumonia and emergencies.
350 questions · target 60% accuracy · 15 h
- PLAB 1 · Week 312 Aug 2026 – 18 Aug 2026
Gastrointestinal, renal and urology
Prioritise acute abdomen, GI bleeding, liver disease, AKI/CKD, electrolytes, UTI and obstruction.
350 questions · target 62% accuracy · 15 h
- PLAB 1 · Week 419 Aug 2026 – 25 Aug 2026
Endocrine, metabolic and haematology
Cover diabetes emergencies, thyroid and adrenal disease, anaemias, clotting and transfusion.
300 questions · target 64% accuracy · 15 h
- PLAB 1 · Week 526 Aug 2026 – 1 Sept 2026
Neurosciences, senses and skin
Cover stroke and TIA, seizures, headache red flags, eye and ENT emergencies and common dermatology.
300 questions · target 65% accuracy · 15 h
- PLAB 1 · Week 62 Sept 2026 – 8 Sept 2026
Musculoskeletal, rheumatology and trauma
Review fractures, back-pain red flags, septic arthritis, inflammatory disease and analgesia.
250 questions · target 66% accuracy · 15 h
- PLAB 1 · Week 79 Sept 2026 – 15 Sept 2026
Reproductive health
Cover obstetric emergencies, antenatal care, contraception, gynaecological bleeding and sexual health.
300 questions · target 68% accuracy · 15 h
- PLAB 1 · Week 816 Sept 2026 – 22 Sept 2026
Child and adolescent health
Cover the sick child, growth and development, safeguarding, neonatal problems and paediatric prescribing.
300 questions · target 69% accuracy · 15 h
- PLAB 1 · Week 923 Sept 2026 – 29 Sept 2026
Mental health, ethics and professionalism
Cover risk assessment, capacity, consent, confidentiality, duty of candour and safeguarding.
250 questions · target 70% accuracy · 15 h
- PLAB 1 · Week 1030 Sept 2026 – 6 Oct 2026
Mixed bank and weak areas
Complete mixed timed blocks, revisit the error log and close the gaps your subject tracker shows.
500 questions · target 72% accuracy · 15 h
- PLAB 1 · Week 117 Oct 2026 – 13 Oct 2026
Full mocks and targeted repair
Complete at least two full timed mocks, review every error and repeat low-scoring topics.
500 questions · target 74% accuracy · 15 h
- PLAB 1 · Week 1214 Oct 2026 – 20 Oct 2026
Final consolidation
Short mixed blocks, high-yield error review, official guidance refresh and exam-day logistics.
300 questions · target 75% accuracy · 15 h
Assumptions
- The standard plan is 12 weeks for PLAB 1 and 8 weeks for PLAB 2. Both are suggested structures, not GMC requirements.
- When your exam date leaves fewer weeks, consecutive topic weeks are merged so nothing on the blueprint is dropped — weekly targets rise instead.
- On the “Both” track, PLAB 2 preparation starts the day after your PLAB 1 exam date, or immediately after the PLAB 1 plan when no date is entered.
- Question and station targets are editorial pacing estimates; the PLAB 2 format (16 stations of 8 minutes) is from GMC guidance.
- Educational planning tool only. Verify clinical decisions against current GMC, NICE and BNF guidance, and never use or share recalled live exam content.