Learning from the April 2026 AKT Feedback Report
The RCGP has only just recently published their feedback from the AKT diet from April 2026. We have begun analysing AKT feedback reports last year and these summaries are available for you to access regardless whether you have a subscription with us or not.
We strongly encourage you to make these feedback reports an integral part to your AKT revision as they can be the hidden gem you are missing. You see, just like the majority of exams, in the AKT there tends to be similar topics that keep tripping trainees up with every sitting.
And reading these reports from real RCGP examiners is the best way to identify areas where trainees have repeatedly scored low on.
So what's changed in April?
Well, here are the metrics:
Candidates: 1,795
Score range: 31 – 158 / 160
Mean score: 118.9 (74.3%)
Pass mark: 107 (66.9%)
Overall pass rate: 80.2%
Pass rate for UK graduates, first-time takers: 88.7%
The reliability coefficient quoted for this exam was 0.88. For reference, the closer to one this is, the more representative an exam is to your knowledge on the day.
As expected, the pass rate for first timer takers if you are a UK graduate, is going to be higher than the average pass rate. This trend is the same across all AKT exam sittings, as well as the SCA exam. The takeaway from this is to really give your best shot on the first time you take the exam.
Don't try to cram a sitting into a busy rotation. It's always best to do it either whilst your primary care rotation, or others such as public health or perhaps psychiatry; this depends on you as a person. Different people will find different rotations easier, there isn't really a hard rule.
What about the breakdown of the individual sections of the AKT exam?
Well, there are 3 distinct areas:
Clinical knowledge — 128 questions (80% of the paper), mean score 74.0%
Evidence-based practice — 16 questions (10%), mean score 80.0%
Organisation & management — 16 questions (10%), mean score 71.1%
80% of the questions will be clinical, but other areas specifically the AKT research and statistics section is especially worth trying to score high on, and most people do as you can see - the highest mean score is in the evidence based practice section. Doing well in this can often be the difference between a pass and a fail especially for borderline candidates.
This low score on organisation & management also tends to repeat across previous sittings.
Tip: To fix this, most trainees could benefit from one or two dedicated sections with their GP trainer. Ask them to walk you through what they do in terms of admin. If they are GP partners, that can be even more useful.
Do they deal with complaints on a regular basis? If not, then ask for a tutor session with the complaints lead for example.
What about a session with the practice manager? Or with a GP who does appraisals as well, since appraisal related questions often come up in the AKT exam as well.
So what actually improved this sitting?
Compared with recent sittings, candidates performed better on:
- Recognition of childhood cancers (Children & Young People)
- Chaperone policies (Leadership, Management & Administration)
- Asthma management (Respiratory Health) - this is expected as respiratory disease management has been highlighted in previous sittings and the guidelines have of course also gone through some recent changes.
What were the areas causing difficulty?
Prescribing, prescribing, admin, paediatrics and infectious diseases!
Here is more detail on each:
Prescribing & safety, especially medication monitoring: candidates struggled with monitoring schedules for common medications.
How to improve? Prepare with the BNF (ensure you know where to find monitoring guidelines), and ask your pharmacist or practice manager about local monitoring and audit processes. You can also chat with our AKT Tutor to ask it for summaries or to prepare you a pdf of the most common medications that need monitoring such as antiepileptics. It helps to be familiar and know some off by heart, as you will save time in the exam.
Prescribing & safety: identifying prescribing errors caused difficulty.
How to improve? Work through prescribing-safety scenarios; the BNF is the reference of choice.
Leadership & administration: mostly data protection rules around recorded consultations.
How to improve? Review GMC guidance and GDPR/UK data protection principles for recordings.
Children & young people: confidentiality in safeguarding situations.
How to imrove? Do a safeguarding update; rehearse the ethics of confidentiality vs. child protection.
Infectious disease & travel health: recognising and managing minor illnesses that don't require antibiotics, other prescribing or onwards referrals.
How to improve? Use CKS; do as many AKT revision questions as possible and consult with either your own tutor or our UK guideline trained AI tutor when you're unsure.
When comparing this report with previous feedback reports, there is also a standout topic that keeps tripping out trainees. Any ideas what it could be?
Well, you've guessed it... it's Neurology!
This has been flagged in the last 3 of the 4 sittings as the area with the largest potential improvement. If you do nothing else with this report, build a focused neurology block into your revision, including flashcards on common presentations (headache, dizziness, tremor, funny turns, neuropathy), red flags, and the diagnostic reasoning that separates the benign from the sinister.
You can also use our AI tutor to build your own flashcards for you to download or use online to practice.