Free UKMLA Question Bank & Resources (2026): What's Genuinely Free

"Free" is one of the most-searched words attached to the UKMLA — and one of the most misleading. Type "free UKMLA question bank" into Google and you'll get a wall of results that are, on closer inspection, a free trial of a paid bank, a free sample of ten questions, or a free PDF that turns out to be a US Step bank with "UKMLA" pasted on the front. There is genuinely good free material out there. There's also a lot that wastes the one resource you can't get back before the AKT: time.

This guide is an honest map of what's actually free for UKMLA revision in 2026 — free question banks, free flashcards, free notes, and the canonical reference apps — with the catches stated plainly. We build a paid product (MLA Prep), and we'll be upfront about where our free tier fits and where free alternatives beat it. The goal here isn't to funnel you anywhere; it's to help you assemble a no-cost study week that genuinely works, and to know when "free" stops being enough.

1. What "free" actually means in UKMLA prep

Before the list, it helps to name the three things sellers call "free", because they're not the same thing:

• Free trial — full access for a few days, then a paywall. Useful for evaluating a tool, useless as your daily driver.
• Free sample — a fixed handful of questions (often 5–20) you can do once. Fine for a taste, not for volume.
• Genuinely free tier or resource — content you can use indefinitely at no cost, usually with some limit on breadth (topics, analytics, mocks).

Only the third type is worth building a revision plan around. The list below flags which is which, every time.

2. Genuinely free UKMLA question practice

The honest headline: there is no large, fully-free, blueprint-native UKMLA SBA bank. The big banks (Passmedicine, Quesmed, Pastest, UWorld) are paid, with limited free samples or short trials. What you can assemble for free is a respectable amount of practice from a few sources:

• Geeky Medics (free question selection). Geeky Medics offers a slice of its question bank free, alongside its excellent free written guides. The free questions are UK-style and well-explained; the full bank is a paid membership. Verdict: genuinely free, limited volume.
• BMJ OnExamination via BMA membership. Student membership of the BMA is free for UK medical students, and it often bundles access to BMJ OnExamination's question content. If you're eligible, this is one of the largest pools of free-to-you questions available. Verdict: free if you qualify — check your current BMA member benefits.
• NICE CKS as a self-testing tool. Not a question bank, but a free, canonical source you can use to quiz yourself: read a Clinical Knowledge Summary for a presentation, close it, and write the first-line investigation and management from memory. It's the exact source the AKT prefers for primary-care answers. Verdict: free, and the most under-used free resource there is.
• Free trials of the paid banks. Passmedicine, Quesmed and others run short free trials and free sample questions. Stack them only to evaluate which paid bank you'll eventually buy — don't try to live on trials. Verdict: evaluation only.

A realistic free question stack is therefore: Geeky Medics free questions + BMA/BMJ OnExamination (if eligible) + NICE CKS self-testing. That's enough to start; it isn't enough volume to walk into the AKT on alone (more on that in §5).

3. Free flashcards and notes

This is where free material is strongest. You can revise the entire knowledge base of the UKMLA without paying a penny for notes:

• Zero to Finals. Free, concise, exceptionally well-written clinical notes plus a free podcast. For high-yield reading across the blueprint, it's the first bookmark every UK student should have. Some extras sit behind membership, but the core notes are open. Verdict: genuinely free, excellent.
• Geeky Medics written guides. Free OSCE/CPSA station walkthroughs, examination guides, and clinical notes — the de facto standard for the practical exam. Verdict: genuinely free, essential for CPSA.
• Community Anki decks. Several UK students have published UKMLA-aligned Anki decks mapped to the GMC content map. Anki itself is free on desktop and Android (a one-off fee on iOS). The catch: deck quality varies wildly, some contain errors, and the setup cost is real — most people lose the better part of a week learning Anki before they learn any medicine. Verdict: free, but curate carefully and budget for the setup tax.
• Your medical school's content map resources. The Medical Schools Council publishes the official MLA content map, and many schools provide sample materials or already pay for a Q-bank (Passmedicine, Quesmed or Pastest) on your behalf. Always check what your school already funds before you buy anything. Verdict: free if your institution provides it — ask first.

