6 Month FRCEM SBA Study Plan Template (26-Week Schedule)

TL;DR. A 6-month FRCEM SBA study plan works in three phases. Months 1–2 (weeks 1–8): Foundations — read the RCEM 2021 curriculum and the FRCEM Regulations & Information Pack, build a syllabus tracker, baseline-test on RCEMLearning SBAs to find your weak SLOs. Months 3–4 (weeks 9–17): Content — work through the syllabus weighted to the blueprint (SLO3 22%, SLO1 19%, SLO4 19%, SLO5 17% first), one or two SLO blocks per week, RCEMLearning sessions paired with NICE, RCEM Best Practice Guidelines, and a question bank. Months 5–6 (weeks 18–26): Polish — switch to question-bank-driven revision, two full 180-question timed mocks, targeted re-revision of weak topics, and a final 2-week consolidation. Aim for 60–90 minutes per weekday and a 3–4 hour block at weekends; protect 2 days fully off per week.

flowchart LR
    P1[Weeks 1 to 8
Curriculum sweep
Tintinalli + SBAs by topic] --> P2[Weeks 9 to 16
Question bank
Mixed-topic blocks]
    P2 --> P3[Weeks 17 to 22
Weak spots
Spaced repetition]
    P3 --> P4[Weeks 23 to 26
Mocks + polish
Full-length papers]
    P4 --> Day([Exam day])

You have six months until your FRCEM SBA. That is enough time to pass first sitting if the plan is weighted to the blueprint and you front-load foundations before you touch question banks. Trainees who fail rarely fail because they did not work hard — they fail because they hammered MCQs in months 1–2 instead of building the curriculum framework first, or because they treated all SLOs as equal weight (they are not). This template is a 26-week, week-by-week structure built around the published RCEM blueprint and the patterns described by recent passers in r/doctorsUK, RCEMLearning, and the St Emlyn’s revision guide.

Is a 6-month FRCEM SBA study plan realistic if I’m working full-time in ED?

Yes, with caveats. The Luka Randic medal winner in 2022 documented his own timeline on RCEMLearning: he booked the SBA six months out, started serious structured work at the four-month mark, finished RCEMLearning sessions and SBAs by month five, and used the final month for guidelines and high-yield review. He passed first sitting. The pattern is reproducible — but only if you ring-fence the time.

For most ED registrars working a standard rota, six months gives you roughly 250–350 study hours at 60–90 minutes on weekdays and 3–4 hours at one weekend session. That is enough to:

• Work the full RCEM 2021 curriculum once at the SLO-block level
• Complete the RCEMLearning SBA bank end-to-end
• Sit two full timed 180-question mocks
• Re-revise your bottom three SLOs from mock data

It is not enough time to be a passive learner. If you are reading textbooks chapter-to-chapter at month three with no questions completed, you will not finish. If you are full-time clinical without protected SPA time, build a realistic plan — see How to Revise While Working Full Time in ED for shift-pattern templates. LTFT trainees should use the LTFT-specific revision plan instead.

How should the 6 months be split into phases?

Three phases, with clear handover criteria so you know when to move on.

Why this order matters: the RCEMLearning Luka Randic account, the St Emlyn’s guide, and the 2025 r/doctorsUK FRCEM SBA threads all converge on the same advice — “Go through every line of the syllabus, read the relevant section in the textbook, and do any related e-learning. Once you have finished (this will take several months) hammer question banks.” Question banks done before the curriculum sweep teach you exam style but not exam content. You will plateau around 50–55% and not know why.

What does the RCEM blueprint tell me to prioritise?

This is the single most important table in your plan. The FRCEM SBA is 180 single-best-answer questions across two 90-question, two-hour papers (with a one-hour break). RCEM publishes the question split per Specialty Learning Outcome in the FRCEM Regulations & Information Pack, applicable from 1 August 2021 and reconfirmed under the FRCEM Exam Regulations 2025:

Source: RCEM, Regulations and Information Pack: FRCEM Final Examinations, applicable from 1 August 2021 (latest published blueprint). See the full breakdown and what each SLO covers in our FRCEM SBA blueprint guide.

The top four SLOs (SLO3, SLO1, SLO4, SLO5) account for 140 of 180 questions — 78% of the paper. If you spend equal time on all SLOs you will under-revise the high-yield 78% and over-revise the 22% that follows. Weight your Phase 2 week allocation accordingly (right-hand column above).

What does a week-by-week 26-week FRCEM SBA plan look like?

Below is the full template. Adjust dates to your sitting; this version assumes 30 May 2026 start with a late-November 2026 sitting (26 weeks). Weekly time = 5 weekdays × 75 min + 1 weekend session × 3.5 h = ~9.5 h/week (~245 h total).

How many hours per week do I actually need?

The honest answer from recent passers is 8–12 hours per week sustained, with surge weeks of 15+ hours either side of the two mocks. Below that floor you will not cover the curriculum; above 15 hours sustained over six months you will burn out and your retention drops. The Luka Randic 2022 account describes the same pattern: 30-minute RCEMLearning sessions on commutes, 60–90 minutes after the child went to bed on weekdays, longer blocks on a protected day off.

Practical sc