Question Banks for Physician Associates

It’s not easy as a Physician Associate Student to get through your postgraduate studies whilst balancing your busy lifestyle. We’ve compiled resources, as well as general advice on how to cope with everything that goes on with your study for you to prepare in advance.


See below for the details of the exam and a comparison of each platform that many PAs use to study/revise.


How many conditions/diseases do I have to learn?

Over 550+ conditions (eg. Asthma, Influenza, HIV)


How much time should I spend learning each condition?

Find out how we recommend you to revise here.


How much should I practice the questions?

You should test your knowledge every time you study a topic/area of the field which will reinforce your learning.

You can also apply the Spaced-repetition learning method to improve your knowledge retention.

👉 Spaced-repetition feature is now available on the Matrix app!


How much is the PA Nationals Written Exam? (An exam you need to sit for you to become an accredited PA)

Between £200 - £265, The recertification fee is £275.

Find out more here.


How many times can I sit the exam?

4 times. There are currently no plans for student PA’s to be able to sit the exam after this.


Will I have to sit the exam in the future?

Yes, as a qualified PA, you will need to sit the re-certification exam every 6 years.

The recertification fee is £275.


What is the currently written exam format?

“The written examination is a multiple-choice (‘best-of-five’ or single best answer format) paper.

The written examination comprises 200 single best answer questions, which are split into two papers of 100 questions. Candidates have 2 hours to complete each paper, with both papers being completed during a single day.

The marking system is as follows:

  • One mark (+1) is awarded for each correct answer

  • No mark is deducted for an incorrect answer (ie there is no negative marking)

  • No mark is awarded or deducted if a question is left unanswered

  • No mark is awarded if more than one answer is recorded or the answer is not sufficiently clear

  • The pass mark for the written exam is calculated using the Angoff method of standard-setting.

  • One standard error of measurement (SEM) is then added to this total exam score to generate the total pass mark for each written examination.

To achieve a pass in the written examination candidates must achieve or exceed this overall pass mark.”

- Faculty of Physician Associates



How do we compare?

 

  Matrix Plabable for PA PassPA Pa2be PassMedicine Pastest
Annual Cost £40 £50+ £36 £19.99 £25 £25
Links to NICE Guidance ✅ ✅ ❌ ✅ ✅ ❌
Recommended Videos & Lectures ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Over 2000 Qs ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ✅ ✅
Follows National PA Curriculum ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌
Mock National Exam  ✅ ✅ ❌ ✅ ❌ ❌
Progress tracker ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Spaced repetition learning ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Weekly study recommendations  ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Customizable Notes ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅ ❌
Checklist to monitor progress ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Synced to your iOS or Android app ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✅

We recommend that you test yourself as much as you can through out your course.

Sitting the National Mock Exam will give you an insight into how comfortable you are with various systems and conditions.

You can also compare against your peers (histogram) and it will give you a feedback on what you should study based on your weaknesses. (Only available on Matrix)

Goodluck!