The Complete PLAB 2 Candidate Guide: How to Use OSCE Revisions

The PLAB 2 candidate guide is the free map of how OSCE Revisions actually works for this exam — the 8-minute clock, the curated station set, the grade you get after each attempt, and the checklist that tells you when you are ready. No signup is required to read this page or download the PDF.

This is not a generic OSCE textbook. It is written against the live platform: Learn → Practise → Review → Simulate. Use it to decide what to open first, how to spend AI Attempts, and how to turn a failed competency into the next session.

OSCE Revisions is the clinical-exams sister platform of MedRevisions, which has helped 30,000+ doctors since 2019. Notes, frameworks and marking rubrics are built and reviewed by practising doctors who know the UK system and this exam.

Sitting finals-style MLA OSCE (UKMLA CPSA) instead? Use the MLA OSCE hub and the MLA OSCE candidate guide. Sitting the Australian exam? Use the AMC clinical exam hub. Theory prep lives at PLABRevisions and UKMLARevisions.

Who this guide is for

This guide is for IMGs sitting PLAB 2 — 16 scored stations plus 2 rest, 8 minutes each, about 90 seconds of reading, no examiner viva, warning bell at 2 minutes remaining.

It is not for UK medical-school CPSA / MLA OSCE (12 × 10 minutes with a viva), AMC Clinical (Australian guidelines, pass 9 of 14), or a school-shaped Clinical OSCE. Those tracks have their own guides.

What PLAB 2 looks like on the platform

On the PLAB 2 track you see a curated high-yield set of 1,000+ stations (live curated set is larger; we keep the published 1,000+ wording), not the entire multi-exam library. Start Here opens on a Core of 607 must-know stations mapped to the GMC PLAB 2 syllabus. Flip “Full library” only when you want extra practice.

Full mocks are 16 scored clinical stations + 2 rest stations. Product mocks treat a circuit as a pass when at least 50% of graded stations pass. The real GMC sitting uses the GMC standard — there is no published station-count pass mark. In 2025, 59.8% of candidates passed (14,689 sat, 8,787 passed) on the GMC PLAB 2 pass-rate table.

Every station is scored against Data Gathering, Clinical Management and Interpersonal Skills, then broken into 10 competencies. Most candidates underestimate Interpersonal Skills. Read the deeper PLAB 2 marking domains guide.

Start from PLAB 2 preparation when you want the commercial hub, not this walkthrough.

The study loop that actually works

1. Learn — Start Here, Frameworks, Notes, Mind Maps, Compare, Exam Tips, Clinical Skills.
2. Practise — Station Scenarios with the AI patient (voice or text).
3. Review — Session Review scorecard, then Discuss with Professor, then a personalised revision note if you are on a paid plan.
4. Simulate — full timed Mock Exams, especially Recent Themes Mocks.

Aim to spend at least half your time in Practise, Review and Simulate — not only reading.

What you actually get

Learn

• Start Here — week-by-week clusters. One anchor note to read fully; variants to skim. Opens on the 607-station PLAB Core.
• Frameworks — including the 8-Minute Station Playbook and the Universal Five (PMAFTOSA, ICE, SOCRATES, CARE, ABCDE). Master these out loud before you chase coverage.
• Notes — 1,800+ revision notes in the wider library; PLAB 2 shows the curated set. Six view modes: Full Guide, Quick Review, Examiner Checklist, Exam Script, Station Prep, Video. After you read, rate Again / Hard / Good / Easy so spaced repetition brings the note back.
• Exam Tips — 8,000+ tips on UK tracks, plus Tip of the Day.
• Clinical Skills — 150 guides: 40 examination, 30 procedure, 30 prescribing, 50 data interpretation.
• Study Essentials — 1,847 cases in tiers (~900 Must Know / ~750 Should Know / ~170 Advanced).
• Mind Maps and Compare — visual maps and side-by-side differentials. Use them; we do not hang a count on either here.
• Videos — walkthroughs embedded on notes and clinical-skills guides.

Practise

• Station Scenarios — browse by specialty, station type or Recent Themes. 10 station types (history, counselling, data-interpretation, examination, ethics, prescription, simman, acute, teaching, procedure) across 37 specialties.
• Voice or Text — same case, different AI patients. Voice is closest to exam day. Text is the quieter channel. Each mode spends from its own AI Attempt pool.
• Build a Station — ask the platform to author a custom PLAB 2 station for a gap you still have.

