The PLAB 1 app built on the GMC Content Map
PLAB 1 and the UKMLA AKT are written to the same GMC MLA Content Map, which is why this app works for both: 7,198 single-best-answer questions, 11,118 spaced-repetition flashcards and clinical notes for all 694 topics, organised under the same 38 specialties the GMC publishes. Everything is stored on the device, so it revises the same in Lagos, Lahore or London, and the download itself is free with the first two topics fully open.
One Content Map, two exams
Since the MLA came in, PLAB 1 is the route by which international medical graduates sit the same assessment blueprint as UK finalists. The exam itself is 180 single-best-answer questions in 3 hours: a clinical scenario, a lead-in and five options, delivered at Pearson VUE centres in the UK and at test centres abroad. That is one minute per question, sustained, which shapes everything about how you should practise.
Because the app is organised by the Content Map rather than by any one exam's past papers, an IMG preparing for PLAB 1 and a final-year student preparing for the AKT are drilling the same topics with the same blueprint weightings. There is also a PLAB-to-UKMLA transition guide inside the app for graduates working out how the new system affects them.
Why offline matters more for PLAB candidates
Most PLAB 1 candidates do the bulk of their revision outside the UK, often around clinical jobs, and often where mobile data is metered or patchy. The complete bank ships inside the download: questions, explanations, flashcards and notes all work with no connection and no account. Nothing streams, nothing syncs, nothing asks you to log in at the exact moment the hospital wifi dies.
A workable PLAB 1 loop with the app
The pattern that suits most candidates: work through topics specialty by specialty with the notes and their linked questions, clear the flashcard due-pile daily so recall compounds, and move to timed practice as the exam approaches. Question explanations reference NICE guidance, which is the standard PLAB 1 marks against, not the local guidelines you may have trained with. For the full exam strategy, dates and the pass-mark reality, the PLAB guides on the blog below go deeper than an app page should.
Quick answers
- Is this app enough on its own to pass PLAB 1?
- It covers the full Content Map with 7,198 questions and 11,118 cards, which is a complete practice layer. Pair it with the GMC's own guidance on exam logistics and a timed-mock routine in the final weeks, and read a structured strategy guide once early on.
- Do the questions match the PLAB 1 format?
- Yes. Every question is a clinical scenario with a lead-in and five options, one best answer, the same single-best-answer format PLAB 1 uses, with a worked explanation on every question.
