AKT high yield topics: what candidates struggle with most

How to read this list

These are the areas candidates have struggled with, taken from the RCGP’s own AKT feedback reports. They are not a list of questions that will appear. The exam is different every sitting.

But the RCGP says it will keep testing these areas. So they are a smart place to spend some extra time — on top of covering the whole syllabus, not instead of it.

Neurology — the one that comes up every time

Neurology is the most repeated theme by far. The RCGP has flagged it after each of the last four sittings.

• •Recognising common gait disturbances — how different problems change the way someone walks (AKT 58).
• •Identifying significant neurological conditions from their symptoms and signs (AKT 57).

Children and young people

A recurring problem area across recent sittings.

• •Spotting cancer in children early — both common and rare presentations.
• •Recognising acute illness in children.
• •Safeguarding — knowing the common presentations.
• •Paediatric urological conditions.

Prescribing and medicines

Prescribing comes up regularly. The RCGP notes that nearly one in three questions has a significant prescribing element — so this is worth real time.

• •Side effects of medicines used for long-term conditions.
• •Drug monitoring — what to check, and how often.
• •The important side effects and severe interactions — the ones marked red in the BNF.
• •Prescribing for older adults — which medicines to reduce or stop.

Reading data and statistics

This is reliably the lowest-scoring of the three exam areas — which makes it the easiest place to gain marks.

• •Interpreting charts — especially the kind of practice data GPs are sent.
• •Common study design terms, such as systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
• •Basic critical appraisal — judging whether a study is reliable.

The RCGP points candidates to a set of free data-interpretation tutorials by Professor Michael Harris for exactly this.

Confidentiality and the admin side

The organisation and ethics part of the exam.

• •Confidentiality guidance, and access to medical records.
• •The GMC has detailed guidance here — it is worth reading.

More areas the RCGP has flagged

These came up in single recent reports. Each is worth a look:

• •Palliative care and end of life — managing common symptoms (the BNF is a good resource).
• •Eyes — diagnosing common eye conditions, and recognising eye signs.
• •Biochemistry — making sense of common blood-result disturbances.
• •Skin — managing common conditions.
• •Infectious disease — choosing the right diagnostic tests.
• •Learning disability — including genetic causes.

A few exam tips the RCGP keeps repeating

• •Sometimes the right answer is to do nothing. The AKT rewards cost-effective care — the best answer can be not to investigate, prescribe or refer.
• •When a question says to follow current national guidance, that means NICE or SIGN.
• •Mildly abnormal blood results may need no extra tests.
• •Pick the single most useful investigation, not a whole screen of tests.
• •A next step means what matters now — not something that might be done later.
• •Answer every question. There is no negative marking, so a guess can only help.

How to use this list

• •Do not just read these areas. Practise questions on them — that is what makes knowledge stick.
• •Give data and statistics real time. It is the cheapest source of extra marks.
• •Treat this as extra focus on top of full coverage, not a shortcut around the rest.

For the method, see our guide on how to revise for the AKT. You can read the original reports on the RCGP AKT page.