How I Scored Over 600 in the MSRA: What I Did Right (and What I’d Do Differently)
By a Top-Scoring MSRA Candidate
When I first heard about the MSRA, I assumed it was just another online exam — maybe a bit of SJT, a bit of clinical knowledge. Nothing too crazy, right?
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The MSRA (Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment) is not just another test. It’s the single biggest factor in whether or not you get your first-choice job in GP, Psychiatry, Radiology, and several ACCS programmes — often without an interview. If you score high, doors open. If you don’t, you could be stuck waiting another year.
In January 2025, I scored over 600 in the MSRA. This blog post is a breakdown of:
- What I did that worked ✅
- What I’d do differently next time ❌
- How I paced my revision over 6 months to avoid burnout
Whether you're starting now or already revising, I hope this helps you plan better — and ultimately, score higher.
My MSRA Prep Timeline: The 6-Month Plan
Looking back, one of the best things I did was start early. I didn’t cram — I gave myself 6 months, and paced it in a way that was sustainable alongside full-time work.
Here’s how I broke it down:
| Months | Focus |
|---|---|
| Month 1–2 | Strategy, GMC guidance, learning the exam structure, light SJT practice |
| Month 3–4 | Daily question practice (CPS + PD), building clinical knowledge, learning SMART |
| Month 5 | High-yield revision, full guideline reviews, timed blocks of questions |
| Final 4 weeks | Intense timed mocks, clinical pattern recognition, confidence building |
I was working full-time in a busy hospital at the time, so I only did 1–2 hours most weekdays, and more on weekends. I never felt burnt out because I didn’t overload early — I just built momentum slowly.
✅ What I Did Right
1. I Started with Strategy
Instead of jumping into random revision, I spent the first week understanding:
- What the MSRA actually tests
- How scoring works (PD = 50%, CPS = 50%)
- What specialties shortlist purely by score (e.g. GP, Radiology)
This helped me avoid one of the most common traps: treating the MSRA like finals. It’s not. It’s about pattern recognition, clinical decision-making, and safe judgement — all under time pressure.
2. I Used a Platform Specifically Built for the MSRA
I tried using some generic question banks early on, but they were:
- Too long
- Too academic
- Not aligned to NICE
- No real SJT explanation — just vague guesses
That’s when I switched to MediWord, and it changed everything. MediWord had:
- Recall-based questions based on past papers that actually mirrored the MSRA
- Over 3,400 recall-based MSRA practice questions
- Over 650 SJT test questions
- 600+ revision notes on the latest guidelines
- 2,000+ high-yield flashcards
- An AI-powered chatbot to help with my study
It’s built for the MSRA — and it shows. The structured MSRA question bank meant I was practising exactly what the real exam tested, without wasting time on irrelevant material.
3. I Didn’t Ignore the PD Section
Professional Dilemmas (SJT) makes up 50% of your score, yet most people treat it like fluff. I didn’t.
I treated it like a clinical subject in its own right. I:
- Read GMC Good Medical Practice cover to cover
- Learned the SMART Framework (Safety, Management, Accountability, Reflectiveness, Teamwork)
- Ranked hundreds of practice scenarios using MediWord's structured explanations
- Reflected on why some answers felt right but were wrong — and vice versa
Over time, I started seeing patterns in SJT logic — and that’s when my confidence really took off.
4. I Focused on High-Yield CPS Topics
For Clinical Problem Solving, I didn’t waste time memorising rare metabolic syndromes or niche conditions. I focused on:
- Cardiology (ACS, murmurs, arrhythmias)
- Respiratory (asthma, COPD, PE, pneumonia)
- Endocrine (diabetes, thyroid, adrenal disorders)
- Psychiatry and Paediatrics (MSRA favourites!)
- Emergency/Red Flag conditions (sepsis, meningitis, ectopic pregnancy)
I used MediWord’s clinical revision sheets and MSRA practice papers to build rapid recall — these were way more efficient than textbooks.
5. I Simulated Exam Conditions Early
I didn’t wait until the week before to do mock papers.
By Month 4, I started doing:
- Timed blocks of 15–20 questions
- PD and CPS sections back-to-back
- Full mocks every Sunday for the final month
This helped me build stamina, learn to pace myself, and improve focus, so that by the real exam, it felt like just another practice run from the MSRA question bank I had been using all along.
❌ What I Would Do Differently
1. I Wasted Time on the Wrong Resources Early On
I fell into the classic trap: lectures, textbooks, and flashcards. These are fine in med school, but inefficient for MSRA.
By the time I realised this and switched to specific MSRA practice papers and NICE summaries, I had already lost 3–4 weeks.
Lesson learned: Start with focused material from Day 1.
2. I Delayed PD Practice Too Long
At first, I thought SJT was “just common sense”. I thought I’d breeze through it and focused on clinical topics instead.
Big mistake.
Ranking answers in PD is a learned skill. There’s a system to it — and SMART helped me crack that. If I had started PD earlier, I’d have felt confident much sooner.
Final Takeaways
If you’re just starting, here’s what I wish I had heard early on:
- Pace yourself over a few months — slow and steady is better than burnout
- Use an MSRA-specific platform — it saves time and reflects the real exam
- Treat PD seriously — it’s not guesswork, it’s pattern recognition
- Use NICE, not memory — you’re tested on current UK practice
- Simulate mocks and timed conditions — confidence grows with realism
Turn your MSRA prep into a winning score with the UK’s most accurate Mediword MSRA Question Bank.
💡 Bonus Tip: Keep It Sustainable
You don’t need to study 6 hours a day. I never did.
Most weekdays I studied 1–2 hours after work, and 3–4 hours on weekends. I rested when I needed to. I had bad days. I had imposter syndrome. But because I started early, I could afford to take breaks without panicking.
Consistency > intensity.
Ready to Start Your MSRA Prep?
If you want to give yourself the best chance of a top score — without wasting time — I genuinely recommend MediWord.
- Built specifically for the MSRA
- Real recall-based questions based on past papers
- Over 3,400 recall-based MSRA practice questions
- Over 650 SJT questions
- 600+ revision notes on the latest guidelines
- 2,000+ high-yield flashcards
- An AI-powered chatbot to help with your study