4. The canonical free utilities you must install

Two free apps belong on every UKMLA candidate's phone, because the real exam explicitly cites both:

• BNF app (iOS/Android) — free, the canonical UK prescribing reference.
• NICE / NICE CKS — free clinical summaries that sit extremely close to the AKT's preferred answers.

When a question explanation says "BNF amoxicillin dose for otitis media" or "NICE NG12 two-week-wait referral", open the source and read it. Half the value of any question — free or paid — comes from the habit of following the reference trail. This matters even more for international medical graduates, who didn't train under UK guideline conventions; our NICE guidelines guide for the UKMLA covers exactly which ones recur.

5. The catch with "free" question banks — and where free runs out

Free question practice has three structural limits you'll hit fast:

1. Volume. Free tiers and samples give you hundreds of questions, not thousands. The students who pass comfortably tend to have done several thousand SBAs (we cover the real numbers in how many questions you need to pass the UKMLA). Free sources rarely get you there.
2. No mocks. No free tool gives you full-length, 200-question timed mocks under exam conditions — and you need at least a couple before exam day to build stamina and pacing.
3. No analytics. Free tools tell you if an answer was right. They don't tell you that you're at 78% in cardiology and 42% in ophthalmology, which is the signal that actually changes what you study tomorrow.

And the thing to actively avoid: "1,000+ free UKMLA questions" apps with no provenance. If a listing doesn't name the GMC content map or specific UK guideline bodies (NICE, BNF, Resuscitation Council UK), it's usually recycled US Step material that will teach you the wrong reflexes.

6. The best structured free start: MLA Prep's free tier

If you want free practice that's actually organised — questions, flashcards and notes built against the same UK blueprint, rather than three disconnected free sources — that's the gap our free tier is designed to fill, and it's genuinely free with no card:

• 2 full topics unlocked end-to-end: the complete SBA set, the full flashcard deck, and the notes for those topics — not a 5-question teaser.
• Both study modes on those topics: tutor mode (instant explanations) and timed mode (exam rhythm).
• One 50-question diagnostic mock so you can see, on day one, which specialties are weakest. You can get the free diagnostic mock here — it's emailed to you, no account needed.
• NICE/BNF-referenced explanations on every answer, the same as the paid content.
• A slice of analytics so you can see the interface working before you commit.

When free runs out — when you've exhausted two topics and need the full blueprint, unlimited 200-question mocks, and per-specialty analytics — the upgrade is a one-off £29.99 for lifetime access. No subscription, no auto-renewal, every future update included, and a 7-day full refund. That's the whole pitch: start free, and only pay once, if and when free isn't enough. Compare it honestly against the other tools in our best UKMLA apps round-up.

7. A genuinely free UKMLA study week

Here's how to stitch the free resources above into a week that costs nothing:

Run that loop and you'll cover real ground without paying anything. You'll also quickly feel the two ceilings free hits — volume and mocks — which is exactly the point at which a single, one-off purchase starts to earn its place. For the full sequenced plan, see our 12-week UKMLA study plan.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a completely free UKMLA question bank? There's no large, fully-free, blueprint-native SBA bank. You can assemble free practice from Geeky Medics' free questions, BMJ OnExamination via free BMA student membership, and NICE CKS self-testing — but the big dedicated banks are paid. MLA Prep's free tier gives you the full question set on 2 topics plus a 50-question diagnostic mock at no cost.

Can I pass the UKMLA using only free resources? It's possible if you're disciplined, but you'll be missing two things free can't give you: thousands of SBAs of volume, and full-length timed mocks. Most students who pass comfortably do several thousand questions and at least two full mocks.

What's the single best free resource for the CPSA? Geeky Medics' free written station guides and video demonstrations. The practical exam is performative — seeing a station done well is worth far more than reading about it.

Are free trials of Passmedicine or Quesmed worth it? Only for evaluation. Use a trial to decide which paid bank suits you, not as a revision strategy — trials expire long before your exam.

Further reading

• Best UKMLA apps 2026: the honest comparison
• UKMLA question bank comparison — Passmedicine vs Quesmed vs MLA Prep
• Active recall and spaced repetition: the evidence-based UKMLA method
• The 12-week UKMLA study plan
• NICE guidelines and UK prescribing for the UKMLA — the IMG gap
• What is the UKMLA? The complete exam guide