At a glance
The eight sections
Eight item styles, not one question type
The PSA is not a pharmacology multiple-choice paper. Its 60 items use eight distinct styles, and three of them ask you to do something other than pick an option: write a prescription on a chart, tick prescriptions on a drug chart, or type a number in a stated unit. Practice that only uses single-best-answer questions leaves those tasks untrained.
| Item style | What the exam asks you to do | On PassthePSA |
|---|---|---|
| Prescribing | Write one prescription on the chart: medicine, dose, route, frequency | The same chart. Marked in two halves, component by component, with partial credit and the marking tier shown |
| Prescription Review | Tick the responsible prescription(s) on a drug chart | The same chart with a tick column per question part |
| Planning Management | Single best answer from five | Single best answer in the exam's layout, explanation cites the BNF pathway |
| Communicating Information | Single best answer from five | Single best answer in the exam's layout |
| Calculation Skills | Type a number in the stated unit | The same numeric box with the unit shown, working in the explanation |
| Adverse Drug Reactions | Single best answer from a chart or option list | Single best answer in the exam's layout |
| Drug Monitoring | Single best answer from five | Single best answer in the exam's layout |
| Data Interpretation | Single best answer on printed results with reference ranges | Single best answer with the results printed as the exam prints them |
Eighty of the 200 marks are written prescriptions, marked component by component. A bank that practises prescribing as a multiple-choice question cannot show you that you wrote a volume instead of a dose, left the frequency blank, or chose the right drug at the wrong dose. PassthePSA marks each box and shows the tier you landed in.
Where the 200 marks are
The sections are not equal. Prescribing alone is 80 marks, more than the next three sections combined. Pace and revision time should follow the marks.
How to use the 120 minutes
Two minutes an item is the average, not the rule. At 36 seconds per mark, a 10-mark prescribing item has earned six minutes and a 2-mark item barely over one. Candidates who run out of time have usually spent prescribing time on cheap items early in the paper.
- Pace by marks, not by question numberSix minutes for a prescription, a minute for a two-mark item. Check the clock against marks done, not items done.
- Answer, flag, moveIf a lookup is not converging inside a minute, answer your best guess, flag it, and come back. The navigator makes this cheap.
- Do the lookup even when sureThe PSA punishes remembered doses. Confirmation costs ten seconds and is what the BNF is there for.
- Keep the last ten minutesFor flagged items and for reading every prescription you wrote once more, as a nurse would.
How the PSA is marked
Every item has a fixed number of marks. Most single-answer items are all or nothing. Prescribing items are marked in two halves: the drug choice and the written prescription, with partial credit where the scheme allows a lower tier. The pass standard is set for each paper by the assessment provider and is not a fixed percentage, so practice scores are best read as a trend.
A wrong dose on a right drug costs half the item. A blank frequency costs marks. Writing practice prescriptions on a form, and having them marked box by box, is the highest-value revision there is, and it is what the prescribing section guide is built around.
Using the BNF in the exam
The BNF is open throughout. The skill is not knowing it; it is knowing which heading answers which question, and getting there in seconds. Every monograph follows the same order of headings, and every section of the exam maps onto two or three of them.
The BNF speed guide has the quick map, the search workflow, timed drills and a short quiz.
How to revise for it
- Learn the formatRead the eight section guides. Know the answer styles and where the marks are before you practise.
- Practise untimed, by sectionGet the method right with the BNF open and no clock. Read every explanation, especially on the ones you got right by luck.
- Find the weak sectionsAccuracy per section tells you where the marks are leaking. Drill those, not the ones you enjoy.
- Practise timedShort timed mocks at exam pace, to find out where the time goes.
- Sit full papersSixty items in two hours, under the rules. Then review every prescription you wrote.
- Review the errorsThe question you got wrong and understood is worth more than ten you got right. Redo them a week later.
The 11 full mock papers
Each paper is 60 items and 200 marks in 120 minutes, assembled in the official section proportions: 8 prescribing, 8 prescription review, 8 planning management, 6 communicating information, 8 calculation, 8 adverse drug reactions, 8 drug monitoring and 6 data interpretation. The clock runs at exam pace, the navigator works as the exam's does, and every item is marked as it would be on the day, with the section breakdown afterwards.
Common mistakes
The section guides
Each guide covers what the section tests, a repeatable approach, where to look in the BNF, the common traps, and a real question from the bank with its full explanation.
All 20 free questions
Every visitor can work these in the exam interface. Each is also published here with its full explanation.
Prescribing 3 questions
Prescription Review 3 questions
Planning Management 3 questions
Communicating Information 2 questions
Calculation Skills 2 questions
Adverse Drug Reactions 2 questions
Drug Monitoring 2 questions
Data Interpretation 3 questions
Questions people ask
Can I use the BNF during the PSA?
Yes. The online BNF and BNF for Children are available throughout the exam. Using them quickly is the skill the exam rewards.
How many questions are in the PSA and how long is it?
60 items in 120 minutes, worth 200 marks, across eight sections. Prescribing is eight items at ten marks each.
What is the pass mark?
It is set for each paper by the assessment provider using standard-setting and is not published in advance. Practice scores are best read as a trend across timed papers.
When are the sitting dates?
They are published each academic year by the provider at prescribingsafetyassessment.ac.uk. Medical schools register their own students. Check the official site rather than a third party.
How are prescribing questions marked?
In two halves: the drug choice and the written prescription, with partial credit where the scheme allows a lower tier and specific deductions for unsafe habits such as writing a volume instead of a dose. The prescribing guide shows a real scheme.
Is PassthePSA connected to the Pass the PSA book?
No. Pass the PSA is a printed revision book published by Elsevier. PassthePSA is an online question bank with no connection to it.
Try the real interface
733 questions built around all 8 PSA item styles, and 11 full 60-item mock papers
Twenty questions from every section are free, in the same interface, with the complete explanation after each. No card needed. Pass guarantee: fail after 400+ questions and your access is extended free for 3 months.