Review

• Session Review — Pass/Fail, overall score, a /12 exam-style scale, three domains, Issue/Ideal lines, “X/Y met” on 10 competencies, examiner narrative, missed red flags, communication-style read, full transcript.
• AI Professor (Professor OSCE) — tap Discuss with Professor on the review. The chat opens with that station’s transcript and score already loaded. Prompts include “What did I do well?” and “Where did I lose marks and why?” The public page for this feature is AI Tutor. Free and trial accounts get 10 messages a day; paid content plans get 20; With AI plans are unlimited.
• Personalised revision notes — generated from that exact consultation, depth-calibrated to your score. Paid, on-demand via “Generate my revision note” (about 1–2 minutes). Free users see “Upgrade to unlock notes”.
• History — every past session, searchable.

Simulate

• Mock Exam — 18-station PLAB circuit, 8 minutes, 90 seconds reading. You can pause between stations and during reading, not mid-consultation.
• Recent Exam Themes Mocks — full circuits built from recent themes. Mock 1 is the newest.
• Analytics — Average Score, Pass Rate, Recent Trend, Best Score, Weak Areas (specialties under 70% with at least two sessions), Rolling Pass Rate, domain / station-type / specialty breakdowns.

What one station looks like, end to end

This is the loop the exam actually rewards.

1. Read the brief. About 90 seconds. You can start early, pause reading, or let it auto-start with a 5-second countdown.
2. Choose Voice or Text. Shipped line: “Voice and Text use different AI patients — same case, different behaviour. Try both so you know how each feels.”
3. Run the clock. Eight minutes. Warning bell at two minutes remaining. At zero: “Time up. Please leave the station.” There is no examiner viva on PLAB 2.
4. Station complete. “Your session has been recorded. Open the detailed review for grading, transcript and personalised revision notes.”
5. Grading. Usually about a minute, often under two. You get Pass/Fail, the three domains, the 10-competency scorecard, strengths, Areas to Improve, and the transcript. See examiner-style grading.
6. Ask why. Discuss with Professor — the debrief is after the station, not during it.
7. Optional paid note. Generate a personalised revision note, then retry the same station from History.

Will this transfer to a human actor? Everything the examiner marks is still produced by you speaking. Structure, fluency, empathy phrasing and time management only improve with spoken repetition. See AI OSCE practice.

What is free, and what is paid

State this once so the guide stays honest:

• This page and the PDF — free, no signup.
• Create an account — free. 3 voice + 3 text AI Attempts (one-time) and a curated preview of roughly 10 items per library.
• Verify your email — 24 hours of full library and mocks. AI Attempts stay at 3+3. AI Professor stays at 10 messages/day.
• Personalised revision notes and unlimited practice — paid. Plans differ by how many voice and text attempts you get; add-on packs exist.

The 24-hour trial is the right next step after you finish this guide, not a requirement to read it.

How much time do you need?

Time to exam	Daily commitment	Route
12+ weeks	~2–3 h/day	Full study plan at a comfortable pace
8 weeks	~3–4 h/day	Full plan, compress coverage — lean on anchors
4–6 weeks	~4–6 h/day	Frameworks + Recent Themes + frequent mocks
Under 4 weeks	Maximum sustainable	Same lean path — be honest about postponing

Full week-by-week timetables: PLAB 2 study plans.

Am I ready?

No checklist guarantees a pass. Candidates who can tick these usually walk in ready:

1. Two to three consecutive full mocks at or above the pass line (including a Recent Themes Mock).
2. No lagging domain on Analytics.
3. Frameworks automatic from memory, out loud.
4. Start Here anchors done; Examiner Checklists clear on your hardest stations.
5. The format feels boring — reading time, the bell, the reset between patients.

Resitting? Your GMC feedback statements map closely onto the platform’s 10 competencies. Run one diagnostic mock, open Analytics, and drill what the letter flagged — do not restart from zero. Pass strategy: How to pass PLAB 2.

Download and next steps

• PDF: Download the Complete PLAB 2 Candidate Guide — free, no signup.
• Start free: Create an account — 3 voice + 3 text, then verify email for 24 hours of the full library.
• Exam hub: PLAB 2 preparation
• Related: PLAB 2 mock exam · revision notes · analytics

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